REACHED NEXT STEP ANOTHER OBSTACLE... WHAT SHOULD I DO?

[Jason Malabute]

To summarize:

I am an investor from Los Angeles.  The market here is too high. So I determined that I need to invest out of state.

Last year , I researched my market, and determined my submarkets. I determined that I would invest in Orlando area. Early this year I built my team out in Orlando. I selected the top selling agent (that has experience working with investors), got one one of the top property managers on my team, and secured my financing. Earlier this month I visited Orlando to check out the market, see some properties, and meet my team.

I am happy with my team. They tell me when an area is good or advise me to avoid certain properties. I love how everybody is honest, straight forward, and very knowledgeable about the market. The only thing that concerns me is that it has been 2 weeks since I came back from Orlando and I have yet to make an official offer. This is because my agent does not want to make "low ball" offers because he showed me that in the last 2 years most sales in Orlando. have closed at least 93% of asking price. And making low ball offers almost have a zero chance of being even considered in a booming market like Orlando. I totally see his point, but I am not going to pay market price and buy a bad deal. So far I have only seen one property that yields a decent cash flow and return if I paid 95% of asking price, but I had to bak out of making offer last minute becauseI learned that the units were occupied (renting WELL under market), and the lease did not expire until very end of 2019. AND there were already 3 offers made so I had to offer asking price at minimum just to get my offer in. Naturally, I backed out. I refuse to buy something at top dollar at top of the market that does not give me returns I am comfortable with.

Again, I want to continue to work with my agent because of his experience, honesty, and connections. At the same time, I want to be more aggressive with my approach. I am faced with a dilemma. Do I:

A) Work with less experienced agent that is willing to write a lot of low ball offers for me? Will this technique even work in such a hot market or will I  be ruining relationships and wasting time?

B) Do I better filter properties I make offers on? Offering on 1 or 2 properties a month that meets my criteria and desired returns (this is the pace I am going at now if I continue what I am doing)

C) Do I sit on my money and wait for market correction (I HATE this idea because nobody really knows when and if this is going to happen) ?

D) Do I try to work with 2 agents at same time? My credible and experienced agent for more solid deals AND a less experienced agents who is willing to write me a lot of low ball offers that my primary agent does not want to?

E) Do I shift my focus to LA market and figure out how to flip properties here until market corrects itself?

ONE THING I WILL NOT DO IS GIVE UP! Lol please help...

Thank you :(

[Fay Chen]

I agree with @Joe Villeneuve in that you should work with multiple agents. I learned that after buying my first out-of-state property. Now I don't sign exclusive agreements with agents anymore. Check out roofstock. My friend is purchasing an SFR from them. I'm thinking about buying from them as well.

That being said, I think there is some truth to what your agent is telling you. 3 years ago, I bought a "deal." It turned out to have major water issues. So I fixed it and kept it, now after 3 years, it's finally turned into a good deal. It was hard for me to find good deals as an out-of-state investor. I had no leverage. I wasn't buying all cash. I had to rely on my team a lot for basic questions other local investors already know. The sellers stereotyped out-of-state investors as disingenuous. So I got stiffed a fake good deal, not to mention how many times I had to call the bluffs of many contractors because they were trying to add the out-of-state premium. 

Now I think I have a pretty good team, but I'm always looking for backups. I don't expect to pay below market for out-of-state. Simply because I have no leverage. If the numbers work, I'll pay market price or even above market. My market has been super hot, so even though I've been checking deals every week, I haven't made any offer in more than a year. But that's also because I'm more of a wimp compared to many successful investors. Now I'm slowly seeing the market softening, so I may start making some offers soon.