HELP QUICKLY PLEASE! Advice on multiple offer notification. :)

[Maxwell Lee]

Brand new investor, here. Although I'm in tune with my local market I never quite felt the urge to actually start investing in properties until very recently.

I had been scouring various resources for about a week and a half with a handful of leads when out of nowhere something went up on MLS that blew my mind! I immediately wanted to see it and almost certainly put in an offer at full asking price, so the next day my agent and I were there at the very minute the listing said it would be available for walk-through, and we had the full offer in just a few business hours later.

The property is in a pretty bad area...feels like a 2 out of 5 in terms of safety and security, would be a 1 if not for the fact that most of the surrounding lots sit empty and demolished. The structure itself is a decent (though completely stripped) duplex. Why do I want it so badly then? It's a goldmine for speculators, as it sits just 4-5 blocks away from one of the hottest gentrification projects we've ever seen in this city. Over $100 million in private construction happening within .5 miles, and the neighborhood is set to be completely transformed in 18 months. The assumption, therefore, is that once all of those projects are complete, the surrounding blocks will be safer and perhaps a few years later those will be gentrified as well. Bottom line: I was very shocked to see anything in this neighborhood listed, but it's an REO so I guess that makes sense. I don't want to bore you all with all the other details on the area, but those are the basics.

So what has happened? My fears have been realized and the listing agent has responded, almost immediately, with a multiple offer notification. They want the best and highest offer, with a deadline about 24 hours from now, and I just don't know where my final bid should land. UGH! This kinda stinks for a first time investment.

Original asking price was 15.2K, I think this property is still a safe investment up to 30K (agent thinks it will be worth 50K as is after the nearby construction is complete, and also thinks it could do $1200/month immediately after extensive repairs) but clearly I wouldn't want to invest too much more than I have to. I hate this multiple offer scenario! Clearly this is a hot property if they've got multiple offers less than three full days after listing...

One last note...sinking cash into this one won't necessarily affect our ability to invest in other properties, so that's not really a concern. I just don't want to regret my decision haha. Any advice is welcome and appreciated. Thanks!!