First time under contract, ended up being a waste of time

[Gurjot Grewal]

Hello BP, 

Im investing OOS. Got a duplex in a c+ area under contract. The listing had no pics of the interior. Outside had new siding and alot of other work done. 

After I made an offer it was accepted. They sent me videos of a walk through and I could already tell it was much worse than I expected. 

Regardless my eye is untrained. So I still got an inspection and a contractor to walk it. Rehab was quoted at 250-300k (was told may as well just tear it down) so I terminated the contract as my ARV was 270k max.

-is there anything I could've done at the point of receiving the walk thru videos?

-The contract was signed, was my best option to act on my inspection contingency ? 

-Would it be fair to request videos of the interior prior to making an offer ? 

-any other tips to avoid this in the future? All in im out $800 and some wasted time. Just trying to take this as an opportunity to learn and better my approach. 

[JD Martin]

Quote from @Gurjot Grewal:

Quote from @JD Martin:

Where was your agent in all of this? S/he should have sent you a walk through before you ever made your offer. If you were trying to do this from out of state with no agent, that's a really bad idea.

I have gone under contract on houses before without seeing the inside *BUT* those were local and I could be there within a day or two to do my own walk through, so no cash out of pocket and I'm not doing anything I wouldn't have already done in the first place.

PS: This might end up being the best $800 you've ever spent. 

@JD Martin  I have an agent, he sent me a google drive with a couple walk through videos (received from the sellers agent i’m assuming) after going into contract. Maybe I should've asked for this before. If I’m making multiple offers is it still fair to expect the agent to walkthrough before the offer? 

If you're just tossing offers out there to see what sticks, I would be surprised if your agent is very enthusiastic about making tons of videos. Don't waste his time on trawling for properties. If you mean that you plan on viewing properties and making reasonable offers until you get one accepted, then it's reasonable for your agent to film it for you.

Keep in mind that if you pull out of a deal more than once or twice, your agent may not want to work with you any more. There are a lot of "investors" who play chicken to get properties under contract and then get scared and bail, or can't come up with any money to close, or try to use being under contract as a lever to get unreasonable concessions. No agent wants to work with someone like that.