How do you compete with an all cash buyer???

[Kristina Inglis]

Hi, 

I have been stalking a SFH that is 'coming soon' to market and so I called on it today. It looks like a great property to rehab and rent out. The home has not be kept up very well, the landscaping is all over grown and it is being sold as is. This is a great opportunity since it is located in an expensive market (Arlington VA) and it is hard to find low cost deals around here. This will be my first deal and I was very excited about it until the realtor told me that another investor had come out to look at the property today and is making an all cash offer on the home. How do I even compete with that? Or maybe that's just it, I don't? I cannot put down all cash (it would be mid $500k) so should I just forget about this deal and move on? Are there any other strategies or angles I could use / take that would allow me to have a fighting chance if I threw my hat in the ring?

Many thanks,

kristina 

[Russell Brazil]

Your agent should be able to tell you how to structure an offer to compete against an all cash offer. If he can't, then maybe you are not using a very knowledgeable agent as this is not a very complicated thing to do.

Use a conventional loan, (Fannie has loans as low as 3% down), no inspection contingency, and use an escalation clause...I'd say $15k to $20k over an all cash offer to win the bid.