Making an offer on multiple duplexes

[Andrew Gudmunson]

Hey Bigger Pockets Community!

I have alerts set on my phone to notify me when any new multi family properties show up in the market I'm interested in investing in. Tonight, two popped up at about the same time and when I open the listings they are almost identical buildings, owned by the same person, and are each going for $165K.

I'm considering making an offer on both duplexes and I was wondering if its an acceptable practice to ask the owner to consider giving me a discount for buying multiple properties from  him. Can anyone speak to this and if I go for it what kind of a discount would you recommend I try and get? Thanks in advance!

[Steve G.]

@Andrew Gudmunson - your discounted offer will be based on a number of factors, including (but not limited to) any number of the following:

• To start - Comps may be difficult to find, you may need to approach an investor friendly Realtor to get an accurate market value.
• If the price already looks to be reduced, start by offering 90% of asking.

Also consider other aspects to justify your discounted offer:

• Do the properties need repairs, if so, how much to bring them back to a good standard?
• Are they fully occupied?
• Do they have leases in place & how long for?
• Are current rents in line with the market rents?
• Vacancy rates/evictions etc. over the past 2 years
• Can you reduce operating expenses (ie: modifying any existing service or maintenance agreements).?
• Is the market in the area appreciating or depreciating?
• What are the local "drivers" (http://www.investopedia.com/articles/mortages-real...)

Do the numbers . .  and the numbers will tell you what to do (I think thats a line from Russell Gray - realestateguysradio.com).

Never be afraid to make an offer - but always try to justify your offer. Show comps (recent sales wherever possible), and repair estimates following a walk-through, and explain that these are factors to be taken into account by an investor when purchasing.

Finally, remember:- You make your money when buying, not when you sell - we send out 20 -30 offers every day, most get rejected, but that doesn't stop us making similar offers (based on our calculations) the very next day.

Good luck.