MY FIRST PURCHASE CONTRACT NULL & VOID

[Quashema Watkins]

Hi Bigger Pockets Associates I am a first-time home buyer in search of a three-family home in Essex County New Jersey. This has been a very challenging Market. I started my search February 2018. I finally got a 3 family house under contract November 1st 2018. The property is sold as is and the asking price was $250,000. There was a bidding war. My offer and another offer was accepted at $250,000 with me being second in line as a backup if the first deal fell through which it did. I knew the property needed repairs and estimated approximately $65,000 which after inspection the repairs were about $85,000. The appraiser came out November 16th and the report was not available until December 4th. I found out the house in its current condition only appraised for $175,000. The seller was not willing to negotiate stating they have cash buyers who are willing to pay more and the deal fell through. I know I should not have offered the asking price which was my mistake. But in this competitive market how do you low bid offers? Only offer the max that you are willing to pay and risk being outbid by another buyer?