Why do I have to view a property before agent will submit my offer?

[Brian Wall]

So, I recently started making many more offer direct off the MLS than I have before (I am an agent submitting for an investor client). I am getting a lot of "resistance" from listing agents saying they will not submit my offer until both I and my client have seen the property.

I am only submitting offers based on ARV (after repair value) taking into account an estimated rehab cost, based on pictures and/or description, and assuming I will do a "normal" rehab. So, I know on average what my costs will be, for a 3/2 in a certain area.

I really don't care what the property looks like, until I know I have an accepted or at least close to accepted offer.

Once we have an accepted offer and open escrow, we then inspect the property in detail. A very high percentage of the time, we do not "adjust" our price. The only time we do, is if we see any foundation or other major structural issues, that would not have been seen without walking through.

I made over 100 offers in the past few weeks, these were all "fixer" properties. I could not possibly go see all these properties.

BP Nation - Help me out, what is a good response to those agents that want me to go see property. I want to be courteous, but also tell them my client doesn't really care about the paint color, carpet, etc, because he is going to rip it all out anyway. All he cares is the area, and the property has a solid structure.

Thanks,
Brian

[Will Barnard]

Like Ned Carey stated, no disrespect to some of the other posts here, but many of which assumed things that are incorrect and they did not take into consideration all the facts.. To be fair, Brian did not explain in detail all the facts either.

So, in the interests of being crystal clear, J Scott first post is not a fair comparison as that was likely an end buyer and I would agree with him that no offer should be looked at or countered from an END BUYER who has not seen the property (both in and out). But, with an investor who knows what he/she is doing as has their numbers down, it is not always necessary until just before going under contract.

In Brian Wall case, he has evaluated the comps, estimated (based on previous averages) his rehab expenses, and made an offer based on those figures. If a list agent states that the offer is close, or could possibly be accepted by their client, then, at that time, Brian could and would go view the property to "confirm" the exit value and rehab costs. If he underestimated rehab, he could simply make that adjustment right then and there. This would be completely fair to the list agent and his/her client as the deal never goes under contract until Brian has in fact visited the property.

To play the numbers game on the MLS as an investor, you simply can't be efficient by visiting 100+ properties each month. Hiring an "assistant" as suggested by another is also not efficient. That costs money and I personally would never trust someone else to provide my financial numbers that make or break an investment deal.

So, Brian - keep making those offers and when the list agent comes back with such a response, inform him/her politely that your client is a professional investor, makes many offers every month and has his/her numbers down to a T. Adding in the fact that if your client's offer is within reach of being accepted, then you will most definitely show the property PRIOR to going into escrow and that once escrow is opened, only your short contingency period will be used for further detailed inspections by your client's team of professionals.