King or Queen of Lowballing?

[Jack Fernandes]

Hey all, since many of us are cooped up in the house, and since I am new and want to engage with the community, I figured I'd ask this fun question:

Who would consider themselves to be the King or Queen of lowballing? 

I know that many consider lowballing to be a bad thing, but I come from the school of thought that a property is only "worth" what someone is willing and able to pay for it, at the time that it is being sold. With that said, I consider myself to be a coupon clipping, money-saving, value squeezing, bargain hunter and I get inspired by hearing stories of people who scooped up properties for great prices. I do the same in the stock market. 

Does anyone have fun or inspiring stories about offers they've had accepted, due to whatever reason, that came in super low from the ask or comparable sales? I'm talking like 25% or lower, like a property listed at $1m that someone closed at $750k without there being some kind of major structural damage found in the property.

Any tips for coming in super low that you all have found to work, or at least, keep the negotiation table open and hot?

Let's hear em', folks. King or Queen of successful lowballs!

[Robert Dobbs]

In November 2009, depressed, like many here, ...a victim of the "real estate bubble" and the horrible economy (the "the dark days of 2008"!).

I get an unsolicited email saying, ..."21 bank owned vacant Florida parcels". As a "real estate junkie", I guess I "couldn't help myself", so I "Googled, researched, did some due-diligence (I.e., Google "street views", etc. and more!). Most of these 21 acre lots were about 1/2 acre each and some were 1 acre. The 21 parcels, ...all looked "pretty cool"!

So I then called the listing agent who emailed me, introduced myself and asked was it possible to "make an offer", a "package deal" for all 21 vacant lots.

These 21 parcels were listed by the bank for $8,000 each. I made my offer: "I offered $1,200 each!" The listing broker (actually the listing broker's son), shouted, "that's crazy!", the bank is asking $8,000 each!" I told Preston (the Broker's son), ..."look we are both fellow agents (Realtors), so kindly submit my offer to the bank". Preston said, ...well, ok!

I "wrote-up" the deal, emailed my offer (contract) to the Broker. And guess what? I got a phone call the next morning from Preston (I.e., the Broker's son), ...Mr. Dobbs, "I just can't believe it!", if you can close by the end of the "bank year", they accepted your offer! 

"To make a long story short", this was the beginning of a "11-year relationship" with this bank. ------> "I purchased well over 500 vacant parcels" from this bank.

I was basically, "the bank's real estate REO enema" for small vacant parcels, for over 10 years"! Yikes!!!

This story didn't end with me buying bank-own parcels. Building a great relationship with the title agent (who did the closings for this bank), Amanda (the title agent), introduced me president of the local Habitat for Humanity. To make this "long-winded" story shorter, I bought hundreds of donated vacant parcels that people from "all over the country" that donated "real estate bubble" parcels to Habitat for Humanity. Over the years, my relationship grew with Habitat and now we do "land swaps" (I'm very, very proud to say, "well over 50 parcels of mine that I "land-swapped" with Habitat, now have a "Habitat home" on my lots. Wow!

I may not be the "King of Lowballing", but I have carved-out a "10-year chapter" in the "Book of Lowballing", LOL!

Over and over again, I keep hearing the "same olde line", ..."Mr. Dobbs, I can't believe they accepted your offer"!

Robert Dobbs,                                                                                                  Trustee Settlor of the Land Rescue League Trust and The Renaissance Trust