Sellers financing - who propose initial terms?

[John K.]

Hi everybody!,

tomorrow I will be sending in my offer for an investment five-unit property with a seller's financing. Even though I bought a few properties already, never with a sellers financing.

I know how big down payment I can afford (20-40%) and I have also done my real estate analysis to calculate what would be the best terms for me (interest, amortization period, down payment) - which had the highest NPV.

However my real estate agent told me, that I shouldn't be putting these options in the initial offer, instead I should let the seller to come up with his terms first and then negotiate those.

Is this normal strategy? Or do you you propose your financing terms in the offer?