How soon is too soon to make low offers?

Question

How soon is too soon to make low ball offers on Zillow for sale by owner homes? I contacted a seller from his Zillow ad. The house looks to be in good condition in a decent area judging by all of the photos he took. The house has been on Zillow for like 9 days as of today. He wants $349,900 for it. Zillow Zestimate is $223,253. I wanted to make an offer well below the Zestimate. He did say he has a mortgage on it for a lot less than his asking price, but he  would not tell me how much he owe. He said his mortgage balance does not effect how much the house is worth. That is not why I asked him if he has mortgage balance. I need to know that because my offer price will include how much he owes. His attitude was almost like what does the mortgage balance has to do with it type of response. I was considering offering like 50% of the Zestimate just to see what happens.

Tony Marcelle · Answer

@Rob Drum I always look for homes that have been on the market for at least 30-60 days. I prefer 60 days as my maximum wait time to make low offers.

Account Closed I won't. I am looking for unlisted homes for sale right now.

Account Closed · Answer

@Charles M. bring the deals to you! I purchase data and market directly to seller in a variety of ways. The only way to do it!

Charles M. · Answer

Thanks BP Family

Tony Marcelle · Answer

@Charles M.I search for vacant homes throughout different cities including homes around my part of town.

Tony Marcelle · Answer

I don't have a lot of faith in Zestimates. I was only using it as a starting point to see how motivated he is to sell his house. I did some digging and found he owes at least $91,000.  I looked at some comparables and my offer would still be lower than Zillow Zestimates.

Charles M. · Answer

Where are you looking for unlisted homes if you don't mind

Account Closed · Answer

@Tony Marcelle Just don't waste your time making offers that won't be accepted. If you want to make low offers, market directly to a pool of sellers where you don't have to compete with a realtors sales pitch, and a bunch of other offers.

Rob Drum · Answer

You can make a low offer anytime. In many cases, it just won’t be a productive use of your time. For listed properties I usually wait at least 40 days to make an offer, unless it’s already priced to sell.

How soon is too soon to make low offers?

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