Looking for Information on the Dallas area!

[Alex Grosvenor]

Hey everybody!

My wife and I are starting Real Estate in Dallas and are complete rookies. We are looking for every single advantage we can get from what are closing cost usually, the best agents in the area, and even to the best contractors in the area. 

We are diving in head first but with caution as every offer we are making requires a 7 day option period so we can be as safe as possible while starting out. I've found people HATE option periods in Dallas. Even if I have the highest offer they still go with the next best and with no option period. 

Does anyone have any tips on how to get around this problem to make people feel more comfortable with this option period?

Any other advice on the Dallas market and the area would also be greatly appreciated!

[Bruce Lynn]

Every deal is different. I do plenty with option periods. I would say that is more the norm than not, but maybe it depends on the deals you're going after. Wholesalers don't like option periods, they like cash. How do you know the offer that got accepted did not have option period? That's unusual that you would know much about the offer that did get accepted. Sometimes we can find sales price or find if it was cash or financed...but option periods don't always get reported. I guess if it goes straight from Active to Pending in MLS then you can assume there was no option, but that's not 100% true.

You just have to determine a way to make your offers stronger....more earnest, more option, faster option, higher price, offer to pay title, eliminate the home warranty and there's a whole host of other things you can do to make your offers look better.  When I first started 10 days was normal option period or at least not unusual...then it moved to 7 as the market got stronger, now not unusual to see 3 and 5 or 0.  Zero can be tough, but 3 is possible and 5 is certainly doable.

Be creative....to match the market.