Making the offer on my first deal

[Ricky Jefferson]

Hey Bigger Pockets Nation!

I introduced myself last month as a returning investor who lost everything and is now ready to get back into the game. I have to admit I was gun shy and I wasted many years sitting on the sideline until I discovered Bigger Pockets.

The timing worked out because I was expecting a large Commission check which was the perfect opportunity for me to go out and start investing in property again. My focus will be Mississippi to start because I grew up in Mississippi ( although i live in LA) and I have family in that area who can help me manage my properties. I took a two week trip and looked about 30 properties and I made an offer on two properties. My emotions were all over the place but after listening to several podcast about i was encouraged to make an offer on homes that I thought would pay off with a 1% or 2% return.

I set up an appointment with the real estate agent to do a walk-through and I’m happy to have found a real estate agent I can trust - someone who is humble enough to work with me even though I may have silly questions or redundant questions. After doing a walk though i decided that the items that needed to be repaired are not going to be deal breakers. 

Now comes the offer… I heard a podcast on Bigger Pockets that my offer should make them cringe. The house was listed at $80,000, I made an offer for $48,000 and sure enough they responded with an unexpected counter of $55,000 along with my contingencies. I responded to their counter with $50,000, 50-50 on closing costs and a one year warranty protection plan .To my surprise again the seller agreed to everything and I signed the final papers today to close the deal.

I'm now submitting my financials to a mortgage broker and I will also take advice from someone I heard on Bigger Pockets. I don’t want to put 20% down so I will be pursuing a Piggyback Loan which is 80% financed, 10% down and 10% line of credit. (I don’t know if this work) I asked the Loan agent to work with me and to be as creative as possible because I want to make the deal happen. Once this deal closes I will make an offer on my second property ( and stick with this agent). I will also send pictures and other details from the inspection on how things eventually turned out. I hope my process will help someone else because I was nervous about this deal but everything I learned from pockets gave me the confidence to not stop. i will appreciate any advice on the next step.