"tenant in the house" so you can't see the house, Mr Wholesaler..

[Paul Winka]

Tenants are additional barrier to viewing the property before making the offer. The potential seller "doesn't want to disturb the tenants" when I ask if I can have a look. I'd say I have failed as a wholesaler to find a seller that's motivated enough or I haven't done a good job of building rapport to show I am serious. No matter though, what's the best practice to get in to have a look? Magic phrases? Polite persistence? 

[Charlie MacPherson]

@Paul Winka  He may know that you're a wholesaler who is going to try to tie up his property with a $10.00 down payment and then bail out when you can't find a sucker to buy the marked-up deal.  That's the wholesaler's stock in trade.

If he suspects that you're not a real buyer, he knows that you're not worth disturbing his tenant for.  So how about giving him a $5,000.00 non-refundable deposit to show him that you're serious? 

Don't worry - I know the answer. He's got your $10.00 EMD, what else could he possibly need?

Otherwise, this isn't a hard concept.  As a smart owner, he knows it's not worth irritating his tenant by letting every Tom, Dick and Harry traipse through their living space.  If he's actually selling the property, he only gets so many bites of that apple before the tenant refuses entry altogether - and that can screw up a deal with a real buyer.

If you were a real buyer, I'd tell you that you can learn 95% of what you need to know by looking at the location, the roof, the exterior, the common areas, the foundation, the utilities and the basement.  You make your offer contingent on a final inspection of the tenant's living area.  If the seller is smart, he will severely limit the kinds of objections that can be used to get out of the deal.

THe should arrange access only after you have a fully executed P&S with a significant deposit and the seller/seller's agent has vetted your pre-approval letter with the lender. And not one of those "print your own" pre-approvals from a hard money website. Those are garbage and sharp agents and owners know that. Likewise, not a worthless pre-approval from a Rocket Mortgage or Quicken loans, which are issued before they even receive the supporting documents.

Polite persistence and magic phrases don't change any of the above. Write a serious offer with a serious EMD or move on.