All Forum Posts by: Doug Pretorius

@Aaron Scott and @Anita Blout

Let me save you a lot of time and aggravation... don't bother.

99% of agents don't know and aren't willing to learn what a deal is. And the 1% who do are buying the deals for themselves.

If you want to buy real estate for asking price and pray for the next 50 years that it appreciates, agents can help you. If you want a DEAL you have to negotiate directly with the owner. It's as simple as that.

Hey Pascal, a lot of FSBOs try to sell their house themselves because they don't have enough equity to pay an agent. If they've got good loans, these are prime candidates for sub2.

Those have been my best source. Sometimes I'll get a call from someone who's got their house listed with an agent and can't reduce the price without coming out of pocket too. While this can work, it's a lot harder because of the agent's commission. Either they need to take less, or they have to wait for it, or you have to buy after the listing agreement ends.

Hope that helps!

Nice deal Gunnar! I hope you really appreciate how great it is to be a landlord in your market. That house in my market would be $250-$300k and rent for $1,300-$1,500. I honestly don't know why anyone would bother to be a landlord in my area, you have to put 50% down just to breakeven on your cash flow, so you have ~$150k sitting dead in the hope that the house will appreciate.

@Alison M. How do you stay in touch (especially by phone or in person) without becoming annoying? This has always been a weak spot for me.

@Amanda Fox Sort, don't convince. Motivated sellers are created by circumstances, not by you finding the 'right' words to communicate your offer. Keep your offer simple and to the right person it will sound perfect.

@Account Closed Whoa easy, Joe. No need to threaten to 'off' them if they don't take your offer ;)

@Amanda Fox Just to give you a bit more confirmation. I agree completely with what has already been said. There is NOTHING you can say to create motivation. A seller either wants or sell or they need to sell. If they need to sell and what you have to offer is a fit, then you have a deal.

@Mark Ferguson Trying to predict the market is a bad idea anyway. You should only invest in deals where you have a blatantly obvious instant equity and/or immediate positive cash flow. Anything else isn't investing, it's speculating.

Maybe things are different in Tucson. But in my experience, comps aren't worth paying for. Get 5 realtors to do CMAs and you'll get 5 different prices ranging by at least 20%. I can come to the same 'conclusion' about price by just averaging what's for sale in the neighborhood and taking 10% off the top (for commission and closing costs.)

Besides, I'm a believer that past prices do not indicate future trends. Your subject property is competing with what IS on the market, not what WAS on the market.

John, your price seems fine for a LO (even a bit low). The problem is finding a T/B with ~$3k down PLUS $5k for the flooring and paint. That's nearly 10%, it's pretty rare to find T/Bs with that much cash available, and on top of that you're dealing with first-time buyers who aren't used to doing or paying for repairs.

A quick ~3% assignment fee sounds like a good idea. Unless you want to do the repairs yourself and hold onto the property for awhile.