Quote from @Frank A Castro:
Quote from @Hamed Rahimi:
The current decision depends on how you got here:
-How did you select your agent? Was it a referral? Did you research about his experience?
-Do you trust his knowledge and analysis? Do you trust that the offer he is suggesting is aligned with your investment goals?
-How do you get to your number? Did you do the due diligence to get to your number?
-At the end of the day, if you send an offer with your price and it will get rejected, you can submit an offer with your agent price and see how it goes?
-One thing that sometimes agents forget, is that at the end of the day, they have to act in the best interest of their clients and do what clients want (as long as it is not against the law).
@Hamed Rahimi
Q: How did you select your agent? Was it a referral? Did you research about his experience?
A: I was checking a listing out and he was there, we engaged in what it became and interview and I decided I wanted to work with him. I did not research about his experience, however he seemed pretty knowledgeable.
Q: How do you get to your number? Did you do the due diligence to get to your number?
A: I base my numbers on data that I pull from available websites ( BP, redfin, etc. ). I do numbers before I check a property to see if it is worth pursuing.
Q:At the end of the day, if you send an offer with your price and it will get rejected, you can submit an offer with your agent price and see how it goes?
A: If I submit an offer and the seller doesn't even bother to reply I move onto finding another deal opportunity. I don't even bother trying to find the price they want. In my opinion that makes me look weaker as a buyer. However, if they are willing to negotiate and come at me with a counteroffer then is game on.
I haven't been able to get to this point because my agent wants me to submit the winning offer and the winning offer is not necessarily the winning deal.
Q: How did you select your agent? Was it a referral? Did you research about his experience?
A: Right now, I am a realtor myself. When I was buying my first home a few years ago, I found two realtors based on referral. Interviewed them and choose one. I was lucky and made a great choice. The realtor that I choose was a guy that I made a favor for his son a few years ago. After buying the house, he became my mentor. Guide me to get my real estate agent license and right now, he is my broker.
Q: How do you get to your number? Did you do the due diligence to get to your number?
Websites like BP, Zillow, Redfins are great starting points vut you need to go further and do a more detailed due diligence. Ex. If the owner has updated the kitchen and bathroom in the past 6month, these websites do not take that into the consideration. The updates may add $20k-$30k to the house price. Make sure that your analyses are accurate and you get a number (highest price) that you can pay for the house and still make it a good investment for you. Never go higher that number.
Q:At the end of the day, if you send an offer with your price and it will get rejected, you can submit an offer with your agent price and see how it goes?
A: As a realtor, every time I submit an offer, I am in contact with the listing agent and ask how the seller feels about the offer. If rejected, I call the listing agent and ask for feedback. This helps me to draft the second offer better. If your first offer is always being accepted, it means you are offering too much.
It may be ok to pay ~$10k-$20k higher for somebody that is buying a house to live in it for 5-10 years but as an investment, every dollar counts.
I would be happy to help you in your real estate journey with any questions you may have.
