All Forum Posts by: Justin Fraser

@David A. , @James Sinclair I'll wait and see what happens, thanks for the re-assurance.

@Xing Zhu I hope not, but we'll see. Sorry to hear about your previous situation, to have your own PM interfere with your deal had to be tough.

@Bill Gulley Thanks for the quick reply! The thing is, they didn't sign it yet. They just verbally accepted the offer and then when we sent the paperwork the seller didn't sign it.

I will definitely take your advice and have our agents work this out over the phone before sending another written offer.

My RE agent just let me know the guy is speaking with his accountant this morning because it sounds like he might be taking a loss on this deal. We expect to hear back later today. I'll keep this thread updated on the progress.

Good morning BP! I'm hoping some of you with more experience can give me some insight into my current situation.

I viewed a good cash-flowing duplex (even planning on 60% for expenses) on Saturday. On Tuesday of this week, I offered $124K with $4K back at closing, and they accepted within an hour. Apparently he is a very motivated seller since his brother owned the property and died, he does not want to deal with it.

Yesterday I signed the contract and my RE agent sent it to the seller's agent. Apparently now the seller is having second thoughts because he may have to bring some money to closing since I'm asking for $4k back and he'll have to pay commissions. He has not asked me for more money, but has not signed yet. He is communicating with his agent, who communicates with my agent, who talks to me, so the messages takes awhile to go back and forth.

I don't want to drag this out because it's a good deal for me and I don't want to leave the door open for someone else to make an offer. I do really want the $4k back at closing so I can put that money into improving the property right away.

Because of all this, I'm debating upping my offer to $129k with $4k back at closing, so the cash back should become a non-issue for him and I still have the cash to do repairs. By the way, this property would still cash flow well for me at his original asking price of $139k.

I guess I'm looking for advice on how to handle this and whether I should go ahead and offer the seller a higher amount on the property or wait it out a bit and see if he asks. My agent is advising we wait a bit and see what happens, which I'll do for now, but I certainly would appreciate your feedback.

If you're interested in the details of cost/expenses, I posted the deal information with a $130K purchase price here: https://www.biggerpockets.com/forums/88/topics/103961-analysis-on-a-duplex

Congrats @Guillaume D.

@Mark Houghton The company I work for often allows the employees to use the space on nights and weekends for free. We are located half a mile from Turnpike exit 8A, so let me know if you are interested in exploring this option.

Happy Birthday! Thanks to @Joshua Dorkin and @Brandon Turner but also, thanks to everyone who participates on this site.

@Aaron Montague

@Aaron Montague

@Seth B.

Update- I submitted an offer for $125,000 and I requested $4k in closing costs back from the seller.

@Aaron Montague I think closing costs will be about $5K, I'm asking for 4K in closing costs from the seller.

I didn't realize I would need all the insurance and taxes upfront, thanks for the tip.

@Seth B , taxes here are over $5,500 a year! I may be second guessing myself on my offer price, because if I can comfortably pay $130K or more, why offer $124K and possibly lose out?

Hi everyone, I believe I'm going to put an offer on this property, and would welcome any feedback you have on it. I've included as many details as I can below. Thanks!

About the property: Duplex- both units are 2bdr/1bath, in a desirable school district. Both tenants have young children, and live here because of the schools. The tenant in unit 1 mows the lawn and shovels the snow in exchange for reduced rent of $100/month. Current rents are on the low side of average for the area.

The plan: There are some key issues I’d take care of right away such as adding doorknobs to the interior doors (they currently push a steak knife through the hole where the knob used to be), and some other mostly cosmetic issues (I hope- I’ll have a full inspection contingency in the offer). I’m expecting $3,000 in general repairs upon purchase.

Asking Price: $139,000

My realtor’s estimate on the price they will accept: $130,000

Offer: $124,000 with $4,000 back at closing

The following numbers are based on a $130,000 purchase price with $4,000 back at closing, even though I'm offering $124k.

Down Payment: $32,500

Closing Costs: $1,000

Cash due at closing: $33,500

Loan Amount: $97,500

Rate: 4.625%

Mortgage Payment: $501.29

Rent: $2,150/month

Expense estimate: $1,290 (60%)

Itemized Expenses/month: $1,186.50 (55%)

-Taxes: $462.50

-Insurance: $50

-Vacancy: $215

-General Maintenance and Repairs: $250

-Utilities (water): $117

-Accounting/legal: $42

-Miscellaneous: $50

Monthly Income: $2,150

Monthly Expenses: $1,290

Mortgage: $501.29

Cash Flow: $358.71/month or $4,304/year

Cash Investment: 36,500

ROI: 11.79%

@Dustin B. I was recently in a similar situation and found a few good threads on these forums that helped me:

https://www.biggerpockets.com/forums/62/topics/92088-spouse-support-for-investing

https://www.biggerpockets.com/forums/12/topics/74982-unreceptive-spouse---how-to-get-them-on-board