Quote from @Mark F.:
Quote from @Joseph Antwi:
It's been a year trying to buy a multi fam for owner occupy -- been offering 30k+ than listing price and waiving everything but nothing seems to work. Idk when this will end.. Mostly looking at Middlesex, and essex county
You need a better realtor and get better search parameters. Took me two offers in 2020 to get my first duplex. Second time in November took me 1 offer one place.
What helped is looking when less people are out ie not during spring but when it's cold, rainy, etc winter months. Also look at the crappiest place condition wise you can get away with and look at one's that have crappy listings like one photo etc. Look at stuff that's been sitting on market for a while. Everyone is going right, you need to go left.
Your realtor needs to not only know people ie not part time but has been doing this for a while so they most likely know the sellers realtor but also how to sell you. I've gotten my two duplexes with the two hardest owner occupied loans, VA and fha. Because my realtor spends time explaining why I'm the best offer even if its not way over asking (only slightly).
A lot of great advice in here, based on my experiences I have to second this bit in particular. Many folks give up looking during those off market times, such as NOV-JAN through the holiday period. In my opinion and experience, this is when buyer competition is lower, and motivated buyer meets motivated seller. If you're out there shopping through the more difficult periods and funneling time into it during a Holiday period, it's a pretty solid green flag you're not out their giving up time with family and friends just to kick tires. Likely the same situation for the seller. I got a fantastic deal on a SFH w/ an ADU that would become my primary residence. The seller? An investor doing a 1031 exchange and motivated to sell. Which rolls into the next point.
Having a great agent, not all are created equal and you want one who can sell your offer. There's always a lot of 1s and 0s, but there can be an emotional component. I was using the VA loan, and our agent used military member and fellow REI buying a home for family to build report with the selling agent. This was in a small tight knit community and the seller had close ties with the neighbors. The seller was happy to see we would be a good fit for neighbors. The seller also loved that we were coming to a tight knit community where people lye roots, and as fellow REIs weren't in fear of CA sticker prices. It's not about if you can or can't afford it, but how.
I would also recommend shopping for a good lender as well, one that specializes in whatever product you plan to utilize. The seller had a timeline to execute his 1031 exchange, and we had a lender that was capable of helping him execute that. What I learned about the VA loan, is that while almost all traditional lenders offer a VA product, very few specialize in it. My great agent hooked me up with one that did. They crushed the underwriting to make sure I was looking at as wide of a playing field of properties that made sense with the product, they had 0 snags during the contract, and most importantly in this market they performed. We closed in 21 days, two days before Christmas. This particular lender has been known to close in 2 weeks, which pardon my language is essentially full afterburner in a fighter jet for a VA loan.
TL;DR: We shopped in the off season when motivated buyers and sellers were in the field, assembled a great team, and through that team brought value to the seller in other ways than just buying his property. No mistake about it was work in this market, perhaps it was easier in the past. Once you have a good team and crack that nut, now you'll still have the great team and a track record to go add or find value in other ways. Good luck out there!
