during the "boom" times but COVID has loosened everything up and now 5% can be had in Manhattan, 6%-7% in Brooklyn and even 8% in the Bronx.

I try to loosen him up with some banter, but he wouldn’t budge.

Also most HMLs want you to have at least some skin in the game unless you already have a track record in which case they may loosen their standards a bit.

If lending standards loosen prices could go up considerably.  

Those are great rebuttals that's just want I'm looking for, not to make them but to help them realize that selling is something they should consider, and granted that may not want to sell but,most of them time they just dont know what to do and it is our job to lead them to that end conclusion. not to force like some have suggested i was asking but if done correctly they well at least think about and that is the goal so when you or i decided to go back and touch base with them in a month1 you have built a re pore with the seller2 they have been thing about the conversation or the issues of holding on to the property3 they also have been thinking about the benefit of selling the propertythe end result is a better fellow up and increased chances of getting a deal and at fairly good price, because u have helped their motivation, by letting them tell you the reasons why they should sellsuch as:Tax paymentsloan paymentsup keepdistance if there out of townetc.now anymore ideas on how to get the seller to loosen up more

Just because we are still actively buying, doesn't mean we have loosened up our criteria and are just buying anything.We are still targeting foreclosures, mis-managed deals and clear value add plays.

As the casino industry stranglehold on the town loosens, does this mean that the city becomes more appealing for investment?

The Fed is trying to get lenders to loosen up and lend money again. 8)

They will usually laugh at the $1M hypothetical, so just keep it light hearted and say "you wouldn't believe how much people think their house is worth", which kinda loosens them up, because then they can say they aren't that unreasonable.Do not be the first person to name a number, that's something everyone does in the beginning and it's really hard to get a deal that way because they will almost never agree with it.

If you have hard water in that area, it could be the calcium build-up getting loosened.