There are very few high value actives an investor does:Build and evaluate a teamRaise money / financingpulling the trigger and taking possession of the assetLow value activities (that should be outsourced)Finding dealsEvaluating deals - You must have criteria and a numbers based approach.  

If you are financing you are weaker than a cash buyer IF the property won't qualify to regular home buyers.Regular home buyers generally outbid investors all the time as they are making an emotional decision versus your numbers one.Where the real money comes is in solving a problem.The bank has a dog of a property that only a cash buyer can purchase.You go in and fix cheap and make a huge return.How a seller sells will depend on if it's a HUD property,Fannie Mae,Freddie Mac,the FDIC,a local to regional bank,a national bank,if the asset is being managed directly or outsourced,or you have an equity debt buyer that bought a pool of properties they are liquidating.They will all dispose of properties differently in different times spans with different motivations.Raise your offer (if at all) to where the numbers make sense for you to invest your hard earned cash.If not you move on.Better to sit on that hot cash then invest in a marginal deal.Then by patiently waiting you will find the great deal.

I handle local and non-local properties exactly the same way: I do everything that I can do virtually, I assemble a team of pros (whom I trust--in each locale), and I outsource all of the work outside my area(s) of expertise.Besides, I know very little about plumbing and even less about carpentry, so I wouldn't be able to tell the difference between good and bad work, but I can hire someone who can.

I had to drag myself to my job knowing that all of our work was now being outsourced & I had to sit there & help these same folks that were putting me out!

Nick- How about some more info on who you outsource your negotiations to, and what it costs.Thanks!

Real estate is all about setting up systems and processes so you can outsource, replicate your successes and get better at the business.

Everyone is different, but I prefer to have the stable income coming in, the ease of getting loans, and being able to outsource the stuff I don't like doing.

Well I obtained my list from listsouce BUT would it be more wise to outsource the mailing to free up time to do other tasks like probate leads etc???

Happy to point you in their direction if you're looking to "outsource" some of the activity.Mind sharing your thoughts on the financials of the deal? 

Do you outsource any portion of the pre-work?