They have no more say so or leverage than you, if you can match them dollar for dollar and leave your emotions in the car.

hi,my name is dave atchison,i moved to phoenix az from fargo north dakota,when i was 19 years old. that was december of 1979,i have seen the town go from 1 to 4 million in those 36 years. i am soon to be 56 years old,married 35 years,2 grown daughters who are nurses,maybe be a grandpa some day.i got into real estate investing kind of by accident. i was 20 when i bought my first home,as the apartment i was living in had bugs, and i could not get them to leave,so i left. i bought my first house in 1980,i had to sell my paid off car to get the 3k down payment,then i paid cash for a $500 rambler car..lol bugs and a rambler..2 years later the home was worth 40k more than i paid for it,my payment was same as my old rent. i got married and my wifes job was on the other side of town,i felt so much pride of ownership for the home,i kept it and rented it out in 1985,and we bought a nicer home more centrally located. now i have 8  paid off single family homes,and 2 paid off condos. the condos are 150k  range,the homes 225-275k. phoenix is a boom or bust town,so when we moved to our next house,had kids and out grew it, we were in a recession,so i would have lost the 30k we saved to put down and remodel it,so came  the second rental. i have been lucky we have been able to live off one income  in our marriage, and invest the second income in real estate and mutual funds. and i always worked a job and a half to earn more. i would flip homes,condos,raw commercial land years 1995-2005 also,and invest those in more rental homes. the crash of 2008 saw us buy more rental properties at 50 cents on the dollar. i think residential  real estate is  just 1 safe place to put your money,mutual funds,and your own business being other good places. i have 30 years landlord experience,and 25 years commercial building  experience. it would be nice to develop ,and build and run, a 30-40 unit a rated apartment complex. i have the experience now,and i have never had a problem in 35 years leasing out any of my places. in the recessions of 1990 and 2008, i did have to lower rents $100 per place, for 2 years,and take tenants with lower credit scores. i have only had 1 eviction in 35 years of being a landlord. i got in to real estate by accident,but stayed in as it became a passion,the properties almost take on a life of thier own ,and speak to me,to tell me to take care of them cause thier worth it,if they are in a nice area,i never invest in an area i would not live myself. i am big on real estate being free and clear,as my places have been for 5 years now. even being free and clear and managing them myself, i only average about 11-12% returns,i dont count appreciation,only cash flow.. i tried to post a pic 3 x but it wont work?

Condo, in Madison, CT (an affluent community on the water - not Fairfield County) Complex has good reputation and distant views of Long Island Sound:UNIT: 2 bed 2 ba 1,836 sq ft. cathedral living rm, 4 season sun room finished, walkout basement, 2 car attached garage.

@Robert Car if this and REO, then that's the price fixed by the bank.

I play in the 35-50k market, so my down payment was probably similar to some people’s car down payment (lol).

I asked her “when was the last time you bought a car?”

Check with the current city codes to make sure they issue you a permit for enclosing the garage and putting a car port up. 

Sold a newer house with 3 car garage as I was struggling to rent it out at the time.

Writing offers is a serious business - you need to know and understand every word in that offer and most importantly -- you need to understand disclosures and have a sense of fairness.Also understand that agents DO NOT write contracts (unless they are lawyers) they can ONLY fill in the blanks on a standard approved contract of sale (usually 20-35 pages).You can design your own contract if you are presenting yourself.When making offers nationwide -I always have "Hybrid" clause (sellers love this)Use banking days (nothing goes as expected in real estate deals - you need time to get to the profit)A built-In extension (you need time and don't want to beg for an extension.)Financing clauses - (the sweeter you can make the deal - the easier it will be to assign your contract - we call it CONTRACT CANDY - ask for everything - the furniture - car in the garage - lawn equipment - money back at settlement - paint the house - delayed settlement etc.)A memorandum of understanding - sellers need to understand your motivation and what you are trying to accomplish and who you are - do you have a license, bonded, insured - references - testimonials - etc. remember you are a buyer - sellers look to you to satisfy their financial needs or real estate problems - don't be cavalier about your actions - leave ego at home.  

My wife and I were both in the car when our phones went off.