But it means the seller was looking for a discount when selecting an agent, which isn't always a good sign.I suggest getting clear about the max. that you and your wife want to pay for the house and make your counter offer and leave it at that.

The reason house flippers can make great money is by buying at a discount...not saving money by doing the fixing themselves.

I'm ok with her saving the 6% commissions, and I would expect to get a reasonable discount on the price in exchange.

Chasing the rent is just part of the deal when you bought your rentals.I give them a small discount, 2-3% if the rent is deposited by 9:00 PM on the first.

You'll get tons of direction here and can search for anything you have questions on.Here's wishing you tremendous success!

The broker will show an accounting of payments made.An individual seller is much more likely, IMO, to manipulate documents, even provide false information anf fly away, so my due diligence is much different.Bigger discounts and purchase prices are probably still obtained by private investors, so as Liz mentioned it's best to find these investors or develop them.

J Scott has assembled an amazing team that's succeeding in his market in spite of tremendous local competition.

He responded with several suggestions, one of them the following:"You can buy the second/third liens for a discount, foreclose for title, and then you're allowed to pay on the first."

Of course, I've discounted any benefit from appreciation/taxes, etc and looked at it from a purely cashflow perspective.....you'll have to look at it through your own lens.

So, the past few months have been more work and stress than I've seen in a while...but we're learning a tremendous amount!