How I won. How I lost.
Below are two stories of recent negotiations. I won one of them, and lost the other. Here’s how it happened.
In the Win Column:
SOUTHEAST MAGNOLIA
1 BD 1 BA 710 SF $420,000
P: Matthew, this looks like the kind of investment property I want.
Matthew: It's perfect for you. But you're not alone. The listing agent says there are five offers on it and I don't think he's bluffing. I've worked with him before.
P: What? I thought multiple offers weren't happening in this market.
Matthew: It happens when investors see a good deal. We're going to have to get aggressive.
P: Get it done.
I shifted into Buyer Beast Mode.
Here's what it took to beat 5 offers:
I sniffed out that my buyer had a plan for this property that would resonate with the seller. Without divulging too much, the home was ADA compliant and my buyer had a plan to utilize that in a special way. You have to tread carefully when you reveal that type of information. I got this one just right. Our initial offer was below what others were offering, but the "mission fit" got the listing agent to call us back, giving us the opportunity to pivot and win!
Congratulations, P!
In the losing column...
GREENWOOD
8309 Fremont Avenue North
4 BD 2 BA 2570 SF $1,088,000
This one hurt!
On my first tour with new buying clients, we saw this gorgeous Craftsman near Phinney Ridge. The first tour is about education. I never want clients to feel pressured, and it helps to know that we're just looking on the first tour.
But occasionally you see a gem like this, and you have to adjust your philosophy! We were out on a Saturday. The home was reviewing offers the following Tuesday.
"This one will probably go above your budget" I said, "but this is a weird market. I'm going to stay in touch with this listing broker. Meanwhile work on getting your preapproval letter from your lender."
Tuesday comes around. The listing agent calls:
"Matthew, you asked me to call you if we didn't have offers. Well, we don't. Your buyers interested?"
This set off a 4 hour sprint to see the house again, with inspection in hand, then go to my office and draft an offer, all the while trying to connect with lenders after hours to see if we could get a preapproval letter.
The listing agent calls again:
"Just want to let you know another offer came in."
We scramble to create an escalation clause that would beat the other offer. We manage to get it signed and sent over with minutes to spare, offering assurances that we would have a preapproval letter shortly.
The listing agent calls again twenty minutes later:
"Sorry, man, they took the other offer. The sellers felt more safe with the other offer--they had a preapproval letter."
The next day we got the preapproval letter by 9:30 AM. We missed by a matter of hours!
Dang it! Nothing to do but lick your wounds and get back out there. Now my buyers are ready and they know what a great house looks like.