Father's Day Car Show
Finish The Rep:
Often times, I feel like throwing in the towel before throwing my hat in the ring.
A seller calls and we're excited to answer. They almost always start out skeptical, but we slowly win them over. After collecting some preliminary data, we make the ask: "What do you consider a fair price for your property?"
Once in a while they give a realistic number. Most times, however, they want a phone number for a tiny lot on a double-yellow sandwiched between a gas station and a pizza shop.
When I hear a ridiculous ask, it's hard not to lose hope or immediately mark the lead as DOA.
But I'm nothing if not disciplined.
So I pull out my trusty underwriting tool in Google Sheets and get cracking on what I'm willing to pay. I choose to ignore their ask at this point. I'll go as far as telling myself their ask is irrelevant.
The next step is to schedule a walkthrough of their property. This meeting has two objectives: build more rapport (in-person) and uncover hidden motivations.
I am using the walk-through as an excuse to learn more about the seller and their situation. I am a hammer and their house is a nail. It's going down regardless of what I see.
I also bring a printout of comparable sales to indirectly provide them a rough idea of where I'm going to make my offer.
I leave the walkthrough with a follow-up date set to present an offer after they confirm they're ready to move forward if we can come to an agreement on price.
Assuming they don't object to the comps shared, the table is set for them to accept my offer before I even present it to them.
The second in-person meeting is when I present my offer. After the pleasantries, I ask for a place to sit down. Then I slowly pull the contract out of my folder, place it face down between us, and start from the end.
The very first thing I do is sign the offer in front of them. I let them know I'm binding myself to this purchase and sales agreement should they choose to accept it.
Then I flip the next two pages and go through a few highlighted terms:
- There are no brokers or agents involved: you won't pay any commissions
- I put the closing date as XYZ 123: We can move that up or push it back as per your preference. We'll close when you're ready to leave
- This is an as-is offer: take what you want, leave what you don't
- The only inspection we want to do is for an underground storage tank like septic or oil tank
- This is a cash offer, but we reserve the right to obtain financing. There are no financing or appraisal contingencies. If we don't close because of monetary reasons, we may ultimately forfeit our deposit to you.
- There will be 2 deposits: X,000 upon signing and another X,000 upon concluding attorney review.
- Finally, I share the purchase price: XYZ,000
I hand them the first two pages of the contract to review and leave the third page on the table with the pen pointing to where they need to sign.
Spoiler Alert: They ~NEVER sign.
The excuses are predictable: Lawyer, Children, Price, etc. I have a canned rebuttal to each objection.
Why am I bringing this up now?
In the past week or so, I purchased my first house in NY and opened Attorney Review on another house in one of my target markets here in NJ.
The offer we made on the home in NY was so low it was almost painful to present it. To my surprise, the seller accepted it almost immediately.
The offer I made in Livingston was $150,000+ lower than their original asking price. It took a third in person visit, but we opened attorney review the following Monday.
I want to cement these experiences into my memory because it's a good reminder to trust the process.
When I calculated what I was willing to pay in NY, I almost didn't make the offer. I was sure the seller would curse us out.
When I realized how far apart the seller and I were in Livingston (15%+), I almost didn't make the offer because I thought there was no way they'd entertain an offer so far below their ask.
Regardless of where we end up on these deals, I'm glad I finished the rep.
I'll end this one by sharing a quick story about Luna.
After dinner one night this past week, she was like, "Daddy... Nevermind..."
"Nevermind what?"
"Nothing. You're going to say no."
"Luna. It doesn't matter if I say yes or no. You have to ask. If you don't ask, the answer is always no. If you ask, the answer can sometimes be yes. You have to always ask."
"Fine. Can I have ice cream?"
"No. Let's go upstairs. Time to take a bath."
"DADDY!!!!" 😩😩
😅😂 She walked right into that one, but at least she finished the rep.