Who’s Afraid To Make An Offer?

Scott CostelloAll, Blog 5 Comments

Probate Investing Monday

I’ve recently gotten off track with my Probate Monday posts, but the recent lead I’ve been working is a probate lead so I give you Probate Monday On Friday…

After figuring out the repair costs for the Tall Timber house I had one last thing to do and that was actually call Jim (the owner) up and make the offer.   I haven’t made to many offers in the past so there are still some nerves, but I was pretty confident in my number so on Wednesday evening around 6pm I picked the phone up and went for it.

Before blurting out what my actual offer was, I mentioned a few of the big repairs that where found by Lance and I on our last visit.  I did this to sort of limit the Shock of my lower offer then what my ball park (330 to 360) was originally.  Jim is a fairly reasonable person so when I told him the best I could do was 290k, he let me know that he had a higher offer but was still thinking about just listing it with a sales agent.

Jim did keep his options open and asked how long my offer was good for.  I told him that it was an outstanding offer and if he changed his mind or things fell through to give me a call back.  I also mentioned I could refer him to a real estate agent if he needed one (possible referral fee for me if I do since I’m an agent myself).

All in all it was very simple to make the offer because I was…

  1. Confident in my offer price
  2. Getting more comfortable talking with sellers
  3. Realizing that there is nothing to be afraid of
  4. To succeed I need to make offers and a lot of them

Over the final two months of this year I am going to take a closer look at repair costs.  For each item, such as roofs, siding, driveways, etc… I will be doing research into what to look for when you are at the house and also how to break down the costs for each item.  This will go a long way in helping me out and I will be writing a series of posts to try and share my knew knowledge.

The first item I will be looking at is the roof.  Look for the post next Friday.

Scott Costello
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Comments 5

  1. Scott,

    Excellent job. Your offer may come up down the road. As an idea, I recommend a follow up letter in about 1-2 weeks thanking him for his time and to keep you in mind. I have had very positive responses from that.

    Jason

  2. Pingback: Probate Investing: Quick Hints And Tips On Making An Offer | Real Estate Investing News Watch Blog Aggregator

  3. Scott, I think my biggest fear of talking to sellers is them asking me something that I’m not sure how to answer. I don’t wanna sound like I have no idea whats going. I’m a people person and have no probs talking, I just don’t wanna sound dumb,lol.

    1. The best thing you can do when a seller asks you a question you don’ t know is to tell them the truth. Say, “Well that is a good question, I don’t know the answer but will find out and call you tomorrow.” This could have two positive affects if you follow threw and call back. One, you will come across as being honest. Two, the seller will believe you follow through on your promises.

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