Posted by Rob FL on February 11, 2001 at 11:07:53:
I’m certainly no expert on flipping, but I will try to help best I can.
Having someone take you seriously is truly an attitude and self-esteem thing. It’s the way you act and the way you come across. Certainly a strong offer also helps, but it is attitude that does it in my opinion. Of course developing your attitude and self-esteem into that of a confident winner might take a lot of work. Everyone is different. Heaven knows it took years for me to get there (and I still have to work on it on a daily basis).
I am not aware of you having to qualify for anything in order to flip property, but it would not be a wise idea to make offers that you can’t actually close yourself if you have to.
My general rule of thumb as far as earnest money deposits go is $100 for FSBOs and $500 for Realtor listings. On the more expensive Realtor listings, I will up my earnest money deposit as necessary. Low earnest money deposits are a key to Realtors that the offer is not serious.
In a nutshell, how I orchestrate a flip is to: 1) get the property under contract and make sure I have the right to let other people take a look at the place (usually I tell the seller/Realtor that these people are my “contracters” or “inspectors” – they also happen to be investors looking for rehab properties), 2) I get the investor/rehabber to sign a sales & purchase contract to buy the property from me. They also reimburse me for my earnest money deposit. 3) We close.
It’s that simple. The true trick though is being to orchestrate things. It might take alot of mistakes before you get it right. I made plenty and still do sometimes.
Hi Rob ,
Earnest money and making an offer to the
seller.
How are you? Fine I hope. I am hopefully or soon will be a newbie in Starting out in REI. But just to start out slow, I want to begin in flipping property and what you just said to Frank in your posting here on Earnest Money has sort help me have a better understanding on what I will be dealing with. You see I am a little nervous because I never dealt in RE before until now. So what I want to ask you from a seller’s point of view again just so I can break the ice with the seller, How do I let them know to take me seriously when offering to buy their property and flip? And also what is it that I have to qualify for in order to be able to flip their property?
Rob, I here all the time in flipping property, investors say that it is best to keep the earnest money low as possible, like at $10 or less when dealing with a private owner and with a realtor you would have to pay $500 to $1000. So what qualifications would still apply to an investor if they want to flip the property? What do you (the seller) and the investor agree to in order for the investor to get the contract flipped? And what does the seller get out of this? Let’s say the asking price for the house is $95,000, Where does the investor(myself) come in where I would get the cash and the investor or buyer would pay me and the seller as well? Or how does this work. I am sorry for so many questions but I rather here it from an experienced person one on one than constantly buying books and tapes. Thank you for your response.