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13:59 PM, 22nd May 2013, About 11 years ago 42
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Over the last few days a newbie property investor called Craig has been picking the brains of myself and Mary Latham by email. Yesterday we got talking about negotiating with estate agents and the advice we shared with Craig is well worth sharing here so that others can benefit from it too in my opinion. Between us, Mary and I have 64 years of experience in buying property as an investment. This number will grow massively as others share their opinions and as more questions and answers are added to this thread.
Having viewed properties which match your requirements in terms of attracting the right tenants – a good agent will always call to you to ask for feedback. When they do, tell the agent that you really liked the property and would love to buy it but you think it’s priced too high for you to want to make an offer.
At this point you need to SHUT UP – do not speak no matter how long the silence goes on for.
They will ask “how much too high is the asking price” or they will say something like “the seller is open to offers”
You reply “I don’t want to insult you with a low offer” – then you SHUT UP again. The first to speak is the loser – play the game!
The agent will push for an offer.
You say that it is just what you are looking for and your finance is in all in place but you need to keep looking as this price just isn’t right for you on this one.
The agent will again push for an offer
You laugh and say, well if I was pushed I would probably offer in the region of £xxxxx to £xxxx (NOTE this should be 25% – 20% below the asking price) but I know that’s probably not going to be enough is it?
The agent will either try to pin you down to the top of your offer range or tell you that the seller will not go that low.
You will end up with one of two things 1) a property at 20% below the asking price or 2) an agent who knows that you have money and want to buy but just not this time …….
Whichever way it goes, always be respectful to the Estate Agent.
Craig emailed me again this morning asking for advice on what I think he should choose to view.
My advice to Craig was this ….
Start by finding properties which you know you can afford to buy and which will always attract good tenants and good yields, then do exactly what we have advised above in terms of negotiating with estate agents.
Use Rightmove and Zoopla to select which properties to view. Stick to the area you live in if at all possible, or at least one you know well and don’t mind visiting whenever the need arises.
If you see the words “Guide price” chances are the property is being sold by auction.
Forget auctions for now, they are no place for an inexperienced property person.
Also forget agents who don’t use Rightmove or Zoopla. As a general rule they are dodgy, not always but most are!
Finally, don’t get sucked in by the guru’s offering get rich quick property training courses, otherwise you will spend your savings with them and end up with nothing as so many new landlords before you have done.
Craig is going to have to learn to deal with a LOT of rejection using this strategy.He may well view and make offers on 30 or more properties before somebody says yes. He may just get lucky first time around, only time will tell.
I have created this thread so that Craig and any other newbies can post their questions and so that anybody can answer the questions in open forum. The more the merrier in terms of people posting and answering questions in my opinion. This is a far more effective way for Craig and other newbie property investors to get free advice from a variety of landlords and it’s also a better way for myself and other experienced landlords like Mary to share our knowledge with a wider audience.
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craig singleton
14:56 PM, 11th June 2013, About 11 years ago
Hello, thank you for all of your comments. Thank you again Mark for setting this up for me. And thank you Andrew for your comments, please email me on **Moderated** to discuss a few things.
MODERATOR COMMENT - Craig, this forum was set up as a Q&A for you. We have received complaints from other members who have been kind enough to communicate with you offline that you have bombarded them with emails and that you have been asking them to invest with you. If you have any other questions please post them here so that other people in your position can also learn from the answers provided.
Don Holmes
0:08 AM, 19th June 2013, About 11 years ago
Wow! what a fascinating debate and although I come in late, how do you maintain the patience with this type of procrastination? Well having been about this industry for 30 years I have come across many a “First timer” very concerned about making the correct investment decision, bearing in mind that in this case the guy only has 20k to play with, I also accept that like me when I started it is quite a lot more than we had at the beginning, which brings me to another point, which is entrepreneurship, you either have it or you don’t? If you have it Craig you will in the first place take the plunge and stop thinking about it, deals are being done around you, and if you “Have it” and make a mistake, as that is what it seems is your biggest concern, you will bounce back, if you don’t “Have it” you will never get started, no one has a magic wand. Concentrate on plan “A” because if you are even considering plan “B” plan “A” will fail.
Make the decision on direction, if you are looking to sell or hold? And in the case of limited funds and in what now looks like a growing market as dynamic investors are queuing up to snap up any deals, so why sell BMV if you have a queue? But also with the new Government buying initiative's you may well turn the property (Its known as flipping) quite quickly and make some profit, but of course you will also need the funds to refurbish the place , Have you considered bridge finance, using credit card finance, lease options and many more methods to get going, whatever you decide just get going! If you would like a one off discussion on area, methods, finance, or even maybe something for you and your future family within your price range my number is on the member’s area
I could go on here but do all remember we all started somewhere and as in the retail property market, it is dead without “First Timers Buyers” Good Luck Don Holmes