Remember the "red hot rock" deal I dropped the other day? Well, I may have been targeting the wrong pool of buyers. So today I switched gears and will see if there's some life in this deal yet. Here's how the convo with the listing agent went down: Me: 𝘏𝘦𝘺 𝘗𝘢𝘵𝘵𝘺, 𝘲𝘶𝘪𝘤𝘬 𝘶𝘱𝘥𝘢𝘵𝘦. 𝘈𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘥𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘸𝘢𝘭𝘬-𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘵𝘺 𝘺𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘥𝘢𝘺 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘳𝘶𝘯𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘵 𝘣𝘺 𝘢 𝘧𝘦𝘸 𝘣𝘶𝘺𝘦𝘳𝘴, 𝘐’𝘮 𝘨𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘱𝘶𝘴𝘩𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘢𝘴𝘣𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘴 𝘢𝘣𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 (𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘥𝘶𝘤𝘵𝘴), 𝘬𝘪𝘵𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘭𝘢𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘵 (𝘯𝘰 𝘋𝘞), 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘥𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘴𝘩 𝘭𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘭 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘵𝘺. 𝘈𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘶𝘳𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘱𝘳𝘪𝘤𝘦, 𝘸𝘦'𝘳𝘦 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘨𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘐'𝘥 𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘪𝘱𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘥. 𝘐𝘧 𝘸𝘦 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘮𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘸𝘢𝘳𝘥, 𝘪𝘵 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘯𝘦𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘤𝘭𝘰𝘴𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 $260–270𝘬 𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦. 𝘊𝘶𝘳𝘪𝘰𝘶𝘴 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘳 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘯𝘦𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬. LA: 𝘛𝘰 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘳 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘬𝘦𝘦𝘱 𝘪𝘵 𝘢𝘵 $305. 𝘐𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘸𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘣𝘦 𝘵𝘢𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘵 𝘰𝘧𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘢𝘳𝘬𝘦𝘵. Me: 𝘏𝘦𝘺 𝘗𝘢𝘵𝘵𝘺, 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘬𝘴 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘶𝘱𝘥𝘢𝘵𝘦. 𝘛𝘰𝘵𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘳'𝘴 𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯. 𝘐 𝘥𝘰 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘢 𝘧𝘦𝘸 𝘣𝘶𝘺𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘵𝘢𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘭 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬, 𝘴𝘰 𝘐 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘨𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮 𝘢 𝘧𝘢𝘪𝘳 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘵. 𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘴𝘢𝘪𝘥, 𝘣𝘢𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘰𝘯 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘥𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬 𝘴𝘰 𝘧𝘢𝘳, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘮𝘺 𝘢𝘯𝘢𝘭𝘺𝘴𝘪𝘴 𝘣𝘢𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘰𝘯 𝘢 𝘱𝘩𝘺𝘴𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘭 𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘵𝘺, 𝘐 𝘥𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬 𝘸𝘦’𝘳𝘦 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦𝘭𝘺 𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘢 𝘣𝘪𝘵 𝘵𝘰𝘰 𝘧𝘢𝘳 𝘢𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘵 𝘰𝘯 𝘱𝘳𝘪𝘤𝘦. 𝘐’𝘭𝘭 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘢 𝘤𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘳 𝘥𝘦𝘤𝘪𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘯𝘰 𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯 12 𝘯𝘰𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘰𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘳𝘰𝘸. LA: 𝘖𝘬. 𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘬 𝘺𝘰𝘶 Me, after discussing it with my coach: 𝘏𝘦𝘺 𝘗𝘢𝘵𝘵𝘺, 𝘐 𝘩𝘰𝘱𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶’𝘳𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢 𝘨𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵 𝘍𝘳𝘪𝘥𝘢𝘺! 𝘈𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘢𝘭𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘮𝘺 𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘯𝘦𝘳/𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘰𝘳 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘥𝘦𝘢𝘭, 𝘐’𝘥 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘶𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘦𝘴𝘤𝘳𝘰𝘸 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘬𝘦𝘦𝘱 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘦𝘥. 𝘈𝘨𝘢𝘪𝘯, 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘬𝘴 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘱𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦. LA: 𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘵'𝘴 𝘨𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵. 𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘬 𝘺𝘰𝘶 Next steps: I'm shifting my target buyer market from flipper to long-term buy and hold investor, most likely with a W-2, and thinking long term wealth and tax savings. Tomorrow I'll be at an all-day meetup, so might make some connections there. Took an hour or two this morning and put together the attached flyer. If you know any buyers this could be a fit for, let's do a JV! 😊

When it comes to zero cost real estate leads, sometimes you get what you pay for. Example: Got a deal under contract recently for $305k that was listed at $440k. Screaming deal, right? Well, not exactly. A visit to the property uncovered a few little “quirks” like: - asbestos covered ducting - no place for a dishwasher in the tiny cramped kitchen - a non-conforming third bedroom only accessible through another bedroom - generally not well presented or packaged, with debris around the front and back doors, dingy dark basement, mismatched fixtures etc. Perhaps more to the point, my top cash buyers said basically, thanks but no thanks. The beauty of the positioning though is I had nine days to decide before my earnest money “went hard”. Fortunately, I let it go plenty early, hopefully building good will with the listing agent, and freeing up time to go after better deals. Have you ever found a smokin' hot deal from a distance but upon closer examination turned out to be more like a steaming pile of er, shall we say... horse pucky?

Opened escrow on a new deal yesterday, as follows: Denver Northeast Park Hill 1942 Brick Ranch, 2/1 762sf + unf bsmt Was listed at $440k, now u/c at $305k ARV ~$450k fully finished Light rehab for retail, or as-is with some cleanup for rental May need a further price reduction during our 9 day DD Targeting a $10k assignment fee 🤞 Now on to the hunt for a cash buyer!

At the listing agent's request, I plunked down $51 to give CTMe (a real estate contracts platform) a chance. And boy, did I blow it at first! Fortunately, the agent was very patient with me and provided helpful feedback with each (failed) iteration she received. Finally got an executable offer across the finish line. Fingers crossed, the deal goes through for a 5-figure profit. What's a challenge you pushed through to success, in spite of repeated failures?

Today I received a counteroffer at $305k that was already reduced from $440k. Even at that, I realized after looking more closely, it was still overpriced. What to do? Consulting with my Ai oracle, based on Ryan Zolin's Agent Investors approach, I accepted the $305k counter. For now. Given that agents expect retrades to happen during inspection, I'm betting that's the best way to drive down the price to where it needs to be without losing all credibility with the agent. After all, that's the real objective here — to build solid relationships with agents. Where will this land? Stay tuned! Have you ever run into a difficult negotiation like this? If so, how did you handle it? Share in the comments below!