Rental Buying Tips

Buying an Investment Property - Tips to Make Your Offer More AttractiveBy Katherine Guilford
In a hot market, the real estate investor faces competition from other buyers for the most desirable properties and the best deals. It's part of the real estate game: you win some and you lose some. But if you really want your offer on a property to be accepted, there are ways to give yourself a little advantage over the competition. Here are some tips for making your offer more attractive and more likely to be accepted.
Offer full price
When you locate a property that is significantly underpriced (based on its present value in the market), offer the seller the full amount they are asking, especially if there are other buyers putting in offers. Don't get carried away and start haggling for a better price - you risk losing a good deal to a more level-headed buyer. In fact, it could be worthwhile to offer a slightly higher figure than the asking price, say, $1000 more. This is a little trick that wouldn't occur to many home buyers. Trumping any offers for full price makes you look very attractive and gives the seller an easy way to decide which offer to accept. Negotiating with several prospective buyers is a stressful and time-consuming process for the ordinary homeowner. Normally the seller simply wants to take the highest acceptable offer and close the deal as quickly as possible.
Take the property as is
If you've had a good look at a house and are reasonably sure that there are no major problems, agree to take the property "as is." Place a stipulation in the contract that says you will not ask the seller to make any repairs or pay any fix-up expenses. This gets rid of one common worry that sellers have - being required to spend more money on the property just to finalize the sale. Of course, you still have to protect yourself. Do this by including another clause in the contract. It will say that you have the right to inspect the property within a specific period of time (3-5 days). If the inspection is unsatisfactory you are then entitled to withdraw the offer and get a refund of your deposit. To make your offer even more appealing, you can agree to forfeit the deposit if you cancel the contract. But only do this if you're very confident that the house is a great buy.
Avoid delays
When other buyers are making offers on the same property, don't do anything that will weaken your offer or cause it to be delayed. For example, use the standard contract forms understood and used by Realtors in your state for all your offers. You might have obtained non-standard contracts through a seminar or course, but avoid them. Any offer that is not on a standard contract form will probably get an unenthusiastic reception from the Realtor or seller. There may be delays while the contract is studied and you may be asked to rewrite the offer. In the meantime, another buyer can jump ahead of you with his own problem-free contract.
Make the seller's life easier
Many home sellers dread the moving out process because it is so much work. Find a way to make the job less troublesome for the seller and include it as part of your contract. For example, you could add a clause stating the seller doesn't need to clean the house before you take possession. Is the seller worried about the piles of junk accumulated over the years? Solve the problem by offering to remove any unwanted items from the house yourself, after closing. Little extras like these will make your offer stand out from the crowd.