Letting Potential Buyers See House
lets say i find a deal and put it under contract, wanting to flip it to a buyer. how would i let the potential buyers see the inside of the house? i don't want to disturb the sellers too much. and wouldn't they get suspicious if i have potential buyers comming through the house when i'm suppose to be buying it? do you have any problems with this?
I would be interested to see what some pro flippers say about your question. My gut says that if the property is occupied by the seller you should include a clause in the contract that allows you to show the property. They may have to know what your plans are. If you spring it on them after the contract you may have a difficult time getting them to cooperate. Time is money so forcing them to allow you to show the property could chase off the buyers. Good luck.
Where I come from, if you are going to "flip" never own the property. Then you option it. First of all I have always found being honest and upfront with the seller works best for me.
Lori
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It is hard to wholesale occupied properties unless the sellers are very motivated and they know that you are a wholesaler.
Cha-Ching,
What I hear John, Lori, and bgrossnickle saying is have a good contract that spells out all your needed stipulations and be honest and up front with your homeowner.
I do know that my "motivated sellers" are interested in one thing first and foremost. They want to eliminate the problem. They know I am an investor and I have to make money on the deal. I try in every instance to be the solution to their problem. This seams to work for me but is just one man's opinion. Lots of good advice from the other posters on your question. Good Luck.
Dave
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I'm glad this question got asked, I was wondering the same thing....as I'm just starting into this business and want to do flips. I would think it would be much easier to have a buyer look at either the outside or inside if the house was vacant.....if it was occupied I was thinking that I would just have them take a look at it from the outside and I could give them the info on what would need to be done inside since I would have been through it with the seller before signing a contract.
Tinman or anyone else who can help me understand.....just wondering about the option agreement.....is this better to use when flipping or assigning contracts than a purchase agreement. I'm still new and wanted to better understand how an option to purchase works vs a purchase agreement. Does the option agreement protect you in case you can't find an end buyer to either purchase your contract rights. I'm a little confused. Thanks!
Dana
Yes, I am not quite sure how the option would work here. If I understand correctly, you get an option from the seller to buy the property for a predetermined amount and the option lasts for X www.days.Then, if you can't sell it, you walk away and the seller is left with the house? It seems like it is too one-sided. What did I get wrong?
Thanks.
Clegg
I am also a newbie but I have been looking at alot of properties for about 3 months now "full time". I have found that when I tell a seller that I am going to wholesale it so I need access to the property, they are more than willing to get rid of their problem and will do anything I need. I have even had a bank hand me a key when I told them I may be able to get rid of it before foreclosure. I actually have my first 4 in contract right now and only one is a problem with seeing it. This has been a great week! Just be honest and see where it takes you. :-D
R5 - well done.
To all,
If you are really helping to solve a person's problem then they should work with you. If they think they do not need you and are otherwise in denial then expect issues not matter what the contract says.
John
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Good Posts
Just to reiterate, Always, yes ALWAYS be upfront about what you are doing with their property. It makes for a lot less headache in the end. I have flipped several properties that there were residents inside of them, but the selleres understood, and it was in the contract, that people would be coming and looking at the property. You should cover all of your bases in the purchase agreement. Until next time...........
Let them know that you'll be showing the property, but don't show it a lot, try to get all your interested parties to show up around the same time, I've even went so far as to put up people in a nice hotel for a weekend just so I could have an open house, with their permission of course. Whatever you do don't abuse them and just start showing up at random times also make sure to let interested buyers know that someone is living there and to try and not disturb them.
Part of the option can be worded to allow you full possession rights during the term of the option in order to do repairs, show to potential buyer/tenents and partners.
If soemone has a property they don't want, you're actually doing them a favor. Most will cooperate. Usually, distressed props are abandoned as well, so it's never much of a probelm getting them to agree to granting possession.
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