You never know till you try!
A statement I’m sure alot of us have heard over the years. Ranks right up there with “Should wudda coulda”. Both of those statements I hear alot in discussions about properties. The one that got away, you know the one, that 20 acres of prime deer ground you wished you’d made an offer on but decided to wait for the price to drop. Then just weeks later you see the “SOLD” sign show up and you find out someone got a great deal on the property you “coulda” had. Heck I’ve been in that position many times myself over the years.
Back in 1990 I was again driving my wife mad bothering her with my vacant land wishes. I kept telling her how we were missing out on alot of potential investments. ”Aw come on honey this 10 acres is perfect, and it’s a great investment at the asking price.” Why if we bought this and held on for a couple years I bet we’d make more money than our 401K, and get to use our investment too. It took me a L-O-N-G time to convince her to let me give it a try, but persistance finally paid off and I found a hunt club that was disbanding and selling off their holdings. The asking prices were pretty decent, and the land looked nice. Long story short the seller was willing to deal and we wound up with about 40 acres instead of just 10. A result I’d never have known if I hadn’t put an offer on the table. We had a blast with that property and in a few years the itch was there again to buy another 40 acre parcel I’d been watching for nearly 2 years on the market.
We hooked up with a local realtor I had used before, who convinced us to do some parcel splitting and then put them up for sale. We wound up selling off all but 14 acres around our pole barn, and netted a decent profit, enough to make an offer on the 40 I wanted. The property by the barn was pretty special to us and it was difficult to put that on the market, but I decided instead of working up an offer on the 40 we’d instead play it safe and sell off the barn and 14 acres first. Low and behold the 14 and the barn sold in 2 days!! Soon as we had an accepted agreement on our property I was off to write an offer on the 40. Unfortunately, my luck had run out, seems someone else had put an offer on the table for the 40 just a couple days before I came along and he got it for a song!! Drat!!! If I’d made my offer first instead of waiting to sell the 14 acres and the barn I’d probably have gotten that parcel. A “Shoulda, woulda, coulda ” moment.
Where I’m headed with this rambling is that you never know what you can get a property for unless you write an offer. If you’re in the market for a property, don’t let the asking price keep you from putting in an offer you’re comfortable with even if it’s a bit below what is being asked for the property. Last bit of advice here as a buyer make sure you put your offer in writing! Sellers are much more likely to give your offer serious consideration if it’s in writing, as the ole saying goes “Talk is cheap”, and all those zeros can look mighty inviting.
Posted: June 2nd, 2010.