How/when to be aggressive during an offer, especially when your broker is trying to talk you out of it. (x-post from r/realestate)
(summary: My wife and I run a nonprofit community arts program and we've identified _the_ building for its permanent home. It is located in a severely economically depressed area with severe crime issues, the building itself has numerous issues and has been listed a half-dozen times in the last 15 years (last in 2012 for 60% of the current listing price) and never sold, I feel that the seller's broker is either playing hardball or being dishonest, I feel the property is subjectively overpriced and so does my broker, I want to lowball and don't mind waiting to do so but my broker wants me to offer now and keeps upping his suggested initial offer price (so as not to offend the seller's broker/seller, and so we get a response), both brokers work for the same firm in the same office.

My main concern is the quality of representation I am getting, whether the seller's broker is being unreasonable, and whether or not I am being unreasonable myself.

Thank you!)


Hi,

I originally posted this over in r/realestate and it was suggested that I post here as it might be more in line with the type of posts and posters that participate in this sub. I hope this sort of crosspost is OK!

I have been in the market for the perfect building for a registered (application pending) 501c3 arts nonprofit for the past couple of years, biding my time until just the right property came along. On February 1st the "perfect" building was listed. There are quite a few issues I have questions on, but it is _the_ building -- when something strikes your fancy you know it.

Due to initial funding I have need to be aggressive on the purchase price of any property, but due to what I (subjectively) see as this property being grossly overpriced I have to be even more aggressive. So:

* building is a former heavy rail power conversion station which housed ac-&gt;dc converters
* built in 1910
* has a massive footprint, 60x120ft with 35+ft clear span
* absolutely no interior construction of any kind, it's completely open
* due to being a former conversion station it has massive pits in the slab
* is in one of the absolute worst neighborhoods in the country for crime, next to the absolute worst neighborhood in the country in a city over 1 million
* area is severely economically depressed and shows no signs of gentrifying anytime soon (at least a decade off)
* has failed exterior code enforcement inspection multiple times, interior has never been inspected by the city
* unsure of the state of the slab and load bearing masonry, but the city seems to think it could use some work
* tax appraisal is less than $75,000
* taxes have been sold every year for almost the past decade, unsure if the buyers were ever paid off
* is priced at around $57/sqft (~$400,000)
* zoned residential 1-2 unit, unable to verify if it is grandfathered into anything at all
* building doesn't have official landmark status but is considered historic/designated landmark worthy by the city

The seller's broker insists that it will sell for between $300-400k (and VERY misleadingly lists the building as being 2 stories and double the square footage) but as of today there have been absolutely no offers made. Further, he is pitching it as a business space, and all of the so-called (no way to verify they actually exist) interested parties would require undergoing a rezoning process while I would not. Beyond this, the seller's broker refuses to discuss any of the details of the property and has refused to discover or hand over any info (e.g. survey, evidence of repair/work, permits, tax receipts). The building has been listed multiple times (half dozen) over the last 15 years, last in 2012 for $250,000 -- each listing lasts between 6 months and a year with a maximum of one price drop, most listings with no price drops.

Here's where I need to be aggressive (and why I believe I am justified in doing so):

* I want to make an initial offer of $200,000 (city has historically depressed real estate prices which haven't increased since the 2012 listing, especially in this neighborhood)
* I can offer a maximum of $300,000 (I will eat my damn hat if it goes for more than this)
* all cash, will write an as-is offer at $200,000, anything over that will be a normal contract
* the membrane roof likely needs replacing, no permit for it in last 15 years, has multiple leaks (as proven by severe efflorescence)
* the pits will need to be filled
* have no idea if it has a cistern or if the (interior!) downspouts connect directly to the sewer system (major flooding hazard in this city)
* if the building appraises more towards my offer, great! if it appraises for higher, the seller could donate the difference for a tax deduction

My broker works for the commercial arm of the same real estate firm that the seller's broker works for (residential arm). My broker worries that an initial offer of $200,000 won't even warrant a response and had convinced me to make an initial offer at $250,000 until this weekend, at which he said we should offer higher ($265,000). I feel he is honest (and his reputation and the recommendations I received bolster that feeling) and is truly worried that the seller's broker is playing hardball to such a degree that he won't even respond, but I also worry that he isn't interested in playing hardball to the same degree, or that he is worried about offending the seller's broker to the point where he won't entertain any offers from us in the future. The changing of the initial offer amount also concerns me, but not as much. My broker is concerned that if we don't put an offer in front of them now someone else could come in and scoop it up before us.

My broker makes good points that the building is worth what I or someone else is willing to pay for it, and that nothing will convince the seller to budge on his price if he insists it's worth the list price. He is correct in telling me that emotion needs to be taken out of it. Still, he hasn't come up with any comps whatsoever for me (insisting the building is unique and would be impossible to create comps for), but my own cursory browsing of costar/mls tells me the building is grossly overpriced for the area, for what it offers, and for the work/cost that will have to go into building it out. It bothers me that my broker hasn't come up with comps -- it makes his good points about the building's worth feel like an excuse, even if that is irrational/emotional.

Here are my direct questions, but please feel free to address anything else I have written here, or even just give me your thoughts -- please be frank/direct!

* Am I barking up the wrong tree by wanting to write such an aggressive offer? Am I being unreasonable/full of crap?
* Is my broker being too cautious? Is he doing his job properly (e.g. lack of comps)?
* Is the seller's broker just playing hardball, or is he being unreasonable/full of crap?
* Is it a cause of concern that they are both brokers within the same firm (in the same office, even), or is that common?
* Does the lack of comps matter, or is my broker correct that the building's unique properties make it hard to comp?
* Are the failed inspections, old roof, and sold taxes a negotiating point?
* Is offending the seller's broker at all a concern? Can we/would it be wise to bypass him (to his managing broker) if every offer we make goes unacknowledged?
* As the building could be designated historic/landmark, are there any grants available for purchase/repair?
* Most of the properties I've watched in the last 2 years, even (subjectively) "reasonably" priced ones, even in (subjectively) "nice" parts of town, were sold for anywhere between 25-33% off asking price -- is it unreasonable to think that should apply to this property, especially since it is (subjectively) overpriced to begin with?

Those are all the direct questions I can think of at the moment but, as I wrote above, I *welcome* any and all comments/questions/concerns/abuse.

Thank you!
[{"id": "d18dfru", "text": "&gt;Am I barking up the wrong tree by wanting to write such an aggressive offer? \n\nMaybe, but you won't know until you try. Write the low offer, if that's rejected, write a better offer. Be prepared to move on.\n\n&gt;Am I being unreasonable/full of crap?\n\nMaybe. Even with all you wrote, it's impossible to truly know the situation.\n\n&gt;Is my broker being too cautious? Is he doing his job properly (e.g. lack of comps)?\n\nMaybe he should be able to come up with more comps, but he really might not have anything to compare. Three ways appraisers do valuation - market comparison, income, replacement cost. I don't think the income approach has much application here, but it's worth a look. It might be true that there are no good, recent sales comps, so this would be tough. What would it cost, less depreciated value, to replace what's there. A good agent should be able to help you with a reasonable estimate of this. Finally, what is the seller basing his price on?\n\n&gt;Is the seller's broker just playing hardball, or is he being unreasonable/full of crap?\n\nHopefully not. How eager is the Seller? Does he want to sell soon, or is he willing to wait for someone who is willing to pay his price? Is he being misled by his agent?\n\n&gt;Is it a cause of concern that they are both brokers within the same firm (in the same office, even), or is that common?\n\nIt's common enough. It shouldn't be a big concern. It is possible the your broker might be intimidated by the other agent for some reason - age, years of experience, general aggressiveness. If they know each other, it will probably make some parts of the transaction easier.\n\n&gt;Does the lack of comps matter, or is my broker correct that the building's unique properties make it hard to comp? \n\nHe may be right\n\n&gt;Are the failed inspections, old roof, and sold taxes a negotiating point?\n\nYes, of course.\n\n&gt;Is offending the seller's broker at all a concern? \n\nNot really. Brokers, if they've spent any time in the business have dealt with lowball offers.\nOffending the seller himself would be a bigger concern. \n\n&gt;Can we/would it be wise to bypass him (to his managing broker) if every offer we make goes unacknowledged?\n\nWhy do you think it will go unacknowledged? Is this firm known for being unprofessional?\n\n&gt;As the building could be designated historic/landmark, are there any grants available for purchase/repair?\n\nTalk to someone at the city.\n\n&gt;Most of the properties I've watched in the last 2 years, even (subjectively) \"reasonably\" priced ones, even in (subjectively) \"nice\" parts of town, were sold for anywhere between 25-33% off asking price -- is it unreasonable to think that should apply to this property, especially since it is (subjectively) overpriced to begin with?  \n\nYou think it's overpriced. Another buyer might not. You also seem to think it's the \"perfect\" property. Be careful that does not cloud your judgement. There's always another property out there. If this absolutely has to be the one, be prepared to pay the price.\n", "replies": [{"id": "d18fy8b", "text": "Thanks for your post! I appreciate all of your insight. I'll respond directly to your questions/points. Sorry for being so longwinded.\n\n&gt; Maybe he should be able to come up with more comps, but he really might not have anything to compare. Three ways appraisers do valuation - market comparison, income, replacement cost. I don't think the income approach has much application here, but it's worth a look. It might be true that there are no good, recent sales comps, so this would be tough. What would it cost, less depreciated value, to replace what's there. A good agent should be able to help you with a reasonable estimate of this.\n\nThis is incredibly informative -- thank you!\n\nMy concern with comps is twofold and has more to do with questioning how invested my broker is in my success as a buyer. Yes, I would obviously love both sales comps and current for sale listings in the area so as to best gauge the market for this area and this type of property. I also wanted historic for sale listings for this specific property, and I had to push pretty hard to get him to agree to search Costar -- something I'm not even sure if he has done yet. I (perhaps erroneously) consider historic for sale to be as equally as important as comps, if not more important -- the historic for sale listings will help me understand the seller's thought process and if he historically drops prices or if he historically comes in listing higher than market price and etc.\n\nThus, if we can't get comps because the building is unique, I'll take historic for sale... and I had to push hard for it when I thought that would have been one of the first things a broker would look at.\n\n&gt; Finally, what is the seller basing his price on?\n\nYou'll find this is a common theme here, but: according to my broker, the listing broker refuses to talk about the property beyond \"It *will* sell for between $300-400k.\" That's it. I am not exaggerating. We have no idea what the seller is thinking at all due to the seller's broker stonewalling us.\n\n(As a side note: this is the second time my broker has been stonewalled. I was interested in another property a few months ago and was ready to make an offer but the seller's broker wouldn't talk to us beyond sending us a copy of the flier. The property was then pulled off the market as the seller changed their mind and decided to hold off selling until they had purchased a property themselves.\n\nAgain, this is all according to my broker. I obviously cannot verify his integrity or the integrity of any other broker.)\n\n&gt; How eager is the Seller? Does he want to sell soon, or is he willing to wait for someone who is willing to pay his price? Is he being misled by his agent?\n\nAs above, no idea how motivated the seller is. I assume some of these questions are rhetorical. Judging by his past inability to sell the property with other brokers, I'm going to assume he is not motivated and has no problem waiting for the perfect price to come along. (OTOH, he used the property as furniture storage for his business and has COMPLETELY cleared it out to list and show, so maybe he IS motivated this time.) I will also assume the broker is just doing his job knowing that the seller is going to be a hardass on price. OTOH, the listing IS misleading, which makes me question the integrity of the seller's broker, as does the fact that the seller's broker insisted the \"roof is in perfect condition\" until we mentioned the efflorescence, at which point it became \"the roof has some leaks and those will be taken care of.\" (FWIW, the seller's broker knows the listing is misleading but told my broker he'd have to find the survey to correct it... which he either hasn't made any effort to do or the seller refuses to find an old survey or order a new one. It's seriously a giant box with no interior walls or floors, so there's no way it could be two stories and no way it could be any larger than its single floor footprint.)\n\nI have no idea how much my broker has pushed for this sort of information.\n\n&gt; &gt; Are the failed inspections, old roof, and sold taxes a negotiating point?\n\n&gt; Yes, of course.\n\nI assumed so. This is one of the things that I feel is a great negotiating point: the rubber membrane roof would be $60,000+ to replace, back taxes could be upwards of $60,000, and the failed inspections all require plans and permits to rectify -- this city is NOTORIOUS for being among the biggest hardasses in the country in regards to inspections and permits. At worst I would negotiate that down to $100,000 off the list price, but I had to push my broker to even include a rider in the offer specifically addressing these issues.\n\n&gt; Why do you think it will go unacknowledged? Is this firm known for being unprofessional?\n\nMy broker insists that a lowball offer will not only lead to a rejection, but that the seller's broker/seller won't even acknowledge it was made or talk to us. He has even stated that legally the seller's broker has no obligation to acknowledge it -- I'm sure it's correct, but it's weird to bring up. This is the argument he has made in getting me to repeatedly increase my initial offer.\n\nI am unsure why he is so concerned with the offer going unacknowledged. If the seller rejects the offer, as you said, I'll offer again at a higher price. If the seller doesn't respond, I'll take it as a rejection, and offer again.\n\nMy broker's insistence on making a strong initial offer puts me on edge, as does his worry that the seller won't acknowledge it. My thought is \"WGAF?\" If it's such a worry I'll wait six months to lowball -- but, again, he's pushing me not to wait.\n\nAs for the firm's reputation, I'm not sure. They're one of the highest volume firms in the metro. (I'm being intentionally vague but I would be happy to PM you the name of the firm and the metro area.) This commercial broker came recommended to me by one of the best reviewed residential brokers in the metro, but he has no reviews and almost no mentions on Google.\n\nAs an aside, this is the second broker I've had. The first one was a super nice guy but the listings he kept sending me were less than stellar. Of course, so are the listings my current broker has sent me -- every building I've been interested in (whether due to price or aesthetics or location or etc) I've discovered myself by my daily combing of a dozen or so different websites.\n\n&gt; If this absolutely has to be the one, be prepared to pay the price.\n\nAbsolutely! That is my thought process going into this. I want to go into any offer with the strongest position possible (so that we can negotiate up to $300k if necessary) and I feel uncomfortable with the position my broker insists we take (leaving us very little room between initial offer and my top end), especially when I don't feel the due diligence has been done. That's the entire reason I made this post -- I'm unsure whether I'm being unreasonable in my expectations and setting myself (and my broker) up for failure. I do know that if we reach my hard top end and they balk then I'll walk and I would expect the seller to do the same if I can't meet his desired hard low end. To put it another way, I like it at $300,000 and not a penny more, but I love it at $250,000.\n\nI realize I'm little fish in this market, looking for an industrial building at the price range most single family homes go for (thus requiring my broker to work and negotiate hard for less commission)... but I still want my broker to work just as hard for me as he would someone with ten times the money. :(\n\nAgain, I apologize for the length of my response -- mostly just thinking out loud here. I greatly appreciate your awesome response, it has given me some great information and helped to clarify some of my own thoughts on the issue.", "replies": [{"id": "d18jzmi", "text": "&gt; the seller's broker/seller won't even acknowledge it was made or talk to us. He has even stated that legally the seller's broker has no obligation to acknowledge it \n\nHere's my only follow-up comment:  \nIn my state, this is absolutely illegal. A listing (Seller's) agent is required to present any and all offers, no matter how absurd. I would check the regs in your state to confirm what you've been led to believe. ", "replies": [], "depth": 3}, {"id": "d18wy8o", "text": "If it's a commercial building, maybe your broker doesn't have enough experience yet with industrial buildings? In our office, we specialize in different product types such as multi-family, industrial, office, etc.  Also, you said the seller's broker is a residential agent, he might have zero clue about how to price this property etc.\n\nInstead of a full offer, we typically use a letter of intent to negotiate all the main points before an offer is even drawn up.  It's non-binding and at least you get some conversation going.  \n\nAlso, in my market, we rarely care about the historic listing or value of a property.  For sales, we'd go back maybe 6 months or a year if there's no recent comps.  If there hasn't been any sales similar in size or scope to what your building is then the comps he pulls up might not even be valid if you go back over a year or two because the market was completely different.  That's probably why he was hesitate to pull up historic listings because no appraiser would look back that far if you hired one.  If you really wanted to, just put in an appraisal contingency with your cash offer and if it appraises for below then renegotiate.  Re-negotiate after every inspection you do.\n\nHave him just write up a letter of intent or offer and if the seller doesn't like it then make sure that you have a signed rejection from them.  Seller's broker most likely isn't the one trying to play hardball.  We'd rather sell these difficult properties faster and move onto the next property than hold out for $50k.  It doesn't really affect our commission much.  It's only a difference of $1,250 if he's getting 2.5%.", "replies": [{"id": "d1x1m39", "text": "&gt; Seller's broker most likely isn't the one trying to play hardball. We'd rather sell these difficult properties faster and move onto the next property than hold out for $50k. It doesn't really affect our commission much. It's only a difference of $1,250 if he's getting 2.5%.\n\nThanks for your post! I'll just reply to this part:\n\nI've found out that the owner is a crazy old eccentric. He's had multiple brokers try and sell this property and it never sells. I think you're correct that the owner is being the hardass and the broker is just spending as little time servicing a property he knows likely won't sell as he can.\n\nWhich is a pity, but I guess is both of their prerogatives.", "replies": [], "depth": 4}], "depth": 3}, {"id": "d2928bh", "text": "Be careful not to send mixed messages to your representation. What's your priority? Finding space now or getting the best deal? You sacrifice bargaining power when you need it now. Your broker might be under the impression that you NEED space now, hence pushing you towards a strong offer.\n\nA good broker will push your best deal, and worry about the commission after the deal is done. \n\nI know I'm responding late, feel free to ignore if no longer relevant.", "replies": [], "depth": 3}], "depth": 2}], "depth": 1}, {"id": "d18m7vz", "text": "Find a new broker. Yours is not representing your interests, just trying to inflate his commission.", "replies": [], "depth": 1}, {"id": "d18s0y2", "text": "I am a licensed real estate broker that specializes in industrial product in Dallas-Fort Worth. I am a top 10 producer at one of Texas's largest full service real estate firms.\nI highly recommend terminating your exclusive agreement with your current broker and calling another company in your city. A national commercial real estate firm would be choice. For example: CBRE or JLL. I'm not saying local firms are bad, but it would be a good idea to have a company/broker that has a division specializing in industrial product to represent you. Not only will they know the market, pull comps, and find the research necessary - they will do you a fiduciary.  ", "replies": [{"id": "d291wve", "text": "As a commercial real estate broker specializing in retail for JLL - I second this.\n\nYou need a Broker on your side. The appearance of impropriety is a concern. Remember however that the listing firm represents the sellers needs. Sometimes sellers have unrealistic demands and the Listing agent has no control over Ownership's asking numbers. Your current broker might have some inside knowledge of this.\n\nYou really need to have a direct, frank conversation with your broker, or terminate the representation.", "replies": [], "depth": 2}], "depth": 1}, {"id": "d19pedo", "text": "You are assuming the seller is rational. Many are not. A seller is under no obligation to sell his building for \"market rate\", so it doesn't matter how you justify your price, it's up to the seller if it's a number and terms that he or she is willing to accept or not.\n\nSome buildings will sit on the market for decades with no tenants because of nothing other than what the owner feels like selling it for.\n\nThe seller's broker has an obligation to submit your offer to the seller, and that's about it. Whether you are being reasonable or not has nothing to do with it. You could submit what is objectively a 100% reasonable offer, but if the seller is unreasonable, no sale will occur.\n\n", "replies": [{"id": "d1a7c2b", "text": "I appreciate your post! I do want to clarify something as I likely did a terrible job thoroughly explaining my thoughts in an attempt at conveying all of them in one sitting.\n\nI am under no illusion that a seller/seller's broker need to accept any offer I make, nor that they need be happy to receive it. I figure if I lowball them and they don't like it, they'll either refuse or ignore me. At worst, they'll be emotional about it and ignore any future offers I make, even at list price. At which point, time for me to move on. Though I do (subjectively) believe the amount I wish to offer is justified and laid out the reasons to do so, I wasn't really concerned with whether I could convince/coerce the seller into accepting it, I was concerned at what I considered to be an escalating price war with my own agent. He seemed more concerned with the feelings/finances of the seller/seller's broker than he did with my feelings/finances. If he didn't want to make a low offer (for whatever reason, valid or invalid) I would appreciate and understand that and would have respected him outright stating that position -- what I don't/didn't appreciate is feeling like I'm being jerked around, that our previously agreed upon prices consistently weren't good enough. Even if that wasn't the intention, constantly trying to get me to raise the initial offer price while telling me he believes it is overvalued sends a mixed message. Thus why I felt I was either being unreasonable or my agent wasn't shooting me straight.\n\nI've contacted another agent on the advice presented here. This time I have made it **absolutely** clear what my situation is and what my needs are so that when it comes offer time they will know to be just as straight with me as I am with them. I likely failed my previous agents in that way and they deserved better. I'm trying hard to learn from these experiences and the shared advice here.\n\nAgain, thank you for your thoughts! I hope my post doesn't seem like a rebuttal, I greatly appreciate all advice/thoughts on offer here, I just wanted to offer clarity into my thought process.", "replies": [{"id": "d1wrog1", "text": "I went through this same exact situation that your (if he still is) broker is going through. I represented the owner of a building that I very much respected and wanted to maintain my relationship with for future business. I had a sign call and helped the prospect out. I informed the prospect that the building may not be the best fit (retail) and that he should look around for an industrial property that they could get more square footage for less $ and offered to help him locate a property. I toured my new client around for almost a year and submitted LOI's on 3 different properties, but each failed for various reasons. We eventually came full circle and were back at my retail property he originally called on a year prior (They were running out of time and I pretty much told them I could for sure get them in the property [without saying \"for sure\", because that could turn into a false promise]). This client wanted me to submit a lowball offer and I advised him not to because he would offend the owner. I couldn't tell my client the lowest number the owner would take even though I knew the exact number. They eventually agreed and submitted a reasonable offer. I bent over backwards to get this client concessions and still was questioned about who's side I was on. \n\nI will never do a dual agency again. \n\nEven though it may piss off your broker and he may retaliate by having the other broker negotiate harder, I would go find another broker to help you out on this property. For his sake and yours.\n\nedit: The best way to go about this is to kindly tell your current broker that you got advice from an attorney and they suggested to not do a dual agency. It's pretty well understood in the brokerage community that attorneys will highly advise against dual agencies. ", "replies": [{"id": "d1x1foo", "text": "Thanks for your post!\n\nI did end up dropping the old broker and have been working with a broker from (large international firm). I guess I'm having bad luck as this new broker didn't seem interested in doing anything for me either -- not reaching out to the seller's broker for one, for two not wanting to send me any listings until my next trip to town (I'm buying remote until I move in four months), for three telling me nobody will even consider an offer from a remote buyer -- but there was an odd situation that arose recently.\n\nAt the end of March I notified my old broker by email that I was looking to go in another direction -- not sure if he got it given what happened. Anyway, my new broker then reached out to the seller's broker last week. The same day my new broker contacted the seller's broker I was contacted by my old broker asking if I wanted to make a move on the property.\n\nThat is either one hell of a coincidence or the two brokers (old broker and seller's) are in more constant and intimate communication than I would ever find comfortable.\n\nAll of that info might seem irrelevant to your post, but in my mind it cements that my broker wasn't concerned with trying to get me into the property, he was concerned with his relationship with the other broker in his office. Which is fine, totally, but he should have been professional and told me that.\n\nMaybe I'm wrong and he would already have a signed sealed delivered accepted contract by now had I listened to him. I like to think he is more like you: a good broker put in a tough spot and making due. Given what I wrote above and finding out that his development/GC company has folded on multiple projects only to reopen under a different LLC, I think I did right by me by getting out.\n\nFWIW, I've found out from calling around that the owner of the building is a craaaazy old eccentric. I have no idea how much that influences both seller's and buyer's brokers but it gives me new sympathy for their plight -- I want the best value for money, the seller's a stubborn lunatic, and nobody's going to get paid well enough to make it all worth it.\n\nI just wish brokers would shoot me straight instead of dicking me around. I'm straight with them from the get go and give them ample knowledge and opportunity to tell me they can't service me, for whatever reason.\n\nSorry, as usual, thinking out loud instead of making a new thread. Thanks again.", "replies": [{"id": "d292g9i", "text": "Replied to other comments in this post. Glad you found out the true source of the dysfunction. In all honesty it seems like you were running into a 3 fold problem. 1. Unrealistic ownership. 2. Lazy or overwhelmed representation 3. Unclear communicated expectations to your broker.(sometimes you need to be over the top specific and clear with brokers)", "replies": [], "depth": 5}], "depth": 4}], "depth": 3}], "depth": 2}], "depth": 1}, {"id": "d1c47op", "text": "See if you can track down the owner directly, to contact and make the offer.  Sounds like the brokers are just getting in the way.  If you can't find the seller's contact details, reach out to the selling broker directly.\n There is no such thing as an offer too low, especially paying cash.  I closed last year on a property for $360k that was listed at $510k.", "replies": [], "depth": 1}]