The benefits of being a good acquirer

Last week, we removed contingencies on the acquisition of a 16 unit building in an A area.

The price is far from a steal, but it’s fair and, more importantly, works for us.

The deal was never on the MLS or Loopnet. We didn’t win a bidding war.

Instead, a broker with whom both buyer and seller have done a lot of business made the connection.

Why did we get to do a deal no one else got to see? Because, for years, we have been doing exactly what we said we were going to do vis-a-vis brokers and sellers. That means no price chipping, no promising cash and then using loans, no delays to closing because we didn’t have the dough, no squeezing brokers for part of their commissions, etc.

Have we moved forward on a few deals in spite of rents being a little lower than advertised? Yes, we have.

Have we moved forward on a few deals where the disclosure from the seller was laughably inadequate and almost certainly fraudulent? Yes, we have.

Have we moved forward on a few deals with city or county issues which were not disclosed to us during the marketing period? Yes, we have.

And, because we’ve been willing to be flexible on those deals, we’ve certainly left money on the table. But, big picture, because of our flexibility, we generally get to see the good deals, sometimes before any one else sees them.