At the Right Price, Everything is for Sale
Occasionally I will mail out letters to commercial property owners in Baltimore to see if I can’t find someone who is willing to sell at a discount. Selling to me directly saves a lot of time and money because you don’t have to involve brokers or search for a buyer (I’m already here!).
Anyone who owns a home is familiar with the postcards from people proclaiming that they want to buy your house quickly and for cash. This tactic is very common amongst residential investors and probably not very common amongst commercial investors, meaning the response rates are much higher (5-10%).
Most of the respondents are curious as to why I’ve contacted them and ask questions like “how did you find me?” Maybe they don’t know that their name, address, and most of the information they gave at settlement is available in the public record.
Usually the response is something like: “well, you know at the right price, everything is for sale,” they say with a sly grin. This is usually followed by an outrageous price, which I find amusing. These aren’t the people that are going to sell me a good deal anyway.
My favorite was the guy who had an apartment building in less than desirable neighborhood in Baltimore City and wouldn’t accept anything less than $200,000 per unit. In a neighborhood where single family houses are selling for no more than $120,000. I figured the cap rate to be about 1.5%. No thanks!
Now if I wanted a really bad deal, would I spend so much time writing letters? I guess it never hurts to ask…