Normally when I do a Highest Bidder Sale, I just have an option on the property. But sometimes, if it's a really great deal, I will buy the house before I do a Highest Bidder Sale. When you do a Highest Bidder Sale, you sometimes need to make quick decisions to make changes to the house to help it sell for more. Here's an example of how a small investment paid off.
The seller had moved from Dallas to Houston. He tried for 9 months to sell their house with a real estate agent with no luck. The payments were current but he just could not make double house payments anymore.
A friend of the Seller got one of my postcards and gave him my phone number. He drove 5 hours from Houston to Dallas to meet me at the house. When he opened the door I was just about knocked over by the smell. They had 3 big dogs in the house and the dog dander smell was just terrible. Other than the smell, the house was great and it was in a fantastic location.
I bought the house subject to the mortgage and we closed in 5 days. The house was worth $160,000. I bought it for $119,000. I had a Highest Bidder Sale scheduled for the weekend after I purchased the house.
My plan was to get the house and carpets cleaned then do a Highest Bidder Sale for the highest down payment. I’d wrap the underlying loan hoping to get 10% down, or $16,000, and a $300 a month cash flow.
The carpet cleaning company came on Friday, the day before the open house. I went to check the job in the afternoon. The dog smell was WORSE. I knew there was no way I could sell a house that smelled so bad.
So I called the carpet installation company that I’d worked with many times before to see if they could install all new carpet and pad in this 2400SF house before noon on Saturday. It was less than 24 hours to the Open House. Luckily, they said sure!
I arrived at the house about an hour before the Open House. They carpet people were just finishing up. The new carpet looked great and it smelled great. I knew the new carpet would help sell the house.
Over the next two days I had a steady flow of bidders. I was selling the house for $169,000 to the person with the highest down payment. Starting bid was $3,000 for the down payment.
During the round robin the price went up and up. The high down payment was $50,000. SOLD!
New carpet smell sells houses so the $2500 investment in the carpet helped me get more bidders and a bigger down payment. Without the new carpet I doubt that I could have sold the house. And I know I could not stand to be in the house for 3-4 hours a day during the Open House. The smell was that bad!
Investing in new carpet may not be something you want to do if you only have an Option on the property. You could ask the seller to pay for new carpet or you could offer to split the cost of new carpet with the seller.
There are other, less expensive, things you can do to help sell a house for a higher price or higher down payment during a Highest Bidder Sale. We will discuss all of these things during the January 9-11th CashFlowDepot Convention in Panama.
You’ll also learn how to find great Highest Bidder Sale opportunities, things to say to get the seller to say YES to your option, and how to get more bidders at the property to help get the price up.
That’s not all..
At the Convention, you’ll also learn how to increase your cash flow by converting an existing single family house in to an assisted living facility or a vacation rental.
And you’ll learn other ways to generate substantial cash in one weekend… without buying houses or doing any repairs. You can make $20,000 to $100,000 in two days doing a Magic Bus.
SAVE $100 if you sign up for the January 9-11th CashFlowDepot Convention before November 8th. ONLY 5 MORE DAYS!
This Convention will be at a tropical resort next to the Pacific Ocean. Bring your family to enjoy the pools, the beach and the warm tropical air.
Best of Success… and Freedom,
Jackie Lange
P.S. Sign up early to save. If you need to cancel for any reason, you will get a full refund.
