What relavance does this have to the topic of wether property managers should be licensed???? 

Yes I fully agree, it pretty much is any where. When we use the term 'CASH buyer' in property, it means that finance is already arranged (preapproved) Not Cash as in we will pay with cash (without the need for a mortgage)

It simply says to the vendor that we already have the finance sorted, and that we dont need a 'subject to finance' clause put in the contract. Or we are not 'subject to sale of existing home' Many other purchasers are subject to one of these.

This makes our offer much more attractive to vendors and Agents.

Yes this can be very frustrating Keiko. After conditioning the agent in the way i mentioned above, if I still can't get them to play ball. I then do as you have done and directly approach the vendor. Some vendors are horrified to hear that their agent hasn't presented an offer. As you mentioned, who knows what someone will really take in this type of market – Many vendors don't actually tell the agent how bad their finacial situation really is, as they initially would like to get as much as they can for the property – But eventually get to the situation where they dont have the ability to wait for a better sales price – they just need it sold!

Nice one mate – Get into it, there are some great deals out there.

Thats the key, finding those agents that just treat it as a numbers game. Some of the best deals i have done have been thru the agents that def dont work for the vendor. They work soley for themselves and they really dont care what price the property sells for, as long as it sells (and they get paid)

Agents that think like this are great, as they are just focused on pumping the deals thru. As they realise that the difference in their commission cheque is very little, on a sale at below the true market value. It might be a difference of say $40k in sale price, but they may only reduce their commission by $400-800, when their commision will be $7-9k, (depending on their offices commission structure) It doesnt really matter.

I even remind agents of this, and I ask them if they are the 'listing agent' or just the "selling agent" as if they are not the listing agent, in most cases their commssion % is less. So then do the calculation in front of them, and tell them that if the vendor accepts my offer, it is only worth say $400 less to their commission.  This helps get the agent on side, and gets them focused on a smaller figure of $400, rather than the bigger figure of $40,000.

When you combine an agent that thinks like this, and a vendor that is more motivated than average, this is when you can start buying very well indeed.

This is such a fun game

When I first started out, i had to pay the LMI as well, as you dont have too much equity when you are first starting out with nothing

Pretty much you do whatever you have to do to be able to move forward and purchase more. So if the only way is to pay a $700 break fee, or LMI then so be it. Generally most lenders will capitalise the LMI, so its not really a drama.

Those fees you have to pay to move forward are nothing in comparison to the equity/cashflow gained in the next deal, and certainly the Capital Growth over time on a larger asset value.

Because of the fact that banks normally only lend to 80% of the purchase price or the valuation (whatevers the lowest) Many times when i bought well below what it valued at I settled a new property with one bank, at 80% of PP and then a month later refinanced it away to another lender, so that i could utilise the higher valuation to move forward again quickly and purchase another property.

Banks generally have a rule that they wont lend against a higher valuation for  x number of months – So simple go to another bank, and say I own this property, here is the valuation, can I please borrow upto 80% of that. Job done – The first bank can get a little p*ssd off tho, when you make a habit of it.

Once again, do what you have to do to more forward.

I am quite agressive tho.

Totally agree,

Agents tend to take you far more seriously if the offer is on paper.

I never ever make verbal offers or even offers in an email. I always draw up an offer on a Sales and Purchase agreement myself, and then present it to the agent (either via fax or more recently as an attachment to an email)

Writing up your own S&P agreements also assures me that the clauses and terms that I want are in the agreement unchanged. As if agents re-write your offers themselves, their missing out of one little word in one of your clauses can completely change how the clause works. So be careful with that one.

The agent must be hopeless, in this market getting any offer is good, he should be presenting them all. With any negotiation you have to start somewhere. The agent only gets paid when he/she sells it, and in this enviroment they may not get another offer, or maybe not a higher one.

One thing I always remind agents is, that they always use to say that quite often 'the first offer is the highest one' and I have seen this to be true many many times.

It all helps condition the agents

Hi there Tim,

Great to read your post and see your passion for property investment at such a young age

Go and have a read of my 'New Member Intro' post here https://www.propertyinvesting.com/forums/property-investing/overseas-deals/4327385

If i could give you any advice at this stage, it would be get as well educated about PI as quickly as possible and then go and put it into practice asap. I have seen so many new investors get very excited about this, get educated, then for whatever reason they just didnt buy anything at all.

There are many different ways that you can begin investing with out a job or very much income. So yes you can do it!

Joint Venture – You could team up with someone else that does have borrowing power 

Borrow your parents equity

Get private loans from family if possible

Put together sandwich lease options

Secure deals in contract and pass on to other investors for a fee (Bird dogging) Until you have enough cash profit and experience to buy them yourself.

There are many more, I am sure others will chime in shortly with more ideas – But this should get you thinking.