Offers Still Oustanding

In my initial batch of offers I submitted via my RE agent, two were almost immediately rejected. I hadn't heard anymore about the other two, so I emailed my RE agent yesterday afternoon for an update. Later last night, I checked my email, and she had replied. She said the listing agent told her that the one with a higher offer than mine backed out due to financing, and that my offer is still being considered. My other offer on the other property is also still in the running. The good news is that both have survived a week of scrutiny and haven't been rejected yet. The not-so-good news is they haven't been accepted yet. Without checking, I believe they were both bank REO's. I had told my RE agent when I submitted them that they were my initial offers, but not necessarily my final offers. I left about $5k-$10k of bargaining room in my offers as I've heard banks usually don't take the first offer (unless it's exactly what they want or more).

Two interesting things about these offers that every new investor should know. First, both my RE agent and loan officer said that banks will not bargain. I have stuck with my guns on these, and although I don't have a deal yet on either, the banks have not rejected my offers yet because I submitted lowball offers. Second, with the one offer, my RE agent told me before I submitted it that another offer was pending for a higher price than my own. She suggested I submit it with a higher offer price or not submit it at all. I told her to go ahead and submit my offer, because it was what worked for me, and I may get lucky and the other offer may bail out for some reason. Sure enough, the higher offer on the one property bailed because of financing. Lesson learned is to always stick to what you want, and not what other people say - even professionals in the business.

On a side note, I've tasked my wife to start designing my business cards. I could probably design and order them today, and get them by Friday, but I want to get her more involved in my venture. She has always been interested in desktop publishing and whatnot, so this may be more fun for her than work for me. The only obstacle is she is right in the middle of doing some spring cleaning on our house, so has limited time.