One of the things that my business coach and mentor have tried to teach me is that in no circumstances buy a property without having a look at it, and in no circumstances buy a ‘garbage’ property.
Property unseen is a property on blind, you have not driven a drive through you have only seen it from google maps and worked the computer to go a few streets in all directions to get the feel of the property. I have personally done that and the results have been mixed. At one time in Tennessee that worked in our favor as the property we purchased flipped for a double in a very short while. However once in Eastern NC same kind of deal the property turned out to be a complete lemon. Now with auctions sometimes it is also the solace in knowing someone else is bidding you to the price, but that someone could be thinking the same thing. So to be very careful with this type of situation is and should be a priority. If you can afford it, move higher on the food chain and avoid properties that will just hold your portfolio down and be hell getting rid of.
In another instance, during the re-opening of the world after COVID 19, I was at a tax auction in TX. It was a misty morning and my reading glasses were not adjusted with my mask so every now and then it would cloud up beyond visibility. I misread what property there was. There was some competition on this property so I bid much over my cap on it. Turns out it was not even the property I was looking at and another property in a complete ditch. There was no road access to the property and the next line item on the auction was a property next to it but not on the flood plain. It was sold to another gentleman for ⅕ the price that I paid. When coming out of the courthouse the person asked me what I saw in that property that I gave 5 times the price plus it was more in the floodplain than his. I said I had no idea and it was a mistake, and we kept in touch. We eventually sold that property for a slight profit, but the lesson that came out of it was…
Fail Fast. Make connections and be vulnerable. Those things in order and the attitude gave us a connection that helped us eventually sell the property and mitigate our losses. No one is perfect, and we all make mistakes so best to realize them and move on.
