There are many times when even after you submit what you think is a great real estate offer, it still ends up getting rejected. This has happened to me more times than I can count because I’ve been incorporating my “spray n’ pray” methodology since 2015.

With the creation of Docusign, once your realtor has inputted the terms, it takes less than two minutes to sign and submit your offer over a mobile phone. And unlike applying to colleges, there is no application fee. Therefore, you might as well submit as many lowball offers as possible. You never know what might hit!

Despite coming up $175,000 or 11% on price and writing a convincing real estate breakup letter, the sellers of the single-family home I wanted to buy rejected me. They didn’t outright say no. Instead, they strategically dragged their feet on getting back to me.

Several days after I submitted my counteroffer, they told the listing agent to let me know they wanted to list the property for $1,980,000 on the MLS. Darn. There goes my $1,725,000 offer.

I felt that if they aggressively marketed the place for two weeks with two open houses, two broker showings, and a firm offer date, they would get their appraised value of $2 million or maybe more.

I considered giving up on this property, but with a second child on the way, I wanted more space. Therefore, I deployed several last moves to help seal the deal.

When your real estate offer gets rejected, don’t give up. If you really want the house, here are three things to consider.

Nobody likes to break up. But sometimes you need to break up to get what you really want.

In a previous post, I explained how to write a real estate love letter to get the best deal possible. The goal of the real estate love letter is to make a connection with the seller. Once you make a connection, your hope is that the seller will be less ruthless when it comes to negotiating.

Think about all the times you lowered your guard when you found out so and so went to your same school, also has a 3-year-old daughter, or also grew up in your hometown.

In this post, I’ll explain how to write a real estate breakup letter so you can also get the best deal possible. After all, we tend to cherish more the things we may lose.

Being able to walk away from a negotiation is one of the most powerful negotiating tactics. Being a seller of real estate is much more stressful than being a buyer. Therefore, a good breakup letter is your ultimate weapon.

Some time between the end of 2020 and 2022, I should be receiving between $800,000 – $1,400,000 in gross capital back from 18 real estate crowdfunding investments. My plan is to reinvest 100% of these proceeds back into multiple non-coastal city real estate crowdfunding deals across two or three platforms, instead of just one platform.

My goal for real estate crowdfunding is to earn passive income, diversify my SF-heavy real estate exposure, take advantage of lower valuations and higher cap rates in the heartland of America, and to make as much money as possible in a risk-appropriate manner. As a result, I’ve been doing a lot of research.

One of the platforms I’ve zeroed in on is CrowdStreet, a Portland-based crowdfunding platform that just received its Series C round on November 6, 2019.

I recently met up with a handful of CrowdStreet personnel in Palo Alto for a couple of hours and was intrigued by their approach to business and real estate investing. To learn more, I’ve decided to partner up with them and send a series of questions to their founder and CEO, Tore Steen.

Some tantalizing news for real estate investors and potential homeowners. I found another reason why 2020-2021 might be a great time to buy real estate.

I used to think the average square footage size of an American single-family home would keep getting bigger, just like my waistline. After all, once something starts in motion, it’s often hard to stop.

However, as of the third quarter of 2019, the average (mean) square footage for new single-family homes in America has declined to 2,464 square feet from a peak of around 2,700 in 2015.

This data is from the Census Quarterly Starts and Completions by Purpose and Design report and the National Association of Home Builders.

One of the reasons why I’m always on the lookout for real estate opportunities is because every once in a while, a property will come up that seems mispriced or poorly marketed.

In 2014, our current primary residence was being marketed by a retired, out-of-town agent who only got the listing because he was a childhood friend in the 1960s. He had no pictures on the Multiple Listing Service (MLS) and only had a simple one-page, black and white flier.

Because he was not from the area, he didn’t have a network of other agents to blast his listing to. All he did was hope and pray someone made him an offer in an unknown neighborhood.

So I made a low-ball offer that ultimately got accepted after one counter. In real estate, money is often made on the purchase, not on the sale.

It turns out, there was another buyer who was willing to pay $110,000 more than my offer, but I had already sealed the deal with an old fashioned handshake. I know this to be fact because the agent who helped sell one of my SF rental properties in 2017 turned out to be the competing buyer’s agent for my existing property in 2014!

The real estate market is so much less efficient than the stock market. If you are extremely diligent at looking on your own, you should be able to find some deals. And most recently, I found an off-market listing by luck that could be a great investment.

Ever since selling an SF rental property in 2017, I’ve been a happier man. Not having to deal with disrespectful tenants and maintenance issues while I was busy being a first-time dad has been a blessing.

The reinvested proceeds were split pretty evenly between the stock market, the bond market, and a portfolio of 17 real estate crowdfunded properties. Luckily, the performance of all three categories has done well so far. It hasn’t taken brains to make money in 2019. Only discipline.

But what about the future?

Although I have a new aggressive passive income target goal of $350,000/year, I also don’t want to just save and invest everything. It’s important I also use some of my money to pay for a better quality of life.

If only I could find a way to make money and enjoy life better. Stocks and bonds don’t provide any utility. Nor does private equity or venture debt.

The best way I know how to potentially get both is by owning an amazing primary residence that also appreciates in value. My itch to own more real estate is back, baby!

Back in 2017, I had a very difficult decision to make. My rowdy tenants gave notice and I had to decide whether to sell my rental property or try and find new tenants.

The house had been rented between 2014 – 2017 for $8,200 – $8,800 a month. But when I went to find new tenants at a similar rent in 2017, none were to be found. Instead, I got a couple of offers for only $7,500 a month after 45 days of looking.

Because my tenant situation gave me stress and my son was just born, I really felt that 2017 was a good time to sell. Further, I was running up against the $500,000 tax-free profit exclusion limit.

Earlier, in 2012, I had tried to sell the house for $1.7 million and received zero offers. My agent at the time told me one couple was looking to lowball me at $1.5 million and I told them don’t bother. Fast forward five years, I was able to find my one and only offer for $2.75 million so I took it.

After paying fees, taxes, and the $800,000 mortgage, I was left with about $1,800,000 in proceeds. Over the next 60 days, I invested $600,000 into dividend-paying stocks, $600,000 into CA municipal bonds, $550,000 into real estate crowdfunding, and left ~$50,000 in cash.

So far, the reinvested proceeds have done well. But most of all, the reinvested proceeds have provided a greater amount of passive income with minimal work on my part. I’m extremely thankful I was able to free up time since mid-2017 to be a stay at home dad.

I’m also thankful to the FS community for sharing their thoughts about whether or not to sell back in 2017. After over 1,000 votes, 75% of you said sell, which gave me added confidence to let my once beloved property go.

In this post, I will argue that a golden opportunity to buy real estate is once again upon us. My spidey senses are telling me it’s time to buy at least one property before January 1, 2021.

After I finish telling you why I’m getting bullish on real estate, I’d love for those of you who are bearish to blow my arguments to smithereens.