In this mastermind‑style Q&A, Morgan presents a condo deal where the elderly owners speak little English and are being represented by their son, who is also acting as their realtor. The son wants Morgan to send an offer without a property showing or direct conversation with the sellers. Chris and Brian advise a disciplined approach: first see the unit, then have a direct conversation (phone or in‑person) with the owners, using the son as a translator if needed. They stress probing the true motivation behind the sellers’ downsizing—whether it’s genuine urgency or a fallback plan—and ask key contingency questions about timing, alternative plans, and what happens if the sale falls through. Brian provides a script template for communicating with the son/realtor, emphasizing that offers should not be routed through an intermediary without seller involvement. The group concludes that Morgan should request a walkthrough and a direct dialogue with the parents before proceeding, and to follow up with the outlined questions and scripts.
Chapters
Yeah, questions. Let's hit anything you got.
I have a question about a deal. Well, it's about a property. Um, this is a condo that, um, a couple owns. They want to retire. They have 2 kids. Their, their kids have moved out, so it's just more space than they need, and they're They want to retire to another place. It expired, I think, in like November, though, and then we were just able to get in touch with them or something. So they plan to move in maybe with one of their sons, but she speaks little English, and so she referred me to her son slash realtor. So I've had a couple of conversations with this. Son/realtor who is treating me like he's very realtory with it. And he's like, just send me an offer. We did talk. He said they'd be potentially open to terms, maybe 3-year term. Send me something in writing and I'll present it to him. And then he sent me comps and I said, yeah, great, please send me comps and what price you're looking for. And he's like, send me something in writing and I'll present it to you. So he just wants me to make an offer. I want to have the conversation with the parents, but they don't speak English. What would you suggest?
I have a few. I'm sure Brian does. No particular order. You didn't see the house, right? I'd say I can't make an offer without seeing the house and without having a deeper conversation. Can you have them on the phone and translate? Or I don't know how their relationship is. Maybe he can do it. We need to have that conversation, see the house. That's bare bones basic. I think, you know, like, sounds like he's trying to control the conversation. That's great. I'll send you— I gotta see the house first and talk to you more. Brian, what are your thoughts?
Yeah, same. Now, this, this, this comes up often. This came up either on the mastermind or on somebody's accountability. I can't remember. But number one, downsizing is like the worst motivation. Usually ever. Like, that's not a reason to move unless they can't afford the house anymore, right? So I always get leery of downsizing. I just— I need— if I hear downsizing, I want another reason. Like, okay, well, I get that, but why are you actually— why are you actually moving? And are you going to move if you don't— if you can't— if you can't sell the house, are you just going to stay there, right? Um, I forget who I told this to, and I say it in a much more belligerent way than what I'm suggesting you do, but I just explained to realtors what the process is. Like, this is how I do it. This is how I buy homes. Like, unless you own the house, I'm talking to the seller and I gotta see it. And I don't make offers without seeing it or talking to the seller. Let me know what you wanna do.
Let them call you back, right?
Yeah, like, I can get— I, or I just simply will tell them, like, I help sellers who are in this scenario. They couldn't sell conventionally, they gotta move, they want their number, they can wait for their money. That's my offer, Mr. or Mrs. Realtor. But I need to speak with them, and you're not— and it's not going through you. Now, this is his son, but But if it were a realtor, I would say it's a realtor. It doesn't go through me. And if that's the way it needs to go, then that's cool. But I'm not going to be the one buying the house. I actually think I said that pretty nicely. I think I said it much worse to the other person.
Morgan, helpful. That's some great script there, you guys.
Yeah, yeah, that's good. So I'll just have that conversation with him. And I mean, the other— I was like, should I just send him an email that he can pass along to his parents? But I think I'll just have that conversation with him and say, in order to move forward, it has to go, you know, we have to have a face-to-face conversation or an on-the-phone conversation with parents. He can translate.
Yeah, well, Brian said the very first thing. The rest, all that was awesome nuggets, but the very first thing Brian said was what we say every time, don't we? Aside from the downsizing, why are you moving? Buy when? What if it doesn't?
What do you do?
Those have to be figured out every time.
Cool.
That's for everybody.
Yeah, they may stay, they may just rent it out. They're not urgent. So that's the other thing. I didn't know if it was even worth Pouring more time into if they're not particularly motivated.
If you do exactly what Brian said, you'll have the next level and you can hit us in Slack or here. Hopefully it won't be next week. It'll be like tonight. And then you hit us back.
