Christian OsgoodCEO, Multifamily Strategy · CEO at Multifamily Strategy

The Rule I Follow with Deals

10 Jun 2026 · 1 min

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1:29

In this discussion, Christian Osgood shares his proprietary "15% rule" for handling asking prices in real‑estate deals. He advises that if an offer is within 15% of the asking price, you should submit an offer directly; if it exceeds a 15% discount, you first call the broker, explain the low offer, and ask permission to send a Letter of Intent (LOI). Osgood emphasizes that asking price is merely an opening figure, not the seller’s bottom line, and should be used only as a benchmark to gauge how far your offer deviates. He describes a "guess‑and‑check" method—using a cash‑flow calculator to adjust price or terms until the deal works—then presenting the adjusted offer. The conversation also touches on the practical workflow of sending multiple LOIs, under‑writing each, and engaging brokers before launching a final offer.

Chapters

This is a rule that I follow that I often share. Within 15% of asking price, send an offer. With— if you are more than 15% off the asking price, call the broker. Let them know that you're submitting an offer that's a lot lower than the asking price and ask their permission to send an LOI. Just be like, hey, would I be wasting the owner's time if I sent this? But like, that's the 15% rule. That, by the way, that's an Osgood original rule. I think it's a fantastic rule that makes it really, really easy. It's the only thing that I use asking price for. If you are only underwriting deals based on their asking price, your deals will almost never work. Sometimes they will, but it'll be rare. You usually have to negotiate.
Bill likes to play with the numbers and start at their asking price and work your way down. And that's what I do.
Yep. That's what I do first. I call it the— in high school we called it the guess and check method because it's where it cash flows. I'm going to see where they're at and then I'm like, okay, I either need to move the price or the terms to make the deal work. And that's really what the calculator's for. Change an input, get it to where it works, and then that's what you offer. But the only benchmark for price, it's your starting point, their price. So you know how far you're coming off. And then is it greater or less than 15%? Those are the only two times their price ever comes up. And no one lists a deal at the minimum price they would accept. You would have to be stupid to advertise, hey, this is my bottom line. Asking price is exactly what it sounds like. It's their opener. And then you're going to meet them with your opener and you'll usually come somewhere in the middle. That's normal.
Looks like I'll send off like 9 or 10 LOIs tonight/tomorrow.
That's a lot of LOIs.
You'll probably get something accepted.
But underwrite them, have the conversations. And, you know, if you've conversed with all these brokers and you think you have an answer that makes sense for the deals, you know, launch away.