What I’m thinking: The craziest 48-hour emotional roller coaster of my career.
Quickly review the context: We bought 25 acres of Tennessee lemons for $93,000, and have been listed twice in the last two years and cannot be sold for $100,000. Four people reviewed the deal. Everyone missed the (hidden) list history. My system. My responsibility. This is a breakdown of previous newsletters.
The $93K error almost ruined our year
We threw it into the absolute auction – no reservation, no safety net. No matter the highest bid, we must accept it.
The bullet that started sweating for three weeks on May 22…
I was deeply impressed by the auctioneer’s marketing methods. He is associated with one of Tennessee’s leading agents, who usually lists and sells 7 to 8 properties.
He handed over all possible rocks:
- In various social media ads, find out out-of-state buyers from their brokers’ massive online businesses.
- The property is located in the city and on the boots on regular boots in the surrounding towns.
- A top-notch drone photo shows the best features of the property (few of them).
- Establish meetings with local builders and timber engineers, some of whom own properties directly bordering our establishment.
It’s a real marketing blitz, like trying to try Make some lipstick on the pig. I firmly believe that our previous MLS listings are almost impossible to meet qualified buyers.
The auctioneer warned me that most of the actual actions of the auction began Two days before the auction endsso we just need to wait for it during this time.
He updates me frequently and we will be in good shape based on the online activities we get, the number of registered bidders, conversations with the buyers/agents he owns and the fact that the property can use the sewer (no pause). It may even bring us close to breaking into the property.
I certainly felt more optimistic than when I first started the auction process.
The auctioneer told me that he usually has a good feeling about the situation 48 hours before the auction ends.
When your auctioneer sentences death
Well, he called me 48 hours before the deadline. (By the way, the total price is sitting at $20K at this point. We still have a long way to go. )
His assessment is cruel:
“My intuition? This doesn’t look good. We may be looking for 50-60K exports. Going to 70k would be an absolute home run. There are many problems with this property. ”
The real fist.
I curl mentally (perhaps physically) into a ball.
It’s already been a tough quarter…I’m about to eat up the worst loss of my career.
Begin to question my ability as an operator. Had to tell my business partner (he was no less than him the day after he returned from his honeymoon) Staring at a loss of about $50,000 In transactions that should not happen.
Our current investment year Good performance in our land business history,I want Weak the return indicator An annoying loss like this.
I stewed in my anger. Use it as fuel no way Make this mistake again…and realize that if I really want to be elite, I just need to be better. There is no fragile excuse to hide behind.
24 hours before the deadline, another call. The auctioneer’s tone has changed:
“I feel better than yesterday. I think we’ll reach 75-80k. ”
Still an annoying loss, but not disastrous. Maybe a $20k drop, instead of $50,000, which is what I hoped to start the process and if there is a chance, I will set my reserve at $75,000.
Auctionists discovered some local, well-funded construction companies The day before the auction ends. They are signing up for bids. Email lightning is huge. The final urgency begins.
I forced myself to check the auction location until 10 am on the day of closing (2 hours before the auction ended)…
10 am: $50K bid. Two hours left. Still looking for huge losses.
90 minutes left: $58K. Reduce the losses slightly, but where are those construction guys? (The auctioneer sent me a text message.”I’ll call them; they’ll make a bid. ”)
30 minutes left: $60K. My belly is in the knot. Sweaty bullet. It is about to absorb a loss of about $35,000…
5 minutes left: Still $60,000. It’s time to suffer.
The last 5 minutes changed everything
Then with Less than 3 minutes All the rest has changed…
A two-person bidding war broke out. As the price rises, the increments convert from $5K to $2,000. Each bid for less than 5 minutes below bid, add another 5 minutes to the timer.
$62K…$64K…after original noon deadline…$70K…
The auctioneer called me:
“One of these bidders is a well-funded structure.I found P yesterday. Another is a mysterious bidder in Nashville.“
$75K…$80K…We reached the “home run” territory since 48 hours ago…
$95K…Sacred cow. We’re just going bankrupt. I think I made a primitive rant at that time (my memory is a bit blurry) because I don’t think we have a chance to get there…
But they… keep moving forward…
(The auctioneer called me again and said that his entire agent was watching this and no one could believe it. Who plans to go out?)
After about 45 minutes of the original deadline, the final hammer price is $117,000.
Nashville’s mysterious bidder won!
With 10% of buyer premiums, they paid nearly $130,000 in full force for a listed property.
We’re not just breaking… We are profitable.
With the preferred term we build in the transaction, we actually reach our goal 1.2 times network motorcycle change (Multiple investment capital) Although there is One of the worst attributes we have.
I still stand out from this emotional whip.
Tough lessons for pure luck to survive
#1. First, we have no business to buy the property. The four missed a key red flag, which would immediately cancel the package’s funding. It was a system failure and eventually, the Bucks stopped me.
(Even if there is no previous list history, we are No longer fund any property with suspicious/poorno matter the price, go all out. )
#2. Absolute auction is a higher risk and a higher reward than listing. The property did not move for $100,000 and sold for $117,000 at auction. But the pressure last month was not something I wanted to repeat, I should say it gently…
#3. The last minute bidder discovers that it may be a miracle. The auctioneer discovered this local builder group 24 hours before closing. He mentioned that his strategy is to actually try to find only builders A few days before the auction ends They can’t tell their deal compared to the notification they have for weeks.
Even if local builders don’t win the auction, they still take on the role of competitors. If they don’t participate, Nashville bidders will win the auction for $50,000.
Auctioneer’s excellent high-risk strategy creates a swing of about $70,000. Writing this article still makes me nervous thinking how lucky we are.
#4. Luck is not a strategy. We escaped the skin of our teeth. It would be stupid to attribute this result to skills. My conclusion is that I still need to fill our journey to become world-class, but it still applies.
#5. Paying attention separately will cause errors. The greater the transaction volume we drive through our business, the higher the chances of making mistakes, and the low-cost attribute inevitably reduces analysis.
This has exacerbated our continuous shift in favor of high-value transactions ($150K+ Purchase Price) has better characteristics, higher quality (motivating) real estate agents, and more focused ability within our team.
The second chance does not appear often. Don’t waste them!
Do you need reliable funds for your next land transaction? Severe land capital is actively seeking development projects and high-value acquisitions. The pain and eye-opening lessons we get from deals like Tennessee property mean better due diligence systems, and fewer surprises on your project.
Submit your transaction!
PS Want this full game of emotional roller coaster? From a 48-hour nightmare to a miraculous last 5 minutes, Episode 158 of Get Get Strice will destroy all white joint details. Original courses on the craziest business situation I’ve ever experienced. No fluff.
pps Check out past newsletters here.