Brand new to this website and have just registered so please bare with me.
G'day Sean - welcome,
I'd suggest having a good long hard think about loading up your offer contract with all of these really clever little sneaky "get out" clauses....cos most reasonably intelligent Seller's see straight through the charade that the guru's peddle as really swisho.
Make it subject to your pet goldfish approving if you so desire, but don't be surprised if, after considerable time, due diligence and cost to evaluate and sort the properties down to a level where you feel strong enough to get the pen out and start making a written offer, all of that is wasted as the Seller screws up your offer and chucks it straight into the bin.
Fantastic and no worries if you don't care and you are simply dropping hundreds and hundreds of offers around the place, but the agent's will soon catch on what's up. If you do actually value your time and due diligence effort, then I'd suggest you get fairly serious and sort out all of your subject to's before you offer.
At the end of the day, the Seller is looking for an offer that is as high as possible, cash unconditional with a short a settlement period as possible. That's attractive to them. Anything less is commensurately more unattractive. Loading up the offer with finance clauses, pest clauses, building inspection clauses, subject to partner clauses, start renovating before settlement clauses, long delayed settlement times, little or no deposit, subject to your own home selling first clauses, which way the wind blows clauses and a few more thrown in, will obviously get you a huge pat on the back from all of the guru's teaching you how to not be pinned down and never commit......but.....in the real world it'll be such an ugly unattractive offer, the Sellers will probably wipe their a$$ with your offer, screw it up and then throw it straight in the bin. Meanwhile, you'll probably be there biting your fingernails hoping they accept your offer, sitting by the phone waiting for that phone call to announce "It's yours !!!!"
Oh well. Didn't work as per the lecture / book / seminar. What's plan B ??
We have recently been involved with quite a few offers, and found it's pretty hard to compete with cash unconditional offers from other buyers. If the Seller signs, that's it....the deal is complete. That's the way they like it, and frankly the only way I'd sell a property as well.
When just starting out, I'd be looking to do my due diligence on the property as much as I could, and try and contain the clauses to just a finance clause. Have a real good squizz at the place before you write the offer up. At some point you have to commit.
Hope I haven't waffled on too much.