RJ Bates III, affectionately referred to as the Viking Wizard by his students, started his real estate investing career in 2014 after attending a real estate education program that put him $65,000 in debt. RJ contracted his first deal he found on the MLS and wholesaled it for a $7,500 assignment fee. That was the end of his former life and the beginning of his venture into becoming a real estate investor. Since that moment, RJ has become an influential figurehead in the real estate investing industry. He has successfully purchased and sold over 2,000 properties all across the USA including wholesale deals, rehabs, rentals, owner finances and short term rentals. One of his passions is being the host of The Titanium Vault Podcast where he interviews the top real estate investors. He has won back to back Closers Olympics earning him the reputation as the King Closer! Finally, RJ and Cassi DeHaas, his partner, have started their education platform called Titanium University.
If you’re new to my channel my name is RJ Bates III. Myself and my partner Cassi DeHaas are the founders of Titanium Investments.
We are nationwide virtual wholesalers and on this channel we share EVERYTHING that we do inside our business. So if you’re looking to close more deals - at higher assignments - anywhere in the country… You’re in the right place.
Who is Titanium Investments and What Have We Accomplished?
Over 10 years in the real estate investing business Closed deals in all 50 states Owned rentals in 12 states Flipped houses in 11 states Closed on over 2,000 properties 125 contracts in 50 days (all live on YouTube) Back to back Closers Olympics Champion Trained thousands of wholesalers to close more deals
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RESOURCES FOR YOU:
If you want my team and I to walk you through how to build or scale your virtual wholesaling business from A to Z, click here to learn more about Titanium University: https://www.titaniumu.com
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You offer $120,000. The seller pauses and you say, I might be able to get to $125,000. And they say, I was hoping for more. Well, now you're at $130,000 and they still haven't told you what it would take to move forward. You just increased your offer by $10,000 without understanding what the problem actually was. The property didn't change, neither did the repairs or what your buyer could pay. The only thing that changed was how uncomfortable you felt.
What's up everybody? RJ Bates the third here. This is episode three of What Cost You the Deal. And today we're talking about negotiating against yourself. Last episode, we talked about losing your discipline when the seller gives you a price that you love. Today, it's what happens when you give them a price and you don't get the reaction you wanted. You expected agreement, you got silence, disappointment, or maybe even pushback. And instead of understanding that reaction, you started spending money to make it go away. You weren't buying the property, you were buying relief from an uncomfortable conversation.
Here's why this matters beyond the extra money. From the seller's perspective, you explained your offer, then immediately changed it without receiving any new information. Why should they believe the second number? What makes it more real than the first? And if you called the first number your absolute best, you just created a credibility problem. You taught the seller that what you say and what you can actually do might be two different things. Now they have a reason to keep pushing. Not necessarily because they're unreasonable, but because you demonstrated that pushing works. You can offer the seller more money and still give them less confidence in working with you.
So let's separate a reaction from a counteroffer. I was hoping for more tells me the seller is disappointed. It does not tell me what number they need, why they need it, or whether price is the only thing keeping us apart. Silence doesn't even tell me they're disappointed. They could be processing the offer, doing their own math, or deciding what to ask next. Let them finish thinking. You don't need to put $5,000 into every pause.
When they do push back, this is where the King Closer formula matters. Before I respond to their perspective, I need to understand it. If the seller says that's less than I expected, I can ask. Help me understand what you were expecting and how you got to that number. And then I listen. Maybe they disagree with our repair estimate. Maybe they need to walk away with a specific amount. Maybe they're comparing us to another offer with different terms. Those answers give me something to address. Suppose they say I need $130,000. Before I chase that number, I want to understand what it actually resolves. Assuming we could agree on price, what else would you need to work through before deciding? Their answer is not a commitment. It tells me what still needs to happen. If they need to coordinate a move or review their agreement with a co-owner, adding money does not complete those steps. You can make your offer more expensive without making the seller more ready.
Now, none of this means your first offer has to be your final offer. Your first offer does not have to be your maximum, but you need to know the difference before the conversation, not discover it $5,000 at a time because the seller sounds disappointed. Before you negotiate, know what you can support, where you have room and where the deal stops working. Say you offer $120,000 and the seller counters at $125,000, and that number is within your established limit. You understand their expectations, the terms work, and there is still room for your customer to profit. Accepting that counteroffer can be a deliberate business decision. You may choose to earn less to reach an agreement that works for everyone. The house did not have to change for that concession to make sense, but your reason was stronger than I didn't like the silence. Having room to negotiate is not the problem. Letting your discomfort spend it is. New information can also justify a change. Maybe you verify that your repair estimate, including work the property doesn't need, or different terms genuinely reduce cost. Evaluate it. Refusing to adjust when the facts change is not discipline, it's stubbornness. But whether you're correcting your numbers or choosing a smaller margin, understand what the movement accomplishes. Are you addressing a clean, clear counteroffer and moving toward an agreement or offering more just to keep the seller talking? And don't confuse a seller agreeing to sign the deal, becoming profitable. Their willingness to accept your money doesn't prove you should
spend it. Here's how I would handle a request for more. I'm willing to review what you're asking, but help me understand what that number needs to accomplish for you and whether there are other parts of the agreement we still need to address. Then I can tell you honestly whether we can make it work. That gives you a conversation instead of a bidding contest against yourself. Once you understand the request, make a deliberate decision. You can accept, counter, or explain that you cannot get there. You do not owe another increase simply because the seller didn't like the last number. Two people can understand each other perfectly and still disagree on price. That is not automatically a failure to close. The failure is abandoning your judgment because you can't tolerate hearing something you don't like.
So before you raise your offer, answer two questions. What did I learn? And what would paying more actually resolve? If your answer is nothing new, I just wanted them to say yes, stop. Knowing your numbers means nothing if a disappointed tone can make you abandon them. You don't need to become more aggressive. You need to become more curious and less reactive. The seller is allowed to dislike your offer. Your job is to understand why, not automatically pay them more for disliking it.
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