Pay them! Or rather, get them paid. Okay, stay with me here... You see this question get asked over and over in the forums, especially from newer investors but it's always from the buyer's perspective. What about the seller side?

True story, I took on my first flip this year. And despite buying rentals for years (mostly off market), I have never sold a house. Ever. And while I'm good friends and even family with several agents who I would be happy to give my business to I had a thought. Why not reach out to the agent that recently sold one of the high end flips in the same neighborhood that I used as a comp? Surely they'll have plenty of insight into how that sale went, the types of offers they got, feedback on their listing, maybe some advice etc. And it never hurts to network.

So that's what I did. And she is fantastic! As you can imagine she was happy to receive my call and more than willing to share her knowledge and insight to help me run the flip in exchange for being the listing agent when it was done. Turns out she's a flipper herself and I learned a ton from her from this project. I can't overemphasize the trouble she saved me or the knowledge I gained from her.

So... a few months later I got another off market deal under contract that works best as a flip so what did I do? Repeat. Struck absolute gold again. Rockstar #2 with their own amazing network of contractors, investors, and knowledge.

I'm a huge believer in networking because I have experienced first-hand time and again how big of a return on investment you get on your time doing so. And if you have integrity in business and reciprocate, it just keeps getting paid back.

If you already have something under contract that you're going to flip, even if it's your first one, it shouldn't surprise you to know that a good agent is willing to give you their time because they know they will (should) get paid for it. The knowledge and network that they bring is so much more valuable than the fee they collect. It's fantastic. Just food for thought.