When should I get a Real Estate Agent?

[David Donald Henning Jr.]

I'm new to real estate investing and don't plan on actually buying for about another 8-10 months. I'm in the research stage, trying to gain as much knowledge as humanly possible before I jump in, and I've been using Realtor.com and other like sources to find deals I can practice analyzing. It would be great to have automatic leads coming in so that I can become more familiar with my market, have access to more deals, etc... but the last thing I would want to do is waste an agent's time. When do you recommend actually getting a real estate agent? 

[Scott E.]

If you plan on buying in 8-10 months, you can start talking with real estate agents now.

Agents have the ability to put you on a "drip" where properties that meet your criteria get emailed to you automatically. This way they will start sending you deals now that you can continue to practice analyzing, but they won't really be doing any work until you are really ready to buy since the "drip" is automated.