Multiple real estate agents????

Question

I have a good friend who is a real estate agent who wants to help me find my first investment home. She is basically going to charge be nothing. She is new to RE investing herself so I'm slightly hesitant to use her but don't want feelings to be hurt. Does anyone on here use more than one agent???? I thought of using her so she can learn along with me but also using someone who is more savvy with finding good investments.

Charles Carillo · Answer

@Kiley Boss

No agent is going to charge you if you are using them to purchase a property. One of the benefits of using an experienced agent when investing is that they know what a deal looks like. Otherwise, they are going to bring you a bunch of listings that will not pencil. Experienced agents have a history of closing deals and successfully negotiating. These agents know other agents and have a relationship with many of them. Experienced agents know what is happening in the market. What properties are trading for and what they are renting for (i.e. "I just sold one, two streets over for X"). Another benefit that is usually overlooked is that they have knowledgeable referrals (even though the best referrals I have received are from other investors). Next they know what is happening in the community (i.e. "that old building on the corner just got purchased by a firm out of NY").

I would not suggest that you have a new agent handle an investment that might be the largest investment in your portfolio.

Jacob St. Martin · Answer

I don't think it is wrong to work with multiple agents as long as you are fair about who you close a deal with. Whoever sent you the deal should be the one you work with, you also shouldn't be going to an experienced agent asking for advice on a deal you plan to close with another agent. The biggest thing is that if you are going to use your friend you need to be confident in your deal analyzing skills so that you don't get dragged into a bad deal because of her or your lack of experience.

Bob Stevens · Answer

1ST mistake, RE agents do not have the deals especially your friend. Go to your local RE meet up. Connect with those doing deals, they have them.

All the best

Manny Vasquez · Answer

@Kiley Boss - The buyer never pays their real estate agent.  The agent representing you, in this case your friend, will get paid by the Seller of the property that you purchase.

I would highly recommend that you do your own due diligence.  Read as much as you can and listen to as many podcasts as you can from BP regarding buying a property for the first time.  Prepare your questions and your check-lists.  Go to meetups as there may be deals that can generate from that.

Although your friend might be new to Real Estate, give her the benefit of the doubt.  She did have to study to pass the courses and take a state exam in order to get her RE License.  I'm not saying its Rocket Science (and I'm an ex-engineer) but there are some hurdles, however small, that one has to go through in order to get your RE license.  Furthermore, she may be working at a decent brokerage and she may be quickly absorbing all the additional classes and training that reputable brokerages request their new agents to go through.

One last thought: If she is your personal friend then either decide to work with her or not.  If you decided to work with someone else then tell her as soon as you come to this decision and be upfront with her about it. I realize that clients have options and that they may work with whomever they wish.  However, nothing, and I mean nothing will irritate, frustrate, upset, an agent more than working with a personal friend to then realize that the "friend" has bought a property with someone else. Nobody wants to be sinking in time into anything if they won't be rewarded for their efforts.  If you are going to be using someone else's time to do some work for you, then respect their efforts.....just as you would expect yours to be respected.

Holly Barrett · Answer

@Kiley Boss I feel for you, this is always a tough predicament. Here are my thoughts-

1. Option a) she’s your close friend, she will have your back and can reach out to an investor savvy agent to mentor her along the way. She is not alone in this. And tbh most realtors aren’t “investor savvy” so her even having the interest in it is more than most.

2. Option b) you find an investor savvy realtor and see if your friend can shadow them, better yet if you can find one in her brokerage, and you decide you want to use them, tell her you love her and she can be a part of it, but you really want a more experienced agent to guide you. Put her down as a referral and let them work out a referral fee between them. They should both be totally cool with that arrangement!

3. Don’t work with multiple agents. Different regions within a state, fair enough. But as a realtor and an investor, this is why so many realtors don’t like working with investors, Bc they have this mentality that realtors are their personal bird dogs, that isn’t worth our time. In GA it’s illegal to “work” with a buyer or seller without a written agreement. We can do non-exclusives, which I do use if there are geographical issues to make it easier to refer other agents into the team.

Richard Loniewski · Answer

You want to find investor friendly agents, some have access to off market deals as well. I have many of them looking for me, got my first deal from an agent I met here on BP about 6 years ago

Ryan Lesley · Answer

Hey @Kiley Boss,

pretty much already been said here multiple times, Buyers don't have to worry about paying commission. Your friend's commission that they would receive will have been pre-negotiated between the listing agent and seller in the listing agreement for whichever house you guys decide on.

What I would bring up related to your concern about her not being experienced is this. Most if not all brokerage firms are required to have a mentorship/ review process for all new agents. So if its like my brokerage firm, eXp Realty, they require new agents to have a mentor that works with them throughout the whole process for their first three deals. So I don't know if that's how your friends brokerage firm works, but if it is, then consider it as getting 2 agents for the low low price of free 😂

hope that helps, best of luck 🤝🍀

Scott E. · Answer

As a buyer, you never need to worry about paying your agent a commission. The seller is the one who pays both the buyer agent and seller agent commissions.

It's fine to use your friend as the agent who will handle the contracts and paperwork when you're ready to present an offer on a deal that is on the market. But if she's new to real estate, don't depend on her to find you a good deal.

You need to get good at underwriting deals on your own, and you tell her what constitutes a good deal. You find the property, you run the numbers, then utilize her to help you get access and write the offer.

And to answer your question regarding more than one agent - Yes it is very normal for a real estate investor to have relationships with more than one agent.

Eliott Elias · Answer

How is she charging nothing? Who is going to be making the commission upon sale? You can bring her along as a joy ride, but make it clear she isn't going to be making commissions.

Multiple real estate agents????

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