How do you effectively choose a real estate agent: The Real, Real Estate Agents?

[Jason Xenakis]

Hello folks. First post. Happy to be here. My wife and I decided to  start out of state rental investing in Columbus Ohio. How can one, who has only rudimentary knowledge in real estate without any boots on ground experience (read a few books), effectively choose a real estate agent? We are both physicians and relatively intelligent humanoids, but without knowing what you don't know, it seems a difficult task. Is it about first impressions? The vibe? What are some red flags? What nuanced questions can I ask? Thanks in advance!

[Jason Wray]

Jason,

Send me an email there are a few things I can share that will help you and your wife for the Ohio REI purchase.

[Nathan Gesner]

Quote from @Jason Xenakis:

There are many blogs and forum discussions of this topic. Here's one: https://www.biggerpockets.com/blog/3-steps-find-best-real-es...

To find more, use the search bar (magnifying glass) in the upper-right. The search engine is pretty bad, so you may consider searching Google. Enter your search term and add "biggerpockets" at the end to search for blog posts, forums, etc.

[Travis Timmons]

It's tough. You really don't know what you have until you are well into the process. Referrals are obviously the best route, but that is not always possible. It's like interviewing a job candidate. A lot of people are better at interviewing than job performance. 

[Patrick Drury]

@Jason Xenakis
Ask if they own rentals. If they have rentals they are going to be knowledgeable about what it's like investing in Columbus. Also,I would ask if they find off-market deals. Those agents bring more value than just sending you on-market deals that everyone has access to

[Russell Brazil]

If you're planning on purchasing out of state in a high yield market, just be prepared to lose money on the 1st purchase. It will get f'ed up. Just let it be a learning experience.

[Jonathan Greene]

The Columbus mafia will descent upon this post shortly to give you several options, but you want to look at their Zillow reviews and see if the are listing and selling investment properties similar to what you are looking for. You want to check out their social media and see if they are doing business or just making content. And then you want to be clear about your goals, but be careful - when you say out loud, busy doctors with money looking to invest out of state, not all will have your best interests first.

[Remington Lyman]

Quote from @Jason Xenakis:

Hello folks. First post. Happy to be here. My wife and I decided to  start out of state rental investing in Columbus Ohio. How can one, who has only rudimentary knowledge in real estate without any boots on ground experience (read a few books), effectively choose a real estate agent? We are both physicians and relatively intelligent humanoids, but without knowing what you don't know, it seems a difficult task. Is it about first impressions? The vibe? What are some red flags? What nuanced questions can I ask? Thanks in advance!

Remember that finding a Realtor is relatively easy since they are all motivated to find deals for you and must adhere to a code of ethics. The challenging part comes when trying to find a reliable contractor and property manager.

[Remington Lyman]

Quote from @Jonathan Greene:

The Columbus mafia will descent upon this post shortly to give you several options, but you want to look at their Zillow reviews and see if the are listing and selling investment properties similar to what you are looking for. You want to check out their social media and see if they are doing business or just making content. And then you want to be clear about your goals, but be careful - when you say out loud, busy doctors with money looking to invest out of state, not all will have your best interests first.

 Solid advice. I definitely need to improve my social game

[Michael Brattelli]

@Jason Xenakis Go to CRS.com and call agents in your area from there. CRS is certified residential specialist and it's the highest designation a residential agent can get. Only 3% of agents have it and most of them are top agents. From there you can ask questions like do they own investment properties, long term rentals, etc. That's the network I use to refer my clients out of state and I've always found top tier agents.

[Nicholas L.]

@Jason Xenakis

if you're serious about this, go there in person, meet agents in person, build a network in person, and conduct your property search in person.

and if you can't go there in person, don't buy out of state.

as @Russell Brazil mentioned, the market is unforgiving right now.  if you buy a random property that you haven't seen in person, and don't have a great team to turn it over to, it won't matter whether you had a great agent or a bad agent, and you will lose money.

https://www.biggerpockets.com/forums/48/topics/1160450-run-i...

https://www.biggerpockets.com/forums/48/topics/1137397-balti...

https://www.biggerpockets.com/forums/963/topics/1195280-expe...

[James Hamling]

Quote from @Jason Xenakis:

....How can one, who has only rudimentary knowledge in real estate without any boots on ground experience (read a few books), effectively choose a real estate agent?....

That's a great question. Because a person has some known-unknowns, but what about the unknown-unknowns? How to know who's right for the thing you just really don't know. 

I believe too many lean back on feelings vs figuring a measure for fact's, and end up with who had best marketing and than blames the sub-par experience on the venture as a whole. 

I suggest when unsure and don't know, get back to basics. Who, what, when, where, why and how. These are the basic universal fact points to know, on really anything, right. 

These are the things I would draft out my interview questions around, who, what, when, where, why and how.     

A skilled experienced person specializing in investment real estate will have no problem answering these, and very possibly already has some FAQ with much of this. And that should be test #1, because if there experienced in this you will not be the first asking such so there reply should feel as though they've answered this 100x before, right. 

To any "noob" I can readily answer to Who I am, What I do and Why I am currently doing things that way and When it makes sense to do it this way or shift to another, which leads to Where I do it, and How. 

I am very VERY comfortable with people grilling me with questions, when have the answers it's not uncomfortable at all. So be sure to keep a "read" of there comfort or discomfort level. 

An insider tip, I suggest to NOT start with seeking agent's, start by seeking Real Estate Brokers. I believe you will find them much more upfront, knowledgeable, and if it's something there team doesn't specialize in they should let you know and odd's are they know who does specialize in that. Remember agents work for Brokers.

[Jimmy Lieu]

Quote from @Jason Xenakis:

Hello folks. First post. Happy to be here. My wife and I decided to  start out of state rental investing in Columbus Ohio. How can one, who has only rudimentary knowledge in real estate without any boots on ground experience (read a few books), effectively choose a real estate agent? We are both physicians and relatively intelligent humanoids, but without knowing what you don't know, it seems a difficult task. Is it about first impressions? The vibe? What are some red flags? What nuanced questions can I ask? Thanks in advance!

Hi Jason! My advice is to work with someone who is also an investor and has your best interests at heart. They should be able to send you deal flow, guide you in choosing the right properties based on your goals, and tell you which ones to skip. They should also be able to easily plug you in with their system and network of GCs, lenders, and PMs. Happy to connect and answer any questions you may have.

[Ray Hage]

Quote from @Jason Xenakis:

Hello folks. First post. Happy to be here. My wife and I decided to  start out of state rental investing in Columbus Ohio. How can one, who has only rudimentary knowledge in real estate without any boots on ground experience (read a few books), effectively choose a real estate agent? We are both physicians and relatively intelligent humanoids, but without knowing what you don't know, it seems a difficult task. Is it about first impressions? The vibe? What are some red flags? What nuanced questions can I ask? Thanks in advance!

Like some of other posts have said, this is a tough scenario. I am both an investor and realtor so ideally, your best bet is to find someone like me in the Cleveland market. I would strongly suggest you talk to a few realtors who own properties in the market(s) you're trying to get into AND then fly to Cleveland (and whatever markets) to meet them in person. See a few properties with them. There are a few things you can do to see who the honest ones are like check to see how many properties they own, how long they've been a realtor, how many sales they have had over the years, etc.

Another option is to speak with other investors on here in the markets that you're interested in, get some info and see if the realtors are telling you a similar story. Maybe one of them has a great realtor in the markets you are considering. There's no full proof way to do this so you might run into issues. 

[Michael P.]

Aren’t doctors busy enough why do you want the headache of some random house in some random city. Is it a romantic notion of getting rich in real estate investing.

[Jana Crum]

@Jason Xenakis You've gotten some great advice so far. I'd add that when you interview possible Realtors, ask them to take you through how they lead their investor clients through a transaction. Do they run numbers for their clients? Do they have vetted connections for Property Managers, Contractors, etc.? Do they know the economic pulse & news in their community that will affect their investors' deals? When I work with my investor clients I come from a place of education and make sure they are armed with all the information needed and understand the information. You can also ask the agent to walk you through the last investor deal they did, what went well, what problems came up, and how they addressed them for their clients.

Ultimately you'll have to feel comfortable building a relationship with the agent you choose & find confidence in the strength of that relationship.

[Remington Lyman]

Quote from @Michael P.:

Aren’t doctors busy enough why do you want the headache of some random house in some random city. Is it a romantic notion of getting rich in real estate investing.

 There is a guru course that is pitching them on buying real estate so they can change their tax status to real estate professionals

[James Wise]

Quote from @Jason Xenakis:

Hello folks. First post. Happy to be here. My wife and I decided to  start out of state rental investing in Columbus Ohio. How can one, who has only rudimentary knowledge in real estate without any boots on ground experience (read a few books), effectively choose a real estate agent? We are both physicians and relatively intelligent humanoids, but without knowing what you don't know, it seems a difficult task. Is it about first impressions? The vibe? What are some red flags? What nuanced questions can I ask? Thanks in advance!

 Gonna be tough, I heard all the agents in Columbus are becoming Uber drivers.

[James Hamling]

Quote from @James Wise:

Quote from @Jason Xenakis:

Hello folks. First post. Happy to be here. My wife and I decided to  start out of state rental investing in Columbus Ohio. How can one, who has only rudimentary knowledge in real estate without any boots on ground experience (read a few books), effectively choose a real estate agent? We are both physicians and relatively intelligent humanoids, but without knowing what you don't know, it seems a difficult task. Is it about first impressions? The vibe? What are some red flags? What nuanced questions can I ask? Thanks in advance!

 Gonna be tough, I heard all the agents in Columbus are becoming Uber drivers.

[James Hamling]

Quote from @Remington Lyman:

Quote from @Michael P.:

Aren’t doctors busy enough why do you want the headache of some random house in some random city. Is it a romantic notion of getting rich in real estate investing.

 There is a guru course that is pitching them on buying real estate so they can change their tax status to real estate professionals

Huh, funny coincidence. I was thinking about launching a Guru Course on buying guru courses to change my tax status to bazillionaire...... 

[James Wise]

Quote from @James Hamling:

Quote from @James Wise:

Quote from @Jason Xenakis:

Hello folks. First post. Happy to be here. My wife and I decided to  start out of state rental investing in Columbus Ohio. How can one, who has only rudimentary knowledge in real estate without any boots on ground experience (read a few books), effectively choose a real estate agent? We are both physicians and relatively intelligent humanoids, but without knowing what you don't know, it seems a difficult task. Is it about first impressions? The vibe? What are some red flags? What nuanced questions can I ask? Thanks in advance!

 Gonna be tough, I heard all the agents in Columbus are becoming Uber drivers.

 bruhhhhhhh

[Michael Smythe]

Recommend starting with a PMC.

Their interests are more aligned with an investor than the typical agent.

[Henry Lazerow]

Find an agent who invests themselves and who has closed a lot of investor deals. Out of state is tough though right now, run the numbers yourself with $1200 minimum as cap/ex per unit 3/4 units or $2500 per a house annually and don't believe anything the agent sends you for analysis. Most deals are at 0 or negative cashflow if your paying a manager and properly accounting for cap/ex. I have had some clients out of state self manage larger class B 4 units $800k range and it seems only way to cashflow right now is self managing larger deals. 

[James Hamling]

Quote from @Michael Smythe:

Recommend starting with a PMC.

Their interests are more aligned with an investor than the typical agent.

Yeah, agreed. 

If someone want's "E-Z Button" it's starting with going through PMc's and find the one you want to work with. Than, ask them what's best for your acquisition situation. 

They have the best data of exactly how things will come out in the wash vs an agent who's focus is getting you to buy something. 

And I think one of the WORST ways to go it is "find an agent who also invests" because there going to pump JUST what they do as being "the way", because it's what they do, so now your pigeon holing yourself to "A" persons personal preference. AND, there gonna give you the "almost great" deals because the truly great one's, there taking themself. 

A PMc, knows all the various ways, places, strategies that are working. And can refine that picture of where, what and at what price something should make sense. Not to mention, may have some off-market buy potentials via one they currently manage that owner is looking to retire out of. 

Yup-yup, start at the end, with PMc. 

[Scott Allen]

@Jason Xenakis

You will need to do a good bit of networking with different agents here that are investor friendly who can also help you with their network as well. An email template with your intro and what you're looking for would be a good way to start. Some will coordinate with you on zoom, some will coordinate with you just over a phone call. Being able to meet face to face is always better. If you can make the time for it - visit Columbus so you can see it up close in person to know your market even more.

Good questions to ask are how they can make the process more seamless for you being out of state, do they invest themselves, what types of properties they focus on/look for, are they uber/lyft drivers on the side, etc. 

Beware of agents that uber on the side though, they might come off more pushy. 

[Jason Xenakis]

Quote from @Remington Lyman:

Quote from @Michael P.:

Aren’t doctors busy enough why do you want the headache of some random house in some random city. Is it a romantic notion of getting rich in real estate investing.

 There is a guru course that is pitching them on buying real estate so they can change their tax status to real estate professionals

Yes I've definitely seen this at conferences.