Working With Real Estate Agents and Protecting Deals

[Will Kaufmann]

Hi all! I have a question regarding working with real estate agents and protecting deals that are not under contract from being taken by another party. By way of quick background, my name is Will Kaufmann and I am new to BP and relatively new to REI. I own a primary residence in Raleigh, NC and self-manage our rental property in Philadelphia. I am an attorney, so I am always keeping risk in mind, hence the following question:

I am getting ready to contact a motivated seller in another county and would like to have some numbers beforehand. I would like to contact a local real estate agent to get some market information on comparable sales, rentals, and the overall market picture. Is it okay to simply reach out to an agent and request help? What do I owe an agent who does help? Should I be concerned about the agent shopping the potential deal to others, and if so, how can I protect myself?

Thanks in advance for the assistance!

[Jiri B.]

@Will Kaufmann i was just about to say this would be a better question for an attorney but you are the attorney :)

I'm an investor and Realtor for the reference..

Not giving any legal advice, but from a stand point of a relator, it would be unethical to go behind your back and pitch the property to other buyer if they are your agent and you are interested in the property. 

However, if you don't have agency agreement with the realtor, then you don't get the same service.

You basically want someone to help you get all this info but you are not wiling to compensate them for it.. Not to sounds offensive, but everyone's time is valuable.

If you are a buyer, you typically don't pay anything to the agent, unless they charge any retainer fee. The agent would get composted by the seller. If you choose to work directly with the seller, that is your choice but then you might not be able to get help from a realtor.

Some relators might do a CMA for a flat fee or to provide you what you need, but that does not prevent them in any case to show the property to their clients..

If you want to do this on your own, that is fine, but then you need to do this on your own.

If you are starting in real estate, you might be better of working with a local relator, it might save you money and issues down the road.