Are Investor-friendly Real estate agents a thing?

[Frank Nabors]

I'm set on house hacking as a first buy and hold property and have decided on a relative area and general price range I would like to stick in. My question is are investor-friendly real estate agents common? At least from a beginners point of view, I wonder if an agent would be willing to pass through deals (maybe a house that needs some work/house that needs an update in a good neighborhood) for someone who won't be able to make multiple buys from them a month.  

[Jay Hinrichs]

Originally posted by @Brandon Sturgill:

@Frank Nabors As a professional association, real estate agents are a horrible group. They are consistently the least trusted profession in the country and for good reason...they will lie, cheat, and steal to get a commission. They are largely deceptive and misinformed...this is a volatile and unhealthy combination. That said, there are very few agents that add value to the deal...just do your homework, conduct interviews, and don't settle. Trust but verify. You can eliminate 95% of bad agents by asking them how to calculate a simple return like cash-on-cash..or even CAP...just ask and they'll freeze like a deer in headlights.

Glad to chat more about this.

Best of luck. 

 agents that want to work with investors are niche agents..  just like some agents like to sell new construction.. or like to be PM's or any other facet of the business..  although I disagree with your assumption that 95% of agents are clueless.  maybe as it relates to how to run proforma's on income property.. and they are retail owner occ agents..  I have owned 4 brokerages spanning 3 decades and have had 100 s of agents work for me..  what you will find is that some are just smarter than others.. and most are not investment cash flow analytical types.. its not their skill set.. but you take a good retail agent that works with the top of the retail market and they make big bucks like 500k to over 1 million a year in commissions.. I mean even my wife who I think is pretty great she sold 15 million last year and only one of those sales was an income property.. and only because it was someone from BP who reached out to me and wanted our specific market and we went back into our client list and got them an off market deal.. plus they were highly qualified and very nice to work with..

 NO way no how is she going to work with most investors which are just time sucks..  so it goes both ways.. why would she when she has a retail business that makes her great money ALL based on referrals.. and her dynamic personality..  Like yesterday at the car wash ( full service) the owner who she talks to every month.. Said they want to list their home at 750k  and my wife had them get pre approved for new loan with her loan officer and they want to buy in the 1.1 to 1.2 range.. it simply does not get better than that.. that's a 30 to 50k income to her selling two properties to a very nice business owner..  so you can see both sides.. or should she talk to a investors who has a laundry list of questions .. and criteria.. ( I love that one) that is so unrealistic that its simply a waste of time.

with my agents only a few were really good with investors.. they knew how to vette them and cut lose the time wasters.. 

but to say an industry is 95% bad is just a poor statement in my mind.. its just like saying all wholesalers are scum.. or all of anything are scums.. if you choose to work with investors buying low end SFR;s I get it more power to you.. but there is another world out there and for good agents that are investors agents know where the deals are and get fed off market deals.. they simply choose who they work with .. they don't need to take on newbie type buyers.. Buyers have totally unrealistic expectations most of the time.

I have agents in the 7 or 8 markets that work with us.. but we are proven.. and its what they do.. and I don't need and agent to run my due diligence or numbers for me.. they just need to present us with opportunities I will tell them whether I like them or not or want to buy them.. No one should rely on another for numbers.