Finding & screaning a good buyers agent.

[Jerry Cima]

Hi All, I wanted to see if any of you had some tips on locating & screening a good buyers agent. As some background, I'm looking to duplexes & triplexes in Putnam & Duchess county NY. The goal is to buy a property to rent out (either one in solid condition or a flip). I already started emailing larger broker agencies asking if there is anyone that specifically deals with acquisition of income properties in my area. I'm also reading reviews on brokers. Here are questions i plan to ask.

How long have you been an agent?
How many properties have you sold? How many of those are rental properties?
How many properties have you sold in ABC Town?
Do you own any rental properties?
On average, how long does it take you to respond to emails? Voice mails?

What other questions am i missing? Are any of these questions out of place?

[Jonathan Bombaci]

Hey Jerry you can use the Bigger Pockets Real Estate Network section at the top to find real estate agents that at a minimum know about BP and at the very least created a profile to interact with investors. You can as your basic questions over the phone as a sniff test but I would highly recommend meeting them in person for coffee, lunch, or drinks to probe and see if you think it is going to be a good fit. 

I would try to find an agent that is also an investor or at least has some investment experience. They're tough to find but when you find one it will be worth the time you spent looking for them. You should ask them about their investments and see if they know what they're talking about. What criteria do they use when they evaluate deals. If they find a good deal will they send it to their clients or scoop it up for themselves? 

Ask them about your financing options and the experiences they've had working with other investors. What do they like/dislike about clients. Just like a job interview, ask them to tell me about the last deal they closed. Ask them to tell you about a deal that almost didn't close, what was the problem and how did they fix it? Can they introduce to you to the other team members you'll need? Why do they recommend the (lawyer, lender, inspector, etc) they recommend.

These types of questions will help you get a look at the agents ethics and practices. Did they do what was in the clients best interest or in their best interest? You'll know which type of agent you want and which type you won't want. 

Goodluck! Finding a good agent is worth the hustle but just as @Brian Van Pelt warned. Rockstar agents don't have time to waste so be sure you're ready to go when you find one. Show them that you're committed to buying an investment property by making sure you have a preapproval in hand and have gone and looked at a few open houses. You should know what town you want to buy in or have it narrowed down to a few and be able to explain why those. You should have a preference for a duplex, triplex, or quadplex and be able to explain why.  Basically you're expecting the agent to do their homework before showing up, you should do the same.