How to find an Investor Friendly Real estate agent

Question

If purchasing properties off the MLS seems to be the next logical step for you- then you need to network and find an INVESTOR FRIENDLY agent. I emphasize investor friendly because you need to work with someone who understands investors. A standard retail real estate agent who has never done an investment deal and who has never worked with an investor will not understand where you are coming from. They will start to look at your system as a nuisance, not a sound strategy.

First off, expect to be making multiple offers on a lot of properties. A retail agent will typically spend too much time writing up formal offers and then complain of time wasted. An investor friendly agent will text or call-in offers to seller’s agents and get a verbal yes before writing up a formal offer. A retail agent will spin their wheels showing you around town to multiple properties, with little to show for the time. An investor agent will advise you to visit the properties you are interested in the form of a drive by first- and will pull the rent comps, local neighborhood comps and run cap rates for you on the ones that pass your drive by test. Then they can narrow it down even further with the data they collected. This allows you to drill down from 20 possible properties to 3-5 really good properties that meet your criteria- which will save you and them time when scheduling showings.

So how do you find these agents?

Be prepared to do a lot of interviewing. Start with your local real estate investment groups. There are always forums that you can post for names, recommendations from current investors or direct messaging from agents themselves. Here are some initial questions to ask:

How many investors do you currently work with?

How many offers on average do you submit with each investor?

Do you invest in rental real estate? If so, how many properties do you own, have flipped, etc?

What kind of data do you provide to your investors to assist in making the wisest decisions?

Do you have a process to share new deals that have hit the market with your investor list based on their criteria?

Do you assist with calculating ARVs? (this is essentially a comp, and yes every agent does this, however using an investor term, After Retail Value, will help you identify if the agent speaks the investor lingo).

What are your comments? Any other questions that would be helpful to the group?

Kimberly Kesterke · Answer

@Corby Goade. Absolutely. I had worked with a few agents in the past that were so slow! It got to the point where I felt like I was bothering them when I was actually bringing business their way. To me there is a gold mine for agents working with the right investors.

Sean McDonnell · Answer

This is a great thread. Most agents will not be willing to run numbers and analyze properties for you. One techniques that I use is that I will analyze potential investment properties for investor clients as long as they do too. Most times we come up with close but different returns. That shows the investor that I am willing to work for them but also shows me they are willing to put in the time/effort to help find good deals. Another important question to ask is if they are a full time agent. Many part time agents will not have the time or flexibility to move fast on deals.

Kimberly Kesterke · Answer

@Sean McDonnell. I agree with sharing the valuation exercises with the investors- meaning the need to take a shot at analyzing the deal as well.

Kiera Underwood · Answer

@Mary Nickless are you committed to only buying in your area? @Kimberly Kesterke focusing on teams/companies that are investment only is a solid approach as well. There are teams that do things outside of the norm (off-market, turnkey etc.) that can lock down even better deals with less time via the systems and scale they've built. Something not to be overlooked!

Kimberly Kesterke · Answer

@Mary Nickless- Thank you for your response. Try networking with your local real estate investment association as well. You can connect with wholesalers or investors who have a wider network to off-market properties. Having a good agent and a good wholesaler will certainly help you find some awesome deals.

Mary Nickless · Answer

@Kimberly Kesterke thanks so much for your post!This is exactly where I am in my investing journey. I'm new to investing and preparing to buy my first property. I've spent the last 3-4 months teaching myself how to run the numbers to find my target Cash flow and ROI, to understand what those numbers need to be, and to learn the comps in my area and rent rates. I've connected with a couple realtors and although they are all willing to work with me, they seem more interested in traditional buyers. They don't want to make low offers and they seem to push me to what they think is the "best". This article provides great guidance on how to find a realtor that I can really work with as an investor and questions to ask them. My goal for the next week to is speak to several more realtors using these questions as a guide.Thanks again!

Kimberly Kesterke · Answer

@Justin Polston- Very good points. Good luck on expanding your business- it seems like you offer a lot of value with it. For me- I got my real estate license because I just wasn't getting the service I wanted. Response times were too slow, I didn't feel my agent was keeping me in the loop of new duplexes that were hitting the market, and because the response times were so slow, I missed out on a really good duplex I had my eye on for months. Now we have worked past all that and this agent did bring me a really great triplex opportunity- which goes to show the value of using agents and brokerages in the first place. So- I don't know if my experience speaks for other investors but I would say RE agents can work with anyone- they just need to understand responsiveness is essential, sending out new properties that hit their investor's target range is essential- even if they are sharing it with other investors. A little competition never hurt anyone- I just think the greatest gap right now between agents and investors is customer service and expectations of both parties.

Justin Polston · Answer

This is an awesome thread! What would you guys want personally? An agent that works almost entirely with investors and off market deals? One that is generally "full time" as a retail agent? An agent who is also a part of a brokerage with a PM arm of the company? These were some of my goals i started to implement for 2020.bought TheInvestors.Realtor domainBuilt a new website for the brokerage that also caters partially to investors and access to hard money stepped away from traditional "realtoring" (or trying to) to make more time for investors and their goalsNot only work with investors but offer turn key and off market deals WITHOUT wholesaling. We put our money where our mouth isBIG QUESTION - All this said, if you had an awesome realtor that was investor friendly and worked with multiple investors/companies, would you ever be worried you weren't getting deals you felt entitled to, or were in competition to get deals since your agent has several investors he/she reps?I try my hardest to make sure I have very few investors with interests/goals/capabilities that overlap.

Corby Goade · Answer

Great advice. 95% of agents will tell you they are an "expert" in whatever you are looking for. Know what questions to ask and see what response you get. Maybe more importantly, see how fast they respond. If they take a day to reply to a phone call or email, how long will it take them to reply when you find a great deal and need to act quickly?