How Do I Find Investor Friendly R.E. Agents?

Question

BP!

I'm currently trying to find my first deal to take action on either in my area in Indiana or NYC (Indiana preferred for a first flip) but I'm not sure how to find a real estate agent that is investor friendly! Any suggestions or recommendations on where to look? There aren't even any meetup groups or anything in my area, so I'm not sure if nobody is investing, or there is no opportunity, or I'm completely blind and missing something here. Also, is it ethical to wholesale a property that doesn't meet YOUR standards for a flip/rent to sell to a buyer you think may have an interest in that property?

-Jason E.

Mike H. · Answer

Two things I would suggest for finding an agent.

1) A good realtor is a good realtor. Whether they're good with investors really doesn't matter - unless you're looking for them to mentor you or something on investing (which I'd recommend against anyway).

To me, what you want to find is a realtor that is super responsive. You want one that will do tons of showings and put in lots of offers whenever you need them put in - even if the offers are low ball offers.  Its a numbers game and thats just what it takes to take deals down off MLS.

2) What I would suggest is finding 2 or 3 realtors that are the listing agents for a majority of the bank owned properties in your area. There's more than 2 or 3 but 2 or 3 should be fine. Then find a realtor at the same agency that is super responsive and go with them.

There's no reason you can't have 2 or 3 realtors either. The listing agents themselves prefer not to represent an investor because they're making their money on the listings. They don't want someone suggesting they're not representing the banks to their fullest so - at least the two or 3 I've met down by me - seem to suggest that they avoid the conflict of interest by not representing investors as much as you'd think (I would want the double bubble myself but I could see where the bank might not like that).

That being said, they seem to love to give their deals to other agents in their office and having that listing agent as the advocate back to the bank to come down on pricing seems to be a huge factor.

I'll share this as to why I believe that.
	
	I've been investing for about 6 or 7 years now, and in that time I had only been able to get one REO out of 19 deals with my realtor. Everything else I had gotten was thru hud.

I was struggling to hit my target of 3 this year (had been stuck on 2 since june/july) and then put in some offers with some other realtors that worked at the same agency as the listing agents. I put in two separate offers with these agents.

Both offers came back with counters that I declined and said my number was number. Both banks came back 3 and 4 weeks later and said they would take my offer if I was still interested.

So I went 6 or 7 years with 1 reo and got 2 in a matter of a week. I also got a couple of HUD deals as well with my existing realtor so I didn't leave her out in the cold either.

But to me, this is beyond coincidence that using realtors at the same agencies as the listing agent is extremely beneficial. Not saying it was the sole reason I got the deals. But it seems awfully funny to me that it worked out that way.

About 30 or 40 REO offers in the past with 1 hit. 2 offers this way and 2 hits? 
	Just something to at least consider.

Mat Lewczenko · Answer

find the top 4-5 offices in your area, call and ask for broker or office manager and see if they can recommend an agent in their office that deals with mainly investors. They will know who is doing what kinds of deals. If you called my office, I have 238 agents, but I would have 2 names at the tip of my tongue, because I know who does what types of business.

You should have several referrals with a half hour of calls.

Aaron Montague · Answer

Start your agent search on the phone.  Start calling agents and tell them what you are looking for.  Eventually you'll find one that is willing to work with you.  Stress the fact that you're looking to move on a property NOW.

An agent looking to form a long term relationship will plan on getting a buyer's commission on your first purchase and then the larger seller's commission when you sell.

Start with the BP search for contacts for the zip code(s) you'd like to search.  Your profile says you are in Henderson, NV.

Ethics are your own.  One person's dump is another's 100k profit.

Jason Eyerly · Answer

@Adam Gerig Robert Adams Unfortunately I just left Vegas, but I may be interested in the future after I have completed a couple flips and got my feet wet here in Indiana/NYC. BP won't let me change my zip code yet! I'll shoot you a colleague request so I can get in touch when I am ready.

@Adam Gerig I'm looking to keep my focus in Southbend, IN at the farthest but preferably in the Elkhart County area. I'm looking for my first fix/flip deal, however if I find a deal that isn't up to my standards, I'd like to get it under contract and find a buyer to sell the contract to. I've been looking at the pre-foreclosures and foreclosures on the BiggerPockets Marketplace, but haven't scheduled any viewings or called about any of the properties to find out the condition they are in or any repairs that may be needed. As a final note, I will be using HMLs to finance my flipping endeavors.

Robert Adams · Answer

it says you are from Henderson, NV. Are you looking to buy here in Vegas? If so I woul d be happy to help.

Adam Gerig · Answer

Fort Wayne Investor Club (Indiana)

@Jason Eyerly let me know where and exactly what you are looking for and I may have a contact I can point you towards.  I, myself, am a realtor and investor, but typically don't buy a whole lot off the MLS.  Most of the stuff I buy is off-market so i don't have to compete with everyone else.  As far as wholesaling I think it's ethical as long as you are disclosing to end-buyer what is happening.  We are closing 2 assignments this month to where we had a property and are selling our contract with seller to end-buyer.  They are still getting it way below market value and couldn't get that kind of pricing where they are located.

The only ethical problem that I have with wholesalers is when they essentially pull the wool over people's eyes.  Let me just throw this example out there for reference and little disclosure it may or may not be true.  ex) We sold a property to buyer X turn-key for $25k.  They in-turn sold it to another out of state investor for $50k.  Nothing was upgraded same property based off same numbers.  I guess business is business and maybe this makes me a "softie", but I couldn't sit here and tell an end-buyer what a great investment they are buying when I myself know that they are buying at or above market.  Just my 2 cents for what it is worth

How Do I Find Investor Friendly R.E. Agents?

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