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Updated about 6 years ago on . Most recent reply
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Balance between Agent and Investor
Hello fellow BP members,
My name is Shelby and I am a fix and flip investor in Champaign, Illinois. I am seeking any insight from investors out there who are also actively working as licensed agents.
A little about myself to explain where my questions are coming from- I have been investing in fix and flip properties since 2016 and am ready to take my business to the next level by buying more than just one property at a time. I recently decided to leave my corporate job and obtain my real estate license. I will be starting with a sponsoring broker in March. My main interest and focus has been my fix and flip business and I would like to utilize my skills and resources as an agent to better that business all while still building a brand for myself as an agent. Now here are the questions that I have:
- Is it effective to market yourself as an investor and an agent together? If so, how have you done that successfully.
- Where have you found the most success in your day-to-day focus? Has it been building your agency database/leads or your investment database/leads, or both?
- Is it appropriate for agents to refer to themselves as an agent or an investor when communicating with prospective sellers of investment properties?
I want to be as transparent with prospective sellers as I possibly can and am not sure the best way to go about that being that I wear multiple hats in the Real Estate Industry. Any insight is greatly appreciated! Thank you!
Best,
Shelby M.
Most Popular Reply
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Hey Shelby!
Thanks for sharing your story.. mine is similar so I wanted to give you some feedback on my experience as an agent/investor in Chicagoland area. I was also an investor and THEN chose to obtain my license to leverage my knowledge but also seek financial freedom from a typical corporate structure.
- Yes, I would say its effective to share honest successes AND failures as an investor. It simply gives you a lot more credibility no matter if you are selling to an investor or non-investor clients.
- Day to day focus will depend on where you want most of your income to generate from. If you want to own 25 rental properties in 5 yrs Id say you will be spending little time on brand development and just use license to gain more exposure to deals OR if you plan to try and sell more than a few houses per year you will need to generate leads somewhere outside your personal sphere of influence.
- Definitely appropriate to represent yourself as a fellow investor if you are attempting to list an investor's property. I would warn that its very tough to secure listings for large multi family or SFH portfolios over $1M to list on MLS. Typically those sellers go off market or use a midmarket commercial shop. If your goal is rep large MF investors down the line I would start in the commercial space now.
Feel free to reach out with any questions and good luck!
- Jake Fugman
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