Real Estate Agent Etiquette

[Victoria King]

Hi All! We are new to investing and wanted to ask about Real Estate Agent Etiquette.  We believe strongly in treating people well so we don't want to burn bridges or insult anyone!

What is the etiquette for having multiple agents working for you as an investor? I know for our primary home we are working with one agent and will only use him when we want to see a house etc.

Is it considered rude to work with several agents and have them all sending you properties you might be interested in as an investment?  Should you make sure you only have one per area? 

Sorry if this is such a basic question- thanks for your time!

[Brie Schmidt]

@Victoria King - I work in a specific area so I have plenty of clients who are also considering areas I do not do and I refer them to a good agent if I have one.  I don't mind that they use someone else if it is an area I am not familiar with. 

If it is my area, and they want to use multiple agents, I do not work with them.  I work very hard for my clients and do a lot of upfront analysis of deals.  I don't put them on an auto search and the time and effort to vet properties before showing a client is the most time consuming part of my business.  So I am not going to do all that work for someone who isn't putting in the work too. 

Even my clients in Chicago who buy a 2-4 unit with me and have a condo to sell in my area I usually have them use someone else.  I only do 2-4 units and feel it would be a disservice to them to do something outside of my experience level just for the money.