Do 70% Deals exist in your market? Email from Realtor

[Danny Day]

I posted an ad on Trulia looking for a buyers agent who knew the area well. About 10 agents responded and told me they work with investors and can help me. I emailed all 10 of them with this email:

Thanks for your response on Trulia. I am actively searching for residential real estate in the Houston area. My problem is I do not have enough deals that come across my desk. I am looking to get more houses this year and need the deals to keep coming through.

The way I buy houses determines my success or failure on a real estate investment. I have specific standards for buying homes. To give you a better understand of what I buy, here is the formula I use: Max Offer = ARV x 70% - Repairs. The ARV is what I call the After Repair Value (what the house will sell for retail based on sold comparables). I take 70% of that number, and then subtract the repair amount from the 70%. This is my max offer.

I am looking for houses that are listed at or less than 50% of market value on the MLS. If the houses are off the MLS, we can discuss these individually. I am looking for houses that are in desirable neighborhoods that are selling (A/B class).

My requirements for the homes you send me is that:
- Less than 5 months of inventory in the neighborhood
- Verifiable sold comparables within 6 months
- 3 bedroom minimum
- 2 bathroom minimum
- No homes with master bedroom on 2 story

Everything else will work. I want to be as detailed as possible to outline my criteria for the home search. I've found that the best way to identify these type of deals is search the MLS for the zip codes and look at the neighborhoods that are selling. From there, find the average selling price for a 3/2 and a 4/2 in the neighborhood. Set up custom MLS searches specific to this criteria for half of the average selling price. Then you will be notified for when these type of deals hit the market.

Also, I have many friends who are real estate investors. If I have to pass on a deal because I've got capital tied up in another property, I can assure you that if its a good deal I will put you in touch with a buyer. As I stated in Trulia I can close in 7 days. I have private money to purchase and have over $1m in a cash credit line to purchase. All I need is more deals.

Let me know your thoughts,

Danny

I've had 3 real estate agents response, two of them told me they could tackle it and would start sending me deals.. and here is an email from another agent:

Danny,

Thanks for your email. I know the areas/markets well on your list. With the current market and as it strengthens, you would be fortunate to purchase 1 property with your criteria/formula within a 6-month time period. I do not have the free time necessary to do all the research/paperwork required for this kind of transaction ratio.

If your standards for buying houses change, I would welcome the opportunity to review it again.
Good luck with your endeavors.

Am I being too picky or do I just need to find another agent?

[Bryan Hancock]

You're fishing from the wrong pond. Agents fish for RETAIL buyers and you are looking for non-retail deals. Any agent worth his salt isn't going to do 100X the effort to find you the one deal you are looking for. They will work with retail buyers, spend much less effort, and get their same commission.

You need to learn other ways to source deals. There are many BP threads on this if you do some digging. If you figure out a way to get a competent agent to do all of this work for you please do let us know about it.