Finding an out-of-state agent

Finding an out-of-state agent

San Diego · Member since 2019 · 18 posts · 11 votes

Hello Biggerpockets Community,

I have decided that I would like to start my real estate investing journey by obtaining fix/flip and long-term holds outside of my local market.  Living in san Diego, the numbers along with my financial situation and goals do not line up, and so I have decided that investing back home in St. Louis where I grew up would be a better option.

I do have some connections in St. Louis. My uncle is a real estate investor in St. Louis and has been for the past 15 years.  My father is a GC alongside his best friend who is an electrician, who both alongside my uncle, have good connections for finding people to help me with the rehab of these buildings.

However, I would love to find an agent that I can work with to help me find deals and to assist me with the transaction side of the deal.  So I would like to ask the following questions:

1.  How do you find an agent from out of state?

2. What are three most important questions you ask when building a relationship with the agent?

3. How do you make sure that your interest and that of the agent are alined?

4. How long do you usually wait before you start telling your agent about the types of properties you are looking for?

5. What do you think is the most important trait for finding an investor friendly agent?

Again, I really appreciate everyones time and for making it this far in my post. I hope that everyone had a wonderful thanksgiving and a happy holidays!

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  • Specialist · Riverside, CA · Member since 2015 · 6k+ posts · 3k+ votes
    6y

    1. For you is easy, ask your uncle

    2. Depends on what you're looking for

    3. Just make sure you continue to do your own math, the agent gets paid when you close so just keep that in mind

    4. Why would you wait? They can't help you if you don't tell them what you want

    5. For any agent... Someone who answers the phone or at least calls back.

  • Lender · Milpitas, CA · Member since 2016 · 376 posts · 248 votes
    6y

    Hey @Sam Khoshnavaz, congrats on getting into the world of real estate investing. Just like @Aaron K. says, you're in a pretty good spot to become a great real estate investor. 

    1. Your uncle or your father should have some pretty good connections in the area. If not, you can try to go on the BiggerPockets forums and ask a question like "What are the best places in St. Louis to invest in?". Any agent that accurately answers your question is probably a good person to reach out to.

    2. Ask them the best locations, what their experience is working with other investors, and if they're willing to write offers for you. Sometimes you'll ask them to write really low offers and they might not be willing to.

    3. If you can convince them that you'll do a lot of business with them and that you will refer business to them in the future (through your friends in SD), then they'll work really hard for you.

    4. Your buying criteria should come up during your first conversation.

    5. Fast response time and someone that has a similar mindset and personality that you do. I've talked to some agents who just don't understand the investor mindset and keep sending me weird listings that don't make sense.

    Hope this helps, let me know if you need more clarification!

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