How To Win Over A Real Estate Broker For OFF Market Deals?

[Jordan Santiago]

Hello BP,

Just a pretty simple question that I have, that I have some answers too, but would also like to hear other ideas and perspectives in the large multi family and apartment investing space. 

To me, I see it kind of hard to build relationships with brokers out of state, but its obviously possible. How are you operators winning over real estate brokers to send you off market deals? Obviously some trust has to be built, but how did that relationship form? And what did you to form that relationship to help your business?

Any tips/advice appreciates. Thank you!

[Matt Castle]

@Jordan Santiago 

Couple things I would suggest: 

• Don't waste their time
• Be a serious buyer
• Have the ability to perform (i.e. cash or pre-qualified financing in place)
• Do your own research in addition to what they are doing for you. 
• Don't be lazy. Don't ask them questions like "how close is Property XYZ to the grocery store?" when tools like Gmaps can tell you the answer under 60 seconds. 
• When you don't know something, ask. Don't wait to last minute and say "what? I didn't know I was supposed to do that!" 
• Think a few steps ahead of what you, the buyer, are doing. Don't make her/him wait b/c you didn't do a simple administrative task. 
• Know what you want. Don't change from 400k AirBNB rentals yielding 50k/yr GRI to 50k single family flips after s/he has done weeks of searching and driving around for you.
• If you don't know what you want, simply say you're looking to make some investments and you would like his/her advice on best way(s) to deploy your capital. 

As both an out of state investor and a realtor who works with out of state investors all the time, I have built my share of both relationships. 

The big thing is the ability to complete the transaction. However, once you become a repeat client and s/he knows your word is better than the average investor, and you're making >200k investments with a 3% commission, I'd wager they will go above & beyond the normal call of duty to feed you deals. 

One caveat: a lot of brokers/realtors will be required to disclose all deals by 2020 to eliminate the "off-market" stigma. We're supposed to be clear & transparent, so what is off-market now will likely change for most people in the near future.