Rookie REI in Las Vegas looking for connections and groups

[Joe Fermin]

Hello all,

my name is joe and just looking to connect with other investors here in town.  fairly new to the community and looking to grow my knowledge base before proceeding any further.  currently own 1 property aside from our residence.  looking forward to meeting with you all.  

joe

[Eric Fernwood]

Hello @Joe Fermin,

While meetups are good, the skills you need can only be found with an experienced local investment team.

Here is the problem. The knowledge you gain from seminars, podcasts, books, or websites are generic. You will purchase a specific property in a particular location, governed by local rental regulations. To make the right decisions, you need localized knowledge, which can only be obtained from a local investment team that has extensive experience working with investors.

How do you find a good team? Start by finding an investment realtor.

Residential or "Investor Friendly" Realtors

Residential realtors are the go-to folks for purchasing or selling homes. The drill is simple: you pick properties and realtors provide access. After you select a property, the realtor manages the offer and closing process. Residential realtors only offer MLS data sheets that are of very limited use to an investor.

Below is a table comparing what an MLS data sheet contains and what you, as an investor, need to make informed decisions.

Investment Realtor

While residential realtors sell homes, investment realtors sell income streams. Investment realtors also provide the information you need to evaluate an investment property.

Investment realtors are always part of a team. Only a team of experts can provide the end-to-end processes, skills, and knowledge necessary to bring a property to market. See below for a diagram of the process we follow.

While the above diagram depicts our process, any investment team will have a similar process. Now that you see the value of working with an investment realtor, how do you find one?

How to Find an Investment Realtor

There are thousands of residential realtors in a metro area, but only one or two investment realtors. How do you find one?

Start by compiling a list of candidates. Get names from

• Real estate investing websites (such as Biggerpockets.com)
• Property managers
• Local investors
• Talk to real estate brokers
• Google searches
• Local meetups

Once you have a pool of candidates, evaluate each using the following interview questions. I listed the top 5. If you’d like more or have questions, DM me.

Interview Questions

• Tell me about your investment team. If they are not already part of an investment team, look for another realtor.
• Did you or your client select the properties? This is an important question. Residential and investment-friendly realtors do not pick properties. They send MLS data sheets for the properties the client requests. The client evaluates the properties and selects one or more to make an offer. The realtor adds almost no value if you do all the work. Reject the candidate if the client selected the property.
• What were your primary selection criteria? - It could be the initial return, appreciation, tenant pool, or something else. You're looking for a plausible answer based on analytics, not opinion or “feelings.”
• Tell me about the tenant pool you target. - Understanding the existence of tenant pools and their characteristics is not common knowledge. It requires a person with a lot of investment experience. If they do not have a plausible answer or do not understand the question, go to the next candidate.
• How did you estimate rent and time to rent? - They should be able to describe a process like, "I look at recently rented comparable rentals." Another good answer is that they work with a property manager who supplies this information. If they answer Zillow, Redfin, Rentometer, etc., they do not know how to evaluate investment properties. No online tool can provide accurate, property-specific rental estimates.

Joe, focus on finding a good local investment team. They have everything you need.