Tips For Investor Agents

[Austen Mueller]

As an agent who works with investors, I want to hear it first hand from the investors out there. What is your biggest problem/dilemma when working with an agent? and what is one quality or action they take that makes the over all experience more enjoyable? 

Don't hold back! I want to hear the good, the bad, and the ugly. If you have a personal story, all the better! fire away   

[Ben Riechmann]

1. Know that investment properties that we don't live in are different interest rates than those that go for homeowners.  I am amazed at the number of agents that don't know this.

2. Know what rents go for in an area and don't try to upsell how much a place will rent for.  I farm an area before I have an agent help me go look.  I know what places will rent for.  But I will ask an agent and if they tell me a place will rent for much more than I know it will I run away from him or her.  I am looking for a person on my team I can trust.  I will also ask the interest rate question as well.  If you say you work with investors, I expect you to know some basic things of how things are different for investors than for regular home buyers.  Otherwise, I think you are more interested in making a short-term sale than building a long-term relationship with me.  

3. Never tell me a seller will never take my cash offer.  If you are working with me as an investor, and you have earned my trust, don't be trying to get me to buy everything for the most money so you can get the best commission.  Realtors that have worked with me have made more money off me than just a homeowner buying one house as I am going after multiple properties.  You treat me right, you are going to make commissions on more than one property off of me, and not have to chase down a lot of different buyers.  It is always a mistake for a realtor to tell an investor this, as most investors make a lot of offers on more than one property, and if they get a no, they decide if the counter or move on to the next deal.  They don't want to hear from their realtor that is a bad offer as they are looking at a lot of properties over and over again.  I have proven more than one realtor wrong on that.  Sometimes they don't take the offer, but that is not a big deal, as we are still moving foward.