Looking for a recommendation for buyer's agent in Vegas

[Andrew Njoo]

Hi I recently went to Vegas and saw some condos in the area in the 100-200k range.

I am currently looking for recommendations for buyers agents to help me with the purchasing process; I am working with an agent at the moment, but the communication is not very good so I am looking for a new one.

This would be my first real estate property (for investment). *I am based out of state in the Bay Area in California, where property is very expensive.

Thank you.

[Eric Fernwood]

Hello @Andrew Njoo,

Instead of giving you names, I will talk about the skills you will need from your Realtor/Investment team. My intent is to give you the background knowledge you will need to select the right investment team.

Whether you invest locally or remotely, the skills you need are about the same. The only difference is that while you might provide some skills yourself if the property is local, as a remote investor you will need others to provide all the skills. Below is what I consider to be the minimum skills you will need to be successful.

As you can see, I subdivided the required skill sets into four categories:

• Local knowledge - What you learn from podcasts, books and seminars is general investment/real estate knowledge but has very limited applicability to any specific market. Restating, what is the best investment in Houston could be worst investment in Boston. All markets are different. There is no database that can provide hyper-local knowledge you need. It can only come from your investment team.
• Property specific - Even if you are local, your knowledge may not be relevant. Very few people have the in-depth knowledge of properties to know a good investment from a poor investment property. Remember, you are not buying a home; you are buying an income stream, so the property type, beds, baths, etc. does not matter. What matters is how the property performs today and likely to perform over a 10 or 20 year hold.
• Realtor responsibility - MLS sheets are worthless, the property type, number of bedrooms, baths, etc. mean nothing. What matters is the short and long-term performance. The Realtor you select must be able to provide the property/location analytics you need. This means providing detailed analytics on a few qualified candidates from which you can select. Not sending you 100 MLS data sheets for you to do the analysis, you do not have the essential hyper-local knowledge. However you will make the final decision. So, you need actionable analytics rather than opinions from your investment team so you can make an informed decision.
• Execution - The best plan is worthless unless it is executed properly. This includes knowing the right people for every task and a team member with the knowledge to over watch and ensure everything is meeting objectives.

I put together the following chart to show the value of the Realtor.

The vast majority of Realtors deal with residences or lifestyles and wants: first home, expanding family or downsizing, schools, commute to work, relocation, etc. However, while most Realtors are great for home buyers, they have little or no knowledge of investments. Investing in real estate requires in-depth knowledge of tenant pools, area economics, job growth, demographic changes, understanding and estimating returns, selecting high performance properties and much more. There is little overlap with a residential Realtor except for the paperwork of closing a sale.

Also, do not be confused by Realtors who have sold investments. In most cases, the Realtor sent the investor MLS sheets (almost worthless to an investor) and then made the offer on the properties specified by the client. This does not make a Realtor knowledgeable of investments. What should you look for in a good investment Realtor?

• Deep knowledge of investment real estate, including expertise in estimating returns and rehab costs.
• Deep knowledge of the local investment market, including areas and types of properties to focus on or to avoid.
• Access to a network of service providers for various needs.
• Highly skilled in selecting good investment properties, especially in a competitive market.
• Highly skilled in process management and problem solving and deal making in order to bring a property from identification through acquisition, rehab, and property manager hand off.

How do you then, from thousands of Realtors in any market, identify a good investment Realtor? The following chart shows a process you could follow. I divided the diagram into Critical Skills and Highly Desirable Skills. If the Realtor does not have ALL the Critical Skills, if they are missing ANY of the skills, find another Realtor. You cannot afford to depend on anyone without all the critical skills.

The Highly Desirable Skills are critical for success, but you can accomplish these tasks with someone other than the Realtor if necessary. For example, if the Realtor does not have the skills to over-watch the rehab, the property manager may provide this skill.

Know that you will have to interview multiple Realtors before you find one with even a portion of the Critical Skills. Do your interviewing via Zoom/Skype. You are going to trust this person with investing a lot of your money, and you will get far more information if you can look the person in the eye than just hear their voice on the phone.

Andrew, I hope this gets you started on finding the Realtor/investment team you need.