Share your realtor War Stories with me

[Dylan Paul]

So here's my realtor story. I started working with a realtor who is a family friend. He had done multiple deals with my father, mostly SFRs. I'm now in my late 20s and thought I'd give him a shot due to years of experience and knowing the guy for significant period of time. I bought my primary residence with him and all went pretty well. Submitted some offers, got one accepted and boom, I have a house.

A year later I'm now pursuing a small multi-family and it's like I'm pulling teeth to see some properties over here. I kind of get the sense "he's too big" and the difference is showing, in both attitude and overall ideology between us. The Dayton, Ohio area where I'm looking is ultimately a large C- to C area with many pockets of 1900-1930s homes, perfect for pursuing 2-4 units properties, while being free and clear of "war zones." Don't get me wrong, there are neighborhoods where I would NEVER invest, and I'm aware enough to avoid them like the plague. I've spoken to and watched many people make money and have successful careers right where I'm looking, spurning the stereotypical thought of "Why can't I too?" My realtor? Not so much. I'm consistently being directed either to areas where the numbers, and I've shown him using the nifty PDFs from the BP calculators, just don't make sense. Or I'm pushed to maybe not schedule a showing for a distressed property with quotes such as "don't you wonder why they aren't sharing more than 2 or 3 pictures?" Where he smells stank, I smell the opportunity to make money.

Ultimately, I understood where the relationship was headed and pulled the plug. But it's been a great example of keeping friends and business separate when ideologies do not match.

Share with me your realtor stories where they weren't on board with the investor mindset and maybe made your job a little harder than it needed to be?