Advice Needed For My First Deal

[Peter Gallagher]

Hello everyone,

I need some help on my first deal. A few days ago a Realtor who I had met a few weeks prior sent me specifics on a house in the area. I posted the specs on craigslist and found an investor who called himself a specialist in the area.

I sent him the pics that the Realtor had given me, and facilitated the meetup between the two at the property. He said he really liked the character of the house, had plans on setting a record sales for the area, and was going to contact us in a few days with his numbers.

My question is, I know that I have to gain this house under contract, but how do I go about this. Should I ask my Realtor for the sellers or sellers agent contact info? Or, do I hand my contract to my Realtor and have him get it signed for me?

Any advice and help would be greatly appreciated! I just stumbled across this website a few hours ago and it seems great! I appreciate the help!

[Chris Piper]

First off, never introduce your agent to your buyer until you have a house under contract. If you do, the investor can scoop the deal right out from under you, and you get nothing from it. When you want to get a property under contract, you tell your agent you want to make an offer, tell them how much, what contingencies or clauses you want included, if any, and so forth. They submit your offer to the seller or their agent. Then you either get it accepted, get a counter-offer, or get it decline/no response. If you find a property on your own and can get the listing agent's name and number, you CAN contact them directly and have them submit your offer to the seller(their client). They LOVE this because they are the buyer's and seller's agent, which means they get both sides of the commission and don't have to split it with another agent. It's up to you how you do it, but if your agent shows you a property or sends you the info on it from the MLS, I would have your agent do that particular deal. You don't want to get bad mouthed by a realtor because word might spread and you might not be able to some realtors who have heard that you cut out your agent. As long as you find a property yourself, you can use anyone you want to do the deal.

Keep in mind, it is much better to start off building a cash buyer's list first, then contracting properties. This way, when you get a property under contract, you email blast it to all your cash buyers, and the first one with the money gets it.