Why you should trust your agent

As an investor in real estate that is not licensed it is imperative to have a deep trust in your agent. As an agent and an investor working with other investors I have a unique perspective on why this trust is essential if you want to do your absolute best.

Agents make their money by helping buyers and sellers who are active in the market. This puts agents at a disadvantage when trying to explain perceptions on value. Clients see the conflict of interest and are hesitant to enter the market correctly which limits their own ability to achieve the best possible return on their money. As an investor that mentors the less experienced through the buying and selling of real estate, I would say that it is the number one reason why some people will never become successful.

I'm not advocating blind trust. You should be educating yourself as you grow as an investor. If you're inquisitive, you find answers for all kinds of problems all over the place. Just today I was picking up some paint at the home depot and chatting with my friend behind the counter and he mentioned that he used to do plumbing, and they were the best 3 man crew in the county. There was a standing bet at the plumbing supply store that no 4 man crew could out plumb his 3 man crew and they had $2000 bucks riding on it. So I whip out the pen and paper and start asking him all the questions I need to get a job done we are about to undertake.

Ask questions when you're with your agent. Get to know them, and how they determine the value of a property. If you're an investor and you're guiding your agent, ask them how they feel about the properties you're interested in. What is their perception? Even if you don't agree with it, you need to determine the skill set of whom you work with to determine if you need to realign yourself with other professionals that are more in tune with the information that you seek. As an agent, I dislike when investor clients deviate from my valuation and they end up being the clients that I refer to someone else.

I've had investor clients that stay hanging on the ropes trying to jump in, and in the mean time I'm writing up offers for other clients on slam dunk properties before they even stepped through the front door. If you trust your agent and prepare yourself, you can't beat your return. Be active, be inquisitive, get informed, run the numbers until your fingers hurt, get ready to strike, get your ducks in a row.

And Find Yourself an Agent to TRUST in!