How to pick your Real Estate Team

Remember the time you went skydiving without a licensed skydiver or prior training? Yup, I don’t either. The obvious reasons you can’t do this is, firstly it’s scary as hell! Secondly, you wouldn’t have any idea what to do, and thirdly you aren’t a licensed professional. Skydiving can be similar to buying your first home, both are scary as hell! The good thing is that rockstar realtors and lenders can make your ‘dive’ into real estate go smoothly. Personally, I wouldn’t want to go skydiving without a professional, would you?

Investor-Friendly Realtor

Why you need a Realtor:

FIRSTLY, it’s FREE, GRATIS, no out of pocket costs on the buyer side! Real estate agents earn their money once a property sells, the seller pays the agent’s commission. Knowing this, doesn’t it make sense to hire a licensed professional that can help you out with one of the largest financial decisions of your life!? Your agent will be someone that knows the market, has great negotiation skills and will guide you through every step of the home purchasing process. An agent will also offer market insight as to what areas are highly likely to appreciate in value before anyone knows it. Another perk is the network of professionals a realtor can provide, these range from lenders to other service providers.

How to find a Rockstar Realtor:

Not all agents are created equally, this is why it’s crucial to do your due diligence when hiring an agent. The easiest way to find a great realtor is by asking people you trust, what was their experience with this agent, were they responsive, were they patient and good communicators?

Another way to find a realtor is by reading online reviews on Zillow, Trulia, Realtor.com, etc. Real Estate Meetups and REIA Meetings are also a great way to network with Realtors and potentially find a great realtor. The fourth and final will be asking myself or Diego for an Investor friendly realtor, we know many realtors all around the United States and would love to help you find your perfect realtor! If you are in Austin, then we can help you here face-to-face.

Questions to ask the potential realtor:

• Do you work full-time or part-time?
  • You need an agent who makes you their priority. Would you rather have a part-time agent that only offers your 2 hours per day of their time?
• How long have you been an agent?
  • Experience is crucial, more experience means more ideas, network, and potential off-market deals.
• Do you own any investment properties?
  • You want someone that knows the investor market and knows what is important in an investment. Wouldn’t it be weird if your realtor helps investors but doesn’t own any property??
• Have you helped house hackers before?
  • They need to understand the basic needs and wants as a House Hacker, someone that has done this before will be a huge help.

Action Steps!

• Ask a Family Member
• Network on Bigger Pockets
• Look up the best Realtors in your area (Google Reviews, Zillow, etc.)
• Connect with 1 or 2 Realtors in your area!

Lender

Diego (on the left) the realtor, his house hacker clients in the middle, and Josh Hanly, the lender (on the right)

Why you need a Lender:

YES! I finally found my DREAM HOME, it’s worth……WHAT!….$400,000?! Do I have to pay all cash? The good thing is that you don’t, if you’re working with a lender they’ll be able to lend you money based on your ability to pay back.

As such, you’ll need to provide them with documents such as W-2, Tax Returns, Bank Statements and so on. Once all of these documents are provided, the lender will give you the terms he can offer on the loan, such as minimum down payment, interest rates and any potential fees incurred at closing. It’s pretty simple, you need a lender because they provide great market insight and they will be the ones lending you the money.

How to find a Rockstar Lender:

Similar to when looking for a realtor, ask people you trust who their lenders are. Another great way to find rockstar lenders is by asking your realtor. Your realtor will most likely recommend 1 or 2 lenders they’ve worked with, these are known as ‘preferred lenders’. I recommend going through this path, realtors have already vetted the good lenders from the bad, they’ll know which ones offer the best rates and faster closings if needed.

If these 2 fall through, then I would recommend going on to Biggerpockets and finding someone that fits your criteria. And the last one would be to reach out to us, as we also have a list of lenders that can loan in all 50 states at competitive rates.

Questions to ask your potential lender:

• How do you prefer to communicate with clients — email, text, phone calls or in-person?
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• How quickly do you respond to messages?
  • You want someone that will make communicating as easy as possible.
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• How long are your turnaround times on preapproval, appraisal and closing?
  • This sets the right expectations for closing and for the whole process right off the bat.
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• What are your owner-occupant loan programs and what are the down payment requirements?
  • You need to know what payment plans you’re potentially looking at and if they are worth it.
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• What lender fees will I be responsible for at closing? (Fees may include loan origination, points, appraisal, credit report and application fees)
  • You want to know if the lender is charging origination fees, you want to make sure you know what to expect at closing.
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• Do you offer net sheets?
  • Net sheets allow you to look at different scenarios depending on what down payment you’re putting and interest rates.

Action Steps!

• Ask other investors in your area
• Contact the ‘preferred lenders’ that your investor-friendly agent recommends
• Reach out to us if you need a lender

As you can see, the 2 main people to have in your real estate team are 1.) Investor-Friendly Realtor and 2.) Lender. You need to have the right team so that you can succeed in real estate and avoid mistakes.

If you are in Austin, we would love to be part of your team. We have helped dozens of house hackers in the Austin area and we also do it ourselves!