All Forum Posts by: Anthoni S Bereziuk Jr

I have a couple of questions regarding the how-to's of investing if you're a real estate agent.  First, what is the basic format used for an agent to make an offer  on a listed property?  Do I just make a verbal offer and then follow that up with a written offer if it looks like it might go somewhere?  Should I just email a state-approved contract to make it easier for the listing agent?  Am I, as a real estate agent, able to fill out the agreement if I want to forfeit my commission and act SOLELY as a principle buyer?  Instead of writing the contract myself, is there a smoother way to do that so that I'm making it easy on the listing agent, but still forfeiting my commission?

Second, I've heard mixed answers on the whether or not, when dealing with individual motivated sellers and not a listed property, a realtor HAS to use a state-approved contract.  Can anyone tell me whether that's an actual rule, or just a preference?

All help is much appreciated.

I've heard some sites online are great to find FSBOs and other are dated/terrible. What FSBO sites (event if paid) seem to be the most complete, up to date, and accurate?

Thanks for your advice

Thanks Karl.  I'll read your blogpost today.

Thanks to all for your answers--your knowledge and experience are definitely appreciated.

I'm an investor friendly realtor who will be getting in the game myself starting this weekend.  I'm about to launch a direct mail campaign, website, and online classifieds (feeding my website)--all focused on attracting motivated sellers.

However, I have questions about what is legal according to the real estate commission, NAR, etc. Let me just say first that, although I'm an agent, I plan on putting wholesale properties under contract in the name of my business LLC. So here are my questions:

1) When a seller calls me in response to some marketing, do I have to tell them right off the bat that I'm a licensed agent?

2) Do I have to state "owner/agent" on the purchase agreement if the I'm taking possession in my business name?

3) After I have a deal under contract and want to market it at my REIA meeting, do I have to state "owner/agent" on the flier if it's actually my LLC that has the equitable interest at that point?

4) As an agent, I'm not allowed to pay referral fees to non-licensed persons, but could my LLC pay referral fees to non-licensed persons for leads that might become a wholesale deal?

Thanks for any insight you can offer.

Thank you for the input.  I don't think the numbers will work out anyway because I would only be able to finance 80% and that wouldn't pay me back for the work I'd be putting in.  But, let's say in the future I find a deal for a property below market value.  In round numbers, let's say I find a property that's worth $100k, but I sign an option to buy it for $80k.  Then, I put $20k into it and it re-appraises for $130k.  At that point, am I able to purchase it for $80k, but mortgage it for $100k and take out the $20k I put into it at closing in order to pay myself back?

Or, would it be possible for me to do something like that if I sign the option in my name, but then assign the contract to my LLC at a higher price and take out the difference with a double-closing (sort of like a wholesale deal from me to my LLC)?

I'm currently looking at a townhouse that could use some updating. The owner is flexible and has offered a lease option. Is it possible for me to option the property, fix it up with credit cards, then cash out at closing to pay myself back for the repairs? My long-term plan would be to hold it as rental (I like its long-term potential since it's near a hospital), so I would probably want to close on it in the name of my LLC.