All Forum Posts by: Maggie L.

@John Waldenwelcome to BP! If you're looking to learn keywords alerts are a great help, as are the podcasts. Local REI groups are also a great opportunity to network and ask questions; I've found people really like to share their stories. Feel free to PM; I'm active in St Louis as an investor-friendly agent and buy and hold investor.

@T. Fejiro K.welcome to BP!  There are lots of great opportunities to learn and meet people here on BP - I recommend setting up keyword searches if you haven't already.  Local RE groups are another place to network and learn and there are several here in St Louis.  Feel free to PM if you ever want to chat!

@Tom Durphywelcome to BP! I work with investors who often have legal and financial questions and would love to learn more about your background. BP is a great place to find like-minded individuals, and like local RE groups, share knowledge and find professionals who understand the unique needs of REI.

@Damion Byros I'm actually experimenting with a short-term rental in St Louis, MO right now.  So far it's going well - though I live in the building so I can manage the unit fairly easily. There are many factors here - some already discussed but also some like local laws (Portland, OR reacted to Airbnb by getting them a special permit, whereas in San Francisco there have been crackdowns) and other regulations you need to consider e.g. sales tax, occupancy requirements.  Depending on your location in a city you can do quite well - though a lot of it may be seasonal.  

Feel free to PM if you  want to discuss what I've done, and what you were considering.

@Joe Krevinghaus congratulations!

As an investor-friendly agent I find the investor niche is very different than retail, and my  buy and hold investors are generally multifamily.  I started as a buy and hold investor and then decided to get my license to capitalize on my knowledge (and help other people find properties rather than take on too many projects myself) so I came in with a more investor-centric mindset.

There are a few things I would recommend to a new agent, which I hopefully tweaked enough to apply to your situation.

1) Figure out your niche, and find a broker that supports this.

This may be geographic as well as multifamily investing.  Make sure your broker knows what you plan to do, and find out what support (other agents, hopefully free classes) they can offer.  Also make sure their policies allow what you want to do - even if state law says it's ok it may be contrary to the policy of your broker.  

A few additional areas that jump to mind are short sales, REO, or vacation rentals. If you're too much of a generalist (especially early on) it will be hard to have the knowledge needed for clients to take you seriously. Unless you have a mentor or background granting a lot of knowledge in these areas I wouldn't recommend them for a new licensee, but a client will probably ask about them at some point. Know what you're going to say.

Are you considering property management as well?  This is a whole different area requiring different skills and resources, but some clients may want a "full-service" experience.  I'd definitely check with your broker on this one, since there are different liabilities that they may not be comfortable taking on.

2) What services are you providing

Your first clients will probably be people just getting started, so you need to consider their needs.  What services are you providing them - market expertise, the ability to "speak investor," discussing investment strategy, lenders, contractors?  Hopefully you or your broker have contacts here to help with what's outside your area of expertise.  When you go to meet with a prospective client, have this list ready.

3) Remember this is just a starting point - keep learning

You're going to learn a lot as you go, but try to prepare by reading, taking classes (broker, local Association of Realtors), attending REI meetings (networking and knowledge), and stay current on changing regulations that may impact on your investors. BP is a great place for a lot of this, but you need local knowledge that really comes from in-person meetings.

Hopefully that helps a bit, and feel free to ask questions or PM me.

Nice to meet you @Dana Hill! I'm also an investor/agent in St Louis. I really recommend setting up keyword alerts on the forums, as well as podcasts and some of the great guides put together by BP. Are you involved in any local REI groups? There are many useful groups in St Louis; feel free to PM me or look through their past events on Meetup.

Welcome to BP! I second the advise to spend time reading and set up keyword alerts for location as well as the type of investing you want to do. I'd also start listening to the podcasts if you haven't already - great inspiration and ideas. You should also look for local RE group meetings; there are several in St Louis with great opportunities to learn and network. There are so many ways to get involved in REI; personally I'm a buy and hold investor as well as an investor-friendly agent. Feel free to reach out if you'd like to chat.

I went with the mentorship (called "coaching" but only 5%) when I started at my office, but do not plan to continue (I was told that it was required for the first year and at the time I thought it was worth a try so I did not try to negotiate that out).  I think for some people it would be beneficial, but for me personally it wasn't.  I'm pretty self motivated and the mentor for the office didn't really know investing or my geographic area, so the topics and trainings weren't useful 80% of the time. The monthly group coaching sessions kept changing time (eventually to a time I could not do, so I stopped attending) and I found when I would email or contact her for a question outside of a session the coach was always directing me to the broker because the questions I had were too technical or outside of her experience.  

It can be worth the cost, but I'd definitely ask a lot of questions before committing.  If you want to discuss specifics I'd be happy to pm.

Welcome to BP @Westen Barnes!  There are lots of great resources here - I really recommend setting up some keyword alerts for the forums if you haven't already and listening to the podcasts for inspiration.

May I ask do you know what type of investing you'd like to do - are you more interested in buy and hold or fix and flip?  One of the biggest hurdles for some of my clients who are new to investing (investor friendly agent in St Louis) is picking where to start.  There are so many ways to get involved in RE that it can be tough to decide what to try first.  Always happy to chat - PM me if you'd like me to send the questions I always ask my investor clients when we sit down and chat for the first time.

There are multiple brokerages where I work that had a free or reduced price class incentive. What makes a much bigger difference is the split, the fees (E&O, desk fees, tech fees, franchise fees, plus MLS, supra) and what they offer e.g. is there mandatory coursework after you start, and do you need to pay? Is there any help with marketing costs, or any required purchases?

Talk to a few brokers to get a feel for the local market. I get a 70-30 split with a cap, which may or may not be a better deal than someone else. There areally several national brokerages known for recruiting as many new agents as they can (high turnover rates) so your cousin should shop around and consider the office environment e.g. personalities, level of support for new agents, expectations, before committing.