All Forum Posts by: Mark Johnson

I would try Jennifer over at Elite Title. 

Jennifer Hope
Elite Title Company, LLC
5400 Hampton Ave

St. Louis, MO 63109

O: (314) 571-6900
F: (636) 725-2836

[email protected]

I'm a Realtor here in St. Louis, MO. Feel free to shoot me a DM if you have any specific questions about starting your career. I've been in the business since 2011. 

I would suggest picking 1 or 2 niches outside of referrals from friends and family and really become an expert in that field. I would suggest looking into probate leads. I would google All The Leads and listen to their podcasts/read their blogs to educate yourself on what Probate is if you're not familiar. They are not the easiest calls to make so you will not have much competition over the phone. Most people just send them mailers.   

You might want to check out calling all of the 2-4 unit owners in a specific area. Just like probate, not many realtors do this so you're main competition is going to be investors that are pissing the owners off with low ball offers.  

@Deidre M Lewis I would suggest Brian Toennies, a CPA in St. Louis located in Crestwood. He's an investor and works with several investors as well as a few brokerages. He knows his stuff and his staff is extremely responsive. 

https://toenniescpa.com/

@Hai T. I am a Realtor here in St. Louis and have dealt with U City inspections in the past. They are not that bad but you are correct about them requiring permits. Feel free to PM me if you have any specific questions. 

I agree with what was said above. Try talking with him and explain your frustration and expectations. If he doesn't change his behavior, start looking for a new one.  

Just make sure the contract clearly states the sales price, closing dates, and details on any contingencies. Your title company should let you know if you're missing anything. 

The main reason you would need a realtor was if you were unsure about the value.  

@Sam Bernard I’m a realtor in St. Louis and looked into this back in 2013~2014 and if it’s the same thing I saw, the hot leads are buyer leads that they collect from their website.

Unless he’s desperate for business and doesn’t mind working with bargain hunters, I would advise against it.

I agree with what @Jesse Canady said. You need to disclose that you are an agent. 

Once you get face to face with them, you can use it to your advantage and let them know about the standards you need to maintain when dealing with sellers. Once you have that script down, it should help you stand out from investors without their licenses. 

@Brian Fazekas I'm a realtor in St. Louis, MO. What kind of distressed sellers are you reaching out to? Right now I only prospect probate leads but I have been wanting to add some form of distressed sellers too. I was leaning towards tax delinquent and vacant properties.  

@Account Closed You've received solid advice from several others on this thread already so there's no need to repeat it. 

You will eventually get the bulk of your business from referrals from friends/family/past clients but in the meantime I would suggest prospecting Probate leads. You will pick up both listing and investment leads. And you'll see that not too many people actually call on these and will instead just send mailers.  

Check out AllTheLeads.com. They offer a course for $300 but if you listen to their podcasts and youtube videos, you can learn most of what they teach.  They also offer a service where they will pull leads and send mailers to them but it is costly.  

I was in the same situation you are in back in 2011 and while there have been some bumps along the way I never have regretted my decision.  Good luck!