All Forum Posts by: Masyn Grant Barney

Legends Title has been awesome for me. 

Hey Chad, 

I just sent a connection request your way. DM me your email and I can get you added to an email list for a meetup that happens in Utah County. It is held virtually right now and have a few people that attend from all over the state including SLC & Ogden. 

An idea I heard was to introduce yourself and ask to do a walkthrough of the property with them where they show you the things they think need fixed/improved. If you let them know you can't do everything but want to make their experience the best you can, they will respect you a lot more. In my mind that is definitely worth having to fix a few things. Especially if it means your rent checks come in reliably. 

Tulsa Oklahoma seems like a solid market to me from an investment standpoint. Not sure from an agents standpoint. 

I do! I'll shoot you his name/number in a DM

I’m definitely not trying to make a claim with my survey. It was simply to point out that there are a decent number of people that have those negative perceptions of agents.

I believe most agents are great and don’t fit the stereotype. :) 

I'm loving these responses. There are definitely a lot of underlying causes that create these perceptions. Here is what I have gathered from the response. 

1. Agents can better explain/show the work they do and value they bring that isn't immediately apparent. 

2. Low barrier to entry brings in agents that truly do fit the stereotypes.

3. HGTV glamorizes real estate and that perception devalues an agents work in the eyes of a client. 

A big take away I am seeing is that there are plenty of realtors that do fit the stereotype so it is here to stay. Good agents will constantly have to find ways to overcome that and essentially prove that they don't fit the stereotypes. 

We all know that there is a common stereotype that RE agents are slimy, dishonest, greedy, etc. Why is that? Is it changing? Is it warranted? 

I recently did a LinkedIn Poll where 35% of people said that most real estate agents are "sleazy / slimy / unethical". While that is technically a minority, it still represents a large portion of the public who don't seem to trust agents. In my opinion, this perception isn't unique to real estate agents but is common among sales people as a whole. I believe there are a few main reasons agents receive more of the fallout than other sales people. 

1. Their pay is more transparent. The public loves to self determine what is "too much" to get paid.

2. Their product is more emotional than most. When a transaction goes bad, it is much more personal. 

3. In this market, the mentality that "homes sell themselves" is taken a little too literally

So the questions is, what can agents do to regain the publics trust? Or is this stereotype inherent to the business and a hurdle that will always need to be overcome? I'd love to hear your thoughts!

John,

Great question! I think what Logan said is spot on. A real estate license isn't going to do much of anything to teach you about investing. I don't think there is anything wrong with being a part time agent though. In fact, I am about to finish my pre licensing course work. I think the best way to learn is the BP podcast, YouTube videos, and networking. After you do enough of that to understand the first step, take action and don't look back. I have learned so much more from taking action than I have from research. 

If you are interested in coming to a BP meetup in Utah county (also held virtually) send me a DM and I can get you added to the email list for the group. It is a great time connecting with other investors and holding each other accountable to our goals. 

On top of what everyone else has said, leveraging your equity could be a solid way to build your portfolio. We currently have just over $100k in equity that we are using to pull out a HELOC.

We will then use the HELOC to purchase an investment property. Likely some type of Brrrr though that can be a difficult strategy in our market right now.

Happy to connect and would love to hear more about the property! 👏👊