All Forum Posts by: Michael Strachan

@Sam Shueh So you're saying it's mostly about the network of supporting professionals that the agent has access to? Interesting. What are the special credentials you referred to?

Thank you @Debra Thomson! I certainly enjoy the hunt myself! I'm curious, the software you're using, does it run a full financial analysis? And if you don't mind me asking, what is it called?

I am a realtor working in the San Francisco Bay Area and a frequent listener of the Bigger Pockets podcast. A phrase I've heard several times on the podcast as well as in the forums and at meetups is "investor-friendly agent". What exactly is it that investors are looking for in an agent? Is this a particular set of habits, skills, attitudes? A willingness to write low-ball offers in high quantity?

Thank you for your input!

I'm a realtor in the Bay Area and I can confirm that multifamily residential (2-4 units) can be hard to come by right now in our market. I met with an investor this morning and as of that meeting there were only 67 2-4 unit properties on the market in Santa Clara county. While inventory is up from a few months ago, it certainly isn't high. It's also true that the majority of investors in the Bay Area were buying for appreciation. Fortunately, buyers in today's market have far more leverage than they have had for the previous five years (fewer multiple offer scenarios and slightly lower sale to list price ratio). If you have any further questions about our local market, feel free to reach out to me!

@Angel Moreno

Welcome to the community! Take in as much information as you can, this site and the podcast are phenomenal resources. I'm a local realtor so if you have any questions specifically about Bay Area real estate, let me know. 

 Thank you, that's really good advice. One of my main focuses is definitely to learn as much as possible about real estate, that's partly why I decided to become licensed and start working as an agent. Currently I'm working in the property management industry and I thought gaining some experience in these two fields together would do a lot to help me in my aspirations in real estate investing. I'm mostly after the experience and the education.

Thank you @Marcy Moyer, that's exactly the information I was looking for. Just curious, do you think that would be a worthwhile option considering the startup costs that are incurred by a new agent looking to start their career? I've heard it can be quite expensive for things such as marketing materials, many of which would be location specific. 

Thank you for your input!

I am currently undergoing my pre-licensing education in order to get my CA real estate license. I am located in the San Francisco Bay Area but I have been considering relocating to the Sacramento area (2-3 hours driving). In the meantime, should I hang my license with a brokerage in my current area and move it to one in the Sacramento area when I move? Or should I hold out until after I'm settled in the new area? How difficult is it to make the switch?

So in the event that I decide to seek in-person education, you recommend that this be done with a broker rather than in a classroom setting? I would be curious to hear more about how something like that might work.

Thank you for your feedback!