All Forum Posts by: Noah Scott

Great example @Erik W.! You're stacking the odds in your favor there for sure.

@Randy Velazquez you're definitely on the right track. Getting your pre-approval in place is always the best first step. I would also start reaching out to agents in your market. You will want to find an agent who has experience helping someone buy small multifamily properties. 

Most agents will want you to have a pre-approval, but the fact that you are reaching out to loan officers to get it will be enough to get the ball rolling.

These 2 are your core when finding a property, make sure you enjoy working with them and trust them.  If you're starting on this investing journey, you should think of these relationships as an investment as well.

Best of luck!

What type of investing are you interested in? This may help you get more detailed responses. 

• 
  Residential/Commercial?
• A certain purchase price you're looking to stay within?
• Are you against certain markets (looking to invest in A class/B/C?)
• Long-term buy and hold? BRRRR? Flipping? Syndication?

Nailing down some of these pieces will help us out give you better answers.

It depends on what you mean by "designed for investor agents." For instance, my brokerage is independent and primarily made up of investors or people who are looking to begin investing (the camp that I fit in to). With that comes a tight-knit community of people who are doing deals, learning from each other, and collaborating together in various ways. What @Jonathan Greene said is basically true: low fees, no desk fee, etc. will be some things to look out for; however, there are other factors that you won't know until you start talking to people.

I'd take a look at a few variables: 

• - What is the community like inside the brokerage? 
• - How are they "supporting" your sales/investing business? 
  • -Is it just a low fee and a place to hang your license?
• - How many agents/brokers there are actively investing?

What exactly are you looking to gain more information about?

@Melissa Nichols 

It's not incorrect advice. It is not uncommon for agents to advise clients not to read/accept letters due to fear of discrimination. 

That being said, agents still have their clients write them (or even worse, write them for their clients) and send them anyway.

Now more than ever, after the Newsday article, discrimination is a hot topic in the Realtor space. I think this is causing Brokers to advise their agents to be wary of anything that could result in a discrimination suit.

Welcome,  @C Loston! I'd echo what @Nicky Lisewski said, do what you can to get plugged into the local scene. So much to learn from the folks who have been-there-done-that. I'm in the West Chester area, where are you?

@Eran S. I would echo what @Jonathan Greene stated: the most important part is having access to the properties whenever you want. Being able to schedule a showing for a go-and-show (available to show whenever with automatic agent confirmation) 15 minutes before you want to see the property is a blessing. No matter how great the buyer agent you are working with, we can all get busy with other clients/deals/etc. that may disrupt your ability to see a property. In my market, for a competitive listing, the ability to see a property as soon as you want could well be the difference between getting it or not.

You are decently close to the yearly costs associated with holding a license. If you decide to join a local Realtor board, then you can factor in CE classes (every 2 years). Additionally, most offices will have some form of a monthly fee associated with holding your license at the brokerage. There are many that are more investor-agent-friendly, you just need to do some research about your area.

Ask 10 different people on BP about becoming an agent as an investor and you will get 10 different answers. My 2 cents: It is worthwhile as long as you understand your responsibilities for disclosure when talking to sellers. You can land yourself in some real hot water as an agent-investor if you are going direct to seller and don't disclose your licensure.

@Caleb Coombe

Keep me posted on what they say, I'll send you an invite to connect, feel free to send me a message if you have any questions as the process moves forward. Keep in mind that you want you and your agent to have understood expectations along the way,  and as a client, you are well within your right to ask questions if something seems "off" to you.

Best of luck!

@Caleb Coombe, I would clarify with that agent WHY they are charging that fee. I don't claim to know every practice locally, but I can assure you it is not common in our area.

I'm unsure of your RE experience up to this point, so I don't want to miss out on explaining something that could help. Normally, a buyer's agent makes their income ONLY once they close on the transaction they are assisting their client with. 

Did your agent explain to you why they are charging this fee?

@Caleb Coombe, a $150 charge in addition to whatever fee they would be earning from helping you purchase the property?

To be clear, you are working directly with that agent to find you a property that is on the market already?

I'm an agent in the Greater Philly area, and I don't know anyone who charges a fee for that.