All Forum Posts by: Ruth Lyons

I don’t know about the New York area, but in Washington DC metro area, there’s a lot of competition for the sort of deals you’re talking about. They go fast to cash buyers. As a realtor, I have been burned by Newby investors (who run me ragged during their due diligence, or say they have funds and then can’t find the deal once I find a great deal for them). Helping investors is a lot more work for an agent for a lot less commission. And agents are 100% Commission-based — we can’t afford to work for free. And sometimes we can’t even afford to work for a discount commission which is essentially what working for an investor produces. Real estate investing is not an passive activity. It’s not the job of your agent to serve up deals or do the analysis for you. That’s on you. All that being said, an agent who knows investing, has invested themselves, and has helped investor clients, is gold to find. And when you find someone to work for you with those qualities, pay the full commission due.

Interesting question. I'm guessing you are anticipating "difficulty trying to resell to an investor" because there's not enough money in the deal for a flipper to be interested? Either that, or you don't have a buyer list or network of seasoned connections? 

I highly recommend finding an agent who has investor experience him/herself AND recent experience working with both investor and retail buyers. Most realtors know very little about investing, have never heard of wholesaling and won't get what you're trying to do. So do your due diligence to find the right agent who has done investor deals (not just says "I work with investors") and has a list of investor clients who pick up the phone when the agent calls. The right agent knows the local market, knows how to market this for you to both retail and investor clients and does enough business to understand all the options in structuring a deal that makes sense for all parties.

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It's so crucial to create a detailed scope of work and an implementation schedule. It will save you money while providing checkpoints to make sure you're on target in both time and budget. I create a spreadsheet going room by room and write down everything that needs done. I shop the supplies needed and detail those in an adjacent column complete with model numbers, price and availability. (Some items need ordered rather than picked up and it's crucial to order them early.) 

Then I organize it all into an implementation schedule starting at my desired finish date and working backwards scheduling all the trades needed for the work. Many things can be done simultaneously and having everything detailed will make those clear to you. On my last flip, I used a different contractor for the exterior and interior. While the siding, roof and exterior doors were being replaced by one crew, the interior bathrooms and kitchen were being renovated by a different crew. 

I also make sure to have all supplies on site at the beginning before work starts -- this ensure there's always something for everyone on the crew to be working on simultaneously and no downtime running to Home Depot or waiting for the tile floor to set. They can be painting and doing repairs in other rooms. Carefully planned out, you can and should do a major rehab in 3 weeks. 

I'm in the Maryland part of the DMV so I can't comment on Northern Virginia. As an investor and realtor in Maryland, however, 2020 was my best year ever. So far in 2021, the inventory shortage is really hurting business. Buyers are frustrated -- and putting in offer and offer on properties my clients don't get is exhausting. There is nothing to buy without significantly overpaying while also forgoing an inspection -- and I don't advise my clients to do that. I think the market will get more balanced once interest rates start to go up. The housing shortage is, at least in part, a result of the massive amount of would-be home sellers who spent time and money to refinance and decided to stay put rather than sell. When interest rates go up, the incentive to do that goes away and more houses will come to market. 

Great comments and feedback here. Being in a very strong seller's market in Maryland right now, it's a tough market to negotiate down housing prices in most cases. But not all. A good agent knows how to interact and what information to research and share with the seller/seller agent to get you the best deal possible. As others said "as is" is negotiable. Everything is negotiable in real estate. One caveat and word to the wise investor: when you find a great agent, don't negotiate their fee to the point that you take away their incentive to work hard, and negotiate even harder, on your behalf. 

I have rentals in Maryland and had licensed plumbers remove the disposals from my rentals because of recurring issues due to tenant negligence. No code issues I’m aware of. 

The "reality" shows are so far from reality -- it's entertainment, folks! 

Among other things, it takes experience, expertise, diligent planning, project management skills, timely execution, access to capital, perseverance, proper market timing and a little luck to consistently make money on flips. It's both frustrating and a ton of fun!!

Good comments have been provided above. The housing shortage makes this a tough time to buy if you don't want to overpay (and who does?!). It may be prudent to rent a home your first year allowing you time to get familiar with the area and time for the market to properly balance before you buy. I am noticing signs that the market is slowly starting to balance in Maryland. Interest rates are starting to inch up squelching some of the demand and more inventory is coming to market with Spring temperatures kicking in.

As Norman commented, we need more information about what you're looking for to narrow your search area. Schools are much better in Howard county if you have children, for example. The Howard county side of Laurel should do really well in coming years.

@Lux Amator

I get leads from a number of sources. Thankfully, most of my leads are referrals now that I'm in my 4th year as an agent. I also do quite a bit of local advertising and farm a neighborhood with monthly mailings. 

As an investor, before I became an agent, I had a subscription to PRIVY, a real estate platform specifically designed for investors. It's a robust software program that was well worth the fee giving access to the same MLS data that real estate agents have at their fingertips.

If your main reason for becoming an agent is access to deals, I don't think it's worth the time, effort and financial outlay. Get on the lists of all your local wholesalers, get PRIVY and attend local meet ups. Build your network and deals will come out of the woodwork.