Jim W mentioned he did not care about those buyers and thats fine most agent that work with investors can take that line of thought.. but thats not the majority of transactions in the USA  retail mom pop I want to buy a home to live in makes up the vast majority of transactions.. its going to really hurt the FHA VA  cash strapped buyer ..

Its much better for them to sell a high dollar house to a retail buyer.

For example I have a customer in Zurich who needs a mattress and adjustable base that only exists in the USA and they don't want to pay retail pricing.I wish I knew how to do deals like this well with RE and had all the contacts.

Generally the southern US is a great place to invest for me, but I only do multi-tenant retail, good growth, better regulatory environment, great people etc. 

I will say, 90% of retail brokerages know nothing about the investment side of real estate.

And that alone, dual agency, scares the hell out of 50%+ of retail brokers/agents because they are not of the professional level. 

But also in recessionary times can come down, versus average 5+ yr leases in industrial, retail and office.  

I am not necessarily a retail investor, but I work heavily in the retail category. 

I’m currently half way through my first flip in the Cincinnati market, it will be a retail flip (no tenant just sell to homeowner).  

One thing that I haven't seen here from other clients is that you can actually negotiate the expensive rates down from what they are at retail.