Is it a good idea to work with RE agents - Posted by alder jackson

Posted by Wes Murphree Jr. on February 20, 2001 at 12:07:31:

Since I received so many private requests for real estate agents who work with investors, I thought I would set up this page. Visit this page, and I will get you in touch with a real estate agent who specializes in working with investors in your area.

Is it a good idea to work with RE agents - Posted by alder jackson

Posted by alder jackson on February 19, 2001 at 18:24:36:

Is it good to work with agents, and And if so, what is the best way to approach them and get them to work with me?
How can I get them to inform me about there properties?

Re: Is it a good idea to work with RE agents - Posted by Carey_PA

Posted by Carey_PA on February 20, 2001 at 20:46:17:

Alder,

My first experience with a realtor wasn’t pleasant and from that day on I said I would NEVER work with a realtor again. (well, my advice, don’t ever say NEVER :slight_smile:

I finally found a realtor that still has the realtor “mindset” but he is slowly but surely learning that different things can be done!

THe “records” show that I have NO job and that I’m self-employed and make no money. But I just got an offer accepted with a realtor on a bank foreclosure. I got the property at 50% of it’s fmv, it needs about 3k worth of fix-up AND I got the seller to pay all my closing costs AND I should be getting money back at closing. SO, this should help the relationship with the realtor, he told me several times that he never thought they would accept my offer! Now he knows better, I told him that my feeling is you never know what you can get unless you ask for it, and he agrees now.

HOWEVER, he did want a commitment letter from a bank for my financing (the seller wanted that too), so I did get him that, I got him 2 as a matter of fact. Oh and I don’t have a job and I make very very very VERY little money. So it can be done.

He also wanted me to put down $1,000 earnest money, but I said no. I told him that for this one I’ll do $500, but when we start making more offers the earnest money deposit will go down as well. He didn’t like that idea too much, but I’m thinking when he starts making money off of me he’ll listen to just about any ideas and thoughts I have!

good luck finding a realtor that is willing to listen and learn…you WILL need it. you may want to ask other investors in the area who they use, that’s how I found this realtor and that’s also how I found my 1 source of financing.

CAREY

If you are prepared… - Posted by B.L.Renfrow

Posted by B.L.Renfrow on February 20, 2001 at 09:15:14:

…to buy properties the conventional way, using cash or getting a loan, sure. But if you’re starting with little or no money, bad credit or trying to focus on “creative” deals, then you’re probably going to get frustrated rather quickly.

Why? Because 99% of RE agents are only familiar with the conventional methods of buying/selling. When you start talking about subject-to, lease options, etc., they will immediately lose interest because they won’t consider you a serious buyer. And of course, they want to know where their commission is coming from, so if no money is changing hands up front, they will assume – probably correctly – that they either won’t get paid, or will have to wait for payment. It’s not really fair to criticize them for this. Fact is, there are a lot of wanna-be investors out there who WILL waste an agent’s time and cannot or will not perform.

I see many newbies who decide to become investors, and their first stop is a RE agent – who promptly tells them it can’t be done. Then, unless the newbie investor searches out other options, their investor career is over before it starts. After all, a pro in the RE field told them that the creative stuff won’t work.

How do I know this? Well, guess where my first stop was when I decided I wanted to get into this business. The agent (whom I knew personally) asked immediately how much cash I had for downpayments. When I answered honestly, I was promptly escorted out of the office with, “Yeah, I’ll call you if anything comes along.” Of course, it didn’t. Fortunately, I was motivated enough to explore other means of accomplishing what I wanted to do.

If you’re set up to buy with cash (or hard money) then by all means, using a good agent/broker can mean more deals. But if your desire is to use someone else’s money, I think your best bet is to become familiar with lease options, subject-to, owner financing, etc. and deal directly with sellers. After all, if there’s no commission for the seller to pay, that should mean more profit in your pocket.

Brian (NY)

Re: Is it a good idea to work with RE agents - Posted by Wes Murphree Jr.

Posted by Wes Murphree Jr. on February 19, 2001 at 21:22:02:

Find one agent and stick with them, actually buy property from them, don’t jump around from agent to agent. Once they realize you are working with every other agent in town, they aren’t going to waste time on you.

I am a real estate agent/investor, and have several investor clients I work with. One of the reasons it is so hard to find a good agent, you wouldn’t believe how many calls I get a week from people who just bought a late night study course, and never do anything.

Email me with your area, I will probably have a contact there, and I will try to set you up with an agent who works with investors.

Wes Murphree Jr.
Remax Foothills
Greenville/Easley, SC Foreclosures
http://www.greenvilleforeclosures.com

Re: Is it a good idea to work with RE agents - Posted by Mike

Posted by Mike on October 22, 2001 at 11:39:40:

Hi Carey…I’m curious to know how you were able to get a commitment letter from a bank [2 of them actually] when you don’t ahve a job and make very little money? I am in a similiar position, looking at a forclosure available at 50% of FMV but i have a job and very little money here in TN…

Any advice you can give will be greatly appreciated.
Mike