Once you establish a relationship with a Realtor who understands that you will be looking at lots of properties and making lots of offers, but that you are almost ALWAYS prepard to buy, they will keep a look out for you.
I live in the hysterical “Bay Area” where Real Estate has gone nuts. Is is possible to find properties using a Realtor BEFORE they hit MLS? SURE…
Yes, the last house we purchased was from a Realtor who happen to also be the listing agent. Once he knew he was going to tie down the listing on this potential “fixer” he immeditaly called us. As the property info was bieing entered into the MLS system we had already drafted and negotiated an accepted cash offer with the seller. When the property was actually in MLS it was already under contract.
This is what is called a “Pocket listing”. A Listing that the Realtor is involved in where HE knows about it first and is wanting to be BOTH the listing and seller agent. Lets face it they make MORE $$$ working a deal in this fashion than having to share their commission with another agent who brings in a buyer.
So keep looking until you find the right Realtor who understands what side of his toast to butter.
Realtor for Rehab projects…questions to ask? - Posted by Fran CA
Posted by Fran CA on February 22, 2001 at 10:33:34:
I have been working with a realtor in my area to locate rehab projects. The problem is that he doesn’t seem motivated enough to help us find the properties before they go on MLS. Also, he is having a hard time trying to figure out why we are offer such a low price on the properties we have seen. (This guy is kind of clueless on the investor front, I guess he doesn’t understand we are trying to make money here too!) He talked to the hard money lender (Ed Garcia) that we are working with and seems to be just doing this because he knows us.
My questions is how can I screen realtors to get them to be more motivated about searching properties for us? What questions should I be asking them to find out if they are motivated to help us? I have talked to several of them, but am not having any luck locating one that will serve my needs. There are plenty of rehabable homes in the area. I have been doing other forms of advertising i.e. flyers and sending postcards to the homes that I have found that need work. I even got a call on one of my flyers, but the guy isn’t ready to sell yet.
Re: Realtor for Rehab projects…questions to ask? - Posted by Bob (Md)
Posted by Bob (Md) on February 22, 2001 at 17:06:33:
In my area, its a seller’s market. The agents don’t have to work real hard to close deals. That’s why most of them don’t care about dealing with investors. Why would they want to drive around, find properties, get the listing, contact you, have you put in a bid at 45% of retail price, have the seller say no, and then futz around with the listing while you put in four more bids over the next two or three months? Too much work for most agents. They’d rather answer the phone and try to match up the new customers with an entry on the MLS. Much less work, much more money.
That being said - there are a few agents that are interested in a long-term, repeat sale relationship with investors. I’d guess they’re about 1 out of 25 in my area. Also, understand that there are a lot of buyers who’ve bought a course from a late-nite TV guru and are now full-fledged investors (at least in their own minds). Agents will definitely lose interest if they think you’re one of those folks. The ones who’ve been in the business for a few years aren’t nearly as dumb as some would have you believe. Lazy, perhaps. Dumb, no.
Re: Realtor for Rehab projects…questions to ask? - Posted by Invst7777
Posted by Invst7777 on February 22, 2001 at 12:19:12:
Hi, Fran
I’m a Realtor in Illinois and I get phone calls from Investors just like you looking for the same information as you do. After talking to these Investors the one thing they do is to call all the local offices and ask for the new agents in the office (that work full time in R.E.) that they can talk to, tell them what you are doing and if they can help. Most new agents do not have a lot of business so they should be happy to help you. I just got a fax on a handyman special in my area from another office one day before it went on the MLS if you were working with me you would have known about it, this happens in just about every state. I ask everyone that wants to work with me to come to the office so we can meet if you do come in I’ll know you are more serious in making this work,(remember agents don’t want to feel like they are wasting time, show them you are interested by returning phone calls,e-mails etc.)Before I became an agent I did what I just wrote and 90% of the agents would not call me back but one did for seven months and he would fax me any listing that came in, in my price range that is why this agent is in the top 1% of his company. You will run into agents who don’t care but if you keep trying you will find one that does and you are on your way- most agents just care about how much money they will make on each deal the really good ones care about repeat business and the money will not be an issue.
You want a realtor to find properties BEFORE they go on MLS?
What do you want him to do, actually drive around and look for stuff? Most agents don’t do that. They sit in their office all day and wait for the phone to ring, or surf the MLS computer looking for stuff.
Re: Realtor for Rehab projects…questions to ask? - Posted by Fran CA
Posted by Fran CA on February 22, 2001 at 20:16:37:
Hi Bob,
Thank you for the post. I have the same problem with it being a seller’s market here. I live in the SF Bay Area, which we have a housing and power shortage going on. Your insights are good and I will keep them in mind.
Re: Realtor for Rehab projects…questions to ask? - Posted by Fran CA
Posted by Fran CA on February 22, 2001 at 14:53:39:
Nate,
In answer to your question, yes I expect to find someone like that. The reason being that a lot of realtors that I have talked to tell me, ‘Oh those types of houses never make it to MLS. Someone usually picks it up before that.’ So I am sure that I can find someone motivated enough to work with me. I will let you know if I find someone like that.
