Working with a realtor

jpaterson · October 12, 2005, 9:30pm

How many of you are working on your own, without Realtors? i.e. performing all contract work, offers, and negotiation yourself.

PlumProperties · October 12, 2005, 11:26pm

I’m also hoping you get several replies to your question from some experienced investors - I am interested in the answer to this question myself.

propertymanager · October 12, 2005, 11:37pm

I think you’ll find that most experienced investors employ many strategies and do many different kinds of deals. Personally, I do everything on some deals and use my realtor for everything on other deals. It just depends what kind of deal it is and how it comes to my attention.

Mike

john828 · October 13, 2005, 2:10am

Jp, I guess the thing that bothers me about the realtor is when you sell. There are so, many discount brokers today that why would you want to pay top dollar? In the end, you can get your best price by doing what is best for you.

jpaterson · October 13, 2005, 3:53am

I’m with you! I found a flat fee broker that will put the listing in the MLS and also on Realtor.com and 13 other web sites for $300. I figure I can do a lot more local advertising on my own for what it would cost to pay a realtor.

jpaterson · October 13, 2005, 3:55am

Yeah, I guess that makes sense. If you have some good contacts with Realtors and they bring you a lead, it would seem fair to work with them thru the process.

propertymanager · October 13, 2005, 1:16pm

I don’t worry about the amount of money others are making in a deal. What I care about is what I’m making. Many newbie investors have a negative impression about using realtors. This is just silly. If I can make $10,000 on a deal, do I really care if the realtor makes $1,000? If the deal makes sense for me, I’ll take it whether a realtor is involved or not.

The key is - don’t get greedy. Get the profit you want and be happy that others are profitting also!

Mike

kdhastedt · October 13, 2005, 1:30pm

I use a Realtor to buy listed properties. Contrary to some opinions here, it doesn’t really cost me anything because the SELLER PAYS THE REALTOR FEES.

I have no written contract with my realtor but she’s good at what she does. I often do a lot of the upfront legwork of finding the properties and she shows the property and does the Realtor work up to closing…

Keith

john828 · October 13, 2005, 4:19pm

propertymanager:

I don’t worry about the amount of money others are making in a deal. What I care about is what I’m making. Many newbie investors have a negative impression about using realtors. This is just silly. If I can make $10,000 on a deal, do I really care if the realtor makes $1,000? If the deal makes sense for me, I’ll take it whether a realtor is involved or not.

The key is - don’t get greedy. Get the profit you want and be happy that others are profitting also!

Mike

Mike, I do not know what state you live in but, in New Jersey realtors make a killing off most home sales. If you are paying someone 6, 4 or 3 percent from the sale of a home, that is a lot of money. Think about it, if the house sells for $300,000 that can be anywhere from $18000 to $9,000. That is a lot of money to just toss around. Sorry, but $1,000 dollars? Where do you come up with that figure? Most realtors won’t give you the time of day for that kind of money. You do make it sound like they are going to do ‘back flips’ for that kind of cash.
Where I live, my house can be sold for $269,000 to $284,000 (retail price) on the open market (recent appraisal). When I decide to sell it, I would never want to use a local realtor because that would mean that I am giving my equity away ($16,000-$17,000).
Yes, you are right in that realtors can be valuable on certain areas.
In the end, I think you have to take them case by case situation.