I agree with you, dsandlin. Unfortunately, real estate is one of those fields anyone can enter. Even the broker’s license test is pretty easy and the bar is set low. I definitely believe in the 80/20 rule, which has been proven with real estate agents. 20% of the agents are doing most of the work and are true professionals. Of that 20%, there may only be 10-20% that actually focus on investing.
Of the “good” investor agents that I met, there’s been about 4-5 that are outstanding and specialize in the area. I really like them and we work together all of the time. They’re customer-focused and know what they are doing. Two are at Keller Williams (one founded an investment group here, REICA), one is with Remax and is huge, and the other founded the other investment group here (Austin RENC).
The difference is that they are investors and do a lot of deals themselves. They buy foreclosures, rehab, rent, do conversions, etc. That’s the #1 difference that I’ve seen. I’d ask any “investor” agent how often they personally invest and what their strategy is. I guarantee that this will cut out 90% of the “investor” agents that you talk to.
I’m working with a realtor now that is a friend of the family. Actually my mom used to be a realtor and she was her broker. She’s been in this market for probably 20 yrs and knows it better than most. I don’t think she is an investor but I can hopefully train her to find what I want. Right now she’s setting up showings and running comps of what I find on my own, found a few that are on the MLS and off. I have a day job and night job so it helps to have someone just to pick up the phone and do my calling. Plus having someone that can pull solid comps and help me understand the local market is certainly invaluable. Maybe longterm she won’t give me good leads but she’ll do for now. She’s showing me one tomorrow that looks like a homerun if the rehab isn’t bad.
sounds like a good start, but in the long run i expect you will be finding someone that will be able to find what you are really looking for. There are some good deals here and there on the mls but by the time you see it the good deals will already be gone. Ask her for the reo asset manager for the area, if she doesnt know who it is keep looking or have her spend her time looking for that person instead of looking for houses. In the long run you will benefit more from that info she finds than just dealing with her. But a the same time for her doing all this work i wouldnt let it go without some sort of compensation. Maybe the first few deals throw her some money especially if you are delaing with the reo manager and not her anymore. Never burn bridges.
Well most likely I will be buying the property I am seeing tomorrow unless its a total disaster, based on initial numbers it should work and cash flow, so she’ll be getting a commission from that. If that goes through it will be the easiest deal of her life, I found the property myself.
are you buying it at 50% of the value? or around that? Or are the numbers big enough you can make a descent profit.
Well my final offer is going to be ultimately determined by the condition of the house but yes with all rehab costs I will definitely be in good shape. Houses on the same street with similar sq footage have sold for $200-220k in the past few months. This one started at $189k and is now down to $130k with realtor’s ad saying bring all offers. I’m guessing I can knock it down a lot more since I don’t think they owe much on the house.
start your offer at 100K they usually take around 92% of what they are asking but try low and go from there. Hope it works out for you.
Yeah, I’m going to make a detailed list of the rehab work involved along with an estimate for the work and try to get it as low as possible. I have a thread going on this in the Rehab forum, I will be posting pics tomorrow of the property along with a detailed analysis.
I have a campagin of using Greeting cards for my realtor and contact lists. I use it for preforeclosures also. Working with the realtors I get a better response when I hit them mutiple times.
Here is my note in Short!
Dear Sara,
Hope all is well. Just wanted to drop you a few lines to see if you have any houses that are not moving. If you get a seller that is wanting to drop there price or just before the listing expires let me know. As you know I am interested in any properties that need work or can be bought at a discount. As with other agents that I work with, we automatically list the property after the fix up. Our price range is between 115-225K.
By the way if you have a buyer that is looking for some creative financing we can help. We currently have X amount of properties that can be seen at our website at ourwebsite.com.
Best regards,
Jonathan
That is the letter in short. I send them out 4 times per year. I also email them once per month just to let them know I am alive.
Find a realtor that keeps current reads the Real Estate news. Know basics of all real estate subject… look for good ones interview them on the phone and then share what you want with the good one be specific about your needs and your phone should be giving you great leads. I have an investment property that the soil moved and the seller wants out. it is repairable. The asking price is $150 k below market. Start there and you should be okay.