And you are probably going to hate me, because I am a realtor. However, I must say that from a buyer’s standpoint, it would be good that you did find one agent who could work exclusively for you. This serves to eliminate the bird dogging thing that investors have to do. Certainly, we will all admit that find the right deal is not always easy. Getting the distressed home owner to do anything until the absolute last minute is a pain in the behind. So, having a person whose sole job description for you, is to find you pre-foreclosures, estates, REOs that could potentially make you a bunch of money seems like a wise thing. Let me be in bondage to someone who could make me rich someday. :o
Further more, when you go to put your investment on the market for sale, there are some avenues and things that a good realtor knows to do to get your property sold in good time, at the right price. In other words, it saves you. It saves you time and money; a thing that neither of us can live without. Best of all, at least where I am from, the buyer doesn’t have to pay us. We are paid from the proceeds of the sale.
I signed an agreement with one agent, and he has been very good for me. I explained to him that if another agent gave me a lead on a house, I would use that agent. I wrote onto the agreement in large letters across the top "valid only for properties first shown by (agents name). This protects the agent so he knows he’s not wasting his time, but leaves me free to work with other agents who bring me leads.
I like how you do it. I also use one realtor to make my deals. It works beautifully, because she wants to sell houses and I want to buy them. A lot of people miss out on the potentials of this reciprocating type of relationship. But it probable just boils down to personal preference.
I’m an agent/investor. Please understand that the Exclusive Right to Represent Agreement can be cancelled at any time with the agent. You can employ as many agents as you want. The only thing the agreement does is make sure that if you purchase a property that an agent shows you, THAT agent (and not another agent) gets paid. You’d be surprised how many people will let an agent run them all over town, find a property and then give the sale to another agent. Just because you sign for 6 months doesn’t mean you are locked in for 6 months. As long as you cancel (in writing) you are free of any obligation. Many agents choose to NOT work with Buyers at all for this reason. Agents who have been around for a while will only work with Sellers. Many agents will charge a fee for comps unless they have established a working relationship with you.