realtors as buying agents

General Real Estate Investing
1

Didn’t know which forum to put this one in…
Started talking to myself this morning, more like yelling, about the fact that I am afraid of the damn phone. Shouldn’t be. I wasn’t when I was in sales or collections. But I can’t seem to do it. Then after my episode (which surely would’ve gotten me thrown in a padded room if anybody had been home) I started thinking…And not an original thought I’m sure

Has anybody used a realtor as a buyer’s agent to approach FSBO’s. I’m thinking if I can find the right realtor and expain to him/her what I want to do, how I want to do it and when I want it done by, that could 1) allow me to leverage time (at a cost I know) 2)use somebody else’s more thorough knowledge of the local RE market (for right now) and 3) possibly speed up the location of a acceptable endbuyer or investor if it is just to flip. NO I haven’t worked out all the details in my mind yet, but is formulating quickly. The Realtor would ideally have an excellent working relationship with a mortgage broker, would be willing to defer the commission on the purchase until I sold the property listed with the same realtor. I don’t even know for sure what the rate is for buyer’s agent but I thought I saw like 2.5%. So I would offer 3.5% for deferring PL.US guarantee minimum of 4% when they sold the property. Minimum being in case buying party brought their own BA into the deal. Plus because the property would need to be moved quickly I could offer another 1-1.5% if (s)he could move it in say 2 weeks. I 'm just pulling numbers out of my arse, but y’all get the gist. Comments or suggestions, particularly from the realtors here. No I am not trying to give money away, but I am willing (for right now) to give away… :eekwow I just did some math. I hear some of you laughing. Ok realtors, help with this one. How could I do this? Flat fee for bringing a buyer…

Sorry everybody I’ve gotten in the habit of typing out my thought process (I’ll leave the persona stuff out :cool), but I figure I’m gonna be here awhile so folks might as well know how I think. Someday you’ll be asking ME for advice … :biggrin ( I could only hope)

2

FSBO’s get bombarded with letters cards and calls from every Realtor in town. If they could have got the listing they would have. Call the FSBO yourself and strike up a conversation or try to make an appointment to call at a more convenient time. You will go blind thinking like that to get Realtor s to think outside the box. You are wanting the Realtor to do all of the work and you collect all of the money. Sorry it does not work that way.
Find your list of FSBO’s and just commit to making one or two calls a day. When you are completely through your list you will have gained a great deal of knowledge and feel more comfortable trying to solve mutual problems(his and yours) .
redhawk

3

I agree, call them yourself. Once you do it a few times the fear of cold calling goes away. Good luck!

4

I’m not a Realtor, but I’ll share a few points. Most deals Realtors do have separate listing agents and buyer’s agents. Standard commission is 6%. Therefore, most Realtors are used to getting about 3% per deal. A lot of FSBO homes end up listed with Realtors eventually anyway. In the beginning, people may think they can get a good price and just save that 6% rather than pay a Realtor. Understand that a lot of times people that try to go the FSBO route price their homes a certain price because they have to get so much money out of the house for whatever reason. Maybe they’re trying to dig out of a huge pile of CC debt. Maybe there’s no equity there and there’s no room to be able to pay a commission and still get out of the mortgage without coming out of pocket.
You should be able to talk to sellers and find out what their situation is. Sometimes you might be able to come up with a solution; other times you’ll have to pass.

5

I would contact them myself, or have someone contact the FSBOs, but not a realtor. They don’t want to talk to realtors, just buyers for the most part. You could always have someone else call them and fill out a form with answers to 5-10 questions. However, talking to sellers is something you will inevitably want to master anyway, so I would get over my fear of doing it.