Find the Right Agent, Close the Best Deal<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Step #1: Use Agent Finder to match with top investor-friendly<\/strong><\/em> real estate agents to help you find, analyze, and close your next deal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Ready to succeed in real estate investing? Create a free BiggerPockets account to learn about investment strategies; ask questions and get answers from our community of +2 million members; connect with investor-friendly agents; and so much more. <\/p>\n\n\n\n If you can’t obtain a referral, turn to the internet. Conduct a Google search for \u201cbest real estate agent in X city.\u201d Inevitably, this search will pull up a Yelp review page. Go to the Yelp page titled \u201cTHE BEST 10 real estate agents in X city,\u201d but be sure to scroll down past the \u201csponsored\u201d agents (they are paying to show up higher on this page) and down to the \u201call results\u201d section.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Once there, you can see how many reviews these agents have and what their ranking is. People don\u2019t (usually) go out of their way to leave reviews for people online unless they are negative. When you find an agent with a lot of five-star reviews, they are most likely really good or at least have a great follow-up system in place.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This isn\u2019t a perfect system, but it is a good place to start.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Next, search through BiggerPockets for real estate agents<\/a> in specific markets. There are some great agents on BiggerPockets, and the odds of them being real estate investors are much higher on this website than anywhere else. You can also see which agents are serious about their business because they will have a premium membership<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n To get the best feel for agents from afar, combine the results of your Yelp and BiggerPockets research.<\/p>\n\n\n\n You can also search Google for real estate agents, but beware\u2014an agent with good search engine optimization (SEO) can rank very high on Google, regardless of their abilities as an agent. This should be your last resort, and thorough vetting will be necessary.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Now that you\u2019ve found a few real estate agents online, the trick is to figure out which is the best fit for you. Real estate agents are not a one-size-fits-all, and you will find that a great agent for you might not be the perfect fit for your friend and vice versa.<\/p>\n\n\n\n As I mentioned above, I\u2019m a fan of reading reviews online. If an agent has a lot of terrible reviews, they probably aren\u2019t worth interviewing. On the other hand, just because an agent has five-star reviews doesn\u2019t mean they are the perfect fit for you. That being said, why not interview a handful of agents with great reviews online than agents with no (or low) ratings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Hands down, communication is the most important thing to me about a real estate agent. Personally, I like real estate agents who are high “D” and “I” personalities on the DISC profile. “D” personalities are driven and very aggressive, while “I” personalities are those influential people who are naturally good communicators.<\/p>\n\n\n\n While there are great real estate agents who fit more into the “S”\/”C” side of the agent profile, I have not found them to be aggressive or communicative enough for my personal taste.<\/p>\n\n\n\n How quickly will a particular agent respond to emails and texts? How fast will they return your calls? These are very important factors. A good agent will get back to you ASAP. If a potential agent doesn\u2019t return calls quickly, view it as a sign that they won\u2019t keep you updated throughout the process.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Personally, I do not want to be calling my real estate agent asking what the next steps are. I want them to call me and let me know where we stand.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Recently, I was helping somebody navigate the acquisition of a 14-unit building, and the real estate agent was virtually non-existent throughout the process. He was working with this agent while stationed in Europe (definitely checks the \u201clong-distance\u201d box) and constantly having to ask her where he stood, what was next, etc.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In fact, I was guiding him through the process of getting an inspection, calling banks about financing, hunting down contractors for bids, and almost everything else. I remember (on multiple occasions) asking him where his Realtor was in all of this and telling him that she should be more involved.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This whole process was very painful, and ultimately the deal fell apart. I\u2019m pretty sure he dodged a bullet with this deal, but it might have been a great opportunity if he could have just found the right team for the job.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Moral of the story: find an agent who is a great communicator.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Side note: If you’re a real estate agent, become a great communicator. Nothing hurts your business more than a lack of communication, aside from being unethical.<\/p>\n\n\n\n A good real estate agent will be able to negotiate on your behalf. This is another reason I look for aggressive, communicative agents. The more a real estate agent is willing to negotiate on your behalf, the more money you will save.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It makes me laugh that investors will change lenders over the promise of a 0.1% lower rate but won\u2019t fret about an agent who isn\u2019t willing to try and negotiate a $10,000 discount.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I hate to say this, but there are some agents who will even go so far as to avoid negotiating because the higher purchase price means a higher commission. They figure that as long as you\u2019re willing to pay for the home… This isn\u2019t unethical. Find a real estate agent who knows how to negotiate and prides themselves on how much money they have saved clients on deals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Also, you want a real estate agent with a \u201ccan-do\u201d or \u201cquitting isn\u2019t an option\u201d mentality. Sometimes it will be difficult to make it to closing, and you don\u2019t want an agent who avoids conflict.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Unpopular opinion: I actually don\u2019t think this is as important as some people do.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Don\u2019t get me wrong, experience is great\u2014but so is hunger. I know a lot of extremely driven new agents, and as long as they work in a solid brokerage, they could be great for you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The agent who has helped more people for me than anyone else in the country has been an agent for less than a year. He works under some experienced agents but is extremely hungry, a great communicator, an expert negotiator, and refuses to let a deal fall out of contract.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Are there more experienced real estate agents in the area? Sure. Are there others I would recommend a friend work with over him? Not many.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Inexperienced, uneducated, and unmotivated doesn\u2019t work. They need to be very knowledgeable and very motivated. Experience is just icing on the cake for me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Ultimately, the best advice I can give you for choosing an out-of-state agent is this:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Happy hunting, everybody! And may the best real estate agent win (your future business)!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" When investing in property far from home, you’re going to need help from individuals located nearby\u2014namely a real estate agent familiar with the area.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":188236,"featured_media":113902,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5524],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-128857","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-real-estate-investing-for-beginners"],"acf":[],"comment_count":0,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biggerpockets.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/128857","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biggerpockets.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biggerpockets.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biggerpockets.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/188236"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biggerpockets.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=128857"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.biggerpockets.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/128857\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biggerpockets.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/113902"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biggerpockets.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=128857"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biggerpockets.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=128857"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biggerpockets.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=128857"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"investor](\"https:\/\/www.biggerpockets.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/08\/Marketplace-Blog-Blocks-Agent-v3.png\" "\\"\\"")
\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n <\/div>\n \n\n\nJoin the community<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\nYelp<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
BiggerPockets Agent Directory<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Google<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
How to Vet Real Estate Agents<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Reviews<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Communication<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
How to Spot a Bad Real Estate Agent<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Negotiation and Closing Skills<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Experience Level<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
How to Choose a Real Estate Agent When Living Out of State<\/h2>\n\n\n\n