5 Reasons your Realtor HATES you ... and what you can do about it

Let's face it, as Real Estate Investors, we have a tendency to be a little.. demanding.. on a Realtor's time.  Especially if you are new to investing and you don't know your market yet. We look at a ton of houses, want a ton of comps, & put in a ton of offers. We want everything cheap and with the market as hot as it is, we want everything done yesterday. 

Really good Realtors are like a diamond in the rough. If you find a good one, and you want to hang on to them, here are the 5 things you do that make them HATE you... and what you can do about it to keep them around.

#1. You have no idea what you want to invest in... or where: Learn how to pick a market. THEN.. learn how to narrow down that market for what you are looking for.  Maybe its a certain cash flow per door? Maybe its for flip projects? Maybe the neighborhood you pick will be based on your risk tolerance.  Don't be that person that is running your Realtor all over looking at everything from $50,000 houses to $200,000 houses.  Not only that, you are running them from one end of the county to the other looking at EVERYTHING.  Learn to target your market and narrow down your strategy based on your investing goals. Trust me, one day of running from one end of the county to the next with a GOOD Realtor looking at stuff all over the board will have them kicking your butt out of the car and you will find yourself hitch hiking home. 

#2. You do NO due diligence on your own up front: You take zero time to do something as simple as drive past the property PRIOR to asking your Realtor to set up a showing. You would be amazed at what you can learn about a property just by driving by it.  You may end up hating the neighborhood. Or you may be able to tell just from looking at the outside that the house needs too much work for you. All it takes is a few minutes to drive by to see if its an area you are actually interested in. Every house looks like a unicorn on the computer screen, but when you drive by... it may end up just being a donkey. 

#3. You have no clue how to analyze deals: It is not your Realtor's job to tell you what is a good deal and what isn't a good deal. What makes a good deal for one person does not necessarily make a good deal for another person. It is not their job to tell you repair costs, or run numbers as an investor would. Here's a newsflash for you: most Realtors do NOT invest in Real Estate! They don't know how to look at what cash flow you want, or profit you want in a flip and work an offer backwards from that! That's YOUR job.  Know how to analyze deals based on what works for your investing strategy. 

#4. You have no money to buy a deal: Know how you are going to buy a property PRIOR to putting in offers. You can get "pre-approved" with a private money lender or hard money lender.  Know where your funds are going to come from. Have a plan in place. Don't get an offer accepted only to turn around and back out because you lack the means to fund it or to find a partner to team up with to fund it. 

#5.  You show no appreciation for your Realtor: New investors tell me all the time they can't find a good Realtor to work with. This is because the good Realtors are BUSY. If you find a good one, show your appreciation for them!  They do a lot of work for you that.... guess what... they don't get paid for!!! They don't get paid unless you buy or sell something with them. They are working for free for you until this happens. There is a lot that goes on behind the scenes that Realtor's do that you have no clue about.  Tons of paperwork, tons of negotiation.... they have the patience of saints.  If you want to pick their brain about the market.. do it over lunch. Everyone has to eat! Take lunch to their office.  Send them a gift card to show appreciation when they run a billion comps for you, or take the time to show you a ton of properties that you never buy.  Let them know you are a serious investor and that you appreciate the time they are putting in to help you!