Clermont Fl · Member since 2014 · 52 posts · 19 votes
Hello guys I've been searching online for my first investment property and almost ready to go speak with a Realtor will a realtor help me find specific properties that make sense financially for cash flow or is this something that I should be doing on my own like I have been just searching online. I would assume they would be better equipped at locating the properties and I could just make sense of the numbers?
Thanks hopefully this isnt a odd ball question not trying to be lazy just feel like a realtor might be better to guide me.
This really depends entirely on the realtor. There are some realtors that are more investor friendly than others for sure, but one thing to keep in mind is that a realtor makes their money as a percentage of purchase price, so just speaking logically they're not going to be the one that's getting you the absolute rock bottom price.
However, for a first step into real estate they may be your answer. You'll also want to check out your local investment groups, and then spend plenty of time on this website learning how to do things like direct mail in order to nab your first deal. I'd recommend talking to @Jerry Puckett for this, he does a great job on direct mail campaigns and will probably lead to your first deal much more quickly than a realtor would.
This really depends entirely on the realtor. There are some realtors that are more investor friendly than others for sure, but one thing to keep in mind is that a realtor makes their money as a percentage of purchase price, so just speaking logically they're not going to be the one that's getting you the absolute rock bottom price.
However, for a first step into real estate they may be your answer. You'll also want to check out your local investment groups, and then spend plenty of time on this website learning how to do things like direct mail in order to nab your first deal. I'd recommend talking to @Jerry Puckett for this, he does a great job on direct mail campaigns and will probably lead to your first deal much more quickly than a realtor would.
Based on my personal experience, I've generally found that it's hard to find a good realtor that caters to investors. They are out there, but I haven't found one that is willing to spend the time it takes to hunt down deals, so I've just been deal hunting on my own. To find a good investor friendly realtor is probably going to take at least as much time as trying to find your first deal.
Also, this that are good investor friendly ones, probably have quite a few investor clients as well, so you're still competing against other investors either way.
Nothing against realtors, they are in it to make money as well, so in many ways, I can understand why it is hard for them to work with investors where it may take 20 offers before one is accepted.
I'd highly recommend getting involved in your local real estate investor clubs. There are always lots of deals floating around those networks. They aren't all great, but you will find lots of fresh deals that haven't gone to the MLS yet. You're also much more likely to find investor friendly realtors there because they are hanging out with them.
We sometimes buy off the MLS, but rarely. The 80/20 rule applies here. 80% of our deals are off market, 20% are on market.