Atlanta, GA · Member since 2016 · 4 posts · 0 votes
I am new to REI and in the stage of building my team. I have reached out to a real estate agent for referrals (real estate agent, contractors, loan officers/brokers etc.) She wants to be my agent, but has no experience working with investors. She requires that I have my financing in place before showing me any properties. I understand that pre-approval is common for home buyers, but what about investors? What should I look for in a great real estate agent? What questions do I need to be asking to find it?
Flipper/Rehabber · York, UK · Member since 2013 · 895 posts · 453 votes
10y
You definitely want a real estate agent who has experience in the kind of deals you want to do. Qualifying a buyer is not unreasonable (agents have to value their time because other people don't generally respect it) but your agent should also know that traditional loans are only one way to finance investment properties. My top answers for an agent would be
- they should be an investor themselves
- they should have connections to alternative financing
- they should understand your specific criteria and style of deal analysis (it is not their job to do your analysis for you)
- they should be responsive, even if your market isn't HOT HOT HOT you don't want to lose a deal because you couldn't schedule a showing or get a contract in fast enough
Shawnee Mission, KS · Member since 2016 · 716 posts · 313 votes
10y
I have had young agent that were investor him self so I thought that was the way to go .Find out I was in competition with the agent .
Most agents that work with investors do own rentals or managing them. Ask them how many investors you are working with if so who gets first bid?
Yea some want you to pre qualify ,the agent has found out lot of times the loan fails because of BIG down payments is required , I see any where from 20 to 30% down needed for a rental .Now the hard part you must have the money in the bank for 60 days with no big movemnts.So now you have a hurry and wait game .Or just show where the money is from if you have a big deposits .
That is a big reason why they want the paper work done first .
Atlanta, GA · Member since 2016 · 4 posts · 0 votes
10y
Excellent points! I will take each one to bear in mind. The agent I have been talking to is a personal friend. I was mainly just looking for referrals from her and the opportunity to bounce some ideas off someone, but because we are both new to investing it feels a little like the blind leading the blind. Thanks for the guidance.
Most agents that work with investors do own rentals or managing them. Ask them how many investors you are working with if so who gets first bid?
I assume that each investor would have different criteria, but there's bound to be overlap in what each is looking for. What do you think that an investor can do to make themselves more attractive to the agent so they become THE ONE who gets first bid (provided they aren't competing with the agent themselves)?