Is it a good idea to use listing agent to buy property?

Question

I am a new investor. The multifamily market in Philadelphia is very competitive right now and I am thinking it will increase my chance to get a property if I go straight to listing agent. What do you think about it? Is it dangerous? Could you give any suggestions on what I should be on a lookout for?

Russell Brazil · Answer

No it will not give you any advantage regardless of the myths people like to propogate.

Find your own agent, and find someone with experience on the buy side in competitive situations.

JJ GONZALEZ II · Answer

Lana

You say you are a new investor but have over 200 posts ?? I am confused what have you been posting about

Mike Cumbie · Answer

Hi @Lana Lee,

My recommendation would be to have your own agent. They are going to be aware of when new properties hit and some that are "on the way". Personally I try and stay from Dual agency when possible.

Zachary Paul · Answer

@Lana Lee - I will reiterate what everyone else has been explaining above...

There is no advantage whatsoever by going with the Listing Agent to purchase the property. First of all the commission has already been negotiated out by the Seller and the Listing Agent. Secondly, it would make more sense to work with an agent whom was representing you and only you in the transaction - no conflict of interest. Finally, any good agent would be able to find out from communicating with the listing agent on how to structure an offer to get a deal done.

I have been a dual agent on only a few deals in my career - and they were for situations where the home was sold in AS-IS condition with little to no contingencies. If you have any further questions or are looking for someone to represent you in a purchase, please don't hesitate to reach out.

Best of luck!

Curtis Rouse Jr · Answer

@Lana Lee My advice would be to first know what kind of returns properties are yielding where you want to invest. This involves analyzing as many properties as you can to make sure the numbers make sense. Once this has been done and you feel more comfortable/know the yields you are looking for, then I would reach out to brokers/realtors if you decide to go that route and tell them exactly what you are looking for. I'm in the MFR space owning a couple apartments and for myself and investors I've built a financial model to analyze smaller SFRs to the larger multi million dollar apartment complexes. On my website below, I have provided a case study for investors to get an idea of what it looks like. Please let me know if I can be of any assistance along the way and best of luck!

Janine Covello · Answer

I have been using my own agent in Philadelphia to put in offers on multi family and single families and I was telling my husband today- I can't believe how much time and work it has saved me.  I think if anything they have given me more negotiating power, as the house we recently went under contract for had 4 different offers, and they made sure mine won.

On closing on my last multi-family my agent spent a LOT of time coordinating with the title company and the seller on tax lien issues, re-writing any contract addendum to make sure my deposits were protected at any time when the seller pushed the close, checking in on the property and the reply to inspection and verifying everything was done properly, verifying the O&U certification etc.

It sounds like you have more experience than me so maybe you wouldn't need all of that- BUT I just think the amount of time they put in, their expert with contracts and negotiating, and their general availability to go check on things on my behalf was huge.

Anthony Dooley · Answer

If you know what you are buying, the agent is there to smooth things out.

Lana Lee · Answer

I only have 2 duplexes and consider myself more a landlord then an investor, but would like to get more involved in the RE business. I use this forum as the way of learning from the experiences of other people. And sharing what little I have already experienced. And if you are realy interested , read on:-)

Is it a good idea to use listing agent to buy property?

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