What is your technique in reaching out to new realtors?
Julian Pilate-HutchersonPro Member
Vallejo, CA · Member since 2017 · 35 posts · 15 votesWhat is your technique in reaching out to new realtors?
Most Popular Reply
Specialist · Plainville, CT · Member since 2015 · 478 posts · 389 votes
8y@Julian Pilate-Hutcherson- On behalf of agents everywhere... your average real estate agent's enemy is the "tire kicker" and/or the "newbie". Do everything in your power to avoid being perceived as such. My guess is... it's most likely something in your communications that are not helping your cause. What arena are you looking to play ball in? I'm guessing residential since you're using Zillow?? If you want to buy larger apartment buildings, let me know... I can help you with what to say to brokers who work with those types of deals.
15 Replies
- Specialist · Plainville, CT · Member since 2015 · 478 posts · 389 votes8y
@Julian Pilate-Hutcherson- On behalf of agents everywhere... your average real estate agent's enemy is the "tire kicker" and/or the "newbie". Do everything in your power to avoid being perceived as such. My guess is... it's most likely something in your communications that are not helping your cause. What arena are you looking to play ball in? I'm guessing residential since you're using Zillow?? If you want to buy larger apartment buildings, let me know... I can help you with what to say to brokers who work with those types of deals.
- Vallejo, CA · Member since 2017 · 35 posts · 15 votes8y
@Chris Tracy Thanks for the response. Also, of those who would reply back, a few would say they are just too busy to work with investors. Not sure if it is their polite way of rejecting to work with me or if they are just too busy. I will look into rephrasing my introduction.
I am mainly focused on flipping single family residential properties at the moment. If you have any insight on improving communication with brokers/agents in general, I'd love to hear.
- Investor · Morrisville, NC · Member since 2012 · 1k+ posts · 673 votes8y
@Julian Pilate-Hutcherson . Have you tried getting references from someone else? I have found that getting someone else to reference you gives you a better entry point. You could use BP to connect with people in their markets and ask them to reference you someone else they have worked with in the past. Also, make sure you continue to build your brand so that people can easily understand what you do. Do you have web/online presence? Do you have social media presence with enough information, that shows that you are serious in your field? If 10 strangers were to reach out to you every day/week and you had x-amount of time to dedicate to them, which ones would you chose and why?
- Stamford, CT · Member since 2018 · 91 posts · 34 votes8y
To be honest local networking meetings are the way to go... I am also doing a bit of online... marketing...
I think it boils down to your communication skills and just being a nice person in general and they will reach out to you. However, yes to speed up the process local networking is the way to go beyond just online.
Online... is a long and tedious process :) but if done consistently can be a great supplementary way of getting other folks to notice you and wanting to work with you...
You just have to be honest, and even if you are a tire kicker and the newbie, as long as you present your journey showing who you are and where you are coming from and why you are thinking the way you are thinking then folks will learn to trust you, believe you and connect with you, which may or may not of course result in you get the right agent in your local area.
Remember what may seem tire kicking to some, and means business as usual.... to you it's the entire life savings... type of decision...
- Real Estate Agent · Atlanta, GA · Member since 2014 · 135 posts · 40 votes8y
As a broker myself the best thing to do in an initial conversation or message is express that you have a serious intent to buy and within what timeframe. I personally love working with investors, but hate working with want to be investors that never actually buy. Just let them know that your serious, and they should be happy to help you. Then again most agents suck so you're going to go through a couple of bad ones first.
- Vallejo, CA · Member since 2017 · 35 posts · 15 votes8y
Originally posted by @Henri Meli:
@Julian Pilate-Hutcherson . Have you tried getting references from someone else? I have found that getting someone else to reference you gives you a better entry point. You could use BP to connect with people in their markets and ask them to reference you someone else they have worked with in the past. Also, make sure you continue to build your brand so that people can easily understand what you do. Do you have web/online presence? Do you have social media presence with enough information, that shows that you are serious in your field? If 10 strangers were to reach out to you every day/week and you had x-amount of time to dedicate to them, which ones would you chose and why?
Great points. I have not done much outside of finding real estate ads online. I see this BP network is powerful. I'll restart from here.
I realize that online presence is the biggest thing that my team is lacking. I'll get on that ASAP. Maybe we should start out with a Facebook page? It seems like the quickest and cheapest technique.
Thanks again.
- Vallejo, CA · Member since 2017 · 35 posts · 15 votes8y
Originally posted by @Rome Wells:
To be honest local networking meetings are the way to go... I am also doing a bit of online... marketing...
I think it boils down to your communication skills and just being a nice person in general and they will reach out to you. However, yes to speed up the process local networking is the way to go beyond just online.
Online... is a long and tedious process :) but if done consistently can be a great supplementary way of getting other folks to notice you and wanting to work with you...
You just have to be honest, and even if you are a tire kicker and the newbie, as long as you present your journey showing who you are and where you are coming from and why you are thinking the way you are thinking then folks will learn to trust you, believe you and connect with you, which may or may not of course result in you get the right agent in your local area.
Remember what may seem tire kicking to some, and means business as usual.... to you it's the entire life savings... type of decision...
I'm just now beginning to attend local networking meetups. I'll start to use those opportunities to create new connections. Thanks!
- Vallejo, CA · Member since 2017 · 35 posts · 15 votes8y
Originally posted by @Tyion Bridgeman:
As a broker myself the best thing to do in an initial conversation or message is express that you have a serious intent to buy and within what timeframe. I personally love working with investors, but hate working with want to be investors that never actually buy. Just let them know that your serious, and they should be happy to help you. Then again most agents suck so you're going to go through a couple of bad ones first.
Yeah, I realize a lot of agents do not come in clutch. Also, in my introduction I never included my purchase time frame. That's a good one. I'll add that for now on. Thanks.
- Real Estate Broker · Canton, GA · Member since 2010 · 15k+ posts · 11k+ votes8y
I do commercial but when an investor contacts me the first thing I do is send out a one page PFS statement to fill out.
I want to know their capability before we even jump on a call. If a buyer wants to remain a mystery they go BYE,BYE.
If they cannot give me the courtesy upfront to show they are real then we do not proceed any further.
I have had some people make a big deal about it that were worth 1 million meanwhile I have had others worth close to 100 million give me the PFS right away.
PFS and bank statements a broker/agent will generally take you more seriously when they know you have the money.
- Real Estate Broker · Canton, GA · Member since 2010 · 15k+ posts · 11k+ votes8y
To expand further the broker/agent wants a return on their time. They want to work with people who have the funds and not potential flakes who are trying some way off the wall transaction and structure that has an extremely tiny chance of every happening.
If a broker/agent runs an efficient business model of transaction after transaction then that type of buyer working on a long shot is not their ideal client. New agents who have absolutely no business going on and starving for cash might chase the impossible to see if something happens.
- 8yAmy KendallBusiness MemberReal Estate Broker · Lehi, UT · Member since 2016 · 397 posts · 318 votes
@Julian Pilate-Hutcherson I think this is a great question. As a real estate agent myself, I often get people that reach out to me. I had someone the other day email me for the first time with very little introduction and ask if I had any flip deals available. Without knowing a lot more about this person, I would have a hard time giving them a great deal on a possible flip. I have other investors that I have done past deals with and have built relationships with that I would be much more inclined to present a good deal. Keep that in mind when you approach and introduce yourself to a new agent. I enjoy when people want to get together and tell me about the goals, it helps me see how serious they are. Also, it might be helpful to try and find a real estate agent that also invests in properties, because he/she will have a good understanding of the types of properties you will be interested in and you won't waste each other's time. Good luck!
- Stamford, CT · Member since 2018 · 91 posts · 34 votes8y
Indeed very good advice coming from many wonderful folks in here. I started in Jan 1st 2018 in this interesting journey, and all I have experienced so far is... nothing but good vibe... from people (with of course some exceptions), but to really be able to convince brokers... you really need to team up together with others.... else brokers for sure will not get back to you...
I discovered that in my 2 months and 6 day journey so far :) Indeed they do not want to take a chance, plus for sure some are not really specialized... in for example multi-family housing.
Indeed I understand where they are coming from too, heck if I was Broker I would be the same... but... what i learned is that.......simply talking to people about your intent is very powerful. I am creating a documentary, in my own blog showing how I handle my newbie journey towards financial freedom...
I do not want to spam here with the link to my page, so instead, I will simply mention that, I am documenting how my brain thinks... as the starter, so maybe some folks who are also starting out... and trying to get closer to financial freedom within 3 to 5 years in the world of commercial real estate... possibly can somehow relate... :)
I have no idea... if people will relate or not... or should I say I wasn't really sure... myself when i first started this journey to see if anyone would even bother joining my facebook group to see what is happening in the brain of a starter individual, to see the tips, tricks and secrets the starter just like you uses to get closer towards financial freedom.
In my journey that i started in Jan 1 st 2018... towards financial freedom, i document multiple actions I take and analyze the process of investment and raising money. My blog may seem a bit corny, but if interested in checking it out, hit me up and I will send you the link.
To be honest I had only maybe 12 followers... when I first started... now i have about 16 :) 12 of which were actually somehow my friends or people I knew... and the other 4... well... just some other typical folks in similar spectrum who are trying to dive into the world of the commercial real estate...
What I found quite surprising is that a lot of folks are actually interested in my story... Note right now it's technically 4 people (yes for me 4 people is a huge number from nothing... :) Doesn't seem that much... for 2 months and 6 days track record... and most certainly not something to be proud of... (but yet somehow I am still proud of it and want to teach folks how they can do the same, but obviously have more than 4... through the power of consistency)
However, I just wanted to share my proud moment of having these 4 followers with you guys in Bigger Pocket, so maybe by just pure luck or perhaps by your very own curiosity you get to check it out to see what I think about commercial real estate world of investment and why on earth am I doing this...
Note... I literally describe inner details in my blog of every action in real time.... I must warn you ... the blog is not for everyone for example... brokers maybe alienated from it.. because... after all why would they want to see the progress of some newbie who knows possibly the tire kicker and waists time... right?
Yet.. the reality of it all... some brokers will still follow (how do I know? because sooner or later I will work with one... and they want to see that you are serious and not just one hit wonder)
The point I am trying to make is... begin building both virtual and physical network... and start diving into other peoples mindset... will carry you through the passion and begin helping you discover the true reality of retiring early...
Note i am not the best person to listen to since I don't have 100 units property or anything like that... but what you will learn in my blog may perhaps be entertaining and perhaps just maybe make you feel less like you are a lone ranger diving into this journey, while also help you discover how you can create similar virtual/physical network... all in parallel to doing all sorts of actions that are relevant to your financial freedom goal for getting out of rat's race within 3 to 5 years... or simply retiring earlier.
If interested in my journey blog.. to see how you can use similar tactics that I use... in your journey... feel free to send me a request for the link... and I will share it with you and I promise you.. it will motivate you like never before.. however, key is to watch it from start to finish my entire journey...
Note as of now i have 16 followers, perhaps you can already get a lot more followers than me... but remember quantity is not what matters here... but quality of your followers... and desire to dive into something similar by tuning into similar spectrum... even if that spectrum is from an outsider a newbie (potential tire kicker)...
Yet the reality of it all.... what may seem logical to one person may seem illogical to another... what you must do is make your journey logical for yourself.... while pivoting the mindset of others, in the direction of being helpful and helping yourself and they will follow...
Sorry for a long post, but that's just how I am... I write a lot and for some folks indeed it may seem overwhelming to read... but the reality of it all is that's just how i am :)
- Real Estate Consultant · Ogden, UT · Member since 2015 · 52 posts · 26 votes8y
Originally posted by @Joel Owens: Would you be willing to share your PFS document or give some insight on what info you like to find out beforehand?
I do commercial but when an investor contacts me the first thing I do is send out a one page PFS statement to fill out.
I want to know their capability before we even jump on a call. If a buyer wants to remain a mystery they go BYE,BYE.
If they cannot give me the courtesy upfront to show they are real then we do not proceed any further.
I have had some people make a big deal about it that were worth 1 million meanwhile I have had others worth close to 100 million give me the PFS right away.
PFS and bank statements a broker/agent will generally take you more seriously when they know you have the money.
- Rental Property Investor · Kansas City, MO · Member since 2016 · 112 posts · 75 votes8y
I would recommend drafting a letter of intent that you can send to any real estate agent of interest. That way it will be very obvious for people to understand what you looking for. It will save you time as you won't have to draft a whole new email every time you want to reach out to someone new. Once you meet an agent/general contractor, ect, I would recommend explaining to them your goals and investment strategy. It helps tremendously to think about both sides of the relationship. Show them that you in real estate long term. Tell them that as you make great returns, the sooner you can work with them again to purchase another deal. A really good agent will find deals for you to help you grow, which will in return help them grow. This applies to all aspects of the business. The key is to build long term relationships that understand each other and are beneficial to both parties. Hope that helps!
- Investor · Atlanta, GA · Member since 2016 · 241 posts · 86 votes8y
Hi Julian what is do the connect with brokers is try to connect with them via Linkedin or BP and develop a rapport with them. If I feel that there is synergy I offer to do lunch and build a strong relationship with them. It's going to take sometime but consistent effort will bear fruit for you.
Join the conversationCreate a free account to reply, vote on answers and follow this thread.