Vetting an agent long distance

[Matthew Kauk]

I'm just getting started in the world of real estate investing. The properties around my area are out of my price range.

So i'm looking for something that is long distance.

I want to make sure that my real estate agent is legit and is not scamming me.

I took her license number and looked it up on the state website and it came up as active. Is there any way this could be faked?

The reason I'm worried is that I haven't heard of the real estate entity that she works for and it's hard to find any details of her work online.

I'm looking for ways to vet that she's the real deal as well as how you vet your real estate agents.

Appreciate the help.

[Erik Browning]

Quote from @Matthew Kauk:

I'm just getting started in the world of real estate investing. The properties around my area are out of my price range.

So i'm looking for something that is long distance.

I want to make sure that my real estate agent is legit and is not scamming me.

I took her license number and looked it up on the state website and it came up as active. Is there any way this could be faked?

The reason I'm worried is that I haven't heard of the real estate entity that she works for and it's hard to find any details of her work online.

I'm looking for ways to vet that she's the real deal as well as how you vet your real estate agents.

Appreciate the help.

 Hey Bud, you are fine. It's illegal to fake the license and they can be in big trouble. Also, everything can be faked. I can make a webpage where I put you as an agent and publish it within an hour. 

If you want to be sure, call the office, not their cell, and ask to be transferred to their VM. Also, when the transaction happens, you'll know quickly if they don't know what they're doing.

I'm betting you are probably concerned that you are going to get scammed or lose money. Simply asking these questions demonstrates that you might not have a complete understanding of how these transactions work.

You, as a buyer, do not ever give a real estate agent money.

You will be wiring money to escrow. Escrow manages the movement of cash to all parties involved.

Agents don't ever take your money, and if they do, then it's a scam.

I recommend you do some more reading on the entire process of purchasing a home or speak with a lender about getting preapproved. 

Also, I suspect you are the type that will be concerned about running your credit. You getting your credit run once is not a big deal if you actually intend to move forward. If you just want to see where you are at, then ask the lender for a "soft credit pull." Additionally, they will ask you for a lot of documents for a preapproval - give them the documents. They will have a secure document upload portal and no one is trying to scam you there either. They won't be able to help you if you don't upload all of the documents and at the very least let them run the soft credit check.