Do Real Estate Agents ACTUALLY Help Investors? (Asking as a Broker)

[Scott Johnson]

Hey BP community - I'm a broker and I need a reality check on something I'm seeing in the market.

I've been working with investors for years, and I've noticed this massive disconnect that I want to validate with you all. Here's what I'm observing:

"Real estate investors struggle to find brokers who truly understand investment analysis because most agents focus on residential homebuyers. Meanwhile, 'hybrid investor-agents' (brokers who actively invest in real estate themselves) lack professional tools to efficiently manage both their personal portfolio and investor clients - which limits their ability to truly understand and serve investor needs at scale."

Most of my colleagues want to talk about curb appeal and school ratings, while my investor clients are asking me about cap rates, cash-on-cash return, and BRRRR strategies. There's a huge knowledge gap.

And personally, as someone who wholesales and rehabs myself while brokering, I'm constantly switching between different systems - one for tracking my clients' deals and another for managing my own portfolio. It feels incredibly inefficient.

My questions for you:

1. Investors: What tools are you using to analyze deals, and how are you sharing that information with your agent? (Or are you just doing it all yourself and your agent is basically just unlocking doors?). When you share your analysis (if you actually do) does your broker fully understand it and are they able to guide you?
2. Fellow investor-agents:
Do you ever feel like you're constantly juggling two separate worlds - your brokerage business and your personal portfolio? If not, what tools do you use to help fill that gap between brokering and personal deals?

I want to know if this resonates with your experience. If I'm off base, tell me straight!

[Trevor Higgins]

As a lender, I think there are very few real estate agents who actually understand investing, the ins and outs, and how to analyze a deal/project. I have a simple rule that I share with my clients, if you're using an agent that hasn't invested in real estate themselves, they likely aren't the right agent for investing. This isn't always the case but I would say it is 98% accurate. 
I personally have several tools (most of which are homemade) to analyze my personal deals along with my clients. As far as the portfolio, I have always used property management for my portfolio and then have a virtual assistant project management for our developement and construction deals. It's not a perfect system but the VA has really helped take the back-end and task related work off my plate.