More than one real estate agent?

Question

Is it wrong to have more than one real estate agents looking for properties for you?

My current one does a great job at selling homes and has a proven track record of it, friend of a friend. She will be selling my current condo and I'm not worried about that at all. I'm going to rent for the time being while I hunt for a new place. I want to sell while the market is still going well is my reasoning for renting short term. However I would like my next property to be a multi unit rental property to BRRRR and live in for about a year ideally and I'm not so sure about how involved they are with investment strategies. She claims the guy I'm working with on her team has done some investing but just hasn't been giving me much confidence or seem to be helping very much. Other than setting up an MLS search for me that notifies me of new places. I've been looking at single family as well as Chicagoland area can be tough to locate deals it seems. I've been looking in the LaGrange, Brookfield, Darien, Westmont, Westchester, Countryside, Riverside, Woodridge areas mainly. Along with some south loop and west loop Chicago areas.

Just wondering if it's ok to try and perhaps find another agent that is more investment focused to help my search or if that's considered stepping on the toes of the first one??

Tom Shallcross · Answer

Agreed with @Mike B. Let them know you have X expectations so feel you need to try a different route.

Also, if you're looking in those areas I'd recommend connecting with @John Warren who specializes as an agent in the near Western Chicago burbs and also owns roughly 50 doors himself in that areas. We recently had him on our podcast (episode 9) if you want to get a a feel for how he can help.

Mike B. · Answer

As long as you're transparent with them it shouldn't be a problem. Personally, I'd get rid of the non performer and give someone else a shot if you're not happy. Plugging info in the mls to auto send screams bare minimum laziness to me.

Crystal Smith · Answer

So I'm an agent that has used agents when purchasing outside of my own market. And I have clients that use more than me. Here' my rule of thumb

1. For deals that are on the MLS, we'd throw our business to the one agent that provided us w/ more than just a list of properties. The responsive agent that provided us with financial analysis beyond what was on a listing, along with w/ access to resources, sound advice,..... gets all of our business for that market. It's usually not one agent- It's a team working together.

2. Private listings- There's a private listing network that many agents use. We're open to establishing a relationship with another agent who has a specialty and uses private listings but we won't place offers on MLS deals with that agent.

3. Off Market deals- Different than private listings- Some agents purchase & sell for themselves or represent investors that purchase and sell properties. They will use the term off-market to distinguish the deal from an MLS listing. We'll establish relationships w/ multiple agents that have off-market deals. There are times however where we'll find an off-market but can't really evaluate it because we may not trust the information from the agent so we'll go right back to agent one for the evaluation & that agent makes the offer on the off-market deal.

From our standpoint, this method isn't stepping on any toes. Agent 1 team is your go-to guy or gal. Agent's 2 & 3 may have private or off-market deals that agent 1 may not have access to. But if you need help w/ analysis on a deal from agent 2 or 3 then go back to Agent 1 for help & make sure agent 1 gets paid.

Mike B. · Answer

@Chris Pauli No, one shouldn't have anything to do with the other. The agent selling your home is incentivized by commission and is obligated to give you proper representation by law. While I don't know John Warren personally, he comes highly recommended by a lot of people that I respect. You'll be in good hands. Good luck in your search!

John Warren · Answer

@Tom Shallcross thanks for the mention! @Chris Pauli I am happy to have a conversation, and I definitely cover the areas you mention. I live right by the Brookfield Zoo and I have properties in Berwyn, Cicero and Lyons currently. Happy to connect any time.

Steve Morris · Answer

I'm a broker, so my bias.  Just tell them what you want and show you have the wherewithal to make it happen.

If I find out later I'm one of many that your dating, you may not be my first call if I find a hot deal.

So don't know what guidance to give you.

Chris Pauli · Answer

That's honestly the guy I see keep popping up all over these boards that's making me think who I should be reaching out to instead.  I'll definitely have to check it out.  Thank you

Chris Pauli · Answer

That's kind of what I was thinking but wasn't sure if that was considered the normal and to just have to completely fight for yourself type thing.  He hasn't really done much other than done the MLS search and an occasional "take a look at this property" that popped up, but then I run the numbers on the calculators and they dont look good at all.  I explained what I was trying to do, find an under market value place so as so I could get my initial investment back out with the ARV.Should I let them sell my place first and then kindly tell them I'm going to try going a different route?  I dont want to sabotage the sale of my current place

Ricardo Delgado · Answer

@Chris Pauli I don’t see why not. At the end of the day if you find an agent that has investors as clients, he might know more people that he can introduce you to like Property management, Handyman, contractors etc. Also your still using your friends agent to sell so that’s one transaction. Your still giving him/her 50% of your business. Just my opinion.

More than one real estate agent?

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