Direct Marketing / Realtor

[Ryan H.]

Hi all, I'm currently working with a realtor to buy my first rental property.  Based on the suggestions in many of the BP books, I thought I'd try sending out some targeted letters of interest to people who might be interested in selling their property.  I notified my realtor about this and she expressed three concerns: (1) if I list her info in the letter, it could be construed as her soliciting another agent's client; (2) my communicating with the seller directly complicates my current agreement with my agent (she used the analogy of me hiring an attorney and then communicating with the other party directly instead of through the attorney); and (3) I may inadvertently do or say things that could be construed as practicing real estate without a license.

Thoughts?  How then does one do direct marketing at all, then, with or without an agent?

[Jerryll Noorden]

She is a realtor. She makes money off of representing you. Thus she makes money from her finding you a house.

If you find a house yourself, will you still pay her? Not likely.

Yeah she WILL have "concerns". On one end, yeah I can understand she is pissed as now she may do all the work for nothing and she may be putting a lot of time into this.

HOWEVER, this is the nature of the beast. She can't expect you to just sit and wait and hope she does good work. This is actually healthy in my opinion. Tell her, if she finds a good house first, you'll go with her. If not, you are doing it yourself.

Do you have a contract signed with her? Does it say anything about you also looking?

It is one thing for your agent to find a seller, and then you going behind her back to chat the seller up. But you going to the supermarket and come across someone that needs to sell their house now, and you strike a deal with them that should have nothing to do with her. Check the contract...

And for mailers ABSOLUTELY DO NOT put her name or face on the mailers.

Don't go looking for listed properties with the mailers either. She (because all agents are female) has that covered. You go after off market proerties. You will get a much better deal doing so if you find anything of course.

And dude,

If she dares telling you that you can not send mailers out to find a house YOU WILL BUY, you NEEEEED to fire her NOW. As in NOW

Stop pooping, get off the toilet, call her FIRE her.

Now!