All Forum Posts by: Brad Bellstedt

I believe I just replied to this question in a different forum but I think it's a terrible idea for a multitude of reasons. 

Sounds like a great way to devalue your services and for no money. There are MANY properties listed in the MLS by agents who will let you borrow their listing to host open houses. (I do this exact same thing 48 weeks a year) You'll get the same results with much less effort. Don't give away services for free to FSBO's.

What area are you looking for agents in?

Honestly...They are all expensive and garbage. Calling FSBO's and expireds will make you one of the 10,000 agents calling those same leads. Zillow leads are garbage when compared to the quality and expense of obtaining leads organically. Homelight is also garbage. I've had a profile on there with dozens of previous transactions, reviews, awards, etc...Not one lead from them. Not my most positive post/response but as a new agent, you should know the truth. As an agent, everyone is out to get your money. You could literally eat lunch everyday for free for the rest of your life if you're willing to waste your time being pitched by any of the 10,000 companies looking to sell you something. Protect your time, protect your money, and get out there to "press the flesh." Knee-cap to knee-cap, face-to-face contact is your best means of prospecting. If that's door knocking, networking, SOI, whatever, it's far more deserving of your time and money than any source that wants you to buy leads from them.

IF you are able to find a lead source that only wants payment after closing, as a referral, that is worth your time but there's a reason Zillow and the rest don't operate that way. And that reason is because they know they are selling you garbage. The same exact garbage their selling every other agent in your area. (Zillow sells their leads more than once, usually as a shell company that doesn't appear to be a Zillow affiliate but that's how they can claim your leads are "exclusive to you" as they sell them on a dozen other platforms)

Proof of income and payouts. You would want to keep your DP available. Annuities have 2 phases. The pay in phase and the pay out phase. Typically in predetermined amounts on a consistent timeline. (Monthly, bi-weekly, quarterly, etc.)

Google? Nearly every agent is going to be listed on the internet. If they aren't you should question why they do not have an internet presence. Otherwise, just about everyone who wants to stay in business will be findable on Google. 

If you have access to the MLS this agent would belong to and they are a Realtor(TM) you can find them there under the search drop down menu, select "agent" and type in the name.

I have researched many of the same. From what I can tell and have heard around town, if you can afford the high membership costs, Boomtown, Real Geeks, and Firepoint are the most commonly used by the higher producing agents. I know that doesn't answer the question but helps to narrow down your list some. 

@Greg Dickerson has nailed it again with his response. Quite lengthy but very informative. Thank you Greg for putting in the time to help others. 

I can think of one issue you are going to run into when buying multis in Henderson and that is...there aren't any. Unless you are talking about something bigger than a 4 plex. For 4 and under, they are very rare to find for sale in Henderson and the overall 2-4plex market in Las Vegas is not all that good. 5-6% ROI and they are exclusively in the less desirable neighborhoods. I'm not sure why they don't build them anymore here but if you look on the MLS right now, the newest 2-4 plex currently on the market was built in 1995. Most are built in the 60s-80s. (23 of the 78 currently on the market are pre 1960.) Any part of town less than 20 years old will not have this type of property available. Less desirable neighborhoods = less desirable tenants, higher turn over, increased maintenance expenses....The list goes on and on.

Probably not. I've had buyers with $500K to spend but no income so they couldn't qualify. We ended up putting the $500K in an annuity with $3,000/month draws. That way, they could show money still coming in every month. The bank won't lend without a proof of income because for all they know, you're going down to the casino to put your $30,000 on double zero just after you close on your new property. That's a big risk in the eyes of the lending institution.