All Forum Posts by: Sandy Blanton

Ben Schembri Check out this thread: http://www.biggerpockets.com/forums/12/topics/81783

We always use the REO seller's title/attorney for closing since they pay for it. I don't see any benefit in paying for a local vendor. IMO.

Steven Hamilton II The insolvency exclusion rule is something I learned about last year. I was shocked after years of many short sale deals that we had never heard of it. Every agent that does short sales should be telling short sellers about it, it's such a stress relief.

I don't think we have agents holding back offers just for the hope of getting both sides. If we jump on a deal and offer to give up our buyer agent commission, it's a major bargain. The "under pricing" if you will is either due to the foreclosing bank having an out of town appraiser who was unfamiliar with the area or an estate sale where the heirs under price. If we jump on this deal, we know we're going to be in a multi-offer situation.

If a listing agent has two offers, all else being equal, of course they're going to encourage the seller to accept the deal where there's not another agent involved. A listing agent with both sides has more control, less hassle and a larger chance of getting a deal to closing.

Property Managers. In my area all of the larger PM's require the landlord to place a month's rent in a reserve account to cover repairs/etc. I'm the only one not doing it. However I'm thinking about starting such as we've been stuck with a couple of repair invoices of late. Not requiring this has been one of the benefits of hiring us, so I'm torn.

Do you hold such?

Thanks for sharing. Tiger M.

Good counter-point Joel. Somewhere between my bullish and your bearish views on the topic, the viewers can decide their best course. I'm a newbie to BP, but it seems there's a wide demographic: people who have never owned a piece of dirt and don't know what an appraisal is to those with hundreds of millions of dollars in experience.

Of course an investor in large commercial parcels wouldn't likely benefit from being a licensee. But the individual that trades one or two dozen units a year all in one town could benefit tremendously.

***SCREAMING*** Ok, Sweet Jesus, I had a Cold Pop.

If you buy one deal a year from the MLS, then YES...get licensed.

I've bought and sold over 100 units personally in the past decade. I find 98% of my deals in the MLS. There's no substitute for the MLS database. Not only can you find deals and earn the agent's portion, you can accurately predict your investment numbers: current value, ARV, your rental values, etc.

Florida, as I'm sure all states do, require that you disclose you're a licensed agent and a principal to a deal. This has no bearing on your negotiations with a seller or buyer. The other party doesn't care if you're an agent, a mortician, a transsexual, etc.

Don't worry about finding a broker that will accept your license due to your investing activity. The average full time agent probably closes six deals a year, it's dismal and it's always been this way (excluding the boom years and maybe the average agent closed a dozen deals a year). As long as you act ethically and within the law, your broker won't care what you do. Just be upfront with your broker before he/she hires you, have a clear understanding so there are no surprises. If you have to interview ten brokers before you find a fit, who cares. If you're lucky you'll get a progressive broker who will teach you about the brokerage business (if you have any interest outside of investing).

Even if you're a wholesaler, I encourage this. There's one agent in our town that makes his living wholesaling. Every listing of his I have ever seen in the MLS has his disclaimer "listing agent has a lease option with the seller and is a principal to this transaction." He's the only agent I've ever seen that's a wholesaler, but he must be doing well as I see his name on more listings than most agents. He's also with one of the largest, well liked brokerages in town.

I can't get more enthusiastic about this advice for the non licensees here. Let me know if any questions.

William Bannister A deal is always easier when the parties "cooperate" vs. "combat." If a deal is so tight that an investor buyer is worried about the average 2.5% a buyer broker is getting paid these days, he should find another deal.

Half of my business has been on the brokerage side, half on the investor end. I have found a handful of "gem" buys where I was so desperate to get the listing under contract that I paid 10% over full list and let the listing agent keep ALL of the commission, even the my portion as the broker/buyer. My goal in doing this was to get the listing agent on my side during what I expected would be a multi offer situation.

In the brokerage business, the top 10% of the agents make 90% of the money. If a top seller's agent has a listing, it almost always means he/she took it only because it was priced where it would sell. Hence, a buyer that's difficult is putting themselves in a less than ideal position to get the deal. If it's priced right, the agent will have no trouble finding a buyer. This is especially true with REO's and Short Sales.

In the case where a buyer is dealing with a starving, novice agent, they may be able to squeeze their paycheck but in the end that agent has little to give up. Such an agent is likely on a 70% split with their broker, and in most cases I don't think a broker will allow an agent do drop seller commissions to give to a buyer.

Just my input folks. I work both sides of the fence: broker and investor. I know if I find a "steal of a deal," I don't care how much the brokers are earning. :)

Kim Knox Good points Kim. I rarely write up a buyer offer these days, but certainly an agent wants to get paid. In reducing listing commissions to give to a buyer, I'm unsure how most traditional brokers would respond. I spent my first decade in the business with a large national franchise broker. They (my local franchise owner) had a very strict policy and didn't allow any buyer inducements from the seller's commission.

The buyer nor the buyer agent has any input to what I charge a seller. In Florida a buyer broker can share any of their commission with their buyer. If a buyer comes directly to us and asks us to give them a cut of the commission, we just say "no." It's rare for a buyer to ask such, in my 20 years in the business I think I've had maybe 4 ask for such.