All Forum Posts by: Jim Blatchley

@Seth Williams, great info. I'd really like to hear your voicemail too please. Thanks.

J Scott, No that's not being spiteful, that's keeping them honest. It's Realtors like this that give Realtors a bad name.

Terrible tragedy. My thoughts and prayers go out to his family and I hope his wife recovers completely.

Hi T. You just nailed it in your last post. Find an agent that just got their license and is also investor friendly. They will LOVE your business and should be very happy to accommodate you. Interview them...they are working for you, NOT the other way around. It's not that much work for an agent(used to be one) to just put in your preferred property criteria and have the listings sent to you. You can do a great deal of preliminary research on the properties online and narrow it down to your top 5-10 choices. Then make an afternoon of it as you look at them. Buy them lunch and talk about your goals for investing. You might make a point of doing a couple of deals first that aren't short sales, just so they can get paid sooner. You just need to build a good rapport and make your relationship mutually beneficial.
Now, as far as the agent you just signed an exclusive contract with. Check over the contract for an escape clause. This could be something as simple as stating that if one party is dissatisfied with the service provided, then you can terminate the contract. It could also state that it can be terminated by mutual agreement. If there isn't an obvious escape clause, then I would just start by telling them that you want out of the contract NOW. If they say no, then tell them you are going to talk to the agency owner/broker in order to terminate. You can also let the agent know that you are not going to buy anything within the term of the contract, so what's the point. Do not let yourself be intimidated by an agent that you no longer want to work with. If none of this works, then threaten to get your attorney involved. That might get their attention and let them know that you are serious. There is no reason why you should have to wait for 60 days to find a property. You might just miss a great deal.
Good luck.

1. Take a look at the movie "Home Alone" and rig up a few gadgets like Kevin did.
2. Make the place look lived in, lights on a timer, mannequins(fully dressed of course) positioned around the house.
3. Plant some nice thorny bushes under every window. I like the barking dog alarm idea too, as well as motion detector lights.

Another option might be to require your tenants to sign up for auto debit. Then you don't have to deal with checks or deposit slips. Just a thought.