All Forum Posts by: Jerome Harrod II

Paying Fees will most likely be the way you're going to pay, However their are investor agents who'll partner with you on deals to make their cut. This a people business and everything is doable as long as it's done legally, with the right person, under the right brokerage. The trick is finding the right person under the right brokerage.

However, If you just want leads and comps, you'll have better chances of getting that if your honest and upfront about what you want. Most investor friendlies will require Buyer Agency of some type, Some will smarten up by having a service you pay monthly for only to get Comp help and Automatic Expired and Distressed lead Delivery, while Few will agree to a $500 per bought house gift based on trust of your word alone. 

To find these agents, Attend local REIA meetings or Find local Real Estate Investing Meet Up groups to network with their agents and talk with them about their work with newbies. In my opinion, a good investor focused agent should either already have a plan for working with newbies or have a ready contact they can direct them to. Treating them to lunch is a good way to build a relationship and pick the brain of an agent who normally doesn't work with newbies, but don't always count on it.

If you aren't attending REIA meetings or Real estate investing Meet Ups, then as a new investor, drop any guru scripts that'll project you as something you're not to a Realtor. Their version of "Fake till you make it" will cause problems for you down the line as a decent Realtor will spot you out later down the line and they will drop you because you broke trust.

Call a small boutique brokerage, Ask the office for someone who focuses most of their time on investors and investment properties. When you reach them, tell them you're new and tell them about your investing strategy. If it's wholesaling, expect resistance from 80% of the people you talk to. If they're smart, instead of telling you "it's not legal and no respectable agent/broker will allow" , they'll try to share another way to invest, do try to hear them out.

To get better at saying No: 

Be direct, give a short reason, but show kind appreciation, and lead to the next thought or dismissal. It helps to have a go to phrase.

Ex. "No thanks, but try me next time." OR "No thanks, I don't think we're a great fit, but I'll keep you in mind for the future."
If they push with their own reasoning, "That may be true, but I'm nicely saying No. "
If they ask for your reasoning, "I'd prefer to not get into it, I'm kindly saying No. Is there anything else you need from me?"
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My Speech About wanting to help people and make them happy:

Don't confuse wanting to make people happy with wanting to be helpful. It's good to want to help others and make them happy, It shows you have a heart, but recognize that those are completely different unlimited desires based on your limited resources of money, time, and energy. It's all about balance. Respect yourself and others will respect your help. 

Personally, What helped me is establishing emotional boundaries, learning the difference between helping to carry a person's burden VS being forced into carrying their load. 

A person's "Burden" is like a big rock of misfortune that life thrown at them and told them to carry that weight many times without choice.  (Ex. Eviction due to being laid off from company downsizing.)

A person's "Load" is like a "School Backpack" that they themselves pack, sometimes too heavy but they carry that weight by choice. (Ex. Eviction due to being fired for lazy job performance.) What's in their backpack are textbooks for the class called "Life lessons" taught in the school of hardknocks. 

In Business, most times you are dealing with people carrying a "Load". 

Acknowledge that what that sales guy went through to make that sale with you was his "Load" in his job as a salesman. He knew the risks, the distance traveled, his pitch, and 9 times out of 10 you are not his first No. He'll only be happy with Yes, but! You can Be helpful and get him moving on to his next client by telling him No.

Everyone is responsible for carrying their own loads or decisions in life, but burdens or misfortunes are placed to teach character, compassion, and humility. Help those who are willing to help themselves the best they can, else you are outright weakening people and robbing them of their lessons and growth. 

Lets say, you got a 30k to 40k cash buying power wanting to buy and hold something decent in lets say a B class neighborhood.
How do you feel about buying and renting out a 1 bed / 1bath condo or a 2 bed/ 1 bath condo? 

I know it depends a lot on your market, but I'm looking for someone's general experience or opinion.
Like did you find a tenant easily or did it take some real marketing to fill?  Or Would you only buy a property like that only if near malls or colleges? 

Anyone have experiences or opinions that answers questions like that?

Hey there, These answers are going to sound repetitive, but please believe me that everything is pretty much local when you are just starting out investing. 

If you desire to be handheld, then it really is beneficial to join a real estate association and pay to join their mentoring program OR even better, find an Investing Agent that does Wholesaling and ask them to guide you through Wholesaling in return you'll use them in representing you so they get paid. 
If I may suggest you a better investing alternative, as wholesaling is not all that beginner friendly as it's sold out to be. I suggest you read this BP article for ideas:
https://www.biggerpockets.com/renewsblog/2016/01/1...

Now To answer your questions:

1. Every Agent works differently, For me, I treat Wholesalers and Traditional Investors as different categories of buyers in terms of services.

For Wholesalers, I find it a little complicated to offer services for and it's depending on what the Broker allows an agent to do. Why? Wholesaling is considered a gray area judged on intent, long story short Some brokers & lawyers are for it with the proper disclosures and while other brokers are against it no matter what.

In any case, I'd suggest you join a local investment group of some type and ask around for agent recommendations or hopefully there's a PA agent here on BP that'll answer this for you.   

2. The most reliable way to learn that info is by asking local Investors by going to a Real Estate Investing Association, Free Group Meetup, or Joining FaceBook groups catered to your area, asking for closing company recommendations. 

3. If you want to learn how to comp a property there's a whole lot of resources available here on BP and even on Youtube.
I suggest you read past "Step 4" in the article for this guy's comp strategy:
https://www.biggerpockets.com/renewsblog/2014/04/2...

With that said, It's an art not a science really as almost everyone has a different style of comp'ing properties and if you ask an agent to show you how they do it, it'll only be so helpful as your resources for getting data will be different. 

In the long run, It's worth reading everything you can here on Bigger Pockets, Here are a couple I suggest a lot my newer clients to start out with:

https://www.biggerpockets.com/real-estate-investin...

https://www.biggerpockets.com/renewsblog/category/...

https://www.biggerpockets.com/forums/12-starting-o...
https://www.biggerpockets.com/renewsblog/category/...

Hope that helps.

Quick question, 
What if a wholesaler finds a deal, puts the property under contract, and then uses an agent to market/sell that at a higher price? Is that a legal alternative for wholesalers rather to getting licensed?

Or What if you are an unlicensed Rehabber that has a property under contract, You have the intent to buy for yourself, so you brag about the deal to your investor circle, but another close rehabber friend approaches you about buying you out of the contract via assignment? Is that still considered "brokering" or Should one just keep silent until closing?

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Personally, I'am a Licensed Realtor and I feel the legal term "Brokering" should not be all encompassing or all inclusive when it comes to Real Estate. 
This monopoly or illuminati like emphasis on forcing people to be licensed is nonsense.

If the Medical field held the same view on "Treatments", then treating your friends basic wounds after a friendly football game with alcohol and a wrap would be illegal in the medical field since you're not a licensed doctor.

If the Law or FTC field held the same view on "Counseling", then simply adding the verbiage "I'am not a legal attorney, please consult one" or "Profit is not guaranteed" 
should not excuse many of us of writing guides, tips, or any informational material without their specific license to ensure our expertise.

I mean, 7 outta 10 Realtors can't even tell you the difference between 1978 Lead Paint Disclosures and Lead Paint Free Certificates (LOL), but as big Lead Paint risks are, barely anyone no one knows about this. Yet this whole "Get Licensed" gig is to "protect the public"?  As a Realtor, I laugh every time I hear that.

This thing has too much control/power over the market for it's own good, I remember Redfin winning a case for MLS Data against the Commission, winning point was something about the threat of the Commission being a "Monopoly".

Sorry for the long rant-like post, but It's a shame the States requires that one needs to pay a grand or two in fees a year plus renewal classes to learn nothing, but have the power to move and sell paper.

If you're talking just getting initial feelers out, as in "Hey look, I want to offer $$$ on this home, send the paperwork." then have your Realtor use a quick "Letter Of Intent" provided/drafted by their Brokerage/Legal Team. 

Letter of Intents are normally 2 to 5 pages that are quickly and easily filled out by the Realtor, explains in plain english what you want to do with the Seller, and only if it's accepted by the Seller will it transform into an official 20 - 50 page offer that covers everything you need.  

Using a "Letter Of Intent" results in saving time, energy, and gives a more streamlined experience.

Hi!

Jerome here, a Realtor with Champion Realty, Inc. "a Berkshire Hathaway affiliate" in Pasadena, MD.

The only way to know for sure is for you to sit down with that broker, go through the interview/pitch/show&tell thing they got for you, then ask those questions.

With that said, because my broker ,Champion Realty, is an affiliate of the Brokerage you're interested in "Berkshire Hathaway", my assumption is that they would operate somewhat similarly, so I think my opinion might be valid. Still, Go interview that Broker.

Now, If you are looking to be a great traditional agent, then Yes I'd recommend Berkshire Hathaway. As my Broker is an affiliate partner of Berkshire Hathaway, I think I can say that the level of training offered and personal attention is great. Fees are different and They may offer even better perks than Free Continuing Ed and Offer Certain Designations free which is what I get with Champion Realty. 

Now, I read your profile, and if you're thinking of wholesaling within that Brokerage, Don't. 
Just save yourself the trouble and walk away. As I had the same intentions to wholesale.

I had a meeting with the President of my brokerage ,Champion Realty, Jon Coile, and They concluded that because of the potential liability of being sued by Sellers not understanding the transaction no matter the disclosures later after the closing, the lack of coverage from their E&O insurance on these transaction, and the lack of money staying within the company as those transactions count as personal transaction, they do no support or allow their agents to perform any assignment type investments.

That may hold true at Berkshire Hathaway, but the only way to know is to interview that Broker and I would add try to get that interview with the President of that Brokerage.

If you want to wholesale and still be an agent, I heard that Douglass Realty in Baltimore, MD is a good place to check out. Don't know much more than that, but it's a good start in my opinion

 It looks promising, just put the order in for the book. Thanks for the suggestion!

Hey there,

While I'm not a tax attorney, I'am a Realtor in Pasadena, Maryland who is working with Investors. I want to be able to answer basic tax questions while knowing when to refer them to a tax professional.

Can someone point me in the right direction to a resource here on BP or somewhere else that might help me get a basic understanding of tax considerations I need to know in regards to Real estate investments?

Craigslist has been a big hitter for me in my market as well, but if I wanted to do a bit more, here's two things I do.

1. If you are internet-savvy, Make a Youtube video of the property (like a walkthru of you talking on a cellphone video or Nice Picture Slideshow With Voice Over), point people to check out more info on your site, and then blast to your blog, social media and/or email it to your other agent networking contacts. That usually gets me a couple leads, not a lot but something.

2. If that's not possible, Search the MLS for all agents that has participated in a closed rental transaction of a property like mine in the last 3 months in the same exact area, then email them not a property flyer but a quick message basically saying that "I have a home for rent similar to what you closed recently, do you have anyone left over that may still be looking in this area?". Expect 5% to 7% reply rate, but I generate good results with this one.

Hope this Helps