All Forum Posts by: Shane Hedeen

@Chris M. - 

I wish I had the perfect answer to your question as to finding agents in your area, especially looking for an investor friendly one. At least in my area, I can't think of any "go to" places online. As far as browsing online, I would avoid searching on something like Zillow. Zillow makes their millions from agents, charging them for premium positions and placement on their site. Just because someone pays money to Zillow, doesn't mean that's where you should start. 

One place that comes to mind are the real trends list. Here you can find the top teams, brokerages, agents by volume and sides. That certainly doesn't mean go find the top producing agent in your area and work with them. They are probably a high volume person by working mostly 'retail' transactions. I bring up this list because it could lead you to some of the top groups. Within those groups, you might find their website and start digging around and find a few agents who primarily focus on the investment side of things. Better yet, they invest themselves. You could pick a few out from there, and grab coffee and interview a few of them. Not a perfect answer, but one place online to start. 

http://www.realtrends.com/rankings/real-trends-100...

Another place you could look in your area, actually on Zillow or somewhere, is for agents who are listing properties in the condition you are seeking. Make sure you focus on who the listing agent actually is, then you can go dig around in their profile and see how many recent transactions they have, types of properties and area, etc. The other place to look when cross checking or digging around on a consumer site like Zillow are the reviews. Say you see a person coming up and up over and over again in your area, listing a lot of properties you might consider buying. Then you check into it, and they have a lot of positive consumer reviews. That could certainly be a great place to check too. 

Throw it out here on BP in a new forum post or the marketplace. You already have an audience of people here because they love real estate investing. You could also head to some of your local REIA meetups and ask other agents if they have someone they recommend.

I wish I had an idea of a single answer, but to be truthful most business relationships are built over time, and through recommendations from people you trust. What's more meaningful - a referral from a friend or family member, or an online review from Google? Both might lead you to the same person. It's the least tech savvy way out there, but might be the best one to start with if you have a few people in your area who just bought or sold and really enjoyed their experience. 

If you find better ways - let me know! I'm sure I missed plenty. Best of luck! 

@Daniel Cuevas, thanks for sharing your post on here man! I am guessing if you spoke with anyone who is an agent, 99% of them would tell you your first year is your hardest. Here are some questions that I thought of when reading your post: 

1. How many people are you calling/texting/emailing daily? 

2. Where are the funnels those people are coming from? Are you working with a company that basically just suggests you to hit your own sphere hard? 

3. Does your team/group/company provide any leads to share? Do top agents share leads within your group? If not, where are you supposed to be finding business outside of your own marketing/advertising spend? 

4. How many people are you meeting, face to face, over a coffee/lunch/etc. every day? Real estate is a "contact" sport. Despite what a lot of companies will try to sell you, it's all about relationships. 

I'm in my first few months too as a full time agent. One other thing I thought when reading your post is that being a Realtor is not a way to 'financial freedom.' It's not passive by any means. It's a job, that you always have to work at. Obviously, the goal is that several years into the business it gets easier as you serve clients at a high level and they refer you to their friends and family. 

The biggest turnoff I experienced when interviewing brokers, was how many of them just expected you to hammer your own personal sphere, bugging them to refer you or sell/buy with you as a newbie. Personal opinion, but that's a tough business plan. Statistics show that at any given time, less than 3% of people are considering a move in the next 12 months. If your team is giving you no leads to work, at some point you might want to ask your broker, or do a little shopping around with a few companies that do. Typically, you'll pay more and get a little lower split right off the bat, but like so many people say on BP - 50% of a deal is much more than 100% of nothing. 

It's awesome if you have a plan to mail to a farm. I haven't done that myself, but everything I have read indicated that it's successful, but only when done consistently over time. Take a lot of money to do that well, which is perfectly fine if you have that allotted up front. 

Best of luck as you get going sir. It's a grind, but a wonderful profession if you focus on the right things of helping others make decisions. Deals will come with the right mindset and service to others. Keep on posting on here, hopefully you'll have some success stories to share soon! 

@Garrett M. - I would connect with folks like @Joseph Scorese in your area, who can refer you to some boutique offices in the area. In general, the larger franchises are going to charge more for dues. If you are only using for yourself on buy side, this would probably be way to go. Just understand that a lot of 'transactional' offices do not offer you much in terms of broker oversight. You'll want to find a broker who is willing to work with you on contract/transaction questions you might have as you get started, so make sure to ask some questions as you chat with those groups about the help they offer a new person. 

A lot of great insight already, the big thing is just connecting with a bunch of groups, and asking a lot of questions particular to your own personal goals. If you get a few months/years in, and want to change, you can always move brokers as well. You have value to bring to the team, and you want to find a broker who wants that. Don't lie, or leave out your goals. Work with a company that is in full support of why you are hanging your license there. 

Best of luck in your search! 

@James Mc Ree - great catch, I certainly missed that when reading the first time. Agree totally in getting to know an agent, even starting to 'work together' before signing any paperwork. Any agent who stuffs a representation contract down someone's throat at first meeting is being a little unreasonable. If they aren't willing to 'prove/earn' their contract, they probably aren't all that great in the first place and don't belong working with investors. 

Couldn't agree more to what you added @Kuba F.. It's not always easy finding that perfect match of an agent, and when you do, being in the circle is one where you both have mutual respect and won't lose out on deals because of it. 

Hey @Jim Kent, 

Good post. I think a lot of folks struggle here. Your question in how I read it all comes back to what you are looking for in an agent. Are you expecting them to analyze deals for you? Send you properties? Help your analysis of neighborhoods? Investors have wildly differing expectations of an agent. 

You are exactly right on a few of your comments. First, you absolutely need to just keep on interviewing if you haven't found the right person. What would a company do if they posted a position for CMO, and they hadn't found the right match? They would network with other companies, keep putting it out there, and keep interviewing. You don't need 20 people to match, you need to find one good person. For every agent out there, there are only a few who meet what you're looking for as an investment friendly agent. 

The other thing I notice in your post is a lack of worry and trust. You have read (as I'm sure it happens all over the place) that there are agents out there who take the best deals for themselves and share the scraps. Here's what I would look for if it were me: 

1. Find an agent who invests, has invested, etc. in your niche. 

2. Find one that matches your expectations, and they have similar expectations that are matched for you as a client. 

3. Find one who doesn't invest in the neighborhood you are looking to invest. So, you give up them knowing an investment area perfectly, because they only buy property across town, therefore you won't worry about them snagging a deal for themselves over sharing it with you. 

4. If you really worry about an agent and #3, maybe they shouldn't be your agent and you let them go and head back to #1. 

Overall, sounds like you are looking for knowledge and trust. Keep on asking the right questions, and find one that is a fit. Remember, it's a two way interview. Any good investor friendly agent will also have questions for you, like how serious are you, do you really have access to capital to make this purchase, do you have an investment history, are you really going to act soon.

For every good agent, there are a handful more crappy ones. Similarly, for every real and serious investor, there are 10 that want to kick tires and don't have any sort of realistic expectations or capital and waste time of the agent. Prove to them that you are for real, and you'll find one that has no issue investing the time in you and your search. 

Best of luck Jim! Thanks for sharing. 

Hey @Chris M., welcome to the BP forums! It's an awesome place to read more, ask more questions, etc. The podcasts are a great place to start. 

As far as analysis... Start with your own goals in mind. What type of property, what's your end game ideally? They all have different paths as you know, and different ways to analyze. Purchasing a buy and hold rental, most focus on cash flow and CoC returns. Very different analysis in any market than someone looking to flip.

There are always deals to be found in any area, and certainly better times in any market for different types of investments. 

Your local MLS would be a great place to start as well digging into numbers in a given market. You'd need to become and agent to obtain access, or hire an agent to work for you on the purchase. That said, there are other places with lots of resources and data like a local REIA group, local forum posts here on BP, etc.

Best of luck as you gear up for your first purchase! 

Welcome @Anthony Thomas! This is a great place to learn, and meet people in your area to connect. Best of luck as you start the process! 

You shouldn't get greater effort on your primary residence just because his check at the end of the line was more. I'm not sure of the rules/ethics in your state, but what @James Mc Ree mentioned wouldn't work in MN if you signed an exclusive representation contract to buy with this agent. You'd have to cancel, and sign a non-exclusive contract in order for "two agents to be working for you." I will also disagree with that point with all due respect. Find a good, investor friendly agent, who is going to work well with you. You don't need 2, 3, 4, etc. You need one good one you trust, who knows an area and is going to work hard for your best interests. 

Before you go and fire this person, I would give a call and make a request to sit down and chat about how things are going. Lay your feelings/complaints out there, see where the discussion goes, and then cancel your contract with the agent if need be. They should absolutely be doing a better job for you, but to be fair, have you brought any of these concerns up in person, face to face? Doesn't make it right, but it's better to air it out in person, then make your call from there. 

It's a bilateral contract, and if expectations of representation are continued to not be met, you have every right and should cancel. The person might as well know where they failed their contract though, in a fair and non-objective way from you. Sorry to be in that spot, and best of luck! 

Hey @Rodney Sheppard - Welcome! What an awesome place to get started here on BP. Go back and download every podcast from episode #1, and listen to those when you're driving around. Lord knows there's enough construction to allow you the time to do that here in the metro area! One of the things that's very hard to replace in any time/market is knowledge. Too many newbies read one book, or spend a couple of hours reading and thing they know it all. There's always something to learn. I certainly don't know everything, nor does anyone on here. Keep learning, and when you are ready to take that leap on the first deal, take the leap!