When talking to a realtor for the first time

HELLO,ROYPRCSS IVE LEARNED THAT MOST REALTORS DONT HAVE A CLUE ABOUT WHAT THEIR TALKING ABOUT ALL THEY KNOW IS HOW TO FILL OUT CONTRACTS AND SOME SUBMIT THEM . BELIEVE IT OR NOT WTH THE INFO DEAN PROVIDES US WE GOT MUCH MORE KNOWLEDGE TAHN MOST OF THEM .HOPE THAT HELPS GOOD LUCK

It's because we are thinking from an ivestor's point of view! A motivated agent can be your new best friend....Continued success
Sincereley,
Lubertha

Hi everyone,

My name is Randy anr I REALLY need your help. I plan on doing and completing my first assignment deal by Aug.31,2009 and I need to know EXACTLY what forms I will need to do so. Also I plan on starting out by bird dogging for startup capitol. I wanted to know if I go and look at the property for the investor as well send the comps and analysis. Will someone get back to me and let me know. Thanks.

Randy,
San Jose, CA

Royprncss,

I'm actually going to be meeting with a realtor for the "first time" about investing tomorrow. I used quotation marks around the words first time because I have been in contact with him for quite some time. Let me explain.

I've always said the best way to test drive a car is to rent it for a week because you'll be able to see its fuel economy, how it handles on the freeway, in and around town and get a feel for its overall performance. Choosing an agent is no different.

I may have mislead my agent upfront, in fact I KNOW I MISLEAD my agent upfront. I contacted him initially as a potential home buyer. I asked if he could show me some houses on a Saturday (to see his flexibility) and he said sure! We met and I basically observed him. I watched as he showed me the houses. He's bilingqal too which is a HUGE plus because I live in ORANGE COUNTY NY and this area is 40% spanish speaking.

Long story short, I intentially didn't return some of his phone calls to see how persistant he was. He called more than five times and was polite with his messages. This told me he is persistant and has a flexible schedule.

The next step I took was I had him show me homes on a weekday ( I called him a few hours prior) and I brought my children along. I wanted to see how he interacted with my children and how he tried to sell me a house as well. He passed that test because I drove us around in my expedition and each time we got back in the SUV he turned around to make sure my kids were buckled up and said, "kids are you buckled?" This is minor but he showed compassion by doing that.

I can ramble on and on about this but the whole time I was seeing if he would be a good fit for me and now I have told him that I'm an investor and that I have goals in terms of how many houses I want to assign and buy over the course of the next 18 months.

Now this may not WORK with everyone because I could have lost this guy by not being HONEST with him and he told me over the phone "Gary I am more than willing to work with you and when we first met you were my prospect as a homebuyer and now I find that you are an investor, I just want everything to be out in the open and ask that you be up front with me." I told him that I would certainly be honest with him and upfront with everything. We agreed to met tomorrow to further discuss my plans and he's excited too because I'm going to help him close more deals and bring in more commissions for him.

In closing, just remember that people are people. They breath the same air as the next person and they have good intentions for the most part so realtors/agents just need to be informed and educated on how you can help them in their profession and that you want it to be a win win situation for the the home buyer, the seller, the agent and of course yourself.

I hope this helps and best of luck to you!

Hello fellow Investors. I'm just getting started in New Jersey. I was wondering if any of you can give me a clue on what to give (percentage wise) to a realtor. I'm meeting one this monday and she mentioned 5%. I know Matt Larson pays his realtor 1%. I'm assuming it may be different depending on the area that one is investing in. Also I'm thinking it should be a percentage of the equity I'm left with after all repairs and expenses are paid. Can someone inlighten me on this?

Cherie, When you are talking about paying your Realtor, are you buying or selling a property? In most cases, when buying a property through a Realtor, the seller (through the sellers broker) is paying the buyers agent a commission. If you are selling a property, you will negotiate a commission with your listing agent. That commission includes the compensation to the buyers agent. In my area, it is necessary to give a buyers agent 2 1/2 to 3 percent so that they will show the property. If your agent needs 1 1/2% then the total commission would need to be at least 4 to 4 1/2 percent.

In conclusion, if you are buying, you do not pay your agent. If you are selling, the amount is negotiable.

Al