I NEED A LITTLE HELP FINDING A REAL ESTATE AGENT IN MY AREA!!!!

Why don't you pull up Craigslist for your area. Find the 'services' section, click on 'real estate' and post your own ad for a real estate agent!

Make it simple, state that you are an investor looking to work with a Real Estate Agent in the area. You can even let them know that you are interested in their REO properties. See what kind of responses you get.

Keep us informed of how it goes.

Angela

Philly is a hotspot for investors, especially from NYC so alot of agents I strongly assume understand the game.

Tell them your exact intentions in the first convo so both parties are not wasting time. Not saying you'll get the results you want but you have to try.

I would suggest,.....strongly, that you know yourself have a plan B and C and D in place and expect to be grilled on procedures of what you plan to do.

If realistically you're not ready, wait until you are before venturing out; agents are a small community and all it takes is for a simple convo like

"yeah I wasted my time with this guy who claimed he was an investor and didn't even know what a short payoff was....yeah his name was Greg Febels..."

Burned before you even start. Take your time, real estate isn't going anywhere.

Great advise as usual! Many people can not seem to find a realtor because they do not know anything about real world investing. As you said, take the time and learn the business and what your actual strategy will be. Be capable of closing when you contact your first realtor.

Michael Mangham
MD Home Acquisitions LLC

I live in Pittsburgh,pa and finding a Realtor to help me get started seemed impossible. I sent dozens of Realtors emails and got the same bad depressing response. Until I realized the Realtors listed on the sites i was going to were established Realtors who make money closing deals all day and don't want to bother doing legwork for a rookie. I did what Angelak suggested and instead of finding a Realtor I figured I'll let them come to me. I put ads on craigslist in the job posting area- motivated real estate agent wanted- and shortened the Matt Larson letter and described exactly what I'm trying to do "pre screening" the potential agents. and as of today I have 3 emails from motivated agents who want to work with me and I even had one agent tell me she wont put in offers unless shes embarssed by the number. great! now I have to pick one and get started with some market research and start making offers. Don't find a Realtor let them find you!!! thanks Angelak

Greg, I know finding a real estate agent can be tough and frustrating but its really simple. I have spent two weeks trying to find one by sending everyone emails and faxing to thier offices to look for a real estate agent. But then I turned to a different approach. I actually got on the phone and called them. 9 times out of 10 they will be willing to work with you.

You know all of us get tons of spam everyday and it can be hard to figure out the real people between the scammers. Some RE agents I spoke to said that they did see my letters but where skeptical. They didnt give it much thought to call when something they had to do turned up and they forgot all about it.

Here is what I did. Im not proffesional investor or been investing for a while now. Im brand spankin new for the last 3-4 weeks. All you have to do is just be real and let the RE agent know what you want and what your gonna do. Dont go into detail just keep it short and sweet and to the point. Go to google and search Real Estate Agency [Your City] and open a tab for the first four or five to be safe. Usually they will have like 3-4 number that have a different office number in your area. Just find the one that is near you and call them.

Just relax on the phone like if your ordering a pizza, you know what you want already.

Hi is this [name of the office]. Im an investor new to the area and I'm looking for an agent that will be willing to work with a new investor, can you recommend anyone?

--ok half the time an agent will answer the phone not the lady at the front desk and half the time they will say "oh yeah, im an agent, I can help you out" either way your going to get someone.--

Im new to the area and Im looking for an agent that I can bring in to throw work at. I need to be very aggressive on the price I pay for properties, especially in the current market so I NEED an agent that CANNOT be afraid to offend other agents with low offers. Would you be willing to do that?

Im looking to make money and make sure that the agent I work with makes money also. Once I get this stone wheel moving I will be cutting the agent in on extra commission. I will also be bringing in my agent for any For Sale by Owner deals I come accross. Would you be willing to work with me?

No.
Can you reccommend someone that would be willing to work with an investor like myself? [get the info]

Yes.
Great, Can I get your information so I can contact you when needed. [Full name, number, email, cell number.
--from here you can ask the RE Agent anything you want to know about him/her. How long have you been in real estate and/or an agent? Have you worked with investors in the past?...ect.

If you get someone on the phone asking questions about, oh the economy is bad, I cant make low offers against other agents, blah blah blah negative negative, "Well thanks for your time" Hang up. There are TONS of agents everywhere you just gotta find that one that is as HUNGRY as you are. Oh and sorry for wall-o-text I get carried away sometimes explaining things >_<

is not always a good or competent real estate agent.

Please don't get them mistaken.

There are tons of real estate who will work with anyone, not care about sending out 100 lowball offers, not caring about offending other agents or doing all the legwork and getting you nowhere or nowhere near the outcome compared to the output they exerted.

Then there are those agents who know the market, who know the agents or owners or bank reps who have the properties and know firsthand exactly or close to what a property will sell for, will instruct their client to offer said amount and have no problem refusing to wate time with an offer that will go nowhere.

Thats the type of agent you want; one who has to respect your time and more importantly their time. Someone who wants you to work smart, not hard at this game and can make you understand how things really are, not just from the opinions of others on a website or a bunch of books.

Hope this helps.

i.e. Remax, etc. early in the morning; if a realtor answers the phone, you most likely found yourself a hard-working real estate agent.
If the office assistant answers the phone, ask her/him who is the agent in the office that makes the most sales-get his/her phone number, now call him/her...

Wishing you success,
Valerie

Elix, stop hitting us with that reality stuff would you!(#8)
Also, imagine doing something FOR your agent like supplying him with listings on properties you are working that will go to an owner occupant and not an investor. Short sale leads. Making sure the agent that supplies you the deal is also the listing agent when you sell the property. ETC.ETC.
Finally, being able to actually CLOSE on a deal your realtor finds you! When you do you will find them much more willing to put in some extra time with you. If you can not produce, don't know your numbers and make stupid offers, even the hungriest realtor will send you packing in a few weeks.
I prefer knowledge and honesty to hunger anytime! If you can get all three together in one agent you really have a winner! For me anyway, I don't have the time for a rookie agent or one that has no clients.

Michael Mangham
MD Home Acquisitions LLC

I have 5-7 investors I deal with and normally once I text them a lead within 3 minutes, most reply with "when can I get inside???" and I always get the listing to sell the property.

Mike, as far as the reality, I believe its always best to be straightforward and to the point; we're all adults and this is not a profession to be coddled.

I found a site called RealtyStore.com. For $4.95 a month you can find REO properties just in your area. I hope this helps.

Keely

thank you guys for your advise and useful information. im going to put it all in use and let ya know how it goes..... thank ya again for the support!!!!!!

thank u for taking ur time n giving some advise