no real estate agent yet but eager to start, any advice?

When you are new to real estate investing and calling to speak to a real estate agent they have an agenda. Their goal is to get your investing criteria. Good agents work on scripting calls, and they guide the conversation to get answers from you that will show them if they want to work with you. What you want to do is to change the role around where you are doing the interview.

Sometimes you will want to show up to a real estate office and talk with the receptionist. This is the first person that you will come into contact with when you enter the office. It is possible that this is also the office manager and they will know which agent is the most helpful and kind. A referral from this person is great in most cases.

When you meet this person you will start by introducing yourself and see if they have time for you. This alone will catch most agents off guard. They can not follow a script of lines that will help them! You will want to ask them a series of questions like:

1. How long have they been a licensed realtor? - I recommend that if the agent has not been licensed for at least 2 years that you look for another one.

2. Do they have access to the MLS? - Some agents do not have access because they do not want to pay for this!

3. What type of real estate do they specialize in selling? Residential, Land, Commercial

4. Do they personnally invest in real estate? This will enable you to gauge if they will know what it is that you are going through and if they can help.

5. Do you work with investors?

By asking these questions this puts the agent in a different frame of mind and will allow you to build a long term relationship with them and not focus so much on doing the standard 1 deal with you. Also, you will not simply be pushed to the side and discarded by an agent that does not see immediate dollar signs.

thank you soooo much for taking out your time to break this down to me..!

Hi Jenni Welcome!! What path are you looking to take in your RE career? Are you looking to assign properties to other investors? or buy, fix up and either sell or hold?

Congratuilations on getting and reading Dean's book. It is packed with great information, tips, techniques and startegies. Coach Salden gave you some good advice and a list of questions when meeting Real Estate Agents (REA).

I would also consider visiting a few "open houses" in your area. This is a quick way to meet some REA and they can offer you advice or insight on the area you are looking at. You can practice and get comfortable dealing with REAs. Plus it is nice to run through your questions and maybe even find a good REA to work with on future deals. Good luck with investing. Believe and Achieve! - Joe

I have been through 5 agents in 10 months.
Rule #1 Only use an agent that goes to Investor meetings on a regular basis.
#2 Only use an agent who has done some investing themselves.
Save time and follow these rules and you'll get there a lot faster.

Rule # 3 and probably the best advice, Don't use an agent and go to the listing agents direct offering them double commission $$. This takes confidence though, so knowing what to say and knowing how you want your contracts filled out is key.

Good Luck...

Hi Jenn,

you should start with this link f1st than work yourself up:-

http://www.deangraziosi.com/resources/fast-start-audio

George

Jenni,

That was just an opening to an exciting new experience. Meeting and using real estate agents is very important. All of these individuals here on Deans Site take time out and give back - that is very commendable on their part. You have received alot of great advice. These people care about the site and other users so use it frequently!

I could only further say that after interviewing several agents, and if you find one that you are comfortable in using, you will want to enter into an agreement with that agent and use them as a buyers agent. Jason Smith said it correctly, it is so important to have an agent on your side in the transaction.

This agreement will be called an "exclusive buyers agency agreement". This will enable the agent to work for you. This should be FREE! You will want to look at the "compensation" section of the agreement and ensure that the agent only receives "what is listed as the selling commission in the multiple listings service or MLS as selling commission" that will be real close as to what it says if not exact. Also there should be no "retainer fee". If an agent is trying to charge you for this service remind them that they are already being compensated by the seller and that other agents do not charge for the same service!

Stick to your guns, you will do GREAT! Go out and find a good agent today!

im looking to buy and sell and also hold to rent out but I guess I'll start off by buying and selling and go from there when I get a hang of it.

salden,

i will want to thank you so much for all your great advice. I will be sure to keep everyone updated. I really love this site and the support from everyone here!

Hope this isn't too bold, but are you going to pay cash, conventional finance with banks or use hard money or private investors, things you must consider. Then depending on funds available what is your price range and what areas are you comfortable purchasing in? Just trying to get your mind moving in the right direction. Take control and make it happen!

no not too bold. right now, no i cant pay cash cause i dont have the funds so im still trying to figure out how to do it without money down so then i can start saving money and start buying with cash.

You should do some research on Assignment of Contract. That is an excellent technique in investing with no money. The first thing that you will need to have is a buyers list. These can be wholesale or retail buyers. You can meet these people everywhere. It could even be a friend or a family member!

Usually you can find retail buyers through advertising. You can run ghost ads on Craigslist for buyers, that is one technique. When trying to attract investor buyers you can join a local REI club. The most important thing that you will need to remember is that you must obtain their investing criteria - what are they looking for.

When you have what they are looking for then you will find that property and place it under contract with the right to assign in the contract. Then contact the buyers on your list informing them of a great deal! You will assign them your position as buyer in the contract for a fee and you wait till closing to get paid in some instances. That is a basic overview of Assignment of Contract. You should look at this strategy for your investing purposes, I feel that it will help you.

I also finished the PFRERN book and want to get started now as a RE Investor (REI). I too have no money to start, so it sounds like an 'Assignment Contract' will work best for me also at this time. What is the best way to find a good RE Agent that will work with you, thru email, with a letter like in DG's book? It all seems so daunting, like...where do I START? I'm encouraged by those of you who have braved the 'start' and you're doing it! RE Investing! So any pointers would be greatly appreciated. Is it best to put out ADS in my local newspaper, the Ghost Ads, to get my sellers & buyers lists started? Do I have to go with a 'phone service' with voice mail to sift thru all the phone calls, at $10/month, or would my REA do all the calling for me? What scares me the most is finding viable Buyers, do they ever SAY they'll invest, then back out at the last minute? How do you PRE-qualify Buyers? I have no problems finding homes, I've driven around and found several FSBO's, one in particular that I HOPE will be my 1st assignment, but I don't know where to START. Any help would be appreciated. THANKS!

Hi Sheri, here is one post about working with agents. http://www.deangraziosi.com/real-estate-forums/everything-else/22956/why...

If you go to the top left of this website and enter a topic lots of posts will come up for you.

It took 3 months for us to find a real estate agent to work with. We made phone calls, ran ads, sent faxes. Then we came across an ad on Craigs List by a RE agent.

Yes, ghost ads work. You can run ads on Craigs list. Joining a REI club is also a great way to meet cash investors - all kinds of investors for that matter. We haven't done our first deal yet so I can't tell you how they will respond to the first property. As others have mentioned on this sight if the deal is GREAT they will want it. Some of our rehab investors may have their money tied up in an existing property and must wait until it is sold before they can go on to more deals. Take the time to find out what their criteria is. Once you have the property under contract you can advertise it on Craigs list and put it on your website.

I know there are others here who have much more experience and better suggestions for you. Hope this is helpful.

Wishing you the best in REI and all that you do.

Lea
SPR Property Solutions, LLC

I HAVE TIED FOR TWO WEEKS CAN NOT GET NOT THING

I finished Deans Book a little over a month ago. Fear has held me back from getting started. Yesterday I lost my job, granted I am a member of a union, but there are 740 people ahead of me. Which means It will be 8 months to a year and a half before I get work again. I am rereading it over and over again. Assignments seems like the thing for me. I am new to this just need some since of direction on how to get it started. Anything will help, fear no longer exists here and I'm ready to make my life better no matter what it takes. So if you guys don't mind if someone knows alittle about assignments please help.