Posted by chuck on June 17, 2001 at 20:03:17:
What area are you in? I am in MI near Detroit and I love to work with investors
Are there any GOOD Realtors out there? - Posted by bob
Posted by bob on June 17, 2001 at 19:48:19:
I have called &/or sent e-mails to several realtors in my area. In most cases, I have not gotten any response. Does anyone have a “sure fire” way to get a realtor working for you? Thanks
Buyer’s Broker to the rescue - Posted by SteveS(CPA)
Posted by SteveS(CPA) on June 18, 2001 at 11:05:27:
Bob,
What it sounds like you need is a buyer’s broker. Check your yellow pages for a buyer’s broker company, if you city is large enough you should have some. They work exclusively for the buyer and can be a very valuable resource.
Hope this helps
Re: Are there any GOOD Realtors out there? - Posted by SueC
Posted by SueC on June 18, 2001 at 05:54:21:
Try asking at your local REIA group, I found a great one thru my group. She’s a member and totally “gets it”.
Yep! Do an actual deal with them, - Posted by Carey_PA
Posted by Carey_PA on June 17, 2001 at 21:48:51:
let them get that commision check and then they will know you’re not just blowing smoke and they’ll work with ya!
CAREY
Re: Are there any GOOD Realtors out there? - Posted by Matt B
Posted by Matt B on June 17, 2001 at 20:35:46:
So what exactly are you saying/writing to these realtors? I don’t use realtors to buy property, but I do use them to pull comps and expired listings for me. Here’s something I wrote recently about how to approach them-
Another great source for finding motivated sellers is from listings from the MLS (Multiple Listing Service) that have expired. There is a high probability that you will find a desperate, motivated seller from these listings. Usually, they are people who have been trying to sell their property and listed with a Realtor. The property has not sold, or perhaps had a contract on it where the buyer was not able to close.
These sellers are usually very motivated because many times they will figure that they are now stuck with a house that won?t sell. Most listings are for 6 months, so their house has been sitting for 6 months without a buyer. Many times, the house will have been sitting vacant while the seller makes the payments on their new house AND the vacant one.
A lot of these sellers will end up re-listing the property right after the listing expires because they cannot think of any other options. However, a lot of times, these are sellers who have already re-listed the property in the past and now have a property that has been sitting for a year or more on the MLS. This leads to a very high level of motivation.
So how do you get these expired listings? Well, if you?re a real estate agent, you can pull them off the MLS and print them out for yourself. Well, what if you?re not a real estate agent, and don?t have a friend or family member who is? Go to your local real estate investor?s club meeting.
There will usually be several real estate agents at your local real estate investor?s club meeting. Many times, these are agents who are used to working with investors. However, they are not going to want you to waste their time and bug them constantly for expired listings. You need to approach them with something to offer them first.
If you approach a real estate agent as a brand new investor, while they may offer to be helpful, most agents realize that there are tons of ?new investors? every day who waste their time. They are constantly contacted by people who see some late night infomercial and decide that they want to be real estate investors. They know nothing about real estate and couldn?t get a loan to close on a deal if they actually found one. Most agents realize that even dealing with these people is a big waste of time for them.
Agents work for a commission. If you cannot offer them something that makes them any money, then they are probably not going to waste the time it takes to talk to you. This is why when new investors approach real estate agents, the agents will ask them first to go get pre-qualified with a mortgage lender, then come see them. You cannot blame these agents at all. Most ?investors? come and go very quickly, and if the agent has spent any time with them, it is usually wasted.
So how do you overcome this? What can you offer the agent? Here is how I first approached this matter. At the investor?s club meeting, I approached several agents. I introduced myself and told them that I do a lot of marketing for my business. I have signs and run ?we buy houses? ads. A lot of time, I get calls from people who do not want to do any sort of creative deal on their house, they simply want full retail value and all cash.
Since I cannot do anything with these callers, I ask the agents if I would be able to refer these people to them. That way, the agent may be able to get the caller to list their property with the agent. The agent would then be able to make money if they list the property and are able to sell it at some point down the road.
Now what did I do there? I am approaching the agent from a position of power. I am not coming to them and asking that they give me something. I am approaching them with something to give them! Which way do you suppose would interest an agent more?
After I have their business card, I will start referring leads to the agent as they come in to me on my other advertising. I will then call them up and ask how it?s going, if they?ve been able to list any of the properties that I refer to them, etc. I then ask them if it would be possible for them to pull some expired listings off the MLS for me. I tell them that I?m trying to expand my marketing and would like to see if I can get any deals from the listings that have expired.
I tell the agent that if I sign up any deals from the expired listings, I?ll pay the agent $500 per deal that I sign up. Again, I am approaching this from a position of giving the agent something. It usually takes an agent about 5 whole minutes to pull the expired listings from the MLS. If I am referring listings to them, as well as offering the agent $500 for each deal that I sign, it is definitely worth their time.
So what do you do when you have these expired listings? Send out a letter to the owner telling them that you are interested in buying their house. This is a great way to generate leads from motivated sellers who are out of other options when it comes to selling their home.