Commit To The Relationship With Your Realtor
By JD Esajian on October 18, 2013
The most successful investors know the importance of establishing relationships and working together towards a common goal. They know their success is directly correlated to their team. Accordingly, one of the most important members of that team is the real estate agent. Between finding and structuring deals, a good realtor can directly impact the performance of any business. Successful investors also know the importance of having their agent on the same page as them. Knowing that your agent has your best interests in mind is critical. This kind of trust takes time to develop, but once it does, your business will really take off.
The key to a successful and productive relationship is to understand and define each person’s role. If you are truly working as a team, your realtor will not proceed to show you properties you are not interested in for the sake of closing a deal. To get to that point, your realtor needs to know and understand your specific search criteria. New investors often think that they can call a realtor and schedule 20 showings in a weekend. This, however, is not the case. You should be doing your share of the legwork to see the exterior of these properties prior to requesting your agent to schedule a showing. More importantly, decide for yourself if it is a property you are interested in. Don’t make them decide that for you.
Nobody likes to have their time wasted. If you have your realtor show you homes that you have no interest in buying, they will feel like their time has been wasted and they may not work as hard for you in the future. You may think that this is part of their job, and to some extent it is, but you have to know their limitations. If you have a track record and have closed deals in the past, your realtor may go the extra mile and pull some comps for a home that is out of the way. If not, you are asking a lot of them.
When making an offer on a property and working with a realtor, you should look to establish a relationship instead of just trying to close the deal. If your realtor knows exactly what your goals with properties are, they can better find you deals that you like and will close on. Your realtor only gets paid if you close a deal, but most of the good ones know that if you do right by a good investor they will come back and buy again. This is how relationships are formed and can be very successful for many years to come.
If you intend to have your realtor list the property after you do some work on it, be up front with them and let them know. If you have a problem with the way they work or have handled a past situation, tell them that as well. As long as you are willing to take the same criticism back, this should not be a problem. Both of you are in the same business to make money and that should be your ultimate goal.
Working with your realtor, attorney and contractor to find and close a deal is truly a great feeling. Everyone is involved in the process and everyone reaps the rewards. You are only as strong as everyone on your team and your realtor is a huge part of that. If you put everything out on the table and keep the lines of communication open, your relationship will be stronger and more productive.