I’ve heard the term “investor friendly real estate agent” thrown around in the real estate world for as long as I can remember.
I never really understood why an agent would have to specifically state they are investor friendly until I watched my mom (also a real estate agent) “deal with” investors and even more so when I started investing in real estate myself. I realized that real estate, like anything else, has it’s own niches.
Now I get it. It just makes sense for an agent to use someone who truly gets their goals and what their trying to accomplish by investing in real estate.
While I love helping people find their dream homes, first homes or forever homes I realized I love the thrill of real estate investing. I love trying to get the best deal possible. I love figuring out if a property cash flows. I love the research. I love the chase.
So what do I do differently for a investor client as opposed to a “regular” client? What does an investor friendly real estate agent do differently than one that just serves “regular” buyers?
Below I’ll go over what I think a real estate agent needs to do in order to serve investors but all investors are different so if you have something to add let me know in the comments!
What Makes an Investor Friendly Real Estate Agent?
I love research and this is definitely something that sets apart an investor friendly real estate agent from a regular real estate agent. I’m the type of real estate agent that goes back through every single old listing (if there were any) to scour for additional details other agent’s might miss.
For example, when I comb the old listings and read through the remarks I can sometimes find out if a roof was replaced, how old the heating system is or that at one time the owner was considering offering owner financing!
Cash Flow Analysis
An investor friendly real estate agent needs to know how to properly calculate cash flow!
I’m definitely not one of those real estate agents that say “okay the monthly rent is this amount minus the mortgage of this amount is the cash flow on the property.” NO. That’s not how it works.
When I do a cash flow analysis for an investor I take everything into consideration! There’s the taxes, insurance, vacancy, property management, maintenance, etc. I can’t just ignore those things or a property that I said would cash flow $300 a month might actually cost $100 a month!
Repair Costs
A good investor friendly real estate agent should be able to give a rough idea of what it would cost to fix up a property, espeically when working with flippers and investors who use the brrrr strategy.
Not to brag about this awesome ability but I am really really really good at estimating repair costs nowadays. Not only do Todd and I own a remodeling businesses but we’ve flipped a house together, brrrr-ed our currently multifamily and I’ve been flipping houses with my parents since I was a tween.
Offers
An investor friendly agent should be prepared to write many low offers.
The two biggest complaints my mom had when working with investors was 1. They put embarrassingly low offers in and 2. They put too many embarrassingly low offers in.
It can tedious writing up offers you think won’t be accepted but it’s all apart of the job. But what I’ve found is that if an agent has a loyal base of investors to present deals to a lot of them will purchase multiple properties from you more quickly than regular home buyers, who buy once every decade instead of a few a year or even per month!
Better yet, if an investor friendly real estate agent sells to a flipper, they’ll usually give the listing back to the agent to sell once the flip project is over so there’s commission on the front end and the back end of the deal.
Comps
While I do comps for all clients, I look at them a little different for investors. I take it a step farther and research if there were any other flips that recently sold in the area which is usually a good sign that the area is good for investors.
I am also a little more conservative with my comps when it comes to doing them for investors because I like to under promise and over deliver. So the ARV (after repair value) may be slightly less on a house I’m analyzing for an investor than the appraisal number I come up with for a regular home buyer.
Whew… with all of that being said if you or someone you know is looking for an investor friendly real estate agent let me know – I AM ONE! And if you’re not an “investor” and “just a buyer” don’t worry, I can still help you too. Wouldn’t you want an agent who is going to look at the biggest purchase in your life as an investment? (You all should be jumping up and down screaming me! Me! Me! Give me a call at 215-906-7047!
And in the meantime, check out some reader favorites below!
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