Property Investing Secrets:
How To Work With Agents And Get What You Want
When you’re property investing, it is important to know how to connect with real estate agents. Here are some techniques you can use when you are out there pressing the flesh. I believe it is important to connect with agents at lease once in person when you’re property investing.
I’ve found that when you walk into a real estate agents office and say "I’m looking for a bargain."- that’s a big mistake. When you’re property investing, the minute a real estate agent hears that you want a bargain; they size you up and think this person isn’t serious-they’re a flake. Keep this is in mind, to a real estate agent there is no such thing as a bargain. But it is possible to buy at a wholesale price. If you’re going to form a relationship with an agent they have to know you’re serious because these agents get hundreds and hundreds of buyers every month or every 6 months, depending how busy they are, coming into their office. As a result agents need to know how to size up buyers. Agents know how to qualify buyers without them realizing they are being qualified! Real estate agents ask questions in which the results indicate a buyers seriousness about purchasing.
When you’re out property investing, here are some common questions a real estate agent will ask: "Good day Mr. and Mrs. Buyer, are you buying, selling or looking?" And if they respond, "Oh, we’re just looking." The agent willinquire, "How many properties have you looked at so far?" The buyers may respond that they’ve looked at a couple of properties. The agent will ask if they made an offer on any of the properties they’ve seen at. If the buyers answer no, the agent will ask why not? For the agent this questioning comes naturally. Purchasersare blown away. They don’t even know that they’re being qualified. And if the agent decides the buyer is too difficult, they will put them into the "too hard basket".
It is important to note that an agent has one commodity to sell and that is not houses but their time. This is what I discovered early on while investing. Agents want to get the best financial return for their time. So it is up to the investor to make it easy for the agent to make their money. Of course an agent will say they work for the seller, but the agents also have wives and kids sitting at home to feed. Although the agent may say they’re working for the seller, in fact often they’re working for themselves and you have to harness the agent’s desire to make a sale and use it for yourself to get-not steal-but secure a discount to purchase the property.