Letter to Skeptical Realtor (by new member)

I am impressed with your letter! It sure would make me, if I were an agent, give you a second thought.
If they know you are serious, especially if you can find an investor to give you a letter stating that they have cash to invest, agents right now would be crazy not to listen. I know the realtors in my area are coming to ME with deals and suggestions now that they know not only am I buying for myself, but have other investors I'm looking for too. It really makes a difference when they know you're serious.

Tamzen, Congratulations on starting your REI career and I wish you all the best!

Rina

It might help to mention that you are not using your own Realtor, so the listing agent will get both sides of the commission. This would double their interest in helping you purchase the property.

Al

I think that should be effective.

Three years ago I approached a real estate agent in my area because I wanted to start looking at properties to buy. The agent that I contacted didn't want to show me any properties because I wasn't pre-qualified. I won't mention any names but his initials are Tony Columbia. Long story short I contacted another agent that would show me properties before being pre-qualified and now I buy so many properties through her that I account for 25% of her annual sales and she is ranked in the top 5 realtors in the entire metro area out of hundreds of agents! (as a side note, next year I will account for over 50% of her sales)

I'm not sure when I will break the news to Tony but it will be fun! (I'm not bitter though)

I had a problem like that as well, the realtor showed me several properties and told me to get pre-approval. I was supposed to be on her email list and never received one single email! I dumped her and found a new realtor that used to invest herself! She IS willing to show me properties!
LESSON LEARNED!

Dawn

I think that realtor that ask for a pre-qual or a pre-app are just shooting themselfs in the foot. How ignorant can they be, especially in this market. They need all the help they can get. This is another reason why I dont respect many realtors. There are a few good ones, but they are 100 bads one to every good one.

Dont work with the bad ones, keep looking for that one good realtor that will actually do WORK for their commish!

I may upset some of you, but I would like to explain why Realtors want preapprovals. Just as investors are trained to persue deals that have high profit potential and walk away from the others, RE agents are trained to only show properties to clients that are able to BUY properties. I was guilty of this myself when I was a new Realtor. I also spent many hours and alot of money on gas searching for and showing properties to inexperienced investors who did not have money, or know where the purchase money was comming from. Now that I have become involved with Dean's programs, I understand how an investor can close a deal without any of their own money. Most RE agents have not delt with investors to any large extent. They do not understand how these deals are funded. If you are like me, when you first started this business, you did not understand how to buy without money either. Show the agent how you can close a deal without credit or your own money, and they will probably be willing to work with you. If not, move on to another agent. Having a good RE agent, who understands investing, makes investing in RE a whole lot easier.

I wish you much success in your investing career, Al

That's why I like the letter Tamzen wrote. It was professional and courteous, yet to the point. Should do a good job of screening agents by their response: Those that are knowledgeable/willing to work with investors, and those with not enough REI experience/vision.

Rina

P.S. Al, I think you do an excellent job of representing your realtor colleagues on the site. Glad to have you on both teams.

think it is a nice letter BUT!...

I would never write a letter to a realtor justifying why they need to show me properties. That is their job

Remember...this is only my opinion.

Don't you think response to the letter would be an easy way of finding someone excited to work with you? If you sent it to a number of realtors, maybe you could get a list of "qualified" agents when you are just starting out. Like Al said, there are a lot of would-be investors out there. This would separate you from the rest and get the right agents contacting YOU, I would think.

Rina

"Just DOING It!"

In this case the Realtor is working for the seller. He is trying to prequalify the buyer for his client. It is the agents responsibility to his client to do this. The seller does not want to tie up the property with a contract, and not be able to close. I agree that asking for a prequalification letter does not necesarily do this, but finding out if the buyer can close the deal is the Realtors responsibility. In order to see this property, without using your own agent, you will need to use the listing agent. This letter may open that door.

Al

Wow, both sides have good arguments, Ant, i see your point, it's their FRIGGIN' JOB, for cryin' out loud!, and i used to feel the same way Ant does, however, i would be contradicting myself if i were to only look at this situation biastly(from only one perspective), i too am guilty of this, i was your "typical" CAR SALESMAN for 6 years and would qualify people just by looking at them(not the best idea), and what ended up happening was, YES i was right a lot of the time, but there were quite a few times where i got "BURNT" cause i sterotyped someone, this is a little different of a situation, but on the same level. If there were only a way that realtors could understand that theirs other ways that REI can get deals funded.

I'm having the same problem, I went to meet up with a realtor that was even a refferal from another REI friend of mine, and this lady has like 10 years investing experience(so she says) as we talked i basically found out that she's from the "old school" NOT very creative at all(in her strategies) she just was a "long term" REI(rentals), which is fine, but she was acting like she knew everything and trying to tell me that ASSIGNING a contract was "illegal", yeah o.k., wack job, so then like 10 minutes later she's telling me that i need to talk with her mortgage broker or whatever to get PRE-APPROVED, and she invested, what, 10 minutes of her time with me? That turned me off so much, that i haven't tried to get another realtor since then(3 months ago), i just decieded i'm going to have to do this alone, SULLY

Yeah...I am with you on this one Sully. I have talked to over 50 realtors and they all think they know everything and try to tell me assigning is illegal. I have decided to work without one too...until I run accross one who knows what the "real world" of investing and making good money is all about. m
Now I ask them just to see the reaction on their face. They act like I have committed a crime with assigning. LOL!
I did find a monthly investors meeting that is ran by a commercial realtor/investor. I an going to talk to him and see if he knows of a realtor who actually understands investing and assigning.
I feel I am giving the realtor a great opportunity to make some serious cash. But they cannot see beyond their training and conventional financing.

I think I'll wave a white flag and wander off into the sunset.

It is a great letter Tamzen. All the information needed is laid with clearly, in a manner that anyone can understand. I see no reason anyone will not respond. I do not think I could have put it better than that. Stay positive and the response will come. Take care.

Sandra

Attitude has a lot to do with everything in life. If you are a person that stays positive and works through the roadblocks, the people around you will WANT to be part of your team. And if you can gather a great team, you become a force to be reckoned with. This is what I am finding. The naysayers and know-it-alls with fall off to the side (they're stuck in their own little world), and those that are going to succeed will press forward and make the most of whatever life puts in their way: without making excuses.

Tamzen, I think the character that you show in trying to deal with an obstacle shows that you've got what it takes to make things work for you. Please let us know the response you get. I guess the proof will be in the pudding, as they say.

Thanks, everybody, for your input. I love this.

God bless,
Rina

Well said Rina. Boy, I stirred up that pot, and maybe added a little too much hot sauce. I never was much of a cook.

Al

Actually you helped us see how a realtor thinks about what we do. That way we will know how to better handle their objections. Thanks for the insight of a realtor.

That was my intent. I didn't think anyone caught it. But I am also an investor, so I may not think like all Realtors.

Al

You add just the right amount of seasoning (wisdom/insight).

Rina

Please remeber that all of the views expressed here are only others opinions.

You wrote a beautiful letter and I applaude your initiative. Yet, like everything in life, we each have our own opinions so please do not let those jade yours.

Rina was right
Al was right
Sully was right
I was right
but in each situation we were right as it pertained to us.

And just so you know, I have a wonderful realtor that helps me so much I have a hard time imaining doing it without him. But I went threw quite a few o find him. SO ...... welcome to the DG.com site and I hope to see a whole lot more from you.

sistreat wrote:

Actually you helped us see how a realtor thinks about what we do. That way we will know how to better handle their objections. Thanks for the insight of a realtor.

Until I got involved in investing, I had no idea how investors felt about Realtors. I now have a new respect for how and why they(we) do what they(we) do. Anita is right. We are all a little different in how we react to any given situation. We continue to learn and adjust our reaction until we find what works best for us. This site allows investors to explain their beliefs and share some of the knowlege they have obtained. Take that information and use it, or disregard it, and mold yourself into what best fits you and what you want to be.

Al