Exceptional Podcast On Choosing a Great Real Estate Agent

I’ve been a long-time listener of the Real Estate Guys. They are a syndicated radio program and podcast where they talk about real estate investing. If you are looking for the best and cheapest (FREE!) training in real estate investing, this is the place to start! I’ve attended one of their investor tours in Dallas and it was TOP notch. Not a huge sales pitch…just a great understanding about how to evaluate a market.

This morning while gardening, I was catching up on some older podcasts. Their topic was “How To Select a Great Real Estate Agent”. Although they select agents based on their investor needs, they shared many tricks and tips that everyone should use. Here’s a link to the podcast so I encourage you to listen. But if you have limited time, I’ve captured some of the golden nuggets and added my own comments (in italics):

In their experience, a great agent is worth their weight in gold. The last thing the Real Estate Guys want to do is to ask for a discount on commission. For example, when an agent SOLD a property in 2 days for over asking price, the seller made a comment about how the agent had made so much money for just a few days of work . They said the agent should have said “Oh I’m sorry, did you want me to take longer? “
Remember that the relationship with your agent is about Getting What You Want!
What’s the difference between a Broker and an Agent? One is not better than the other. Some very experienced agents decide that it is not worth their effort to get a broker’s license. Here in Hawaii, all contracts are supposed to be reviewed by broker before being signed by everyone else. The concept is to make sure the contract can be legally enforced. When you are working with an agent, you are also working with the broker. So while there are many licensed brokers(passed the test), there are fewer that really practice as a Broker In Charge where they are protecting their business. The important thing to note, is that although you do need some experience to become a broker, most of the skills needed by great agent are not taught in the broker (or agent) class. Instead the classes are a higher level of understanding of contract law, business law and real estate terminology! Currently, I’m a salesperson. But just ask my broker if I haven’t successfully questioned issues in the contracts that he hadn’t considered.
Remember the role of the agent. They are supposed to negotiate on your behalf. Your real estate agent has to be on your side. Agents on two sides provides an insulation between parties. Ask a prospective agent for examples of this!
Best questions to ask? #1. Do you personally own (investment) property? Don’t you want someone who believes and is invested in their own industry? Have they really experienced what you are going through down to the nuts and bolts?
Experience Counts. There is some caution on using a brand new agent. New agents may be fabulous but they should have a mentor or team manager working to support them. What is important is the technical knowledge of contracts, local areas, local issues, neighborhoods? In addition they need sales, negotiation and great communications skills. Some “newly licensed” people may have great experience from other fields. Likewise, some really experienced agents won’t have time to work with you.
You must be comfortable communicating with them. Everybody is different. I can talk to many different people and there are some I trust and some I don’t.
Investors build relationships planning on a long term relationship. If you decide not to move forward now, they shouldn’t hold that against you. Since most people move every 7 years, this should be true of ALL agents!
Don’t think that 2+ agents are better than one. If you really want to have several agents out there searching for deals for you, you don’t know the business. Let me be blunt - “You got no one working for you.” Agents know when you are playing games. Be loyal and expect loyalty.
Ask them to describe what makes a great transaction – no finger pointing, everyone on the team steps up and does what is needed. That’s easy! When have things not succeeded?
Do you have a team/members you work with? Most agents will have mortgage professionals, escrow companies and other resources that they rely on. Call those people and ask for references on the referring agent!
Ask for referrals. Ask them about people who have been less than happy with their services? They may not be happy to provide but it is good to see how they address the question. You’ll may see anger, frustration or inactivity tendencies come up. Let them tell you about the agent on the other side and you’ll see the way they really work with people!
Ask if they’ll take a lessor commission. Remember: This is not what you want! But if an agent caves when you ask, do you really want them negotiating on your behalf?
Reminder, let your agent help you find agents in other cities. They can ask questions that may sound strange coming from a buyer/seller. Agents get a referral fee. And it doesn’t cost you any more! The cookie jar is the same size! Let your agent work for you.
Ask an agent to come up with some data for you. What’s available? What are the prices and trends? How fast or thorough are they at providing you the data? Can they explain it?
Remember agents are busy. If you are “creating work” for an agent, they may not want to spend time on you. Take the relationship seriously. Treat it like an employment agreement.
Understand ideal communications (phone call, email, text, combination of above). Ask how they keep things in writing. This is a business where maintaining document trails is critical.
Are they really working for the WIN-WIN? Ask for examples.
Should I get my real estate license to save the commission? Generally no. Find someone who is “better than you”. If you don’t want to do real estate full time, find a professional who does and loves it. It may seem like you’re paying them a lot but you are paying them for hundreds of hours of expertise.