Menu
Most traditional real estate agents are great at helping you find your dream home to live in. They will work hard, deliver great customer service, help you find the perfect kitchen, bathroom, garden, drive you all over town, and then hold your hand through the entire closing process to make sure you understand what is going on and that you are comfortable. I have hired traditional real estate agents to help me find the primary residences that i have bought and lived in over the years, and they were absolutely fantastic at that. But, I would never hire them to help me find an investment property. I would only work with a real estate investment company, and that is for 3 very simple reasons.
As a real estate investor, you want to buy in the best markets regardless of where you live, and you understand that the best real estate markets shift over time as they go through their local property cycles. Most traditional agents only have access to properties in their own local market and, for the sake of their own livelihood, they have to figure out a way to market and sell those properties, regardless of how advantageous they actually are for investors. So, asking a real estate agent whether their market is a good market for buying rental property is like walking into any restaurant and asking them if this is a good place to eat. The answer will always be ‘yes’, regardless of the reality.
The corresponding problem is that traditional agents are not usually able to help you diversify across markets, which is important to do while building your portfolio of cash-flowing properties over time. By contrast, a real estate investment company like Maverick Investor Group can help you buy in the best U.S. markets regardless of where you live, and help you diversify your portfolio over time and across markets.
Usually the local Multiple Listing Service (MLS) is the only source of properties available to traditional real estate agents. From the perspective of a savvy investor, there are a number of shortcomings with that. Here are just a couple:
Most properties on the MLS were already picked over and rejected by a number of serious investors before they ever got onto the MLS. The larger well-connected real estate investment firms have direct relationships with banks, wholesale channels, and "for sale by owner" marketing networks that usually get them first pick of the distressed properties before they ever get listed on the MLS. Hence, if those professional real estate investment companies do not deem a property to be profitable as a rental, it is unlikely it will be so for you.
MLS properties are usually either in distressed condition (meaning you need to do the renovation of the property yourself and assume all of the expenses, holding costs and risk associated with that) or they are vacant and likely being marketed to a primary homeowner. This means that IF you could find a property suitable to be a long-term rental, you would still have to lease the property, incur the initial vacancy period while doing that, and hope that it brings in the rent you desire. By contrast, a real estate investment company like Maverick Investor Group can get you access to turnkey rental properties for sale that are already stabilized and cash flowing when you close.
Traditional real estate agents serve primary home buyers/sellers as the majority of their business. And, while I have never met a real estate agent who would turn down a buyer asking them to help locate an investment property, you as the investor run a major risk in not working with a real estate investment company that specializes in income property. There are tons of nuances and minute details involved in identifying the truly advantageous investment properties that are not just a good buy today but have the best potential to perform well over the long term. This is an art and a science and anyone who is not fully immersed in this niche is probably not the person who can deliver the most value to you. Also, if you do find an investment property specialist who solely serves real estate investors, you should further specify whether they focus on commercial or residential investment property as these are entirely different animals.
....I want to clarify that this post is not intended to be disparaging towards traditional agents in any way. In fact, I strongly encourage all traditional agents to learn how to serve real estate investors because you can increase your business dramatically, either by becoming an investment property specialist yourself or learning how to refer your clients to a real estate investment company.
This post is strictly intended to inform real estate investors about the hazards and limitations of working with non-specialists, and the extent to which the traditional real estate infrastructure (including both the MLS and the traditional educational curriculum for real estate salespeople) is designed almost exclusively to serve primary home buyers/sellers and not residential real estate investors. Hence the crucial importance of seeking out a real estate investment company like Maverick Investor Group that can provide niche support to you every step of the way as you build your rental property portfolio over time and across markets. I would like to offer you a free video consult to get started today!
We are not a tax professionals, this is not tax or legal advice, and tax laws are constantly being changed and revised and may change the day after you read this. So, this is for informational purposes only, and it is your duty to consult with your own tax professional about your individual situation and the most updated applicable laws before attempting to implement any of the content in this post.
Click on a category and see all of our educational resources available for you:
GET Access TO Private buying opportunities for TURNKEY Rental properies & EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES. READ OUR PRIVACY NOTICE & TERMS OF USE.
