Choosing the Right Realtor Can Save Your Thousands.

by Christopher Seder

Do you realize how life changing your choice to sell your home is? You are embarking on an amazing journey that could impact the rest of your life.  So why would you want to pick a random Billings Mt Realtor?  I know you’re like me and want to only work with the best realtor Billings MT has to offer.  Choosing the right realtor can make for a smooth ride. The wrong realtor can leave you with months of stressful days and restless nights.

So the question you are asking right now is how do I choose a good realtor?  The first way to find a good realtor is to ask your friends, neighbors and business associates who they would recommend. Even post a comment on facebook if you have a facebook.  Everyone loves to give their opinion.  When you ask these people for recommendation bug the heck out of them with questions. Ask them why they liked the realtor, what services he provided, and what their experience working with him/her was like.    This is a great way to start forming a list of realtors, but you’re not done quite yet.

The next step is to do a little research on the list of Billings MT Realtors that you have made up.  Take the list and Google them.  Find out who they are, who they work for, what kind of marketing they do, their internet presence, and pretty much stalk them on the internet.  It’s also important to find a realtor who has an online presence.  86% of home buyers start their search online.

Here is a great tip and but can be a challenge.  Find out which realtor’s in Billings Montana is closing the most transactions.  The reason for this is you will know which realtors are the hustlers.  The top five or ten realtors you know have figured out the game and know how to sell a house.  They are making it happen and they are the people you want to be working with.

Ok so you have your list, you have done your research and found out who looks like good realtors and so on.  Now you’re going to want to narrow your list down to about 3 realtors.  It’s up to you how you do this. I just recommend going with who you think looks like the very best.

Once you have your list narrowed down call all three of them and set up an appointment to meet them at your home.  The reason to meet them at your home is so they can take a good look at is and give you their opinion.  Also have them do a CMA (comparative market analysis) on your house.  This is just what similar houses are selling for in your area and will give you a good feel for what your house is worth.

When you interview them really take note of their personality and how you feel about them.  Also have a long list of questions to ask them.  Here are some example questions to ask.

• How do you plan to get my house sold?
• What is your Marketing Plan for My House or Houses you have sold?
• How many years have you been a licensed realtor in this state?
• Are you full Time?
• How to you market online?
• How many transactions did you do last year?
• How many Listing do you have?
• What other services do you provide? Home staging?
• Do you belong to the MLS? (very important)

There are just a few examples to ask them.  After you have interview them do not make a decision right away.  I know a lot of realtors who will want you to sign the listing papers right away but take a few days and evaluate them.  Go through the pros and cons of each.

In the end it all comes down to choosing the one you feel will do the best job.  Always go with your gut feeling.  After you have made your choice trust your decision and you will be fine.

Choosing a pour realtor in Billings Mt can turn an already stressful experience into a high speed car wreck.  But if you have done your home work you will choose the right realtor and he/she will make your life more amazing than it already is.  Start your Home Selling Journey today.

p.s if you would like my billings mt recommendations let me know CLICK HERE

Real estate investors are totally different types of buyers than your normal retail buyers.  Most agents are taught to deal with retail home buyers and never learn what goes on in the mind of investors.   Investors are looking for pretty specific deals.  Realtors who take the time to learn a little about real estate investing and what investors really want, they can build a very good business just from investors.

Purchase Price

What most realtors struggle with is that most investors will not pay more than 65 or 70% of the after repair value or market value.  If the property needs any type of work, the investor will reduce their price to reflect that along with holding costs.  The formula that most investors use is they take the retail value multiplied by 70%, minus repairs, minus holding cost, closing costs and a commission if there is one.  Every realtor should know this formula and use it when finding property for investors.

Financing

So how do investors buy property?  A lot of the time they use their own cash, private investors, or hard money lenders.  Knowing that they are using these types of short term financing a realtor should network with different private investors and hard money lenders to provide more options for their investors.  An investor will love any realtor who goes the extra mile and finds them money to purchase their deals with.  If you were a realtors why would you not do this for your investor clients?

Exit Strategies

The profit for investors is made when they purchase the property, but investors do not get those dollars until their exit strategy has kicked in.  What are all of these exit strategies that investors use.  Well there is the simple MLS listing but investors use strategies like owner financing, lease options, renting, wholesaling and the traditional selling.  Realtors should also know all of these strategies and be flexible with any exit strategy that may come up.

Creative Thinking

Some investors are known for thinking a little differently and doing whatever it takes to get a deal done.  Investors come up with non-conventional solutions for problems.  Most realtors are taught not to think this way or are set in their ways to accept creative ways to get deals done.  Some realtors think that what investors are doing is illegal when the idea is completely legal, viable and protects their clients.  Something like a short sale might not look like a great thing for a client but if the client is struggling to sell the house and might end up losing it, then a short sale is in the best interest of the client.

Multiple Deals

Investors want to do several deals.  I know that I am going to be doing 3-5 deals a month consistently in the next few months.  Most realtors are scrambling to attract new buyers that will buy one property on average every five to seven years.  Successful investors are buying multiple properties every year if not every month.  While investor may ask their realtor to submit twenty plus offers a week.  Spending time with a guaranteed buyer who can close and who is patient to find deals can be very beneficial.  Why chase after five buyers for five deals or work with one buyer to buy all five.  There are some instances where a realtor needs to work with other buyers because an investor won’t buy retail property.

Many realtors do not like the fact that investors use multiple realtors to ensure there is a steady flow of deals coming in.  Most realtors would like investors to only work with one realtor.  A realtor might even get their feeling hurt when they find out their investor is getting deals for other agents.  What they do not realize is that if they took the time to learn how to invest, this would almost guarantee that investors would take the time to turn more of their business over to them.

The biggest hurdle of all is finding an investor friendly agent that has an open mind and is flexible.  Realtors and investor often need a period of mutual training to get use to working with each other and figure out each other’s wants and needs.  Some realtors really know what is going on and how to work with investors but everyone needs to educate themselves about all types of real estate and real estate investing.