Takeaways:
- Investors are also sifting through MLS looking for potential properties — so make your listings the best they can be.
- Investors are more inclined to work with buyers and agents who demonstrate a significant knowledge of the property.
- Trust data; hard data will help far more than anecdotes from your peers — and specialize, specialize, specialize.
Episode 11 of Modern American Realtor takes a different approach to real estate by looking at buying and selling from the investor perspective.
Partnering up with an investor can be a new and exciting venture for agents looking to build and expand their business. James Paine — managing partner at West Realty Advisors, who has flipped an impressive 3,000 homes in 26 states — joined us to give expert insight into this part of our industry.
Paine explains in detail how agents can make themselves and their listings more attractive to real estate investors, as well as the steps they should follow to establish lasting partnerships.
Make sure you have the basics down
Before clicking send on your new MLS listing, there are a few important things to note:
- Does your listing have high-resolution photos?
- Are there detailed and full descriptions?
- Did you feature additional info on special features?
If you answered “no” to any of those questions, then go back and update your listing to include those highly important elements.
Paine relayed that investors, like agents, are also sifting through the MLS looking for potential properties, and he lamented about the severe lack of information on many listings.
In his opinion, it should be a no-brainer to spend an extra hour writing a perfectly worded description accompanied by beautiful images of the home.
Don’t lose out on a potential deal or even a partnership with an investor because you didn’t take the extra time to post a superior MLS listing.
Investors love when you invest, too
Paine points out that investors are more inclined to work with the buyers and agents who demonstrate a significant knowledge of the property.
Seems obvious, right? But all that preparation means that not only will you have an excellent result with this property, but also investors will keep coming back to you for more in the future.
Another thing to think about is that investors love it when you can assure a quick close. They love it so much, in fact, that Paine thinks it’s more important than the pricing.
Paine also discussed how to get a higher return on investment (ROI) with simple steps such as improving the kitchen and bathrooms.
Jo Ann Snover / Shutterstock.com
Listen to the yarns of your elders
Paine delved into his long history in the business (and the resulting takes alone are worth hearing).
Above everything, Paine advocates patience and hard work. Learn everything so that you can learn from yourself. Make your systems one at a time, until you can master one aspect of house-turning before moving on.
Trust data, too. Hard data will help far more than anecdotes from your peers — and specialize, specialize, specialize. Differentiate yourself by learning one or two things extremely well.
We rarely hear from the investor perspective when talking about real estate. But thanks to James Paine, the Wright brothers (and our loyal listeners) learned a few valuable things about how the market works and how to conduct yourself both with investors and as one.
Subscribe to the audio podcast on iTunes, and check out the video episodes on Modern America Realtor.
Corey Wright is the co-founder of WingWire, a custom website and blogging service for real estate agents, and co-host of Modern American Realtor, a podcast for the modern agent. You can connect with him on LinkedIn or Instagram (@filbertsteiner).