What To Expect From Your REALTOR Regarding Your Real Estate Investments

But what if you are an investor? What additional duties would you require from your real estate investing professional to help you stay out in front of the pack?

Here are a few things I think both you and your professional should be proficient at to help you maximize your investment.

Income and Expense Evaluations – This is critical. You will not have a full understanding of how much money you will make or lose on a property until you understand what is coming in and what will be going out. Everything in real estate investing revolves around the Net Operating Income. Without a true knowledge of that you are sunk from the start.

Return Comparables, Not Neighborhood Comparables – Your real estate agent should be able to calculate all measures of return important to you to accurately measure one property against another. Remember, you are buying future returns when you buy income property. The house or duplex is just the vehicle you choose.

Negotiations – This is where it can get sticky. When you are buying duplexes and apartments you are almost always buying them from other real estate investors. They are savvy. They’ve been to the dance before. They will know what they want and they read all the same negotiation books you read. Just today I had a phone call from the seller-agent of a duplex my clients made a bid on. He was probing and probing trying to get to the root of motivation. Once he has motivation, he has leverage. Finally, I advised him that I understood what he was doing but that I was also a professional. He chuckled and understood.

Now I don’t blame him for trying. I do, as well, on every transaction. Sometimes I run across agents that will give away the store. But not usually. Still, I try.

Take these three areas to heart. And your real estate investing career will go a lot smoother!