A real estate agent can be a great choice when looking to invest in property. However, many investors are unwilling to hire a real estate agent due to bad previous experiences or simply wanting to save on the fees and commission that they would spend on the agent.
However, the above reasons actually emphasize on why finding and working with a reliable real estate agent is important. For one, if you’re simply avoiding the fees and commission, then you’ll likely have a hard time finding the right investment for you.
If you’ve decided to invest in real estate, let’s take a closer look at the importance of working with a real estate agent.
- They Know Where The Best Property Is
The best property for you is one that meets your criteria. This would mean being situated in the right neighborhood, the right size home, and having the right facilities.
If you were to search for the property yourself, you would need to go through plenty of homes situated in different locations. This can be stressful and time consuming–imagine searching for investment property without having a clue of where it’s located.
However, a real estate agent will communicate with you to know what you’re looking for. Since they know all the different properties in the area, they’ll be able to narrow down the list to those properties that suit your needs the most.
If you’re open to make any changes, they may also suggest other alternative properties. This will broaden your perspective and help you choose the ideal property for you.
To help you along that line, here are some factors that you and your independent real estate agents may follow when searching for the best properties to invest in:
- Think about the different needs that you have in a property, as what’s referred to as “best” is subjective–depending on a person’s property needs and specifications;
- Look for properties that offer the best value, not just in terms of the selling price, but also the possible return that you may have should you decide to re-sell it or have it rented out;
- Check through the best locations, which are usually those that have the highest demands for real estate.
- Have Deep Knowledge Of The Market
Agents won’t only know where the best property is, but they’ll also act as your guide to the property market investment.
If, for instance, you were to settle on a property, they’ll guide you in the processes involved in purchasing the home. They also understand how current trends can affect the property in the area, such as unemployment rates and inflation. Moreover, they’ll also understand any changes in mortgage rates and advice you accordingly, helping you make the best decision. This is information that you may not be able to gather on your own. Lacking the proper information and know-how could lead to poor investment decisions.
Furthermore, to make the most of your property investment, real estate agents will inform you on future trends that you can take advantage of. For instance, they’ll understand which property is seeing a steady increase in market value. Investing in such property means that you’ll be able to get a decent return in a shorter time frame.
That said, here are some of the best tips you can apply to have a more thorough understanding of the real estate market:
- Attend open houses regularly so you can get a feel as to the types of homes that are regularly for sale in your area.
- Study the employment situation in the area. Remember the basic premise that the only way for people to afford their homes is when they’re employed. Even more so, people tend to live near their jobs.
By checking the employment rates, the salary rates, and other factors, you’ll understand the different types of homes that are available in the real estate market.
- Understand the relationship between supply and demand. Supply, when pertaining to the real estate market, refers to the availability of houses for sale. These usually have a benchmark of around six months so you can get a better understanding of what’s considered a healthy market.
- Networking Benefits
When looking at investment properties, one of the main benefits of working with a real estate agent is that they’re masters of networking. They can connect you with the right professionals to ensure that you make the most of your investment.
For instance, they can connect you to real estate lawyers, appraisers, inspectors as well as mortgage professionals. All these will play a crucial role to give you the best information and guidance when making investment decisions.
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When working alone, on the other hand, you’ll have to search for the best professionals on your own. This can prove rather hectic as some professionals are better than others. By working with a real estate agent, you’re able to tap into their network and work with some of the best professionals in the market.
When you’re looking to purchase property, it also pays to be in contact with top notch plumbers, landscapers, as well as title companies and staging companies. In case you need to make any improvements to your property, either to rent the property or resell it at a profit, they can help you achieve this.
What’s more, the agent will know these professionals at a personal level and will be able to recommend the most reliable one for a project. Having this good network of professionals on your side is very important because:
- It helps you create long-term relationships with professionals that can offer mutual benefits, especially if you’re going to be in the real estate market as an investor and not just an ordinary buyer.
- It enables you to stay on top of the trends in the real estate industry.
- It presents you with an avenue to exchange ideas–whether or not certain investments in the market are good for you or not.
- Agents Have A Keen Eye
Having worked in the real estate market for a long time, real estate agents are able to spot flaws in a property. They can then advise you on how to deal with these flaws.
For instance, when looking to buy property, you may end up missing certain issues such as possibility of mold growth or leaks in the roof, which the agent will be able to point out. They can also tell you which property is worth your investment as well as which isn’t. Remember that a good agent will protect your interests.
Furthermore, you may be looking at investment properties with a goal of reselling. The agent will also come in to advice on the type of renovations that you may need to increase the market value of the property as well as to attract the right clients. This is information that you wouldn’t normally have and would require you hiring a contractor, causing you extra money. However, your agent will provide such information for free.
- Provide A Value On Property
When searching for a property to invest, one of the main factors that can affect the decision of whether to buy or not is the value of the home.
If you’ve found a property you’re interested in, you have the option of going online and trying to compare with similar properties in the area. This can end up costing you a considerable amount of time. However, with someone who’s familiar with their area’s real estate, they already have knowledge of the prices of similar properties and can evaluate the property and offer you a priced within minutes. This can help you make the best choice when closing the deal.
On the other hand, if you’re looking to sell investment property, you may over price your home due to bias. Other times, you may even find yourself underpricing the property.
To ensure that buyers are willing to purchase it for the right price, your real estate agent can help you set the best price for your property.
- Negotiating The Property
After finding an investment property that you like, you want to get the best price for it. This can be difficult when trying to negotiate with the client yourself. What’s more, if you don’t have the proper skills and are just relying on market information, you may end up losing the deal.
Fortunately, a real estate agent has negotiated plenty of times before. They know what works and what doesn’t, thus they’ll be able to negotiate with the seller on your behalf. This will help you get the best price for the property. The same can be said when looking to sell your home. The real estate agent will talk to the buyer, then fix a good price for the property. This will ensure that they get the best price.
After all, they’re a greeting a commission so it’s in their best interests; the better the price that they can negotiate, the more they stand to gain.
- Home Staging Services
When looking to sell your property, you need to make sure that it’s appealing to potential buyers. However, you may not know what constitutes appealing.
This where real estate agents come in as they’ll know what buyers look for in a home and can, therefore, offer you advice on how to improve your current property. Furthermore, real estate agents may even bring in their own props as well, and show you how to arrange the furniture. They may also offer landscaping ideas, significantly increasing the odds of making a sale, thus profiting from your property.
Moreover, when selling the property, the real estate agent is more likely to get the potential buyers real feedback compared if you were selling the property yourself. This is because many buyers don’t want to offer negative criticism. However, once the agent gets the feedback, they can then inform you so you can make the required improvements to sell your property.
- Accessing Off-market Listings
You’ll find plenty of property listed on property websites. Moreover, MLS (Multiple Listing Service) also offers access to the available property for sale.
That said, clever property investors understand that the best property that offers a chance for the best deals as well as having the potential for the most return on investment will be kept hidden by the real estate agents. They prefer to make the most of the property and won’t publicly announce them.
By talking to a real estate agent, you can find out where these properties are located and make a deal on them. This is something that you wouldn’t be able to access when working alone.
Furthermore, access to such property, combined with the listed property, provides you with plenty of opportunities and options. This ensures that you’re able to find a property that’s ideal for you. In other words, you’re far more likely to find property to invest in with more options than if you only had a few options.
- Marketing Techniques
Selling your property without the help of an agent can be one of the hardest tasks that you’re going to deal with. The agent, however, is well connected and will know how to put the property in front of buyers. What’s more, they’ll know the best marketing strategist and techniques to use so they can close the deal, helping both you and the agent earn top dollar.
With no experience in the real estate market, you may not even know where to begin. What’s more, since you have a vested interest in the property and looking to make a sale, you may not keep a leveled head–you’ll likely be anxious, which may cause you to oversell the property. The potential buyer may notice this and second guess the value of the property.
Moreover, the property is more likely to take a long time to sell. This will cause anxiety and push you to accepting a price that’s lower than the market value.
The real estate agent will have a more level head and can do a better job at convincing the potential buyer to purchase the property. They’ll act as a buffer between you and the buyers, ensuring the selling process goes smoothly and efficiently.
- Time Saving
When looking at property properties to invest in, one of the main reasons that you should use an agent is that you’ll be able to save time.
Searching for the ideal property isn’t easy and will involve you having to look at multiple houses to draw your conclusions. However, with the agent, you can simply kick back and let them do all the hard work for you. Since they already know the type of property that you’re looking for, you’ll end up saving a lot of time.
What’s more, when you do decide on a property, you’ll quickly find that there’s a lot of paperwork that goes into finalizing a deal. Alone, you’ll have to peruse through a lot of paper before signing. Fortunately, the agent will guide you and help you make the best decision while saving you the hassle of going through all the paperwork.
Furthermore, the real estate agent will also schedule showings. This can help you save time as they’re the ones meeting the clients and marketing to them. This is especially important when you don’t live close to the property. Sometimes, potential buyers will schedule an appointment and fail to show up. This is not something that you’ll need to concern yourself with as the agent will be dealing directly with the clients.
All the effort required to interact, market, and show your product is taken care off by the real estate agent. Coupled with time saving, it also ensures that you don’t have to handle these strenuous tasks yourself.
Final Thoughts
There are many reasons why you should opt for the services of a real estate agent when looking to invest in property. From suggesting improvements to handling the sales to guiding you in buying property, a real estate agent can make property investment run smoothly and efficiently. What’s more, you’ll end up making better decisions.
Author Bio
Susan Mills has been a blogger since her teenage age, and now that she’s a mom, she’s sharing her expertise on business, investing, and childcare of her blog. Susan regularly updates his blog with new content and works with other online platforms to submit articles, as well.
