Are you a real estate agent who wants to sell profitable properties?
If you are a real estate agent and, in particular, an agent who specializes in residential sales, but would like to supplement your business by selling profitable properties, this is for you.
In this article, I want to share with you why residential realtors should sell rental properties, some truths and myths, and what you need to do to prepare.
Benefits of selling an income property
The main benefit of working with rental properties, of course, is the money. When I started selling real estate, the average commission for selling a home was about $ 1,500 after the broker split. When I made my first income property sale as a residential agent, I made $ 15,000 after the broker split.
That sale took place in 1978 and having tasted the taste, I choose to make rental properties my business, as a result I have been selling income generating properties exclusively for the last thirty years.
But I digress.
This article is not about getting you to abandon your current residential business to become a multi-family specialist, it is about getting you to become a real estate agent who can (and wants) to sell investment properties in addition to single-family homes because money it’s good.
Let me give you an example of a residential agent here in Salem, Oregon who simply called an FSBO regarding a small vacant lot that eventually connected her to an apartment builder who subsequently allowed her to list around sixty apartment units. She never stopped selling houses, but because she thought outside the box and also made an effort to expand her residential business, she unwittingly fell into real estate investments and earned a good commission as a result.
Another benefit of being able to work with rental properties, especially for those of you who have been successful in selling homes and have a sizeable client list, is that you have plenty of potential investors at your disposal. Given this economy and the fact that banks are only paying about 2% to use our money, it might surprise you to find that homeowners who have never invested in rental properties are more open to the idea now than ever.
Lastly, having the ability to sell income-generating properties benefits you because it prepares you to serve walk-ins and others who inquire about income properties. Therefore, you never risk missing a sales opportunity or have to turn it down because you are not prepared to work with real estate investors.
You don’t need to become a specialist
The beauty of rental properties is that you don’t need to become a specialist or have special training to sell them. Naturally, there are exceptions with some types of commercial property, but at the end of the day, most properties associated with real estate investing require little preparation on your part.
How to prepare
Keep in mind that real estate investing is all about numbers: cash flow, rates of return, and profitability. So, get good real estate agent software that allows you to run those numbers correctly (and easily).
A good software solution for real estate agents will provide you with cash flow presentations that you can offer (and capture) investors and simply by virtue of using the software, it will allow you to learn everything you need to know to service the properties of investment properly. As a bonus, with the ability to create multi-family cash flow and rate of return presentations, you may even get some referral business from your peers.
Okay, I admit, I am trying to brief you on my real estate agent software program. But I wouldn’t risk alienating a colleague if I didn’t witness for myself the remarkable success residential brokers have had with investment software. If it didn’t work out, I don’t even suggest you consider it.
For your success.