Читать книгу Flipping Houses For Dummies - Ralph R. Roberts - Страница 51

A good real estate agent is more than just a clerk who pushes paperwork through the system and juggles numbers. The right agent is more like the concierge at an upscale hotel — dedicated to serving your (real estate) needs, whatever they may be. Sure, a qualified real estate agent costs money — typically, a 6 to 8 percent commission — but when you consider the amount of money you’re investing, a single mistake can cost you tens of thousands more. A real estate agent who has plenty of experience working with investors can assist you with these tasks:

 Helping you track down investors and other sources of cash. (See Chapter 4 for more about financing your flips.)

 Finding houses that meet your search criteria, even when those houses aren’t actively advertised as being on the market. (See Part 2 of this book for more about finding properties to flip.)

 Assisting in evaluating properties that you may want to purchase to avoid overpaying for a property. (See Chapters 9 and 10 for tips on evaluating specific properties for purchase.)

 Ensuring that your offer has appropriate conditions in place to protect you. For example, you may want to make your offer contingent on the sale of another property you own, the property’s passing inspection, and the title company’s assurance that the title work is in order. (See Chapter 12 for details on offers and negotiations for buying a home.)

 Negotiating price, financing, terms, date of possession, and other sticky areas of a purchase agreement.

 Expediting the closings (whenever you buy or sell a property) to ensure that nothing goes wrong at the last minute — and offering solutions when everything goes wrong at the last minute.

 Helping you estimate the cost of repairs and renovations or putting you in touch with someone who can.

 Referring you to reputable contractors, subcontractors, and other professionals (see “Calling In Your Rehab Team,” later in this chapter).

 Broadcasting your rehabbed home to every real estate agent in the neighborhood via the Multiple Listing Service (MLS) — a listing of homes for sale that goes out to all the real estate agents in your area — and helping you sell it in half the time (on average) it would take you to sell it yourself. (See Chapter 21 for more about marketing your rehabbed home.)

 Evaluating offers on the rehabbed home in a way that doesn’t compromise your position in the market. Some offers, for example, can tie up your home and leave you little compensation if the buyer backs out. (See Chapter 22 for info on negotiating and closing the sale of your rehabbed home.)

 Advising you on how much rent you can charge for a property if you want to hold on to it for a while and you need some cash flow.