Why I Won’t Call If I Find A Good Deal

If I had a dollar for every time a prospective duplex buyer or investor told me to call them if I found a property that’s “a good deal”, I’d be retired.

But I won’t call.

Why?

Well, there’s a couple of reasons.

This conversation usually happens when I first meet a prospective client.  And that investor may not be at a point where she’s ready to buy something immediately or commit to a Realtor. As a result, if I bring them a duplex I perceive to be a terrific value, she might not be ready to buy just yet.

Part of the reason she may not be ready to take that step may be financing.  Perhaps she hasn’t sat down with a lender just yet, and fully intends to once she identifies a property. But there is a problem in this thinking. Most sellers won’t even look at an offer without seeing proof a buyer can afford it. And that proof requires either a pre-approval letter from a lender (which can take several days to get) or proof that she has the cash.

I have a number of buyers at any given time looking for a good deal. And the ones who have demonstrated to me their ability to get financing on a moments notice or pay cash for a property are the ones I call first. After all, their financing in place, and I know they can move to acquire the property.

Finally, I will not call someone who wants to hear from me only when I find a good deal because I don’t know how many other Realtors they’ve said the same thing to. When I call, I may discover that buyer has just purchased an investment property with another agent or, worse yet, that Realtor has called them about the same duplex and they are in the process of writing an offer.

Realtors work entirely on commission. We are not paid by the company we have our real estate license with (like Keller Williams). Instead, we are compensated only when we locate a property our clients then purchase. As a result, it only makes sense that we spend our time and energy on buyers who can truly afford a property.

It isn’t that I won’t call someone with a good deal. I absolutely will; if I know that investor is not only truly ready, but willing and able to perform.