SELECTING THE RIGHT
INVESTMENT REALTOR® You’re looking to start building a real estate investment portfolio, or do you need extra help with your real estate investing journey? Are you wondering who to work with that would best represent your goals and needs? We’re sure you probably see Realtor marketing everyday on your drive to work, right? The bus stop bench sign with the slogan “BUY, SELL, INVEST” is one of our favourites! Just kidding…. It’s a saying used way too often, by Realtors who don’t actually specialize in investment properties. So, how do you pick the right Investment Realtor? The Westside Partners of TrilliumWest are going to lay out 5 key attributes your should seek in your new or next Investment Realtor. 1) MARKET KNOWLEDGE This one should be a given! Like any investment product out there in the world, from stocks, to cryptocurrency, precious metals, even artwork, your Investment Professional HAS TO know their own market, inside and out. Same with your Investment Realtor! They have access to the most critical information available through their MLS portal, and need to be able to tell you what is going on today, what to expect tomorrow, and be able to help you navigate risk through using lessons from yesterday. We strongly believe that any Investment Realtor needs to be able to answer these market specific questions without blinking: •W hat are the average or median price points in the detached, townhome, and condo markets within the area? • Are we in a Buyers, Sellers, or balanced market and what is the future trend? •W hat is the market value of a certain property for example: As-Is, after renovations, given a specific cap rate (income vs expenses), or what should that property sell for in the current market conditions? •W hat are example neighbourhoods, buildings, areas, streets, etc that make sense for my needs and goals?
2) OWNERS OF INVESTMENT PROPERTIES Here’s a really underrated point: How can one give proper, accurate, seasoned advice or recommendations, if they’ve never done it themselves? Would you buy a car from someone who’s never owned a car before? Would you eat a meal from a cook who’s never prepared food in their life before? We would be willing to bet, probably not! So why would you work with an “Investment Realtor” who’s actually never bought, sold, managed or owned investment properties before? Here are key questions to ask an Investment Realtor, to see if their experience lines up with your expectations: •H ow many properties have you owned, and what types of properties do you have experience with? •W hat is your experience with leasing/ managing rental properties? •H ave you ever been through any minor or major renovations? •W hat strategies have you used in order to acquire properties?
3) TRANSACTION HISTORY It’s one thing to own or manage investment properties, but what about the knowledge, experience, and wisdom that comes with actually helping partners, clients, and customers buying, selling, and managing investment properties? You would hope your Investment Realtor has a fairly substantial track record of this, right? Or, is their primary method of business helping mom, dad, cousin
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Email us at homesplus@westsidepartners.ca
