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2. Experienced and working in real estate full-time
For many agents who are just getting started or are looking to make a career change, there may be a transition period when they’re juggling real estate along with another job or schooling.
In 2024, the median number of hours worked by Realtors was 35 hours per week. While it’s possible to have success working with a part-time agent, property investments typically require another level of skill and knowledge that is best served by a full-time agent who isn’t moonlighting on the side.
Sellers should look for an investor-friendly agent who completes a minimum of 100 transactions per year, and that type of volume typically requires a full-time commitment, Matin says.
Benefit to investor: A full-time agent will have more availability to help locate properties and act quickly to negotiate deals before competing investors snatch them up. They also will likely be more responsive and communicative than a part-time agent who is juggling other commitments.
3. Knowledge of micro-markets
While most agents specialize in a particular region or city, investor-friendly agents will narrow their focus to hone in on micro-markets: specific neighborhoods or communities within a larger area.
Agents with deep micro-market knowledge can provide insights on local specifics like school districts, building and zoning regulations, restaurants, shopping, commuter trends, and more. They will be aware of the community park development on the south side of town that makes the area a great opportunity for attracting renters, or which areas are going to be too expensive to buy into.
Benefit to investor: When investing in real estate, knowledge of the market is critical. The more you know about the nuances of a property and its surrounding area, the better equipped you’ll be to make smart purchasing decisions. Even the most experienced investors can benefit from an investor-friendly agent’s deep familiarity with local markets.
4. Firsthand investing experience
Many investor-friendly real estate agents are investors themselves. Travis Steinemann, an experienced real estate investor in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, only works with real estate investors who invest in their own properties.
“Otherwise, I don’t believe they would be able to understand what a good deal is, as well as the smaller details that are easy to miss but can sink a project,” he explains.
Taylor agrees. When he first got started, he enlisted an agent without checking to see if they had any investment experience. After he bought his first property with that agent, he asked why they didn’t invest. Their response was, “I couldn’t ever find a way to make money investing in real estate.”
“That should have been a clue that they were not a good investor-friendly agent,” he says. “I only bought one investment property through that agent and I lost over $90,000. I’ve learned that I need agents who have actually written checks for the kind of work I do. These agents understand my costs and what I’m looking for.”
Steinemann points out one more thing to keep in mind: If you work with an agent who is actively investing, they may keep the best deals for themselves. To prevent this situation, try looking for an agent who has a different strategy than you. For example, if you specialize in flips and they tend to buy and hold properties, that could lend itself to a symbiotic relationship rather than a competitive one.
Benefit to investor: An agent who has invested in real estate themselves will have firsthand knowledge of potential pitfalls and obstacles, so they can help you avoid them in your own investments.
5. Skilled at analyzing a deal
Price is always an important consideration when buying a property, but a real estate investor must also consider numbers like renovation costs (and which renovations increase home value), taxes, rental income, and more.
For example, a regular agent may look at a house that rents for $1,000 per month with a mortgage payment of $500 per month and determine that it will produce $500 per month in cash flow.
But that number can be very different when taking into account other expenses — some obvious, like taxes and insurance, and some less obvious, like vacancy allowance, capital expenditures, repairs, maintenance, and lawn care.
“There is a number at which every property works as an investment. The trick is finding that number and getting the seller to agree to it. That typically takes analyzing many properties and making many offers,” Steinemann says. “An investor-friendly agent will see value in doing all this extra work.”
Benefit to investor: An investor-friendly agent can help you find that financial “sweet spot” that will enable you to make a profit on a property. They also understand what hidden costs might lie beneath the surface of an investment.
