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Saturday, October 23, 2010

How to Spot a Bad Real Estate Broker


Real estate investing can be a fantastic way to save for retirement and it can even be a great profession to engage in full time. Let's face it, with the massive swings in the stock market within the last for years during the massive worldwide recession of 2008 to 2010, alternative forms of investing that are not linked to the stock market are looking more and more attractive.

And with the housing market crashing and prices dropping through the roof, now may be the perfect time to get into real estate investing in earnest as a full-time sort of thing. There is however one thing that anybody serious about investing in real estate needs to consider and that is a real estate broker.

As a real estate investor you will have many responsibilities from research all the way up to financing as well as managing your current properties. Often times you'll be very busy, in fact too busy to take care of many different things and that is where a real estate broker comes in and can be worth their weight in gold because they can find deals for you that you may not have ever dreamed of or would not have been able to get into on your own.

The problem is, you can often fall in with the wrong sort of real estate broker. I won't go so far as to call them evil but there are definitely bad seeds who can steer you wrong and turn your profitable real estate investment portfolio into ashes and dust in no time at all.

So what can you look for to spot a bad broker? That's exactly what I wanted to discuss in this article today. Here are several things to look out for, call them indicators if you like, that may tell you that you have fallen in with a bad broker.

Sometimes a broker won't reveal major defects or impediments of a property. They just want to sell the thing as quickly as possible so they can earn their commission and move on to the next sucker. A good broker should look to create a long-term relationship with you and this sort of thing won't fly over the long run.

Sometimes a broker won't bring to your attention new changes in prices or changes in specific terms since the last time you spoke. Again it's like the last tip where they're just looking to churn the building as quickly as possible and not look out for your best interests. Stay away from these types of brokers.

Sometimes brokers are slow to convey a seller's response to your particular offer. When it comes right down to it, real estate is a matter of timing and sometimes you need to move incredibly fast and if your broker can't keep up with you then you need to find a new broker.

Finally sometimes the broker will call you up and just waste your time talking about a property that they should really know you have no interest in or could be out of your price range. A good broker should know enough about you to understand the types of investments you're looking to make and should also have a clear picture of your financial situation so they don't waste your time on deals that you can't afford or that don't fall within your investment scope.

So there you have several ways in which you can weed out a bad real estate broker before they waste anymore of your time or hard earned money on bad potential real estate investments.








Jason Markum has been an article writer online for the last 14 years. When he's not writing about investing, he has fun running a discount mens dress shirts web site where he also reviews Van Heusen shirts for business or everyday use.



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