If you’re thinking of selling, you’ll likely connect with people who want to help. Some will be agents and some will be investors. Check out this blog post to read about 3 ways to tell real estate agents and investors apart in San Antonio, and help you understand why you might want to work with one versus the other…
Thinking about selling your house? You might be approached by a bunch of different people who all offer to help you sell. But not everyone who offers to help will help in the same way. Some are real estate agents, other are real estate investors and they’ll help you in different ways.
But sometimes people are not actually able to tell real estate agents and real estate investors apart, due to the fact that both parties deal with houses, both make a living from the sales of the hppuses and both parties are professionals in real estate.
Here are 3 ways to tell real estate agents and investors apart in San Antonio, knowing in advance that the main difference is their methods of doing business.
Let’s Start With The Most Basic, What is a Real Estate Agent?
A real estate agent is a licensed professional who arranges real estate transactions, putting buyers and sellers together and acting as their representative in negotiations.
Real estate agents usually specialize in either commercial or residential real estate, an usually works on commission, being paid a percentage of the property’s sale price.
What Is A Real Estate Investor?
A real estate investor invests capital in a property. They may work alone as an individual investor, with a partner, or as a part of a network of investors.
There are no educational qualifications for becoming a real estate investor; the only real requirement is sufficient capital with which to invest, but they might have gain knowledge of the industry by working as a real estate agent, real estate broker, or mortgage broker.
1. Ways To Tell Real Estate Agents And Investors Apart In San Antonio: List Versus Buy
The easiest way to tell agents from investors is to ask what they are going to do with your house – list it or buy it. A real estate agent will list your house on a listing service and they’ll try to find a buyer. They might need to show it to several people in order to find one buyer, and it can take months to find the most qualified buyers.
An investor, on the other hand, isn’t going to list your house – the investor is a buyer and they will buy your house from you directly. (That’s what we do at Hank Buys Houses – we’re buyers and we buy houses in San Antonio. If you want to sell your house, click here and enter your information to find out how much we can pay).
The main reason for choosing a real estate agent is that you have the best chance of securing the maximum value for your home, but the work involved in that effort comes with hefty costs of its own.
2. Ways To Tell Real Estate Agents And Investors Apart In San Antonio: Timeline To Sell
The next way to tell an agent apart from an investor is to ask about their timeline to buy. An agent won’t know because they have to find the buyer first. In many cases, they might be looking at 3-12 months during which they’ll show the house to multiple potential buyers.
An investor, though, will know exactly how long it will take to buy your house since they’re the ones who will buy it. They will have an exact timeline (which could depend on you and how quickly you want to sell).
3. Ways To Tell Real Estate Agents And Investors Apart In San Antonio: Commission Versus No Commission
This one is crucial! An agent makes their money when they find a buyer and then you have to pay them a commission on the house (which could be somewhere around 6% of the sale price… or $6,000 on a $100,000 house).
An investor, however, isn’t listing your house so there aren’t any commissions. That’s because an investor will make money by either renting the house to a tenant or fixing up the house and selling it… so they make their money in a different way.
There are other ways to tell an agent or investor apart. The best thing to do is just ask… they’ll tell you!