What’s up everyone, Chris Kennedy here, again with another video. And in today’s video, what I’m going to talk to you about is how to become a go-to buyer in your market. So, as we all know, we’re dealing with a super strong sellers market right now, here it is 2021, tons of cash in the market, especially here in South Florida, but all over the United States, the market is kind of crazy. It’s hard to find the deals, when you do find them, it’s hard to get your offers accepted. So what to do? Now, in a previous video, I gave you some tips on writing a stronger offer. Some of the things you can put into offer to make your offer stronger, but this video is more about how to build a reputation as the buyer that brokers want to work with.
Okay? So just with that being said, you will know there’s no real quick way to do that, right?You’re building your reputation. And as the saying goes, a reputation takes a lifetime to build and can be lost in a moment. So I think going in with the attitude of always having a long-term relationship type mindset, you’re going to automatically make better decisions and handle the relationship with brokers better, okay? So don’t necessarily think that if you’re dealing with one broker on one specific deal that you like that you’re never going to work with that broker again, because in multifamily investing, even here in South Florida, where it’s a very hot market and it’s a large market, right? Even here, multi-family investing the brokerage world is a small world. So the likelihood of you running into a broker with a listing on another deal is pretty high.
So keep in mind, if you’re a jerk to work with on the first offer you make, then that broker is probably not going to work with you on the next one, right?So building a rock solid reputation is what you want to focus on now. What are some of the key parts of that reputation? So what are things you can do right now today? Let’s say you’ve written an offer on a deal and you want to be selected over the other myriad offers that have been sent in, right? So a couple of key points, number one, first and foremost, be easy to work with. I think this is without a doubt, the most simple advice, but the most overlooked advice that I see. Just be easy to work with. Just think, remember everyone is a human being, we all have our faults. We all have issues that we’re dealing with. People have a bad day, be the nice person to work with with that broker, right? Brokers… Some people think it’s an easy job or hey, this broker gets paid for doing very little work.
I will tell you it is a brutal business. I’ve got friends who list and sell a lot more real estate than I do. And I know them well, and I know how hard they work to get those listings, especially these days. So keep in mind that you are dealing with someone who’s worked very hard to probably get this listing that you’re making an offer on, and treat them with respect and just be nice to work with. It doesn’t mean you have to be weak in the offers that you’re making, right? But you can be a nice person to work with. So if you make it easy to work with you, guess what’s going to happen? You’re going to get a reputation of being an easy guy to work with. And brokers are going to want to give you the deals.If I go under contract on a deal and from day one I’m just difficult, I’m nitpicking everything, I’m not following through on the promises I’m making, I haven’t sent in the escrow deposit on time, I’ve got an attitude every time that the broker calls me, guess what? You may bring that one deal to a closing.
You may get a great deal on it, but that broker is going to think on the next deal, they’re going to be aware. They’re going to be like, “Okay, this guy might be a buyer for this deal, but he’s a pain to work with. And I’m going to look for someone else instead of him, if I can get this sold to someone else.” This happens all the time guys, okay? So rule number one, is just easy to work with. Rule number two, I would say is be prepared, right? I can’t emphasize this one enough.Like be really prepared, okay? Get your financing in line. If you haven’t already made a relationship with one or more lenders in the local market, I suggest you start doing that right away before you’re even writing offers, have your ducks in a row ready to go, okay? So just basic stuff you’re going to need as an investor buyer on a multi-family deal. You want to have your personal financial statements in order that should be updated within the past 30 days. That’s your assets, your liabilities, all that good stuff. Make sure you have that ready to go.
The broker’s not going to need to see that, but whatever lender you work with is going to need it. And if you don’t have it together it’s going to hold up the deal.Have your lender in mind. You may not have decided exactly which lender you’re going to use on a specific deal, but at least know the top two or three that you plan to work with so you can move quickly. And if asked, you can provide contact information. And the lender contact you provide has spoken to you, knows you, and can vouch for you when that broker calls to verify, hey, is this person financeable? Right? That’s very, very important.So number two, be organized. Be easy to work with and be organized.
All right, rule number three for becoming a go-to buyer in your market is do what you say you’re going to do. Follow through on the commitments and promises that you make. Again, this is just good life advice, I guess, but especially when you’re dealing with brokers and want to become that go-to buyer, make sure to follow through on any commitments or promises you make to them. You can start this early in the process, right? If you have a phone call with a broker before you make an offer, and you tell that broker, “Hey, I’m going to send you X, Y, and Z.”Go ahead and make sure you do it by the time you said you’re going to do it. Making small promises like this or small commitments and following through on them it’s actually a strategy you can use to build trust with someone in any circumstance. But with brokers in this circumstance, you can use that strategy to build some trust before you even get into making an offer on a deal. So for example, you have a phone call with a broker, you’re chatting about deals, et cetera. And maybe they ask for some rental comps on a deal that you own locally, right? They say, “Hey, it’d be great, do you mind sending me a rental?” Absolutely. I’ll do that. I’ll get that to you by tomorrow. And then follow through and make sure to do it. Don’t blow that off as a small thing. Oh, it won’t matter if I don’t do it, because people remember these things.
So you want to make small commitments with these brokers ahead of time, follow through, get them the information they need. And then when it comes time to work on a deal with you or… Hey Chris, I’ve got this deal. That’s just coming on the market. I’m going to be listing it tomorrow. If you want to take a look before I put it out there, absolutely. They’re going to know, hey, this guy’s followed through on these small commitments. So if he writes an offer or if he gives me this information or if he makes a commitment to me, he’s probably going to do the same thing here on the deal. So just follow through, build trust, right? This is all about building a reputation. All right, number four. Be a closer. Right? Now, this obviously requires you to get into contract on a deal, but make sure when you get into contracts on a deal, you actually close the deal.
Now that may seem, you might be like, well, what if I find out something that’s going on with the deal? And I don’t like it and I can’t close it? Yeah, that’s that’s okay. That happens. But you don’t want that to become the norm for you, right? So I would try really hard not to let that happen the first deal that you’re working with a broker, you want to probably go out of your way to make that deal closed. So you need to step back and make sure you’re doing a good job. Analyzing those deals, you know the market thoroughly, you understand what you’re getting into and then you follow through and close. So it goes back to my other video on how to write an offer that is competitive, right? Check that one out and then just be prepared. If your offer gets accepted, you want to set yourself up with a reputation of closing deals, because brokers love no one better than buyers who close deals.
So be at closer. All right, last but not least, what I recommend is you also look for ways to build goodwill with brokers, right? So if you’re looking at deals in a market, if you’re trying to get into a market, chances are you’re not just working with brokers. You might also be doing some direct mail, you might be doing some cold calling. Who knows what other things you’re doing. Maybe calling some for sale by owners, or you might be getting referrals from maybe other people in your network in the market, property managers, CPAs, lawyers, whatever, right?So I will say, if you come across something that may be an opportunity for someone else, but it’s not the right fit for you, and you want to do something nice for a broker refer that lead or give them that information, right? Hey, I spoke to this person who owns this apartment, building this street. It’s a little higher. They want more money than I can justify for this. They’re not quite ready to sell right now, but hey, I thought Mr. Broker, you might be interested in this information. Here’s a phone number and go for it.
I will tell you if you do that for brokers, it’s going to set you apart. Nobody wants to just hand them listing referrals like that, okay? So there are other things you can do as well. Give them a good contact for something. Hey, I’m looking for a good insurance agent. Send it to them. If you’ve got one. Help these people out.So build some goodwill and then they’re going to reciprocate by, you know what? Chris is looking for a deal in this market. And he sent me a potential listing. It didn’t work out, but I remember he sent me that person. I’m going to give him a call and see if he’s interested in this deal that I’m working on right now, okay? So think like that. At the end of the day, it’s all about building a reputation. I hope this was helpful for you. If so, feel free to click and subscribe and feel free to check out our website. Hope to hear from you. Hope you’ll step into our office one day here in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. If you’re looking to buy, sell, or have a multi-family property managed in our local market here, then definitely would love to help you out with that. Thanks for tuning in. I’ll see you on the next one.