SE VA Real Estate Agent's Policies for Investor Customers
- Adam Garrett
- Sep 15
- 9 min read
In this article, I'll be going over the ways that I feel I would be in breach of my duties to my seller clients to help investor customers in the way that some are looking for when investors reach out to me due to a seller I represent. There are a number of ways that I can and do help real estate investors, whether they are looking to buy, sell, or get advice on renting out their properties
What Adam Won't Do for Investor Customers & More Details for Investors Inquiring of Adam to Try to Purchase His Seller Client Listings in a Way that Could Hurt His Seller Clients:
Some "Investors" Not a Good Fit for Adam
While I'm able to symbiotically assist a number of legitimate investors (whether they are new or seasoned) who use me to help them purchase or sell homes, I also encounter a number of cases where investors are either
or
B. Those looking to use the profit motive of me being a dual agent in such a way that it would typically hurt a seller client of mine that I am supposed to be representing. Some investors will seek an off-market purchase rather than one on-market, who don't realize that I typically heavily discourage that if I am representing the seller.
1. I don't show off-market listings when I am representing the seller, even with/ buyers with whom I have an exclusive buyer brokerage relationship.
Even with buyers where I have an exclusive buyer brokerage relationship going, I feel that I would be in breach of my fiduciary duties to protect my seller clients' best interest at all times if I started showing buyers I work with properties before they get listed. I know a lot of agents do that, but I'm not one of them.
I also abide by the NAR MLS Clear Cooperation Policy, which all REALTOR® Association MLS are required to abide by, which states, "Within one (1) business day of marketing a property to the public, the listing broker must submit the listing to the MLS for cooperation with other MLS participants. Public marketing includes, but is not limited to... digital communications marketing (email blasts)..."
2. I don't perform dual agency.
I never work both ends of a deal, representing buyer and seller. That's prohibited at my firm without management approval. It's illegal in some states, while legal in VA. I would not be in a good position to fully represent either party if I did that. I can set up designated agency when the situation arises.
3. I won't set up listing alerts exclusively for my own listings (or for other listings) with singular investor clients unless the investor satisfies my minimum requirements for a property feed from me.
If all that an investor wants to do is for me to send them listing alerts of my own listings, there is too high of a probability that the investor isn't just looking for that, but to establish a relationship for off-market deals that will never come from me. If looking for off-market deals, here are my tips on the subject.
Any investor who truly wants to take a peek at my listings is welcome to do so on my Homes.com profile here.
Here are the details of my search activation policy, which is unusual for an agent, but I do a lot of things differently than most agents. My policy here helps me to avoid wasting time. It applies whether one is looking to get a feed of my properties or of the other properties on MLS.
If an investor (& especially if a more typical buyer) knows about a listing I am planning to list and for some reason likes the property, I have no problem setting them up an alert, because in terms of cost-benefit analysis, that's good marketing, but a typical investor reaching out to me is not good marketing in terms of cost-benefit analysis of time spent marketing my own listings.
4. My listing quality is too good (top 1% in my opinion in terms of marketing quality based on the price range of the listing) for it to be worth an investor's time to frequently reach out to me about upcoming listings or care much about my personal listings for a considered purchase.
The quality of my listings is too good for it to be worth the time of investors to reach out to me about my personal listings prior to me putting them on the market. The better the marketing quality, the worse it is for buyer investors trying to get a heavy discount. Marketing quality is one of the items I mention in my article on below & above asking price offers. The worse the marketing quality, the better the potential for deal.
Standard elements of my listings include things like aerials, Matterport virtual tours, top .1% area photography, >95% max word count on public remarks, top 5% searchability including highly detailed features added, algorithm boosts from open houses & virtual tours, and many other elements that make my marketing, in my opinion, in the top 1% of that available per the price range considered in our area.
Related:
Photo Captions (especially proximity to area amenities)
5. I won't knowingly violate NAR's Clear Cooperation Policy, which includes the prohibition of email blasts >1 business day prior to posting on MLS.
The National Association of Realtors' Clear Cooperation Policy includes the statement, "Within one (1) business day of marketing a property to the public, the listing broker must submit the listing to the MLS for cooperation with other MLS participants. Public marketing includes, but is not limited to, ... digital marketing on public facing websites, brokerage website displays (including IDX and VOW), digital communications marketing (email blasts), ... and applications available to the general public. (Adopted 11/19)"
6. I typically won't list a property without a Tuesday deadline for offers.
Another reason why investor purchasers on my listings shouldn't care much about my listings before they go on market is that my standard policy is to list on Thursdays with a Tuesday deadline for offers. I include a provision where the seller reserves the right to accept something sooner, but only once have I ever accepted something sooner than the time of the deadline as of 8/23/23, and I regretted that decision later.
7. I currently have a low volume of past fixer-upper sales, but when I have sold them, the marketing is still my typical top 1% per the price range.
The vast majority of my sales at the moment are not fixer-uppers. To see an example of a past fixer-upper sale of mine, go here, and keep in mind that while not visible at the moment because these typically are unavailable after sale due to Matterport making you pay higher amounts for a higher number of properties listed live on their platform for many of their plans, at the time of sale I included in this listing a Matterport virtual tour of the interior of the home and the exterior.
8. I try to avoid referrals to specific service providers to those who haven't signed my affiliated business disclosure.
I can control what I do, but not what others do. I have extensive lists of contractors and other service providers, but don't like to share those to those who haven't first signed my affiliated business disclosure. <10% of those on my lists are affiliates. The one list I make public is my lenders list, my most common usage of affiliate businesses, but even on that page share more non-affiliates than affiliates. I have exclusively non-affiliate contractor, termite/moisture inspector, surveyor, insurance, cleaner, & other service provider recommendations. For those who prefer not to sign my affiliated business disclosure, I still provide the following publicly visible resources:
Basic Elements of Service Provider Determinations
Here's some information that most experienced listing agents should know
While it's typically best not to if you can avoid it, you can sell on the open market as is, very quickly if needed.
Sellers can often stall foreclosures by informing their lender that they are in the process of listing with an agent, even if they need to perform a short sale.
Those in bankruptcy are very rarely best off selling off-market. Listing agents & buyer's agents are still often able to get approval for a commission prior to listing as long as they go through the proper channels & as long as certain protocols are followed (i.e. not using their brother who happens to be an agent).
Properties listed on the open market can go from a listing appointment to closing in under 2 weeks in some cases. For instance, that's possible with a cash offer, the right price/condition, great marketing, no home inspection or a pre-listing home inspection provided, pre-listing title search initiated by seller to quickly find any defects to start remediation process early if applicable, pre-listing termite (& in some cases, moisture, i.e. Hampton Roads) inspection, and instigating a multiple offer situation).
Those heirs who didn't receive a will but need to go through probate are almost always best off not selling off-market.
Renovation mortgage loans are available in conventional, VA, FHA, USDA, & other varieties of loans.
Escrow holdbacks are an option for buyers using a mortgage to take care of some lender-required repairs without a renovation loan.
A significant % of those buying on the open market use cash.
There are sometimes options with their lender or otherwise to help a seller reduce their payments, such as a loan recast if current market interest rates are higher than their current rate, refinancing if current rates are lower than their current rate, NACA's HomeSave program even if they don't have a NACA mortgage, using a federal program, using a program with their lender, or otherwise.
There are sometimes options for sellers to borrow from retirement accounts to help them with a temporary hardship to keep their home.
There are sometimes options for a seller to reduce the taxes on their home, especially if they are elderly, low-income, and/or with a disability.
Some sellers are unaware of the negative ramifications of going from being an owner to a renter, such as the protections they get of the value of their home in terms of certain benefits, that other assets may not have similar protections for, & the increasing nature of rental payments more than fixed rate mortgage payments. Related: Rent or Buy?
As long as you've got great marketing already, it's typically better to gradually reduce the price or make repairs rather than desperately reaching out to a small list of investors if a home's on the market for a long time.
Those without the capital to make any repairs are often best off doing one or more of the following to put the property in better shape (even if it's just cleaning/decluttering) before listing on the open market or before avoiding a sale entirely:
Something DIY (even if borrowing or leasing equipment or getting free equipment or free furniture to stage a home)
Renting out rooms from their home
Taking out a home equity line of credit
Having a contractor who can be paid at closing
Financing some repairs/renovation, even if they have bad credit
There is sometimes Non-Profit & Government Assistance with Home Repairs
I have more options available for my seller clients in need of quick $ or in other distressed situations than most agents.
Here are some examples beyond those listed in the previous section:
For those with sufficient equity who need payments now, there are some cases where a listing firm such as mine can assist a seller in need before a property sells.
While I don't always discourage loan assumptions nor seller financing, I typically will discourage my seller clients from pursuing offers with "creative financing" due to the problems typically inherent in it.
Some of those potential problems, depending on the creative financing strategy, i.e. a buyer is paying off the mortgage while the current owner still holds the mortgage on paper, include:
What if the buyer (whether an individual or an LLC) goes bankrupt?
What protections does the seller have of tenants damaging their property?
What about the current owner's debt-to-income ratio?
What about the current owner's VA entitlement if it's a VA loan?
I typically discourage my seller clients from pursuing "rent to buy" candidates unless they're heavily looking at both renting and selling.
Typically owners want to either rent or sell. When they're considering both, I typically encourage that they make the property available as a rent to buy option, listed as such in MLS. When a seller wants to sell, and pursues a rent to buy candidate, I seek to make sellers fully aware that the prospective buyer may never be in a position to purchase the home. However, when a buyer thinks that they are not in a good position to buy, sometimes I can help them to make that happen, such as via introduction to low credit or no credit mortgages as well as options to buy with no down payment.
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