Minnesota Investment Real Estate

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Several days ago, I referred to a great post by Chris Lengquist’s at Kansas City Real Estate Investing named: 7 Questions To Ask Your REALTOR Before Looking For Investment Property. If you have read my blog for any length of time, you may have noticed that I don’t do much (if any) self promotion. Without selling myself too heavily, I thought it would be interesting for me to answer those 7 questions so you can see how a full-time investment property Realtor would respond:

1. Are you an investment property owner and/or do you take any specialized classes to assist you with evaluating real estate investment property? I have been an investment property owner since 2002. I own and manage almost 30 units from single family to multi-family in many different parts of the Twin Cities. Additionally, I have attended numerous classes and seminars over the years both as an investor and a Minnesota Real Estate Agent.
   
2. How long have you been working with investment properties? As I mentioned above, I have been an investor since 2002, but I have specialized in investment properties as a Realtor since I started. I sell only about 1-2 owner occupant houses per year.
3. Can you show me how you evaluate an income property, numbers wise? I use a customized spreadsheet that I built over the years to analyze large volumes of investment properties. It allows me to pull down up to several hundred properties at a time from the MLS and find the best values for my customers in a matter of minutes. See the spreadsheet on the right (click to see a larger version).
4. What are your feelings about cash flow or appreciation? Cash flow is a must. I know that there are other “gurus” out there that say negative cash flow is OK. I disagree. In this market, you can absolutely buy a nice property at a great price and have cash flow also. Appreciation is what we are all in this game for. I like my tenants, but I would rather be spending that time with my family. The cash flow is fine, but I am waiting for the pot of money at the end of the rainbow when I sell everything!
5. What are your hours of availability? I carry a PDA and check it most of the day. I also spend about 2-4 hours per day on my laptop.  Typically, I am available from 8am to 8pm during the week and weekends by appointment. This might not be normal for most real estate agents, but it is just how I work.
6. Do you require a Property Management agreement in addition to an Exclusive Buyer’s Agency Agreement? No. We simply sign a Buyers Representation Agreement once we begin to work together.
   
7. Who do you work with concerning inspections, repairs, maintenance and property management? Over the years, I have accumulated many contractors and repairmen that I always refer to my customers. I also always try to have at least one inspector and property manager that I can recommend to my customers.

The above questions are important to ask your Realtor when venturing into Investment Real Estate. I hope my answers give you some insight into what a full-time investment Real Estate agent can offer. Why not work with someone that specializes in investment property?

Scott Ficek owns and manages almost 30 investment property units from single family to multi-family. Find his website at www.minnesotainvestmentrealestate.com or receive his blog via your RSS Feed or in your Email. He is also a Minnesota Real Estate Agent with RE/MAX Advantage Plus in Minneapolis and helps new and seasoned investors buy and own Minnesota Investment Property.

This entry was posted on Monday, March 31st, 2008 at 10:36 pm and is filed under Buying Property. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.