Understanding a buyer’s agent function—from mapping out strategies to finding properties
Most people think a buyer’s agent is simply a professional who can assist them in choosing the best property to purchase, but Right Property Group’s Victor Kumar said that the good ones go as far as understanding an investor’s vision and helping them achieve their long-term financial goals.
After spending almost two decades as a property investor and, eventually, a buyer’s agent, Victor has come to know that agents like him come in different levels, including those who deal with new properties and those who act as “property strategists”.
“There will be buyer’s agents that align to developers and they’re dealing with new stuff only and they could be paid via developer or the marketing company or they’d be paid by the client,” he explained.
“Then there are people like us who are more property strategists. We sit down with you, help work out your goals and map out a plan, then we actually go out in the open world and resource those properties to help unfold that plan and that vision so that you get to your retirement income over a period of time. We get paid by the client and not by the agent or the developer or anyone else.”
According to Victor, property investors must strive to find buyer’s agents who can not only identify properties for them and negotiate on their behalf but also ultimately set them up for success.
Smart Property Investment’s Phil Tarrant admits that his property investment journey could not have been successful had he not sought the help of professionals and the guidance of experts.
“I don’t have the time to do what needs to be done to actually be a good investor and I’m also very conscious that there are other people who can do it so much more effectively than me. I choose to outsource and I’m happy to pay for that service because when I look at my portfolio and what I’ve been able to achieve with the amount of time I really put into it, [and] it’s pretty good,” the avid investor shared.
“If you can get your head around the fact that, yes, it costs you money to actually do this for you, the upsides could be considerable. That’s what I think is the bottom line.”
Victor’s advice to budding property investors: Propel yourself to success by building a good financial team around you who understands your goals as well as your capabilities and limitations.
The buyer’s agent concluded: "Sometimes people aren’t able to look at the bigger picture… [For example], you’ve got a choice of coming down the toll road or coming down the non-toll road… Non-toll road takes 45 minutes and the toll road takes 27 minutes. To get to the 27 minutes, to save that time, you’re paying $13 to $18 toll when you go both ways. It is a cost but it comes back to you by how quickly you could get to your destination. That’s what it boils down to.”
Tune in to Victor Kumar’s episode on The Smart Property Investment Show to know more about his biggest investment mistakes and what he did to keep the wheels in motion, as well as his insight on where the property market is heading.
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