I am sorry to hear you have had such a problem. I have also read the answers and agree with some of them. But I have to say, that is our job. I think more often than not there is a break down in communication between agent and client. I know I feel bad when I don't have time to answer my phone or call someone back. Usually the reason I am not calling you with the answer is because I do not have it yet. We have to look at different websites to research a particular property. And sometimes have to wait on someone else to return our calls and emails before we will have that answer for you.
I also try to take very good care of my clients, but sometimes they feel/act as if they are my only client. I DO want them to feel as though I go out of my way for them, but I am not Super Woman. And can not please everyone all of the time.

Sorry if this sounds rude, but it's happened time and time again here in St Louis . The agents go through all the research for the investors only to have them decide that property isn't worth it and they move on and the agents have lost time that they don't get back and since they are commission based, time is money. Often the new investors end up deciding that nothing is worth buying or they end up buying something that is so low value that the agents get paid so little that it doesn't cover their costs.
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This is my experience, too. Excluding the number of "investors" I don't even return one call too ("I'm looking for a handyman special. It doesn't have to be near the beach, but if you can walk to the beach it would be great. Just on a tiny lot, but if it's on an acre that would be better. Oh, and if you have ANY waterfront handyman specials I'd be REALLY interested in that. How much? Oh I can go up to 200,000." "I'm sorry, a non waterfront not walk to the water building lot costs twice that." "Well. . . can you just take my number and if you find ANYTHING . . . ?" "No, sorry, if I find anything like that I'm buying it myself."). I'm my latest "investor", who seemed real at first but is proving not to be, called me on Saturday night at 8 to make an appointment to see a foreclosure on Sunday which probably isn't available anymore.

Wow....most agents we know would claw their way to a contract.

Both understanding and accepting the current market trents are extremely important.....you are not alone with your belief that this is a great time to buy. Most buyers are seeking deals that can save them big money.

The reality is that these opportunities do not last long and go to the buyer that is ready to make a quick decision. If you are not ready to make an offer within the first 48 hours, in many cases, you have missed the boat.

By loading up agents with requests for information, all though practical, may be working against your success. Our recommendation is for you to consider how you can get the information you need to make your decisions in the shortest amount of time possible. This may require you to make some generalizations for areas, homes, and prices.

The fact that you have had similar problems with 4 agents leads us to believe your process needs to be carefully reviewed.

Good luck

I had an "investor" that I decided not to work with. She is out of town and wanted comps on properties, a feed for a 5 county area on properties less than 20,000. She wanted me to go and take photos of the properties that she was interested in and email them to her. She wanted me to have contractors to work up estimates of repairs on homes.
She saw one that she wanted that was in good condition and wanted to offer 13,000 on a 19,900 list price. That would pay me 195.00 before expences and taxes. All in an area that I could not get someone else to go with me and watch my back while I took photos.

what you may be finding is that they don't perceive you as a serious buyer, but as someone who is "dabbling" and is using them for information but doesn't intend to use them to actually purchase the properties through them or at all. You don't indicate what level of properties you are purchasing either, but if you are purchasing forclosures or short sales, or very low value properties where the agents are going to be paid only a few hundred dollars (which will have to be split with their broker) for the transaction when and if it is actually closed and yet the information that you are requesting that they provide you with is going to take quite a bit of time for them to put together for you, they may be determining that there is a higher return on their time to be working with someone else. if you are looking at submitting on foreclosures and short sales, the agents also know that the comps and days on market really don't mean much because the banks are throwing the comps and days on market off in those areas (and sometimes there isn't a lot of data to be had in some areas) plus the foreclosures and short sales can tie up a realtor for months with their red tape and paperwork in order to get a contract through

I worked with an investor for awhile when I was a new agent who had me driving all over St Louis showing him properties in the less desirable areas of town - we saw buildings where I was concerned that if I stepped on the floor it was going to collapse under me, buildings that were literally full of black plastic bags of trash, burned out buildings, buildings that had been stripped and where we were definately in gang-banger neighborhoods. He considered quite a number of the properties and was constantly calling me and asking me to run the comps this one was going to be a winner! I spent hours putting together comps and data on what the rental figures in those neighborhoods would be for him (he did the calculations on what it would cost to rehab them). In the end after months and months, he finally bought 3 properties. Between all three, I made less than $300 in commmissions which didn't remotely pay for my expenses, much less the time I had spent with him or the time I had spent researching things for him. I would have made more money if I had spent that time working with other buyers who were interested in more reasonable properties.

Sorry if this sounds rude, but it's happened time and time again here in St Louis . The agents go through all the research for the investors only to have them decide that property isn't worth it and they move on and the agents have lost time that they don't get back and since they are commission based, time is money. Often the new investors end up deciding that nothing is worth buying or they end up buying something that is so low value that the agents get paid so little that it doesn't cover their costs.

Good luck, If you are a serious investor, talk to the local investor club and see what agent the other investors are using. They will be used to working with the investors and will have it down and be working on the principal of quantity over quality.

I agree that this would truly be frustrating. I am not sure what caused the breakdown between you and your agents. Are you currently interested in buying homes in Blue Springs or are you more interested in buying on the Kansas side? I ask that as I am very familiar with the Eastern Jackson county area if you would like to try one more time. Feel free to contact me.

Sherri Oaks
816/365-8660