In nearly every city or town in America there are a few different types of real estate agents and brokers. Some of these professionals deal primarily in single family homes for individuals, others deal with commercial real estate transactions, and yet a third type deal primarily in investment real estate. If you are looking to invest in the real estate market, you will want to find a real estate agent or broker who deals with investment properties and the unique needs of real estate investors on a day-to-day basis.
The Investment Real Estate Specialist
The reason for dealing with a realtor who specializes in investment properties and transactions specifically with investors is simple; they understand what we do for a living and how we handle our transactions differently than other real estate buyers.
For example, real estate loan prequalification letters have become the norm these days for anyone who wants a realtor to show them available property. And, if you think about it, this does make sense for the realtors. Why should they bother spending their valuable time with buyers who cannot ultimately qualify for a loan? They don’t want to. So, they pretty much all require home loan prequalification before they will deal much with a buyer these days.
The good news is that for those of us who are investors, and who often use creative financing in one form or another on our deals, we are able to do business with the investment real estate agents without having to produce mortgage loan prequalification letters and lots of other documentation. All we have to do is let them know that if they can find us the deal, then we can get it financed one way or another.
Hard Money Lenders and Real Estate Loan Prequalification Letters
If you will be using hard money for your investment transaction, then it is possible for you to get a hard money lender to write you a mortgage loan prequalification letter. The hard money lenders deal with realtors as well, and they understand that some of them can be pretty insistent on mortgage loan prequalification.
Ultimately, if you deal with an investment realtor and try to avoid those who do not thoroughly understand our business, you should be able to minimize your document and prequalification headaches.