If you are looking for a Minnesota real estate agent that specializes in the local area that can help you with questions that relate to buying a home, or selling a home, I am affiliated with a few local agents that know the answers to many various topics including contract for deed, short sales, home loan financing, and listing homes.  These are just a few of the categories that we specialize in and we’d be happy to talk by phone or meet you in person to see your current home, discuss your current situation, or show you homes.  We understand owner financing and different types of alternative types of deals.

Whenever you buy or sell real estate, you may be like millions of other consumers out there, thinking you don’t need a real estate agent.  Some people who buy or sell homes, generally think that a real estate agent isn’t worth the money, and may want to do a FSBO(For Sale by Owner).  Those who choose to buy a new home, think that real estate agents only add to the cost of purchasing the home, which isn’t necessarily true.

What most of those people aren’t aware of, is that real estate agents are normally paid by the seller, not by the buyer.  As a buyer, you’ll get  to work with a professional real estate agent without needing to really pay for commissions yourself.  Policies can vary a lot state to state  and from company to company. Always check any paperwork or contracts that are provided to you to ensure you know how the commissions are handled.  When researching for an agent, make certain to ask about any type of fees as well.

Many real estate agents out there may work with both buyers and sellers, although most specialize in working with either the buyer or the seller.  Some specalize in working with investors, some with rehabbers, etc.  If making a home purchase, make sure that the agent you choose has prior experience of working with buyers and transactions with all types of financing.

If interviewing a real estate agent and he or she is not familiar with down payment assistance programs, please look into this, it’s important.  Certain loan officers are going to have experience in this area.

You can also make a list of real estate agents that you can interview based on referrals from friends, lenders, and even family.  Lender referrals can be a great choice as most mortgage brokers have worked with them in the past and both are already familiar with each other.  Choosing a mortgage brokers referral can also prevent you from encountering any obstacles or surprises.

You should also find out how much experience he/she has in the field, and how long he has been working with real estate.
You can also ask about sample contracts as well.  If you are buying a home, you should make sure that they are accustomed to being a buyer’s agent.  If you happen to be selling your home, then you’ll want to make sure that the agent works with sellers and has experience listing properties.  Agents that are dedicated to one or the other are the best to choose, as they will have more experience than agents who work with both buyers and sellers.  Someone with years of experience probably has done both.

Finding a real estate agent is an easy task if you know what to look for.  If you take things one step at a time and carefully make a decision, the chances are good that you’ll end up with an agent who has the right amount of experience.  You should always be careful when you choose, never rush the process.  Find one who fits your needs and has your budget in mind.  When you make that final decision, you should always choose an agent who has your best interest in mind and isn’t only after the money.

If you have questions about real estate at anytime please email me ron@minnesotainvestors.com

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I wrote another blog post telling you if you should get a real estate license, you can view that here Should I become a real estate agent

Should you decide to become an agent after reading that article and you wonder where to get your real estate license, you can go here: Kaplan Professional Schools www.kpsminnesota.com

You will need to take course I , II, III which at the time of this writing is $229 per course. You will have to pay for books also. It’s a total of 30 hours per course. Sometimes they offer weekend courses, but usually it’s a full time schedule during the week M-F. I went through this over 3 weeks. I did this about 5 years ago.

You also have a chance to go to 100+ Continuing education courses after you get your license. I go to a lot of them. I recommend Kaplan, they do a great job, and the books they provide are just as great.

Here is an example of classes I have taken for Continuing Ed over the last few years, most were through Kaplan (at the time named Prosource) . Some of these classes on the below list may not have been from Kaplan, but were CE.

I have a list of at least 20 more classes from Kaplan I am waiting to take. After you become and agent email me sometime ron@minnesotainvestors.com and let me know how you like the business. I look forward to your success!

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Real Estate License Cost: Should I become a real estate agent?

One question I hear asked all of the time is should I become a real agent agent?, or not. Most people that ask this are investors, but not always. First I will say that becoming an agent is a lot of hard work, it’s not easy, big money like people make it sound. Yes there are $5000-$8000 checks, but please don’t underestimate how many months agents work for that, and how few buyer’s and seller’s don’t work out, or never make it to closing. Agents do a lot of work for free, and these are the reasons why it’s not a get rich quick. As a general rule agents who have been in the business a longer period of time will work more with seller’s and listing houses. Listing agents just find it to be a better use of their time. Some agents enjoy being both.
Some agents will work on filling up vacant houses, or work with buyers. Some agents will even do property management. What kind of commissions are made? As a general rule listing agents make 5-7% listing fees. In a competitive market it was getting down to 5%, on bigger houses it may also be lower. 7% use to be more in the days when houses were worth $100,000. A seller should not always go with the flat fee, or the cheaper listing agent. The reason is often the listing agent who charges a very low list fee could be hungry for business and that’s why his/her fee is so low. Sometimes the agent just wants listings for the marketing and has a great system in place and is able to compete better and does volume. Also with a flat fee just to get it on the MLS, please keep in mind that’s a lot of work that you have to do, that the agent wont’ do. An agent that does a full listing does a lot of work, a lot. Buyer’s agents back in the day use to drive buyer’s to 15-20 houses, that’s becoming more rare. The reason it’s much more rare is that 84-90% of buyer’s now start their home buying search on the internet, weeks or months ahead of time.

Typically an agent will set up a buyer on an email list for properties that match their criteria. Buyer’s review these listing results maybe daily, or weekly depending on how many fit their criteria. Buyer’s these days do more work up front looking at photos, property info, virtual tours, using mortgage calculators, etc. This means most buyers are a little more
qualified by the time they talk to an agent these days, but not always. Agents will hold their license under a broker, and pay either a desk fee and 100% commission, or pay less of a fee and get 70-80% of the commission. The broker has overhead like office expenses, desks, furniture, printers, fax machines, etc. to pay for. Agents will have to have a license for a minimum of 2 years before they can even take the test and go become a real estate broker. To get a real estate license, at the time of this writing you can probably do it for around $900. this includes about 3 full-time weeks of class which is about $275 per week, plus about $50 for each of about 2 books needed. You will receive the majority of the info in the first week. Get prepared to study and read. You will have to take a test and pass it before getting the license. At the time of this writing 70% score is needed on both the national and state portion of the test. The two objections I hear the
most from people of why not to get a license are these two: 1. You have to disclose you are an agent 2. You are held to a very high standard increasing liability.

These are both true statements, I have not found the disclosing of being an agent/broker a big deal. I don’t understand why that’s a big deal. As far as being held to a high standard, that’s fine also. Agents are suppose to be loyal, honest, ethical, and other stuff. Shouldn’t everyone hold themselves to those standards? If you do more than 5 transactions per year on your “own” transactions you are only allowed to do that if you pay and get a “limited broker’s license” or if you get a real estate license. A limited broker’s license doesn’t allow you to collect a “fee” on behalf of someone else. If you want to get a license, I say go ahead. It’s worth the real estate education, it’s a chance at some extra money, but it’s a job, it takes a lot of hard work. You will end up with 15 credits(14-15 hours) per year of continuing education that’s required as a real estate agent. The cost of 15 credits isn’t much, it’s probably about $200. Contact me anytime if you have questions ron@minnesotainvestors.com

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Real Estate Agent MN: My Real Estate Network

I’m Ron Orr, Jr. a real estate broker and owner of MinnesotaInvestors.com, Inc. which is a licensed real estate broker.
My main job is to spend full time training myself and others in real estate. I have been in the business since around April/May of 2002. I started my training about November of 2002. Since then I have had the pleasure of meeting 600+ investors/agents and others in the industry. I have had email lists within the first few years of nearly 1500+ people. I learned a lot from emailing and marketing to people almost daily. I’ve learned what people like and respond to. I’ve also learned who the experts are in their own specific niche, and I have made a business out of getting paid by them for my marketing, and putting you in great hands. Putting you together with the right person for your goals.

I continue to network and learn from my network to better teach others about the real estate business. My niche was to train others to become real estate investors, but now it’s also to make them aware of many other facets of money, success, real estate, and investing.

If there is anything you can take away from myself or this website, you have to understand that I spend a lot of my time to find the best at what they do. The average person I work with has been working in this business for 5-10 years, so you are in good hands. Having met as many people as I have, you can imagine I can be a little bit selective and put you in touch with the best. All I ask is that you really help to make their time and your time efficient and continue to call back or keep communication open so that we can help you reach your goals.

For Example, if you have a house you owe too much on, or you are behind on payments, I have associates that can specialize in helping you sell your house on a mn short sale. I have friends who have worked on hundreds of these transactions. A lot of the questions can be answered at www.MinnesotaInvestors.com or www.OverFinanced.com When I receive some of your info, I will put you in touch with the right person.

If you need to sell your current house, I have teams that excel at listing houses, that sell hundreds per year. This is second nature to them. I will write posts on what’s included in a listing, but I provide agents that provide full listings, not flat fee listings. It’s in their best interest to help you get the most for your house in the shortest amount of time. If you need to sell, or are considering selling, even if you need to get a value check before you decide to list it, email me ron@minnesotainvestors.com. After I hear from you I can put you in touch with someone.

If you want to buy on a rent to own or contract for deed, that kind of goes into the category of Owner Financing, meaning the seller is acting like the lender and will let you wait 1-3 years to get financing. These kind of transactions are pretty easy, but not every seller wants to do it, understands it, or can do it financally. This will take some effort and explaining on behalf of the agent, so I will put you in touch with the right agent for the job.

If you just need a place for rent, you may want to contact me only if you have rent + deposit and less than 30 days away from ready to move in. This will take a lot of follow up from you to work with an associate.

If you need credit repair, I have a few people for you to work with. There is so much for you to learn about this topic and it will literally save you thousands of dollars over your life, for a pretty minimal cost. At the time we are talking $500-1000 range depending on the level of service. This may need to mostly be paid up front. Also this could talk 3-6 months to begin with and this may be a topic you wish to work on over your lifetime, that’s how important it is.

If you need to refinancing, or work with a loan officer for financing, we also know loan officers and mortgage brokers with years of experience. They have seen the up and down markets and worked hundreds of transactions, I have written articles as far as what you need to get for paperwork for these loan officers.

If you have a vacant house, if you are a landlord or can’t seem to sell your house, then you may need to just fill your vacancy. I have associates that have filled up hundreds of properties in many different price points. It’s easier if you contact us 1 week prior to vacancy or during vacancy. Typically it’s 1 months fee to get a renter for you, but this includes full service, background checks, etc. Please go to www.MinnesotaInvestors.com and fill out our form on your selection for your vacancy. We will have someone contact you back and get the property filled up.

We also have attorney’s, roth IRA, 1031, and other associates that can help you in the business. Email ron@minnesotainvestors.com anytime if you need help with anything, and I’ll answer your questions or put you in touch with someone that can help you with that.

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