Working With Real Estate Agents...

bujaly

I visited with one of Maryland's Billion dollar agents today and his crew of listing and buyer agents. They would like for me to be someone who they can call on to do work for their customers.. Here's the thing, they have painters, pest company, pool guys, etc, but not a single handyman. I'm really amazed why they didn't have one or 2 or 3 for that matter. I mean, this guy is selling probably 5 houses a week. Plenty of referral business there for contractors.

I would just like to know if any of you have ever worked with "Realtor" referrals and what are the pros and cons to this.

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Celtic

Who would pay you?
The REA, the prospective HO, or the new HO?

There can be a lot of tire-kicking when it comes to working with REAs ~ depending on who is footing the bill.

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skyhook

Last one I worked for (years ago) tried to give me a check for $5.90 on a $590.00 invoice.
Never again.

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rbsremodeling

I have worked with a couple like everything else some are good and some of bad. I had one that single handly during the boom of 2003-2006, he sent me 500k a year of work every year. I mean really good leads to he prequalified the owners for me an everything.

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kevjob

The only way I work with Realtors is if they give my name to HO and I deal with HO directly.

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Kevin
Basement Finishing Highlands Ranch Colorado
Littleton Colorado, Basement Remodeling
Kitchen Remodeling Denver

skylands

"Here's the thing, they have painters, pest company, pool guys, etc, but not a single handyman. I'm really amazed why they didn't have one or 2 or 3 for that matter."

Think about that.

In the late 80's when the slow down started to kick in just like it is now, I thought that market was a good place to keep cash flow going. And I was also amazed that they had all those trades but no handymen. And then the calls started coming.

"Jim, can you go to xyz address and look at the leaky faucet? Don't fix it, just give me a price so the potential buyer has some bargining power to lower his price".

The painter paints over the flaws, the pool guy cleans up the area and the pest guy makes sure that no bugs are crawling around when the buyer shows up. As far as handyman items go, the buyer has his own contractor to fix things after the closing anyway.

A W Smith

The realtors I encounter always seem to tell me how much they know about my business.

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Al Smith
http://www.awsmith.com

silvertree

My experience with them is they want a lot of little things done right now and cheap. Or just a price to negotiate a deal. I don't blow them off, who knows what might come up. I do tell them I wont do free estimates to help a sale. That usually ends the conversation. My advice is try it out with this agent and see how it goes.

Mike Finley

If you are a single handyman working for yourself I think you will greatly benefit from a relationship with them, if you're a remodeler, forget it they won't be able to afford you. Just make sure you lay down some ground rules ahead of time. There are a million ways to make money off a good realtor for handymen.

If I was a handyman I'd work out a deal with as many realtors as I could find. I'd give them a sort of gift certificate to give to their buyers after they buy a house giving them 2 free handyman hours. It would be the cheapest leads you would ever get.

silvertree

Good point!

Milhaus

I've seen it from both sides. I just met a new realtor (put an exterior door in for her) and looked at a house with her. She seems genuine which I don't take to be the norm in the realty business.

The last guy wanted me to give him an estimate for labor only on a roof replacement. Hip, three layers tear-off, and addition on the back with EPDM. I looked at it, thought about it way too long, and then told him I couldn't do it without being able to manage the whole job. I felt like I was dealing with a slum lord, and I was about to lose. I'm glad I turned it down, regardless of losing the work and the realtor as a contact.

Mark

wackman

In the late nineties I did a lot of work for realtors and survived with it but I found it distasteful and shy away from it now.

1. They always needed it done ASAP, yesterday would be good.
2. No one really wanted to pay for those repairs, not the buyer, seller, agent so there was no great love of your work.
3. Often you had to do it out of escrow if you wanted the job. That meant fronting all the costs till closing, which sometimes bogged down and could take months. I had a clause for time if they didn't close on time but it's hard to collect. This happened more than you'd expect and no one was happy at that point, with your name attached.

That said, as Mike mentioned, if you're small, flexible, fast and timely you can get some great leads from it plus you won't have a ton of competition since lots of guys (like me) don't really want it and if they're in a time pinch you can almost name your price. Leave your card, a thank you note and a flyer of your other specialties on the kitchen counter. Send them flyers in the mail often afterward, maybe a fridge magnet.

That coupon idea isn't bad either.

Putty Truck

THAT is my impression of realtors. I've bought and sold my own houses, flip and not, and to this day, I can't stand the thought of realtors.

The last one got her cert in the looney bin. No lie.

Tmrrptr

Real estate agents are fun friends to have.

They know many people in need.

Best to find out in advance, who will pay.
Then, deal with them.

Say nothing but the best regarding that referring agent.
After all, that's what they do for a living.
r

tzzzz216

I've worked for GMAC realtor now for 2 years she is the best customer I have out there I do all of her rental work plus all the referals she sends me from other realtors , she never questions an invoice I send her and 99% of the time I have a check in hand the day the work is completed .

Pearce Services

And with that statement comes the other unfortunate truth about many of these jobs. I have done jobs for people selling their homes, they want it on the cheap because they will not be the one there to enjoy any extra value that you may otherwise include.

I did learn my lesson not to compromise on your quality to save someone else a few bucks. Did one job where the floor should have been removed and replaced, but listen to the HO, and just regrouted it, as it turns out, a friend bought the house, and called me out for my horrible job that I did.

The seller will not have to be concerned with the job after he sells, but you will. And if you need to go back for free to fix your reputation, the seller will have no problem with that.

AbeBarker

It works for me, allthough I've been replaced with someone cheaper a few times.
A.S.A.P. jobs can pay good because they are in a pinch.
Each customer leads to many other customers.
You get to study the human mind telling lies by watching the realtators talk to you.
If you find a good respectable realty company and you are a amiable contractor then you are very valuable to a realtor that values their reputation as a good realtor.

bujaly

You know what's funny? As I sat there in front of like 20 people and all of the questions I was answering pretty much wrapped around your 3 statements. "Time is our main concern" "Could you wait to get paid until settlement?" Blah, blah..
No one really asked about the quality of work I did, if I had any pictures, reference letters, etc. I didn't feel so good when I walked out of there either. That's why I came directly here and asked. I was pretty excited when I walked in, but when i left, I had this daunting feeling and didn't know why. Now that I've received some of this useful info, I have a better understanding.

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neolitic

I have a buddy who does this stuff.
When he gets something structural, he knows he's in over his head and calls me.
The agent never wants to really fix the cause of the problem,
He only wants lipstick on the pig.

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Put your location in your profile!
(Sorry....it seems there really are dumb questions)

macmikeman

If your "handyman" skills include painting, then target that to realtors. I have known several painters (handyman), who made big doing work for realty company's. As stated many times in this thread already, most stuff done for realty companys at a house closing is a major pain in the ass, but puting on the fresh paint job for a sale is one area they are most happy to get a good repeat contractor they can rely on. They will flood you with jobs and pay well for them also, if you are good at it.