From the desk:Buyer's Agent (Investor-Focused)

A flipper wants me bringing him houses. I have no license.

I've been doing trim and cabinet work for a guy who flips maybe six houses a year. Last week he said if I find him anything off market he'll pay me for it, and he mentioned wanting somebody who can actually run the numbers with him instead of just forwarding Zillow links.

I don't have a license. What I do have is that I'm inside 20 houses a year and I hear about stuff before it lists. Elderly owner, kids in another state, roof shot. That kind of thing.

So my question is which side of the fence to stand on. Option one, I stay unlicensed and take some kind of finder arrangement, which as far as I can tell is a problem in most states because getting paid to bring a buyer a property looks like brokering, and the rules on that are state specific. Option two, I get licensed and become his buyer's agent, get paid a commission on his purchases, and try to build the same thing with three or four other flippers.

What I can't size is the money. Six deals a year at maybe $150k average purchase, if I'm getting paid on the buy side, is that a real income or a side thing that eats my nights? And post the NAR settlement stuff I keep reading about, is the buy side commission even there anymore or does my flipper have to write me a check himself?

I'm meeting him Thursday and I'd like to not sound like I made this up on the drive over.

Answer

1ryanmck27SC2C

I'm mid-license right now so I'll take the parts I actually know.

On option one: getting paid a fee for finding a buyer a property is the thing licensing laws exist to regulate, and where the line sits differs state to state. Ask a real estate attorney in your state before you take a dollar. That's the whole answer on that half.

On the money, the thing to understand is what changed in August 2024. Before, sellers routinely offered a buyer-agent commission through the MLS and your buyer never saw a bill. That automatic offer through the MLS is gone, and you now need a written buyer-broker agreement signed before you tour anything, spelling out what your client owes you. Sellers can still agree to cover some or all of it, it just has to be asked for and negotiated deal by deal instead of assumed.

So the answer to Thursday is: he might pay you, the seller might pay you, usually it's some mix, and you find out per deal. That's a harder conversation than agents had two years ago.

Six purchases a year is not an income by itself. It's an anchor client. The version that works is him plus four more like him, and off-market sourcing is the thing that makes those four call you back.

2 replies

2angela_burkeServicePRO6

The part you're underrating is that you already have the hard half. I run a small team and I can teach a new agent contracts in a season. I cannot teach them into 20 houses a year of trade access and a phone that rings when somebody's mother goes into care.

Where I'd push back on your framing: don't build the business around one flipper. Six deals is one bad year for him and zero for you. Also flippers are the most fee-resistant investor clients there are, because they're already counting every dollar against a thin spread. Rental buyers and small multifamily buyers argue less.

On what to say Thursday, don't quote a number yet. Ask him what he paid last year to find deals, marketing, list pulls, whatever he spends. Then you know what your service is worth to him instead of guessing. Most active buyers are already spending real money on acquisition and just don't think of it as a line item.

And talk to a broker about hanging your license before you talk to a lawyer about the finder question, because the second one usually ends with go get licensed anyway.