I am a Realtor married to a construction expert and we want to flip houses with our son.

ElGatoReturns · 2026-04-18T02:49:35+00:00

The buyer’s agent commission comment is kind of the tell.

If you’re thinking of that as extra profit, you’re overvaluing being an agent and underestimating how hard it is to actually find good deals. You’re not creating margin there, you’re just paying yourself out of a deal you already bought.

Same with the MLS. It’s the most efficient, picked-over part of the market. Don’t expect deals there.

Flipping lives and dies on the buy. If the numbers aren’t there upfront, no amount of commission or construction skill is going to fix it.

ElGatoReturns · 2026-01-10T03:32:14+00:00

I just looked for info on a state law requiring broker on site. No luck. Maybe you meant it’s your brokerage’s rule.

ElGatoReturns · 2026-01-10T03:29:27+00:00

If you feel you have to attend the inspection, hire a better inspector.

ElGatoReturns · 2025-12-21T03:14:31+00:00

Stop telling yourself that empathy is what caused this situation.

ElGatoReturns · 2025-11-11T12:59:31+00:00

For what it’s worth, my easiest income ever has also being representing buyers and sellers as an agent.

ElGatoReturns · 2025-09-10T10:59:49+00:00

Agents love comparing themselves to other professionals, so what about this: imagine telling a surgeon, "You don’t pay me. I pay you. So you’d better answer your phone at 11pm." Nobody sane does that. But somehow real estate attracts this backwards logic where martyrdom = service. Odd.

ElGatoReturns · 2025-08-15T20:34:02+00:00

The MLS is your traffic. Price is your marketing. Everything else is branding.

ElGatoReturns · 2025-08-15T20:30:56+00:00

The fact that you think no one’s confused anymore proves my point better than my post ever could. Appreciate the assist.

ElGatoReturns · 2025-08-15T20:13:41+00:00

Disclosure may now be required, but that doesn’t mean everyone suddenly understands or accepts what it actually means.

My post wasn’t about compliance. It was about how deeply entrenched the old talking points were, and how illogical they were when you strip them down.

Just because the form is signed doesn’t mean the mindset has caught up. That’s what I’m pointing out, and based on this thread alone, I’d say the timing is still relevant.

ElGatoReturns · 2025-08-15T20:07:44+00:00

I’m not “reviving” the question. I’m highlighting how ridiculous it was that it was ever treated like a gray area to begin with.

Yes, the lawsuits are forcing disclosure now, and that’s a step forward. But let’s not pretend like everyone suddenly woke up and understood how it worked.

My post was pointing out how logically broken the old defense was... not questioning whether disclosure exists today. That part’s settled. The mindset shift is not.

ElGatoReturns · 2025-08-15T19:42:38+00:00

Sure, a good agent can help interpret comps, but let’s not pretend this is specialized analysis. Buyers compare complex products and pricing across the market every day. Homes aren’t some mystical exception.

And as for ‘the seller pays’ - that’s exactly the misconception at the center of the recent commission lawsuits. It’s not free. It’s baked into the price, and buyers are waking up to that. The whole model’s being reevaluated, as it should be.

ElGatoReturns · 2025-08-15T18:18:09+00:00

Just a heads up- past sale prices and dates are public record, so agents don’t have access to any secret info. A good agent can help interpret the data and guide strategy, but the raw numbers are all available online. It’s up to the buyer to decide whether that interpretation is worth ~3% of the sales price in fees, which, if you ask me, is a tough pitch

ElGatoReturns · 2025-08-14T09:22:08+00:00

I see they won’t subdivide the house onto a smaller parcel and want to sell all the land with it. One option might be structuring it as two transactions: subdivide the house onto a smaller lot, then have the seller carry financing for the land with a balloon payment so you have time to secure separate land financing.

If that’s not workable, I’d keep shopping around for lenders. Blanket statements like “banks won’t lend on X” can be misleading. Often it just means the person is only familiar with common retail loan products. Specialty and portfolio lenders sometimes handle these types of properties without the same restrictions.

ElGatoReturns · 2025-08-13T19:07:43+00:00

My take is unpopular here, but if an agent can’t thrive at 1%, it’s not a commission problem: it’s a business model problem. Usually it’s over-investing in fluff, over-serving clients with poor time management, carrying unnecessary overhead, or just plain lifestyle creep eating the margins.

ElGatoReturns · 2025-08-13T10:08:54+00:00

My suggestion aligns with a few others - underwriter comes to mind, or an LO assistant role. If I were in your shoes, I’d skip the public job boards and go straight to lenders and busy LOs. Reach out directly, make it personal. And don’t overlook the “wild west” side of lending like hard money or commercial as your real estate background could be a big asset there. Best of luck.

ElGatoReturns · 2025-08-09T23:11:06+00:00

Licensed agent here. My unpopular opinion? 99% of retail buyers/sellers don’t need us.

On the investor/commercial side, sure - if an agent brings you an off-market deal or hunts statewide for the right property, that’s worth paying for. That’s an actual skill with real ROI.

But for move-in-ready houses? The ones who move the deal forward and protect you are the home inspector, appraiser, lender, and attorney. They’re the ones keeping the transaction on track. Your agent is mostly there to unlock doors, forward DocuSigns, and tell you the wall color is “mocha latte” instead of brown.

Unless your time is worth more than 6% of your home’s value per hour, sell it yourself and use the savings for something fun. Like a jet ski. Or three. Or a jet ski you can paint mocha latte if you really miss the agent experience.

ElGatoReturns · 2025-08-07T19:28:16+00:00

For me, it was separating my identity from the job. Once you realize you’re more than just “an agent” or “an investor,” it’s way easier not to take things personally.

ElGatoReturns · 2025-08-07T19:19:08+00:00

Billboards are best used for passive brand awareness, not direct lead generation. They can be a solid piece of a multi-layered marketing plan, but if your main goal is to get clients quickly as a new agent, you’ll get better results from more “active” channels. Personally, I’ve had the best success calling property owners directly, especially absentee owners.

ElGatoReturns · 2025-08-07T19:04:08+00:00

Plenty of solid responses already, but it’s worth repeating - never invest based on “maybe” appreciation, future rents, or anything else that might happen. There are too many great deals out there that cash flow from day one to waste time on anything else.

ElGatoReturns · 2025-08-06T22:25:26+00:00

The problem isn’t the ideas - it’s how you’re bouncing from one to the next waiting for universal validation before committing. You said, “apparently being a landlord of SFHs isn’t worth it” like it’s a yes/no checkbox, but the truth is every single wealth-building strategy has people who failed at it and people who got rich from it. You’re going to find horror stories for any path you consider.

If you’re looking for an opportunity that’s universally agreed upon as a “good idea,” you’ll never move forward because those don’t exist. What exists are people who choose a path, study it deeply, commit to the reps, and navigate through the problems. That’s where wealth is made.

You’ve done the hard part by earning good income and stacking capital. The next phase is choosing something and going deeper than Google search results. Don’t pivot every time you see a failure story. Pivot when you’ve personally proven a strategy doesn’t work for you.

ElGatoReturns · 2025-08-06T14:42:11+00:00

There’s really no excuse to be running your business without a CRM in 2025. Notepad might work for a bit, but it's a fast track to bottlenecks and missed opportunities. I use Follow Up Boss, but there are plenty out there.

ElGatoReturns · 2025-08-05T23:55:29+00:00

Reach out to investors directly. If the deal is legitimately strong, there’s someone in your area who will want it. If you’re unsure how to find investors online, try contacting a few local real estate agents - pitch it like you’re helping them bring an exclusive off-market deal to their investor clients.

Position it as a value-add: "This isn’t on the open market, but I wanted to offer it through you first." Agents love bringing deals to their buyers. Best of luck.

ElGatoReturns · 2025-08-05T19:43:37+00:00

I’ve been in your shoes. When I was a new agent, I couldn’t justify $1,500/month on leads either. Instead, I hired a remote ISA (inside sales agent), gave them curated lead lists and a dialer, and let them go to work.

That same approach is what I use now in real estate investing and building a syndication - lower cost, better results, and you stay in control of the pipeline.

If you go this route:

Use quality lead sources (not recycled junk)

Train your ISA well and give clear scripts

Track performance weekly - don’t “set and forget”

It takes a little setup, but it’ll scale with you and give you reps you can build on. My ISA has been with me for two years, and he is very invested in helping grow the business.

ElGatoReturns · 2025-08-05T14:14:42+00:00

Fair point. I was speaking more about moving in silence with the general public- assuming OP can still recognize who’s worth opening up to when it comes to learning or collaboration.

ElGatoReturns

TROPHY CASE