Checking The Pulse Of The Kansas City Real Estate Market
I often get calls where people want my help in locating Kansas City area rental homes. I immediately inform them that the Kansas City MLS doesn’t have a rental section where I can simply log in and search area rentals. I also let renters know it usually takes a whole lot of searching to locate an adequate rental property. That’s when many of them tell me they want me to do that for them. When I ask them how I’ll be compensated, the phone get’s quiet nearly every time. Locating rentals really is a dilemma because renters really need assistance but they’re rarely willing to pay for the help.
If the conversation with the renter continues, I explain that I’m willing to assist them if they’re looking for a short-term rental with the plan of then buying a home in the next 3 to 6 months. In most cases, the conversation ends right there because they have no intentions of buying a home. In cases where a renter won’t be buying a home, even if they were willing to pay me something to help them find a rental, it wouldn’t be enough to pull my away from helping buyers buy homes and sellers sell homes.
The few real estate agents I’ve heard who are willing to show rental properties are not making much doing it. In helping a renter locate a rental property, an agent might earn 6% of the first year’s gross rentals or possibly the equivalent of one month’s rent. In other cases, the rental owner may tell the real estate agent to piss off (as Gordon Ramsay would say) because they’re not willing to pay any type of compensation for the agent bringing a renter into the fold. Really, in the best of situations, an agent might get make a couple hundred dollars for an untold amount of hours making it happen.
As I mentioned, I always ask the question “are you looking for a short-term rental with the plan of buying a home in the next 3 to 6 months”. A small percentage of these calls indeed lead to a buyer’s agency agreement being signed for the later purchase and I’m willing to help them locate a rental – for free in most cases. If they don’t end up buying a home, my gamble didn’t pay off. So right away you can see dealing with rentals is a risky proposition for a real estate agent.
Many metro MLS databases have a section for rental homes, however the Kansas City MLS doesn’t. Fortunately I have some good tricks up my sleeve that help me locate potential short-term rentals for my Kansas City and Johnson County Kansas real estate clients. Often times, we’re able to locate rentals in very specific areas such as Johnson County, Overland Park, Olathe, Lenexa, Leawood, Shawnee… and sometimes even by subdivision, though that can be more complicated. Helping a buyer locate a short-term rentals allows them to settle into the area and take their time in making a solid purchase decision.
Posted by Jason A. Brown