How this ‘madman’ strategy helped an investor get on top of agents’ lists

Ultimately, action speaks louder than words, according to Starr Partners’ Doug Driscoll.

The same principle applies when building a relationship with a real estate agent—a strategy that most property investors believe to be as important as conducting research and educating themselves.

In order to become a good client, you have to take time to get to know you agents and actually establish a relationship with them as opposed to just randomly calling in when you need to buy or sell a property. You want to become close to them enough that you’re the first one they think of calling when a certain property that meets your criteria comes on to the market.

Essentially, leave a mark and you will most likely be on the top of their list of clients.

In one instance over the years he has spent as a property professional, Doug encountered a property investor from England, who he playfully referred to as a “madman”. The investor was buying to grow his property portfolio and he made sure that real estate agents remember to call him when a good opportunity comes up.

Doug shared: “He used to do a whole manner of all different things to make sure he was [on] top of the list.”

“So much so that he even went and bought like coffee coasters with his details on them and went and handed them [to] local estate agents' offices,” he added.

At the end of the day, this “mad” investor got to view and purchase properties before they even came to the market.

Smart Property Investment’s Phil Tarrant said: “So, he got all the best deals. Often, as an investor, the best deals are [the] ones which don't hit the open market.”

As amazing and accessible as all the data available online are, nothing beats local ground knowledge, which only good real estate agents could provide.

“If you really want to be ... the head of that queue … then you're really going to have to start making relationships [with agents],” Doug concluded. 

Tune in to Doug Driscoll’s episode on The Smart Property Investment Show to find out how the real estate market has been impacted because of the property markets, what you should be looking for when thinking of investing in a certain area, and how infrastructure is impacting the property game.