Allie Beth Allman & Associates Realtor James Keoughan didn’t bat an eye when an investment team recently approached him about purchasing 100 homes. They had been struggling to find someone with the knowledge and experience to get the job done.
Keoughan fit the bill. As someone who’s worked in real estate for 19 years, he’s built strong relationships with key players across the industry. Through constant networking, he always seems to know about new properties coming onto the market. When one meets his clients’ needs, he’s able to jump on it quickly.
As any recent homebuyer can attest, finding a home these days is easier said than done.
“It’s certainly a challenge right now,” Keoughan said. “Any buyer right now is having a hard time finding a property much less being picked to be the one to buy it.”
Like most clients, Keoughan’s investors weren’t interested in just any home. Their requirements included a specific number of bedrooms and bathrooms within a certain price range. Location was also critical. The clients were primarily targeting properties in northeast Tarrant County with good school districts like Southlake, Grapevine, Colleyville and Keller.
Keoughan utilized multiple methods to find the right homes. This included social media, sending postcards to potential sellers and talking with other real estate agents.
“You have to really take a shotgun approach to this,” he said. “There isn’t just one magic bullet or one thing you can do.”
Those efforts are already paying off. Multiple deals have been brokered and the clients are on track to get the homes they want within their designated time range. According to Keoughan, the same principles that work for these investors also apply to the regular home buyer.
He stresses that it’s important to educate clients about exactly what’s taking place in real estate today. Conditions are changing fast. Most of the data that people can access is dated by the time they see it. Homes that sold for a certain amount less than two months ago could not be had for the same number today. Therefore, it is incumbent upon agents to understand the pulse of the market and be able to foresee what it will take to get a deal done.
“The market is moving up, not stagnant,” he says. “You have to get in front of this market so that you aren’t chasing it.”
