As a website flipper, I spend a significant portion of my time searching for deal flow, performing due diligence, and then finally acquiring if it meets my investment criteria.
However, of the hundreds of deals I might look at, I probably only close 2-3 of them. This is where a niche website buying agent comes in.
This is a done-for-you service offered by an expert who understands how to find, vet, and present deals based on your specific criteria.
In this write-up, I cover the following:
- What does an agent do for you
- Why do investors need an agent
- Services included
- Pricing and incentive structures
- Where to find an agent
Let’s get into it!
What does a Website Buyer Agent do?
A website business buyer agent specializes in finding deals that fit the criteria of what you’re looking for and bringing you those deals for a chance to close. If the deal works out, the buyer agent gets a percentage of the final price.
Typically, seller’s get a representative agent, which is known as the broker. To receive buy-side representation, you need an agent on your side to help you along the way.
For people with busy schedules, they do the legwork of finding deals that fit what you’re looking for. This cuts out sites that don’t fit into your ideal portfolio.
Sometimes they do outreach where they find a deal that wasn’t widely advertised or that would have escaped your view. Whether finding off-market deals or simply saving hours of time for the buyer, this can be a very profitable partnership. Especially when scaling.
Why Do Website Investors Need A Website Buying Agent?
There are a few main reasons:
- Save time
- Tap into their expertise
- Present only vetted deals
One reason is time. Many website investors don’t do this full-time. Having a niche website buying agent spending all his/her time finding the right deal is a huge time saver for the investor.
Another reason is experience. Beginning website investors may be struggling to learn the ropes. They know what they want, what the budget is, how to improve a website once they have it, but struggle to find deals in a timely manner. A website buying agent can be the perfect solution to those issues.
They find appropriate deals fast and let the website investor expand and scale as they gain experience. The buying agent gets paid for the win-win.
Website investors will be looking to improve SEO, add content, change over affiliate links, and make other changes to get the site working for them. More time can be spent on making that transition successful and increasing revenues when a buying agent works on finding deals.
5 Services Provided by a Niche Website Buyer Agent
While the main focus of a niche website buyer agent is finding potential deals, they offer other useful services.
- Educate: Educate the investor on the ins and outs of buying a site
- Criteria: Understand the investment criteria of the investor
- Search: Search for deals for the investor and showcase them regularly
- Research: Perform due diligence on the deals that meet the criteria
- Represent: Act on behalf of the investor to perform negotiations, website transfer, etc.
Since a buyer agent has a vested interest in getting the website investor to make a deal, and come back for more, they also have a vested interest in making the process as smooth as possible.
A niche website buyer agent needs to offer excellent customer service. If the investor asks a question, the agent will be happy to educate. They will want to discuss the due diligence done to make sure this deal was a good one, and also help perform valuations that meet market averages.
If the investor is happy, they are more likely to look at future deals, which is the goal for the agent.
3 Common Compensation and Incentive Structures
There are three primary pricing structures for paying a buying agent:
- Upfront fee,
- Monthly fee, and
- Success fee.
Combinations of these can be put together to benefit both parties.
These are the combinations that make the most sense.
1. Success Fee Only
This pricing structure is fairly common. This is where the agent brings an investor a deal. If that deal works out and closes, then the agent gets a percentage of that final sale price.
This style is popular with many investors because they don’t have to pay anything unless a good deal goes through. That means the risk is minimized.
This isn’t nearly as good a deal for the buyer agent because many potential investors are time wasters, also known as, “Tire Kickers.”
2. Monthly Fee Only
This model has the website investor paying the buyer agent a monthly fee to look for deals. That is the sole method of payment, and no percentage of any closed sales is ever paid to the agent.
This has the benefit of being a stable payment that is easy to budget for by the investor and steady payment for the agent.
The obvious downside is that it eliminates the biggest motivations for getting the best possible deals for the client.
3. Upfront Fee Plus Success Fee (% of Site Price)
This is the structure most agents prefer.
The upfront fee is to bring the investor in on potential deals and helps cover costs. This makes sure the agent doesn’t just lose their time, work, and money if the investor changes their mind and backs out.
When the deal finally closes, then the agent also gets a success fee based on the final sales price.
In the agent’s eyes, this brings the best of both worlds to the contract for each deal.
Where To Find An Agent?
The website investing industry is still in its infancy compared to more mature assets, like real estate, where agents are common.
The Website Flip has a vast network and within that are website buyer’s agents. Please fill out the form below with some basic criteria and we will connect you with the proper agent(s) that can help you source a deal.
Takeaways
Using a niche website buyer agent isn’t mandatory. Deals can be done in a variety of ways.
What buyer agents do is offer time savings, expert search skills, and a degree of due diligence to bring good deals to the table.
Whether or not working with an agent makes sense is going to vary with each investor, their goals, and where they’re at in the process.
Good, talented buyer agents can be an invaluable asset for buying new sites and expanding a website portfolio.
