By Abria Cooper
BeRealtor Bahamas Real Estate is ready to empower real estate investors by connecting real estate buyers, sellers, renters and landlords on one innovative platform.
Kyle Barnett, 30, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and Founder of BeRealtor Bahamas provided vital information on the new Nassau based company.
“They connect in all real estate related stuff. So a platform for them to connect buy, sell or rent properties without real estate fees, so they’ll be able to save a lot of money by doing it themselves,” he said.
“So they don’t pay any commissions when a person buys or sells on their own,” he said.
Barnett furthered that BeRealtor has many features including one of his favorite, the Pre-Qualification Mortgage Calculation feature.
“A person can enter in how much their salary is, what their expenses are, if they have any outstanding mortgages or any bills and they would be able to see how much money a bank would be willing to loan them for mortgage and they can play around, interest rates as well and they would see how much their monthly payments as well,” he said.
He added that it serves as a guide for new and experienced real estate investors on how to sell, buy and or rent real estate in the Bahamas,” he said.
Barnett explained that Be Realtor has been in the making since the ending of 2019.
“But then I realized that it was a market for people who want to do it on their own,” he said.
Barnett added that when the pandemic happened in March 2020, he decided to really focus on developing and establishing the website because so many people were looking for ways to make and save money.
“I felt like somebody would be willing to sell their own home without having to pay thirty thousand dollar commission fee to a real estate agency, or someone would be willing to rent their own property and find their own tenants without having to pay someone else,” he said.
Barnett noted that he has been investing in real state since the age of 20 when he invested in his first property. He was inspired after seeing how his own father was able to own and profit off of various income rental properties.
“I saw how well he did with those and wanted to take it to another level and invest in more properties,” he said.
Eventually this desire to dive deeper into the real estate business became the catalyst to Be Realtor.
Barnett furthered that the website, www.berealtor.com is simple to maneuver for potential investors because it provides a guide on how to operate. They can even utilize the platform to help family members and friends sell their properties.
However, it should be noted that those interested in becoming a licensed real estate agent, which is the only way they can legally earn a commission from a real estate sale they would have to go through the proper channels and procedures.
“It’s okay to sell your own property and if it’s your family property you can do that legally but if you’re going out and advertising yourself as an agent when you’re not then it becomes a problem,” he said.
Persons would register on the website, once that is done they will see that they have different options, whether they want to sell, buy or rent their property. A notification would be sent to the BeRealtor team once registration is completed; the team would change the person’s role from their end and assign them to an owner or landlord which would then give them access to process their own listing.
There is another option considered to be the VIP package, if the persons wants the Be Realtor team to take photos or give virtual charge, there is an additional fee. Registration is free and currently rental listings are free on the site.
“The cool part about the VIP option is that when a person chooses that, who’s a beginner that person would have direct communication with the Be Realtor Team, with a twenty-four seven real estate support so if they have any questions…they’ll be able to shoot questions to us back and forth. We would also be responsible for answering calls,” he said.
Barnett explained that when there is a listing, that comes with many phone calls, a great deal of which can be a waste of time. The VIP package of Be Realtor takes care of random calls.
“We basically vet the calls and anyone who appears to be serious as a potential tenant or potential buyer we forward that information to the owner then the owner has that ability to go directly to the person who has been inquiring and go from there,” he said.
Barnett reiterated that BeRealtor is not the average real estate business it allows all parties to meet and communicate effectively in a controlled, professional and structured setting and save on the usual real estate agency fees.
“If you’re serious about selling and or renting your own property BeRealtor is the way to go,” he said.
Barnett expressed that his passion for BeRealtor focuses on the reality that property owners can play a more active role in the sale and or rental of their properties at a much lower cost.
“The commissions agents are getting paid is not worth the work that they do and that’s speaking as a real estate agent,” he said.
Barnett took the opportunity to advise other young aspiring real estate investors
“My advice would be don’t think it’s difficult to invest, don’t that think it’s something you should wait to do, you can invest when you have a stable income, when you’re able to make mortgage payments,” he said.
He added that they should not wait for when they’re older.
“It’s better to do it when you’re young it’s better to do it now,” he said.
Barnett went on to express his future goals for BeRealtor.
“The main goal is to continue to innovate and to make buyers, sellers and renters more independent, to empower them a little bit more in their real estate journeys,” he said.
He stated that sometimes in life you just have to choose what you want to be and go for it on your own, which encompasses what BeRealtor is all about.
“Decide what you want to be and go be it,” he said.
Barnett noted that a part of BeRealtor is meant to inspire people need to be passionate, humble and hopeful in order to make their own way in life.
