A real estate transaction is a complicated process involving a variety of people that you interact with directly and indirectly. For a typical non-investor, no real thought is given beyond whether or not they like the realtor they are working with. If they like the realtor, they tend to follow recommendations for the other services needed to complete the home buying or selling process. And the system generally works real well because the interaction with these support people is limited to one transaction
As a succecssful real estate investor, you will be experiencing real estate transactions quite frequently. Some really active real estate investors do 50 or more deals a year. A major part of handling a high volume of deals successfully is knowing that your back is covered. When you work for a company, especially a large one, there is an interconnected network of skills brought to the table by all the employees that make the company a success. In other words, it is not just the president of a company that makes the company successful. It is all the people under the president - all working together to achieve specific goals that makes a company profitible.
And it is the same in real estate investing.
A real dream estate team is comprised of all those people who provide essential services to help make a deal. They include the real estate agent, the mortgage broker, the closing company or attorney, insurance agent. Other essential specialists could include the home inspector, the appraiser, tax accountant and many other support personnel.
There is no hard and fast formula to finding the people to include in your team. Just like finding deals, finding members of your dream team takes pounding the pavement. You need to meet lots of people to see who you want to work with over a long term. After all, these are the people who are going to help you build your business and you want to be sure you can work with them through all the challenges that may arise.
The best way to see if a support professional is right for you is to interview the person. Ask a variety of questions - especially about working in situations that can arise in the typical investor scenario. For instance, is a realtor willing to submit 30 lowball offers to get just one accepted? Can the mortgage broker move quickly and get you a loan in a week or two if you need to do that for a deal? Does the insurance company understand how rehabs and rehab insurance issues work if you are buying fixer uppers?
As you find members of your dream team, you should do two things. First, you should work with that person on an alomst exclusive basis. (There are always situations that require you to use someone else from time to time - like FSBOs vs realtor listed properties.) Second, you should ask that person for referrals. Chances are if you like that person and have a good working relationship, you will get referred to like individuals in the other professions.
As you assemble your dream team, be sure to keep in touch with them on a regular basis. This will keep your name fresh in their minds during the slower periods and put you at the top of the queue when you need their services.
Think of yourself as the president of a company - which you really are. You are president of XYZ investing or whatever name you operate under. And think of your dream team as a group of loyal and dedicated employees without the drawbacks of employees. You get all the benefits at a fair cost and if you chose well, none of the management hassles of a traditional employer/employee situation. A well picked dream team can literally catapult your earnings to new heights. A bad one can drag you down to new lows. Be sure to pick a winning team that works well for you.
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