To grow your real estate investment empire, you must assemble your A-team. You should look to meet and build win-win relationships with the best-of-the-best in every area you need.
As a real estate investor, you will find that there are a lot of moving parts which requires that help of A players. You will need professionals to provide excellent service from the blue-collar arena as well as professionals who can provide excellent service from the white-collar side of things.
The need of building a team strikes some beginner real estate investors as strange. Some real estate investors are lone rangers and see themselves conquering property management along. However, that’s not a good way of looking at your work as a real estate investor. You need to seeing yourself as the leader in manager of a winning team.
That’s right, building a successful real estate investment empire requires the help of other real estate professionals. Don’t believe me?
Consider the impact that the world’s number one professional basketball player has made the teams he’s been a part of – I’m talking about Lebron James. Every team will need goes to either wins the NBA title for the season or contains for it, but they always make it to the finals. That’s the impact of hiring top talent to join your team.
Since we are talking sports, consider the Dallas Cowboys in the mid-90s and the synergistic way the ‘big 3’ worked to win multiple Super Bowl rings. And you can’t bring up dynasties without talking about the Golden State Warriors and the powerhouse team they have assembled. Stephen Curry, Clay Thompson, and the new X factor, Kevin Durant have brought three championship titles to this top NBA team.
These organizations have sealed their place as the world’s best.
The point here is that you don’t have to be the superstar when you are building your real estate investment portfolio. You need to make a point of surrounding yourself with A-players – a winning team of advisors, experts, and contractors.
A study conducted by McKinsey reports, “A recent study of more than 600,000 researchers, entertainers, politicians, and athletes found that high performers are 400 percent more productive than average ones.” They also reported that this productivity boost skyrockets to 800 percent in the corporate world for highly complex jobs such as software developers, managers, and similar roles.
This means that if you focus on assembling a team of winners to help you in every aspect of your real estate business, you can become far more successful than you would if you had been working with second class players.
Let’s now look at some of the players you need to assemble for your winning team.
Real Estate Agent
A-player real estate agents are critical to the success of your real estate investment business because of several reasons.
For one, a good real estate agent can help you find deals that she would not have otherwise found without them. They can be a critical source of big profit, and you see deals which directly impact your bottom line.
For two, they can help you sell properties and potentially rent your properties faster and better tenants. Real estate agents are some of the best networked professionals in any city. Strong real estate agents build a following of prospects that are interested in buying and renting. They also have lists of buyers, sellers and renters. So, looking for one that specializes in buying and selling for real estate investors would be your goal.
Finally, a good real estate agent can help you choose the right area that you want to invest in.
Real Estate Attorney
Real estate attorneys are another good expert to consult with and have in your roster of advisors. There are a lot of things that a real estate attorney can help you with. For instance, they can help with setting up your contracts for tenants, LLC creation, and in some states, they are necessary for closings.
Mortgage Lender
Mortgage lenders are a critical component of your business as a real estate investor. You will need their help in funding your deals. Unless you have cash, finding not just one or two but multiple sources of financing are going to be critical to your business.
Personal Banker
You also will have to have a good personal banker. You want to work with someone who understands the nature of your business as a real estate investor. The good banker will understand your need for revolving lines of credit for repairs, rehabs, and all aspects of your operation. Of course, you will need it for your business bank account as well.
Property Manager
Unless you plan on managing tenants and the properties you rent out all by yourself, which is the biggest pain for many, you will need a good property manager who can manage the above. A good property management company will do a lot of things for you that make your real estate investment business feel more like an ‘investment’ than a bad job.
Learn more about what a property management company can do for you here.
Home Inspector
You also want to look for a good home inspector to work with on all of your deals. The role of a home inspector is critical because you never know what you’re actually buying into property until you get a thorough inspection.
9% of us cannot just walk into a house, look around and determine whether or not the house, the appliances, and all of the other important systems of the house functioning properly. The home inspector will inspect the whole house top to bottom, in and out, the appliances, plumbing, electricity, the roof, and other systems of the home.
The report they provide will give you valuable intel for negotiating a deal on the property. You want to find a home inspector that is good at inspecting and reporting, but also one that is good on saving deals, not just killing them.
Certified Public Accountant (C.P.A.)
You may need the help of a CPA for financial advice, tax advice and to manage your business finances
Repair Contractors
Choosing the repair contractors that you work with is also a vital role to your team. Repair costs will be the most expensive up front costs you may have for property. Contractor issues are one of the biggest pain points people have with property investment and rehabbing.
You want to choose a repair contractor who has a track record of success, as the experience in the type of properties and rehabs you wish to do, when they can provide accurate estimates on time and cost estimations.
HVAC Technician
if you have multiple rental properties, having an HVAC contractor you can call on for maintenance, fixes and installation is important. When there is an air-conditioning breakdown, one of your big expenses is in place.
Plumber
Another common issue that you face, particularly if you are in the landlord in business, is plumbing issues. When you get those calls in the middle of the night from angry tenants wanting you to do something about their stopped up toilet, you will need a good plumber that you can depend on to call.
You also want to have clear policies set in your lease agreement regarding what you will handle and what the tenant must take care.
Electrician
The older a property is the more likely you will experience electrical issues. Have a good electrician you can contact these issues. You want to be sure that you know their pricing model and work out a deal with them if you have regular issues.
Pest Control
Pests, rodents and insects are displaced every new real estate development. So, it’s only natural that they will eventually invade the properties they were displaced from. It’s important to have a solid pest control company you can call on. When tenants have issues you need to have a solid policy in place for which you provided will pay for and what they will be responsible for.
Lawn Care
In most cases, you will not provide lawn care for tenants that you have. However, if you do want to include this for high-end properties are multifamily properties you own you should compare pricing. You may also offer a good lawn care company to your tenants for their consideration.
Even if you don’t provide the lawn care, is good to have a company like this in your Rolodex so they can take care of your landscaping needs to keep your properties up to par.
Handyman
When there are general things that go wrong, break, and need fixing you want to have access to a good handyman company that can take care of these various needs.
These are some of the key players that you should consider adding to your team. The good news is you don’t have to hire these people before you need their service. In other words, they are not on your payroll. So it will cost you some monthly fixed price to build your network of A-players.
These people however, will make your life and business far better than their cost if you choose the right ones.
If you need help building your team you should start with the help of a solid property management company that also provides real estate and handyman services in our other companies. Contact Utz property management for free Profitable Property Strategy Session to get help building your real estate investment team here in the Westminster, Maryland area.
