Team

Real Estate Investing is a Team Sport

In order to be successful in Real Estate Investing, you must have a Team working in and on your business.

If you have the "lone ranger" syndrome, then you will not possibly be able to be successful at real estate investing.

Instead, you will spend all of your valuable time dealing with emergencies, handling minute details, and possibly putting everything you own in jeopardy by not having the right experts available to you whenever you need them.

Any successful entrepreneur knows that they can't do it all, nor are they qualified to do so. Putting the right people in place from the beginning will ensure your success. Let's face it, the only thing you can really control is your time.

This section will discuss Two Types of team members - the kinds that work On your Business and the kinds that work In your Business.

On Your Business: These people are generally experts in their fields, specializing in their category. They are focused, detail oriented individuals who are aware of your goals and values and can propel your business forward. We will discuss a few key "on your business" categories:

Coaches - Helping to propel you to the next level while providing you with valuable insights and resources, every successful person must have one.

Accountants - Better known as CPA's, bookkeepers, tax strategists, tax preparers, or all of the above, every real estate investor needs to have access to all of these services, whether one person is providing the services or several people are.

Realtors - Your eyes and ears in the marketplace, learn to look for these 9 things when looking for one.

Lenders - Unless you can pay all cash for a property, you will need to have access to funds from someone. We will review traditional lenders and money/credit partners.

Attorneys - When running a successful real estate investment business, you will need several different types of attorneys at any given time. Learn which ones here.

In Your Business: These are the people that handle day to day operations for you. They free you up to do the important things like analyzing and negotiating deals. They can include:

Property Managers - Unless you want to collect rents yourself or fix toilets in the middle of the night, never buy a property without factoring in the cost of these folks!

Contractors - Or sometimes referred to as Handymen or Rehabbers, you will need to have access to these professionals in case you need to get the property ready for a tenant to move in, get it ready to put on the market, or just keep the deferred maintenance to a minimum.

Assistants - Checking e-mail, returning phone calls, bookkeeping duties, and all your errands - these people are your life support.

Once you've assembled a team, invariably issues will arise and you may have to fire someone, or they may leave for reasons out of your control. You'll need to stay calm and focused and learn to re-group as quickly as possible. Go back to all the techniques you used to create your initial team in the first place when faced with replacing members.

Remember, Network, Network, Network. Call all of your team members and ask them if they know anyone who can fill an open position you have. You'd be surprised how many referrals you'll get. Then start interviewing. In no time, you'll have that slot filled.

These same techniques can be used when entering a new area as well. Talk to one person, ask them if they know anyone who does this or that, collect names and start interviewing. The more times you do it, the easier it becomes!