Building a Real Estate Team

The business of real estate is one of those businesses that you really can’t become very successful at by going it alone. Like any successful businessperson, you have to surround yourself with good people by building a real estate team. Whether you’re first starting out, or you are an investor with a little or a lot of experience, you will rely on the services of outside entities and companies to help move your real estate business ahead towards success.

A successful sports coach takes great care in selecting his team members. Just because a player has played a certain position in the past or is currently on the team does not mean that they still have the skills or expertise to play on that team. A good coach has his ear to the ground on what the latest and greatest is in that particular sport such as new offenses and defenses, rule changes, star players who may become available and what players would be the best fit in order to increase the chances of the team having a winning season. A winning coach also keeps a good eye on his current team members to ensure that they are continuing to perform to their best ability and that their ability moves the team in a winning direction when combined with the rest of its members. A winning coach is not afraid to change team members when the work and results of a member of that team no longer increase the chances of success for a winning season.

The following list is not exhaustive, but it is a great start:

• Real Estate Broker
• Mortgage Broker
• Hard Money Lender
• Mailing List Broker
• Appraiser
• Title or Escrow Company (or Attorney, if they close deals in your area)
• Accountant
• Bookkeeper
• Real Estate Attorney
• Eviction Attorney
• Insurance Broker
• General Contractor
• HVAC Service
• Roofer
• Window Supplier/Installer
• Flooring Supplier/Installer
• Home Inspector
• Engineer
• Pest Inspection Service
• Sewer Line Inspection Service
• Various Specialty Contractors & Suppliers
• Property Manager
• Mentor (who can also suggest many of these local players)
• IT Person or Service
• Home Staging Service
• House Cleaning Service
• Landscaper

How do you find members for your team? There are a variety of ways, but one great way is to make sure that you network. Attending real estate investing courses, becoming a member of your local real estate investing association, asking current team members for their thoughts-all of these are great ways to find members that will fit your team. Your mentor can also be an invaluable source of suggesting members for your team.

Finally, don’t think you need to have every member of team in place before you can start looking at properties.  Finding deals is just as important, so work on both finding deals and finding team members at the same time.  But, the more team members you have in place, the smoother your first few deals will go.