Realtor
A Realtor is one of the first team members you will want on board. To evaluate any deal, you have to know what a property is worth. Realtors are a great source to help determine a property’s value. When we first got started, we found a Realtor that agreed to pull comps for us if we would list our properties with him once we eventually sold them. A win win relationship.
Realtors are a dime a dozen so be picky. If you can find a Realtor that invests, that’s best. Anywhere in the business that we can delegate, we usually do. When we go to sell a property, we want a professional to handle it for us so we hire a Realtor.
Mortgage Broker
Often times, when you find a good Realtor, you will also find a good mortgage broker. Every Realtor typically has a primary mortgage broker that they use and vice versa.
If you can find a mortgage broker that does what he or she says, you’ve struck gold! I have found that way too often, when I have approached a new mortgage broker, they tell me that they can do a loan before I even open my mouth. That’s not who you want on board.
We have two primary mortgage brokers on our team. One helps more with refinances and the other to get our lease option tenants qualified to buy from us.
As a side note, on the sell side of the business, we always suggest our mortgage broker to any buyers. They can choose whoever they want, but it’s nice when you know the person doing their loan. Then, you actually know where things are at during the loan process.
Attorney or Title Company
Depending on what state you are in, you will either close on properties through an attorney or title company. In South Carolina, where I’m from, attorneys are used to close real estate transactions.
As a creative real estate investor, you may have to search a little bit to find the right one. You want to find someone that is willing to learn. Most attorneys and title companys are used to doing things the traditional way. There’s nothing wrong with that, but you need someone that is willing to look at nontraditional ways of buying and selling real estate.
Asking for a good referral at your local REIA (real estate investor’s association) is a good place to start looking.
Cash Buyer
This is a valuable asset to the team. Once you find a serious cash investor or investors, you have the ability to turn a contract into cash quickly. This can provide useful in many instances.
Whether your cash buyer uses their own cash or someone elses, doesn’t matter. You just want someone who is a serious investor and has the resources and experience to close a deal fast with cash. This will be the person you will wholesale or assign properties.
Look for cash buyers once again at your local REIA, classified ads in the real estate wanted section of your newspaper, or just call any investor that markets to buy properties in your area and find out what constitutes a good deal for them.
Contractor
This can be one of the more frustrating team members to acquire. We have gone through many a contractor over the years. Many of the ones that we have worked with failed in one of the three important areas: price, quality, and reliability. If the contractor did great work at a great price, we could never rely on them. If they were reliable and did quality work, their price was through the roof. And if they were reliable and priced well, their work sucked. You get the point.
Eventually, you are bound to find a good one though so keep at it until you do. We have a couple on our team now that I have 100% faith and trust. That’s exactly what you want.
