How to build your real estate dream team

While many of you are trying to be a one-man orcabinets and hang doors, another person to paint
one-woman showthe house. I was writing out a check to buy the
-- The owner, manager, rehabber, rent collector,carpet and then hire someone else to lay carpet.
bookkeeper, plumber, electrician, and everythingNo more...
else for your business -- a much easier and moreToday, I use the philosophy of writing 7 checks
profitable way is to build a team.per rehab. Checks are written to electrician,
You don't need to know everything there is toplumber, roofer, landscaper, carpet company,
know about everything. If you are not anfurnace company, and sub contractor.
attorney, find a good real estate attorney. If youI need to explain what the sub contractor does.
really don't like or understand accounting, find aHe has a crew of about 10 folks. He gets the
good accountant who specializes in real estate.trash out of the house along with old sinks,
It is truly worth the time and effort it takes todrywall, carpentry work, interior and exterior
have a team of experts to handle the variety ofpaint.
tasks associated with running your business.Hire higher skilled folks, pay more but the job is
How is this more profitable? Well for the hoursdone right.
you spend trying to learn what they already- Advertising
know, you could be out making real estate dealsI have lots of people help me with advertising.
and making money in your area of expertise. IWhen I sponsored a Little League team, the
can call my accountant, pay a reasonable fee, andyoungsters became my advertising team
quickly get the right answer. It is absolutely worthmembers when they wore their shirts with my
it.name and phone number on them.
What other people might you want on yourI have a specific person at the newspaper that I
team? Well how about if I go back to theask for because I've worked with them before
beginning of my business and see what teamand they know how I want my ads to appear.
members I added as the company evolved.I have a sign company that I've used for years
- Gurusbecause when I call them, they know what I liked
In the beginning I purchased a course from a realabout the last order.
estate guru and started learning about the- Private Lenders
business. This information was the foundation ofNow, at this stage of my business I have lenders
my business and I have spent hundreds of hourson my team who have helped me launch my
learning from many of the great real estatebusiness to an amazing level.
gurus. I learned early on that the key to this- Attorney, Accountant, Insurance
business was getting a solid education.Of course, I have a great accountant and
- Other real estate investorsinsurance person.
Once I decided this was something I wanted toI have a number of attorneys. I focus on their
try but was still hesitant to just jump out therespecialty, one for evictions, one for closings and a
on my own, I joined the local real estatebank of attorneys on retainer for other stuff.
investment association. Here I found a- Office staff
tremendous amount of information and supportOver the years my company has grown from a
from people in my city and a bunch of greatfile box in my two-bedroom apartment to an
friends.office with people to answer the phones, update
- Contractors/handymen/sub-contractorsmy web site, schedule my appointments, and
As I started getting properties it seemed liketake care of many of the parts of the business
each had their unique problems. Some had trees,that I am now too busy to do.
shrubs, and junk that needed to be removed1st position I hired was someone to pay the bills
while others had nice yards but bad roofs and soand handle the filing. They came into my home on
forth. With each new house I added the namesSaturday mornings and spent 3-4 hours working.
of different types of workers. I'd evaluate theThen I got my 1st 600 sq. ft. office and they
work and price of each and choose to keep theirwould work 30 hours per week. Then, in time,
numbers handy and add them to my team orwent to 40 hour a week job.
keep looking for someone better.2nd position I hired was someone to get tenant
After awhile I was able to walk through abuyers into my empties. They would stage the
property and see what needed to be repaired orproperty with applications, take the phone calls
replaced and I would immediately have someoneand work with the folks to get them into the
in mind that could do the work.property to look at it. I use lock boxes with keys
A couple of early lessons I learned that I want toinside so we don't physically show the unit. The
share with you can help you avoid some pain intenant/buyers let themselves in the unit. Once we
this area.ran credit and they qualified,
First lesson, what was the skill level should I hire?I would have them go to the office and the
At first, 'to save me money', I hired the lowestoffice clerk would work with them to sign the
level of handyman. These are the workers thatpaperwork, change over utilities and give them
when you ask them what type of rehab workthe keys.
they can do; plumbing, electrical, drywall,- Staying in Control
carpentry, etc), they will answer "I can do it all".To manage your business, you need to do a
These are the guys who are not licensed. Youcouple of key things early on. 1st you need to set
can spot them with their old pickup truck with aup systems.
DBA company name, if any name at all.As an example, I setup a day of the week I
Now I guess I'm a slow learner. Took me awant all bills paid. What day of the month we
couple of years of having material stolen, moneyinvoice tenants. If the tenants don't pay, what are
stolen, jobs started and never finished, poorthe steps to evict and what is the timing.
workmanship, chasing contractors to get the jobThese are the start of my systems. Start
finished, being overcharged, etc, etc, etc..documenting every step to take chaos out of
Now what you should do when you meet theseyour business. Then hand these systems off to
folks is run.other folks to run for you and build your team.
Do not hire them...The 2nd part of staying in control is getting key
I finally learned to not hire these folks.reports from your office folks.
There are roughly 3 levels of contractors. 1stI have a number of reports that I get on the 1st
level I just described, the 2nd level are skilledday of the month. One is an updated property
workers, they have some folks working for themlisting showing what we own. We buy and sell
and were licensed. The 3rd level is the contractorshouses every month and as things change
with the big ads in the yellow pages, big crewsI want to make sure I have clean data.
and big trucks. The boss never gets dirty.Another is a rent increase schedule so I can
I learned that I should work with the 2nd level ofmake sure I raise the rent if it's time.
contractors. They tend to be more competentI also get a report on monthly cash flow.
and skilled than the 1st group, cost more too butAll these key reports will help you stay in tune
the work gets done, plus they are a lot lesswith what is happening in your business and your
expensive than group #3 that has to pay forteam.
their big yellow pages ad.To summarize,
2nd lesson...I consider all these people as part of my dream
In the early years, I'd hire one person to doteam. I take care to keep these relationships
demolition work, another person to do drywall,strong. A strong team helps me keep a strong
someone to do carpentry work of putting inand growing business. Start building your team!