Active Real Estate Investing | Real Estate Team

by Christopher Levarek

“If everyone is moving forward together, then success takes care of itself.”

- Henry Ford

“Teamwork makes the dreamwork” they say and it’s true! Yet, this applies even more so with acquiring your next or first real estate property with active real estate investing. Being an active investor means playing a role and not only passively investing with capital into a deal. In order for you to find, purchase and manage real estate properties actively you will need a team.

To be successful, there are many other roles needed which will require other team members to assist with. Even if you decide to self-manage, you will typically need a real estate agent to help find the right property, a bank lender to loan on it, a contractor to renovate it and a handyman to fix small issues. If you aren’t going to manage the property, you will also need a property manager. This is your team!

So how do we find or choose the right team members?

Step 1 - Where to Look

Like picking the right market, using the right tool will make all the difference. I recommend going straight to BiggerPockets, an online real estate community of investors and real estate professionals. I highly recommend this platform as it has revolutionized the real estate industry and personally helped many people, including myself, to invest and purchase real estate successfully.

If you do not yet have an account, you can start a free account at biggerpockets.com.

Once you have an account, you can use the search bar function to search for keywords. So you can search for “North Carolina contractor” or “Ohio real estate agent” or “Raleigh bank lender”. You will quickly stumble upon people posting and interacting on the platform who align with this search. Here you can get a feel for these people and see if they align with your values or goals. This is my favorite method and we’ll touch on this one a bit more in Step 2 of this chapter.

Additionally, you can click the Network tab to browse available agents, insurance brokers, contractors, etc. This is a “built-in” feature of the platform.

If you are looking for an agent, it’s even easier, you can go to the Find An Agent tab and search for one in nearly any market by entering a zip code or location.

Step 2 - Vetting the Team Members

Alright, so you are starting to make your list of potential team members, it’s now time to start vetting them to make a decision. Now as mentioned above, my preferred method is searching keywords for the team member I need, then reviewing interactions from this person on the platform.

Step 2a. Review BiggerPockets Profile

Firstly, you can start your due diligence by reviewing their Biggerpockets profile. Here is my profile as an example : https://www.biggerpockets.com/users/chrislevarek which acts as a resume of sorts.

So if I searched “florida real estate agent” in the search and found a person I liked, or even if I found them in the “Find an Agent” feature, I will click their profile to see what they post about. Here I can see their activity on their profile, read any posts they made and see basically how experienced they are.

Their profile will also show the number of posts and number of upvotes on their posts. This gives me a good idea on experience level as well. Additionally, you can review who else has commented on their work or even see who has worked with them in the past.

Step 2b. Set up a call or Message for more Information

Now either message them on the platform or set up a call to discuss your goals and where you see potential working together. Come into this interaction with some questions around their role and experience.

Be sure and ask if they have any people you can speak with who have worked with them in the past. Take the time to call these people and do your homework. Explore their social media profiles, business websites and online reviews. Don’t just check the box!

In the phone call, remember, it is an interview. You are looking for a long term relationship with someone who has similar values and goals. The last thing you want is to have to start a new relationship with another person for this role again in 2-3 months' time because it didn’t work out.

Lastly, it’s always a good rule of thumb to call or speak with three potential candidates for any position you are trying to fill. This gives you a variety of choices and helps avoid simply filling the role with the first person you meet.

Select the best candidate for the job and proceed forward!

Step 3 Rinse & Repeat

Now do the above for every role you need to fill out your team. For real estate property, you are going to want to have the following on your team :

Real Estate Agent
Lender/Broker
Property Manager
Contractor(GC)
Handyman

It of course is worth mentioning that you will want all of these individuals to be familiar with the type of real estate you are buying with respect to their given role.

If you are investing remotely or at a distance, you will also want at least one person here to be the “on the spot” person or “boots on the ground” if you have an issue. Meaning if you are not able to get to the property, one of these people could help out outside of their normal duties.

Typically this will be your handyman or property manager although an agent or contractor could play the part. You could even fill the role of “boots on the ground” with a completely different person who you compensate for this purpose.

And that’s it! That is how you build a team for active real estate investing.

In Final

Investing out of state or even locally can appear overwhelming at first however with the right team all working in their respective roles, it can become like finely tuned machine. Once the people are in place and the system is operating, the outcome is repeatable and scalable.

Best of luck finding YOUR expert team and Happy Investing!