Real Estate: You Can’t Afford To Invest Alone

If your real estate business hasn’t fully taken off, things can be a little tight. Even small tasks can become daunting in the face of limited funds. During this stage, there is a tendency to try to do everything yourself and conserve every dollar. Saving money and knowing where you can save a buck is always a good strategy, but sometimes this can do more harm than good. Your time is the greatest asset you have and if it is being wasted doing tasks that aren’t your strength you won’t have the opportunity to grow. In some cases, it is smart to spend a little money on tasks you can not preform yourself.

There are numerous people that can be part of your investing team. Everyone from your accountant to property manager can have a direct impact on how successful your business is. Instead of looking at how much someone will cost, think about what it would cost not to hire someone. You can probably find an adequate lease off the internet, but in the event something happens, you will wish you spent the money to have an attorney review it. Money may be tight, but if you have to do every task and worry about every area of the business, you won’t have the time or focus for anything else. Hiring someone for these jobs will make things tough in the short-term, but it can be the best long-term decision you will make.

Simply finding someone to fulfill your task is not enough. If you are not on the same page, you aren’t really getting the full benefit. It is far better to spend time with your contractor before they start working. It is difficult for new investors to let go and trust their team, but this is an essential part of growth. You can’t micromanage everyone that works with and for you. You should have a pretty good feel after a couple of minutes, whether or not someone is a good fit for you. This starts with knowing exactly what you want out of the relationship and when you want it. Dealing with tasks and trying to do everyone’s job defeats the purpose of hiring them in the first place.

Not everyone feels comfortable with confrontation. If you own rental property or work on rehabs, confrontation is an inevitable part of the business. Confrontation doesn’t always mean that you have to be loud and aggressive, but you do want to make it known that you aren’t satisfied with something. If this is not something you are comfortable with, you can allocate that task to someone on your team. You can have your property manager deal with your tenants and your contractor deal with everyone on a rehab. A good realtor will handle the seller and your attorney will deal with the bank. This shouldn’t be viewed as a sign of weakness or an admission of defeat, but rather knowing your strengths and weaknesses. If you are lax on your rent collection and your tenant becomes later and later with their payments, it can slowly lead to a default. If you don’t have money coming in, everything else in your property is rather worthless. If you know you cannot change a door lock or replace a dishwasher, paying a property manager will save you time and frustration. All it takes for some investors is one road block to sour on the business. If you know your strengths and weaknesses, you can find someone to pick up where you are lacking.

If you haven’t searched around for team members, you may be surprised just how easy and inexpensive some of them may be. If you are active in investment clubs and networking groups, you may be sitting on more contacts than you realize. All you may need to do is make a couple of calls and you can find someone to fulfill the task you are looking for. Additionally, you can find ample help on Craigslist, Angieslist and social media. While the economy has rebounded in some areas, there are many people who are still underemployed and looking for work. If you make enough calls and negotiate well enough, you will be surprised the cost you can get many jobs down to. Additionally, you can develop a relationship with someone who you can lean on for future projects. Before you blindly assume that the work you need done is too expensive or too hard to find, you should make some calls and find out for yourself.

You need to take the time and find the right person. You should have enough options that you don’t have to go with the first person you talk to. This often means giving yourself enough time so that you don’t need the task done immediately. Working with people is all about growing your business and freeing up time so you can be more successful. A good team around you will let you do whatever it is that you do best. Instead of looking at how much someone will cost, think about how much it would cost not to. If you look at it from that perspective, you will realize that they are often well worth the expense.$

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