We know that investing in commercial real estate is a team sport. No one person can handle all the responsibilities and know everything about every facet of buying and managing a commercial property. That is an impossible task.
The key is to build and lead the best team of professionals you can find.
We recommend as a minimum that your team contains the following members … in this order.
- Property manager
- Commercial Real Estate Brokers / Agents (more than one)
- Commercial real estate attorney
- Commercial Real Estate Mortgage Broker
- Field partner
- Trust / Title Agent
- Insurance broker
- CPA
And these team members must be
1) Local in the market where you are actively investing
2) Experience in your specific property niche
You don’t need to know everything the team knows … you lead and coordinate team activities to build your portfolio. With a well-trained team, you may have more than 100 years of combined commercial property experience at your disposal. And each member of the team is an expert in their local market area. That’s power.
“How the hell do I find all these powerful players?” you might ask.
Building your team is a fairly simple task. Ask for references from the busiest people you can find. Busy and successful people tend to work with other busy and successful people. Now you can call one attorney at a time or email one broker at a time to find potential team members … Or you can build your team prospect list in one night. That’s how …
Attend a Real Estate Investor Club meeting or Business Association meeting in your target market and ask everyone present for their team members to recommend you.
Here’s a state-specific list of 322 real estate investor groups to check out http://www.reiclub.com/real-estate-clubs.php
You can find trade associations with an online search or by asking brokers in the area. Trade associations can be specific properties, such as the various multi-family housing associations. Here is the link to the Washington Multi-Family Housing Association for those of you in the Seattle area. http://www.wmfha.org/
And some trade associations are regional regardless of property type, like the Austin (TX) Real Estate Council here; http://www.recaonline.com/
Regardless, you’ll meet dozens and dozens of the busiest, most connected, and most experienced members of the commercial real estate community in one night.
Shake hands with everyone you can, say something like this,
“My name is [Your Name here] and I am the CEO of [Your Company Name Here]. We are a Commercial Real Estate Investment Company that has an active interest in this market. We are in the process of building our local team. Who would you recommend as the top three property managers? [or other Team member you are looking for] in the city? “
Then get ready to write like crazy. By the end of the night, you should have at least two dozen candidates to review. Now, of course, you will check at least three references, make sure they have the experience you are looking for and that they fit well with your business plan. Your work to finalize your team is not finished.
And you can easily gather 3 candidates for each of the above 8 team positions in a single Business Organization meeting … that’s Power Networking. And with good planning, you can achieve this even if this is a market that is 2,000 miles from where you actually live.
NOTE: When planning your Site Visit to your target market, be sure to schedule your visit to include at least one of each of these Trade Associations and Investor Meetings.
And remember this for sure … How you present yourself is absolutely vital. Even if you’ve never made a single commercial property deal, you’re still … “The CEO of his own Investment Company has an Active Interest in this market.”
there you go – Build your team – Find them by referrals – Boost the whole process by networking in Investment Clubs and Industry Association
Now is your turn
What is your niche?
Where is your market?
When are you going to start?
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