How many people do you partner with each day in your business? Or do you call it “collaborating”? Either way, you know by now that you can’t do business in a vacuum. At some point, you have to work with people who have different skill sets or connections that you need to get things done. It doesn’t make sense any other way. Partnering is an effective way to do business.
In the real estate investing business, we make the most of partnering opportunities. We have learned that the best results come from working together, whether you build that team within your own office or you collaborate with other independent professionals. There are huge payoffs from thinking like a team leader and finding the right team players when you’re trying to close a deal.
Remember the coach you liked so much in school? That coach used partnering and relationship-building to win games. A high school coach has to not only work with the players, but with the principal and the cheerleading sponsor and the people in charge of the gym. There are press releases and state sports associations and school boards to deal with. Managing a team is bigger than just calling the plays during the game.
Closing a real estate deal uses the same principles. You need to choose the right accountant and the right attorney to answer questions and help with paperwork. You’ll need to get to know people in different financing areas – local bankers or private lenders – to help with purchasing your properties. So who else could you partner with?
First, you need a question-and-answer person. That’s the one you talk to when you’re about to hit a roadblock and need to know how to avoid crashing the deal. Partner with a good real estate coach, and see how much easier your deals go. Okay, as a real estate coach, I can be a little prejudiced about that, but having an experienced professional on your side makes a huge difference in your income potential! Check out my website, if you haven’t already done so, and jump-start your own continuing education program.
Your in-house team is your next big partnership. Get advice from your guru on what skill sets to look for and how to structure the office duties. Then train your new people extremely well. The more they know about what you’re doing and why, the better partners they can become – just in case you need a pinch-hitter someday.
You’ll also need to build a relationship with someone who knows how to solve title problems. You never know when you’ll run into an issue with one of your properties, and you’ll need to be able to untwist those situations before the deal closes. Get to know an attorney or a title expert who knows the system, and save yourself a lot of grief down the road.
Partner with people who give you referrals and keep in touch with them to make sure your leads keep coming in. Give them incentives in the form of referral fees or commissions, encouraging them to tell you when they find someone who might need your help. If you’re a coach, these are your talent scouts. If you don’t have the big deals, you can’t make the big money.
We’ve learned that the best referral source of them all is the real estate agent. According to the statistics, they’re involved in at least 75 percent of all real estate transactions. They have to complete hours and hours of training before they can obtain and keep a license, so you know they’re committed to the business. And, if you think about it, they know just about everyone in town!
When you’re building partnerships in your local market, never forget that the benefits of knowing these people are mutual. The real estate market is rough all over, and there may be a time when they’ll need a short sale expert on their speed dial as well. Once you’re able to establish yourself as the go-to person for problem properties, their trust in you will increase to the point where they introduce you to other people you may never have met without them.
When you partner with other people in your community, you’re doing more than just furthering your own business interests. You are becoming a part of that community. You become someone that other people want to partner with. You are perpetuating the idea that it really does take a group effort to accomplish something important – in this case, helping homeowners avoid foreclosure.
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