Real Estate Marketing & Beyond
Real estate investing has always been about location, location, location. That means the best investment opportunities for you might be out of state or even out of the country. Maybe you're a retired investor living in Phoenix or an active investor living in the South Pacific, either way, if you want to invest in Memphis, Tennessee, you're going to need a strong team of specialists to make the most of your investment.
While you already realize that you need a solid team to assist with your investment goals, you may be unsure who you need on your team and what services to expect from them. For the most part, the following services are needed to form a world-class investment team that you will lead to profitable ventures.
Birddogs/wholesalers: These are birddogs in the local market. These are people that live in, study, and know Memphis. People skilled at finding highly discounted investment opportunities for you to consider. They seek out the best local investment opportunities for you to invest in and for that they make a small commission but only when you purchase. However, they almost always have several potential buyers. When they serve up a property matching your investment criteria, you need to jump on the deal quickly.
Financial people: These people don't have to be local. But if you're an active investor, you need access to money. Even if you make all cash offers (which are bringing in the best deals today), you don't always have cash on hand when the best deals come along. You need to have hard money lenders, bridge lenders, and private lenders on your team and ready to make fast loans that you can depend on.
Closing attorney or an escrow company: This requirement varies by state (meaning based close to Memphis) but you need someone that pulls together the closing paperwork quickly and makes sure the deal closes in a timely manner. This person also typically arranges for title insurance to insure you receive a clean title to the property.
Insurance agents: Regardless if your investment property is occupied or vacant, you need insurance on it. Your insurance agent makes sure you are always protected in case disaster strikes your property or if you become liable for some unfortunate event.
Contractors: You know who these guys are. If you are rehabbing and flipping properties, these guys are indispensible. A local general contractor will oversee the renovations needed to maximize your profits and to get the property sold fast. You absolutely need to be able to fully trust your contractor. If you’re turning distressed properties into rentals, contractors are again essential team members.
Property managers: These people show your vacant property and identify, screen, qualify, and place paying tenants in your property. This is how you get the all-important cash flow coming in to your bank account. After they place a tenant, they collect the rent, arrange for maintenance, and are the people called at two o'clock in the morning to deal with an overflowing toilet.
There are several things you need to consider when investing thousands of miles from where you live. Among these are:
Beginning with these basic criteria will quickly get you into a distant and highly profitable investment program. Still, don't overlook more obscure issues such as if the property is on a flood plain or susceptible to hurricanes. Any issue can be over come but when it's not in your backyard, you are wise having a team of professionals on your side.
Please leave a comment if this article was helpful or if you have a question.
Author bio: Brian Kline has been investing in real estate for more than 35 years and writing about real estate investing for 10 years. He also draws upon 30 plus years of business experience including 12 years as a manager at Boeing Aircraft Company. Brian currently lives at Lake Cushman, Washington. A vacation destination, a few short miles from a national forest. With the Pacific Ocean a couple of miles in the opposite direction.
