As you continue reading about real estate investing, you’ll no doubt come across the term “power equipment.” What is this ‘power kit’? A powerful team is a group of people without whom successful real estate investing becomes very difficult, if not impossible. Included in a mighty team is at least one real estate agent, mortgage broker, and real estate attorney, all of whom will have creative real estate investing experience.

So how do you go about building this team? Well, you could just grab a copy of the Yellow Pages and start calling, but chances are it will take a long time, time that could be better spent working in real estate! Wouldn’t it be better if these people call you? I thought so, so this is what I did. Keep in mind that this technique not only provided me with a powerful team, but also a list of potential partners/buyers for future deals.

The local paper has a sale on weekend real estate listings, so I placed an ad in the paper that said:

“House for sale to fix. Cheap. I need cash and fast closing. 555-5555”

What kind of people would respond to an ad like this? Some will be enthusiastic and curious, but a good number of callers will be investors and real estate agents. They forwarded my number from the paper to a voicemail service, which is a good thing they did as there were a lot of calls! I find that those who are just curious about the announcement tend to hang up without leaving a message, so that fixes the non-serious.

After listening to the messages I found that there were two real estate agents who had answered. I called the first one, George, and told him the house had been sold, but would you be interested in working with fixers in the future? He replied that he would, but he didn’t seem interested in discussing it much further. Now, I should mention here that I never actually had a house to sell; What I posted is called a “ghost ad,” which is used to gauge interest in something. You may not be entirely comfortable with this, and that’s okay. Just run a different ad that delivers the same type of message.

The next agent, Elizabeth, was much more receptive. We talked for over an hour about her real estate experiences; it turns out that she herself actively invests in real estate. She would be more than happy to search the mls on my behalf as well as send as many offers as I would send her. Perfect!

And here’s the best part: because I found a real estate agent who also invests, I was also able to use the resources that she uses in her businesses. So she now had access to a great real estate attorney, as well as a mortgage broker, along with a recommended property inspector. That saved me a lot of work and time. My power kit was now complete!

Since then, I’ve become good friends with Elizabeth, and she regularly sends me listings that haven’t made it to the mls yet. This gives me a huge advantage in pursuing deals, as only a relatively small number of people are aware of the sale. I picked up my last rental property this way: the property would be listed on the mls in two days, but because Elizabeth informed me of the deal early, I was able to close before the general public took notice.

A good power team is crucial to your success as a real estate investor, and often finding one team member can lead you to others. Happy investing!