Are You A Solo Real Estate Investor or Team Player?
by Kalinda Rose Stevenson, PhD
The most successful investors have a teamwork mentality. Think of real estate investing as a team sport. The more you surround yourself with people who have resources, knowledge, insights, and relationships you don't have, the more money you will make.
The advantage of playing on a team is that the whole team wins when one player makes a goal. Compare real estate investing to a team sport, such as soccer. In soccer, teamwork means that you pass off the ball if you are not in position to score the goal. When your teammate scores, you also win.
One of the enduring models of success is the model of the self-made man. (It's a model that is not usually applied to women.) In this model, success means that you did it on your own. The language of success for the self-made man is "the top dog wins." The image is that the self-made man climbs up to the top of the mountain, and proclaims: "I am the king of the world." This is the competitive model which is the opposite of a teamwork mentality.
Napoleon Hill's MasterMind concept claims that success is not a matter of doing it alone, but of surrounding yourself with like-minded people. Following the principle that the "whole is greater than the sum of its parts," teamwork will lead to greater success than trying to do it alone.
How does this apply to investing in real estate? Say you want to buy a property, but you don't have the money. If you have to use your own money, credit, and resources, you will say: "I can't afford this," and that is the end of that.
When you think with an investor mindset, you don't give up on the deal. Instead, you realize that you are part of a team with people who do have the money to buy the property.
You can be a "bird dog." A bird dog is somebody who finds a property and passes the information to someone who can buy it. The bird dog makes money by finding properties, not by buying them.
Another real estate role is to be the deal maker. You can make money by arranging the deal. When you introduce the seller to an investor who can afford to buy, you can make money by being in the middle of the deal.
Another role is to be the one who buys, because you have money to invest. If you have the money and credit, a bird dog or deal maker can bring the deal to you.
A soccer team needs different players. My point is that real estate investing is the same. It needs different players, playing different roles. Your role can change. You can player different positions on a soccer team. You might play defense. You might play offensive. You might play in the goal. You might be the one who takes the shots. You might be the one who passes the ball.
The idea of being part of team means that you are not trying to claw your way to the top, all by yourself. It's not all about you if you are part of a team. If someone else has the money, and can make it work, you are will also benefit.
The real estate investor world is filled with people who have money, credit, and specialized knowledge. The more you treat real estate investing as a team sport, the more successful you will become.
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