June 29, 2021

Build an Unstoppable Real Estate Portfolio with the “Core 4” (Ep: 481) | BiggerPockets Real Estate Podcast with David Greene & Brandon Turner

Check out BiggerPockets Real Estate Podcast Episode Page and Show Notes

As an entrepreneurial real estate investor, having chemistry between your agents, contractors, lenders, and property managers can be incredibly valuable for time, and money management
- Progress in real estate is hard to make without an expert team, solve your problems by asking “who” and not “how”
Find your agent first. They usually have a large network to connect you to lenders, contractors, and property managers
Be motivated in your real estate investment pursuit, communicating a good plan can be just as valuable as having a large amount of down payment money
Have a good database of contractors built up to plan for problems before they arise
Good lenders partner with your real estate agent
- Communicates the context behind the real estate purchase and creates confidence around the ability to pay loans
- Don’t shop lenders, leverage your referrals to get all the pros and cons on the table right away, give them permission to be honest
Good property managers rely on a system and maintain consistency in their process

Co-hosts of the BiggerPockets Real Estate Podcast David Greene (@DavidGreene24) & Brandon Turner (@BrandonAtBP) discuss the “Core 4” of your real estate investment team: deal finder (agents), contractors, lenders, and property managers
- Long-Distance Real Estate Investing: How to Buy, Rehab, and Manage Out-of-State Rental Properties by David Greene
- For more about BiggerPockets Real Estate Investment (@BiggerPockets) community and process, check out their website

Progress in real estate is hard to make without an expert team. Solve your problems by asking “who” can solve my problem and not “how” can I solve the problem
Why and how do you choose an agent?
- First person you want to assemble, usually has the biggest network and access to the other parts of the real estate investment team
- Agents bring you “on-market” and present you with more opportunities
- Quantity is important, agents who are top-producers are traditionally more worthwhile
- ON FIRE – organized, networked, focused, investment-savvy (understand what you care about), responsive, experienced
- Agents should have a clear definition of their strengths and weaknesses, awareness is important
- Understanding of the current value and growth potential of the house/neighborhood/city
  - Look for signs of “hipsters”- find the coffee shops, breweries. Also, look for the job demographics of the area.
- Remember that you need a good agent more than they need you, you are one of many people looking for a good deal in a hot market
Find an agent or learn more at biggerpockets.com!

Motivation – do you want to buy a house or would you like to buy a house? Establish your goals upfront.
- Communicating a good plan can be just as valuable as having a large amount of down payment money
Understand that agents get paid on their results, not their time
Understand that you, as a real estate investor, will make more than the agent on the transaction over a 10-year period

Urgent availability and quick communication can sometimes be a red flag. It might be a reason they are not busy
“Dig a well before you’re thirsty” – Brandon Turner
- Have a good database of contractors built up to plan for problems before they arise
“If I had 6 hours to cut down a tree, I’d spend 4 hours sharpening my axe” – Abraham Lincoln
- Putting in the work early with contractors will be worthwhile in the long-run
The best contractors will give you guidance and cost/benefit analysis rather than just asking what you want
- Some contractors will have biased pricing, if they have bad knees they might not enjoy doing tile flooring and price it out as an option

The lowest interest rate isn’t always the best option
- As rates go up, they can charge a better closing cost
- With low rates, you’ll find a lack of experience or a lender who has cut out the middle man, good underwriters save you money in the long run
Good lenders partner with your real estate agent
- Communicates the context behind the real estate purchase and creates confidence around the ability to pay the loan
- Ask the agent’s preferred lender
Unfortunately, most lenders are salespeople
- All lenders say yes, why is it in their best interest to do so?
  - They often rope you in and give you the bad news later
  - Don’t shop lenders, leverage your referrals to get all the pros and cons on the table right away, give them permission, to be honest

Good property managers rely on a system and maintain consistency in their process
- Leave very little room for problems to arise that don’t have a planned or automated response
- All property managers seem good until something goes wrong
- When qualifying a property manager, ask about the bad things: evictions, maintenance, late rent, etc.
Customer service is very valuable to tenants
Hire slow and fire fast – value track record of your property manager over them being “nice”