Which comes first....

[Andy V.]

In a way, this feels like one of those "Which came first, the chicken or the egg?" type of questions...which is probably why it's so hard to figure out when just getting started.

I have seen people say that the first thing that you need to do is get your team in place.  Start with finding your RE agents, lenders, contractors, lawyers, etc, etc.

I have also seen people say that, especially when you're just starting out, there's no point talking to most of those people until you've found a property or two you're interested in moving forward on.  That lenders especially will laugh if you want to get pre-qualified for a loan on an "imaginary" property.

So my question is this then...as a new investor who is getting serious about moving forward, do I need to start by interviewing contractors, lenders, and lawyers?  Or, do I start by just working with a RE agent to find decent properties?

[Gregory H.]

You can get to know those types of people through REI networking events, but you aren't going to actually be able to build the team until you have business to give them (or at least the expectation of business in the relatively near future). They'll take you much more seriously when you can actually claim even one or two properties in your portfolio.