Long Distance investing. Recommendations for assembling a team.

[Junix Alcayaga]

Hey BP community, I've been looking more and more into out of state / long-distance investing for my first property and wanted to get a sense of how others have handled starting out in this same direction. I have a pretty good sense of my criteria (price, deal size, and geography) - I'm looking at SFH and smaller MFH (2-4 units) in the Columbus, OH market. My next step is to assemble a team that can help me make the right decisions and be my boots on the ground, but that's where I'm getting a bit overwhelmed...

I know I can search and network through BP, even get some recommendations from other members here, and research to death on Google to find a seemingly endless amount of lenders, property managers, agents, lawyers, etc., so I'm curious how others made a decision on who to go with and why? What criteria do you look for in each of these "team members"? What are key questions to ask? Is there such a thing as "finding the right ones"?

I guess I'm struggling a bit with the paradox of choice / choice overload, which is leading to a bit of paralysis. Hoping to get a bit of guidance so I can get my team organized and set myself up for making my first purchase.

[Remington Lyman]

Originally posted by @Lee Ripma:

@Junix Alcayaga

You don’t need a team until you are in escrow. The only team member you need until then is a realtor.

 While this is true this advice can get you into trouble. Your Realtor will not be the one managing the property. There are a bunch of properties I have been wrong on. One of the property managers I refer out a lot, @Donny Thompson, has way more experience than I do in managing properties all around Columbus. I have 24 units that I have been managing for 3 years. He 50x that amount of units he has been managing for 30 years.

I advise my clients to develop the team of 4 as soon as possible so they can move with more confidence. When analyzing a deal a buyer should reach out to all 4 of their team members for advice.

I even have clients that will walk the property with their contractor before making an offer. When they go to make the offer they will put 0 contingencies in the contract which allows them to with bids at lower prices.