How do you find legitimate long distance help?

Question

Greetings all!! 👋🏼

Like many people, I am trying to get into REI. And like many people, I am experiencing some difficulty in the process. While the general advice is invest in your own backyard, for those who know, investing in areas such as CA, NY, WA, and the like is not feasible, for newbies anyway. Therefore, we are looking in places such as LA, MS, OH, and MN. That being said, finding the 4 Core (Deal Finder, Property Manager, Contractor, and Lender) is imperative. Funding can be done locally, but finding good, honest, trustworthy, and AVAILABLE folks in a long distance situation is daunting. Is there any way we, as a community, can set up local CORE 4 groups?

Appreciate the feedback, honesty, and condor of all my PB peeps.

Scott Trench · Answer

We are working on this! We recently hired @Scott Weigel to come on and build marketplaces to connect you with investor friendly agents (and in the future, lenders, property managers, insurance brokers, contractors, etc.).

Right now, we are starting with what we believe to be the first and most important member of the "Core 4" - the Investor Friendly Real Estate Agent. You can look for one in our directory under the "network" tab. A great agent should hopefully be able to refer you to a couple of the other folks you need, like the property manager and/or contractors.

We will be racing towards building this network of first agents, then other professionals as fast as we can over the next few months and years! We hear you!

Lee Ripma · Answer

@Amy Hatcher consider local partners and consider PM companies. Rehab takes oversight.

Ronald Allen Barney · Answer

That's a great idea for potentially a new feature of BP:  a place for Core 4 teams to assemble and then showcase themselves for investors to reach out to for out of state (or even in state) investing.  @Brandon Turner y'heard???

Lynnette E. · Answer

BUT... you do not need to go out of state or far away from mainline San Diego to get to very affordable housing.  An hour and a half, straight down I-8 puts you in El Centro.  Lots of houses for less than $300k!  Plus you have Border Patrol Agents that are stationed there who need housing!  Look in your backyard before going out of state.  CA has lots of affordable places to buy and rent, if you look outside of SD, LA, OC, SB, SF, etc.

Matt Gigli · Answer

@Amy Hatcher

I live in San Diego as well and recently took the plunge and started investing out of state. David Greene’s book, Long Distance Real Estate Investing, is a great resource to learn about finding your Core Four. I started by focusing my attention on finding an agent, who then had a long list of people in his network that he helped me round out the team. I’m still working on the contractor part of the team… seems to be the hardest.

I find it easier to trust people who have a large public/online presence (active on BP, social media, etc). Such people make it easier to trust because they’re unlikely to be a complete scam. Knowing if they’re good is another thing though… that’s where referrals and searching their name on BP and Google can really help you figure out their reputation.

Ian Walsh · Answer

Staying in your own backyard when starting really can't be overstated.

Amy Hatcher · Answer

@Ian Walsh

That SEEMS like a good idea, but unless you are starting out with a huge amount of capitol or have really a great team already in place, starting off in a market where the average cost of house in not the best area needing significant work is $700k… not feasible. Especially when cash investors are paying 50-100k over asking just to get in here. So yes, I’d absolutely love to be in my own back yard, but until then, I will do my best to bring improvements and new life to other areas that are good, but just need a little help to be great. 😊

Lynnette E. · Answer

The good ones are not looking for work.  They know their capacity and are at it.

You really have to be extra careful when considering people who recommend themselves.  Some are just new, but many times they are not competent and may or may not know it, and some are major scammers.

You also have to reevaluate their service on a regular basis.  Many, many times someone who was great, for what every reason--too much work, money hungry, jealous of seeing others make more than them, new girl/boy friend, in over their head, bad estimator of their time...---changes and are no longer dependable or affordable.  If I can keep a trades person for 5 years I am surprised.

The idea of having an Angie's list type of a service for investors seems good, but right now its competitive to get good people to do any type of work and I would be weary of hiring people from a list without a personal recommendation.

Jeffrey Donis · Answer

@Amy Hatcher If you can, try going to meet up events in the markets you'd like to invest in. You can ask around and see who other investors in that market are using. You could also try cold calling different companies.

What we did was partner with a mentor, and use their referrals.

Building and nurturing face-to-face relationships with your team will pay off in the long run, especially if you want to be in RE long term.

Hope that helps.

Amy Hatcher · Answer

@Wesley I. Thanks for the input. I’ve been doing just as you suggested and it’s been an interesting experience, to say the least. I am so glad we live in this age of technology where information is readily available and accessible, but do miss the gravitas of a firm handshake and eye contact. I’m putting this out in the universe: WHEN my first REI plan is successfully executed, I will go and personally meet and shake the hand of each of my Core 4 cohorts, and each and every one of my subsequent success circles.

How do you find legitimate long distance help?

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