When to hire employees

[John Hewitt]

I could not find anything about this on the internet so I thought I’d put it out here. At what point is it necessary to hire employees to assist you in growing your portfolio? What kind of work is delegated to these employees?

How many employees would be necessary for a syndication company with 1000 units? 10,000 units?

I know this question is broad and subjective but I’ve been wondering about this and I am curious to see what you guys have to say. Thanks!

[Greg Scully]

@John Hewitt - I think it's less about employees than it is about team members.  You'll need a CPA, attorney, syndication attorney, property managers, contractors, etc. None of these are direct employees and most are paid by the transaction.  Other team members are likely to be partners of some kind and will be paid by the success of the project.  If you hire someone to do market research, cold calling, direct mail etc they are often 1099 (contract employees) or paid by the project.  

There is a lot of software being developed to handle investor relations and investor management, so even that is becoming much more manageable for a small team.  We - my main business partner and I - have 2 projects totally 104 units, we flip houses, and we are actively pursuing  larger multifamily projects and making multiple offers a month...we have no employees.  Neither one of us have W-2 jobs, so if you are still working full time in another capacity, you may need some extra help.