Whats your buy and hold 'dream team' consist of?

[Phil C.]

Hi, soon to be landlord and buy/hold investor *knock on wood*

I am compiling what I consider my 'dream' team  for investing and managing my RE buy and hold portfolio.  

RE Agent - I am starting out with a solid RE agent.  I am meeting several in the next few weeks and will pick a few that I thought were the best in terms of response time and service. 

Lender - I currently have my pre approvals from two big banks, but I know I need a portfolio lender, so I am scouting the local banks and credit unions, tbd. 

RE Attorney - this goes without saying...but how do you know a good from a bad one? especially at first contact?

Handyman - definitely need one to handle the emergencies and nuisance items, especially since I will be living several hours away from the properties...Any suggestions how to find one?  I am going to ask the agents if they know one.

Painter, Contractor, Plumber, Electrician - Definitely reliable and honest ones (and insured) are important, am thinking of using Angies List or asking agents. 

To manage the money planning on either direct deposit or mailing cashiers checks or money orders.  If the person passes stringent background/criminal check, has great credit or makes great income and comes off like a good person, I may accept personal checks to make it easier.   I can't afford a property manager yet.

Any one else I need to add to my dream team?

[Phil C.]

Forgot to add:

Eviction Specialist (same as RE attorney, but handles specifically evictions) get them bad apples out fast. 

[Gregory Tran]

I guess if you're putting together a dream team, a tax planner/specialist who knows aa lot about the rental business would be nice.

[Robert Leonard]

@Phil C. If it's a dream team, it has to include the crew from "This Old House" as my contractors. :-)

Marketing would be handled by Jerry Puckett.

The sharks from "Shark Tank" would be my PMLs/Finance Division. :-D

Aaron Mazrillo would be in charge of wholesaling.

Oh and, B.A Barrakus (aka Mr.T) would be my property management/eviction specialist! :-P

[Jay Hinrichs]

@Phil C. 

@Robert Leonard 

You guys are all totally missing it... your FIRST and FORMOST on buy and HOLD is

PM  IMO  you start there then work out.. No one knows the rental market than the PM why anyone would start with a FOR profit TK For Profit West coast marketing agent is really a mystery to me... Go to a market and start with the person or Company that is going to make or break your investment PM.. they will tell you the good areas that are easy to manage they will tell  you where the war zones are and Hoods are, these may not be obvious on Zillow Google etc.. Plus they may have owners that are sick of being landlords that will be happy to dump there properties off on others for a great deal..

This whole buying rentals is *** backwards from my point of view.. people start with marketers and such then work backwards. Many times buying a property without ever talking to management.. that's just silly.. Bit money cash flow investors would never buy this way they all start with PM

[Jay Hinrichs]

@Gregory Tran 

  and forget about tax's  this level of RE tax's are nothing you get 27 year deprectiation and if your in the bizz you can take right offs. If your not in the bizz your very limited to write offs. that's another big MISTAKE people make when they venture into out of state investing where there are real risks of large capital loss's they can only write off a portion of the loss each year because the are not in the bizz

[Dick Rosen]

@Jay Hinrichs 

I like your attitude! PM first... and it's very likely that a good PM will have a lot of the other contacts that you'll need.

[Terry Hershberger]

Property Manager = Me.

Several Lenders I work with. Banks that give the terms I need.

R.E. Agent 

Handy Man

Contractor

My Mom = Feet and eyes on the ground as I invest out of my living area.

CPA

Happy Investing!

[Phil C.]

Thank you Jay and everyone for your thoughts.  Great advice - will bump PM to the top of the list. 

[Jay Hinrichs]

@Phil C. 

  to get objective opinons make sure the PM is not owned by the company selling you the house...

[Tom Yung]

second to @Jay Hinrichs comment on PM.

I will add to choose the one that are more specialized in the local area & the field of practice. Some PM took over too many areas than they can handle.

A SFH PM may have difficulty & manpower to handle a 100 unit complex.

[Albert Bui]

Originally posted by @Gregory Tran:

I guess if you're putting together a dream team, a tax planner/specialist who knows aa lot about the rental business would be nice.

 Yeah this is definitely true since taxes and interest are two of the largest financial vampires. I can say that from working with accountants and CPA's on tax returns that I've learned a lot of specifics about real estate taxation that I didnt know before for sure.