Thoughts from a contractor/investor perspective

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I wanted to share some thoughts from what I think is a fairly unique perspective. As both a real estate investor and a contractor whose business is built almost entirely on working with and for out of state investors, I get to partner with and learn from a wide variety of people from all over the world. Below are some observations I think could be useful as we all continue to pursue our goals.

The most successful people I work with and for have a few things in common. First, they are all more organized than most people. Some understand construction, some don't. Some are very active in the rehabbing process, some are not. Some are very particular about finishes/colors/materials, some aren't. But all my most successful partners and customers are organized. They know what's going on, they set goals and deadlines for me and themselves, and they take action and make decisions. If you struggle with this, you may want to regroup and check your processes before you push forward. It will make your chances of success much greater.

The most successful people I interact with don't live or die by the numbers. I see a lot of people who spend hours crunching numbers, churning out spreadsheets, and analyzing deals from every possible angle. The most successful people I work with are certainly driven by a particular set of financial objectives - but they don't get wrapped around the axle about them. They do their math, review their options, and then go like hell to make their deal work once they make the call. I work well with those types of folks, because rehabbing distressed properties is NEVER a linear process. It is imperative to put a plan together when starting a project, but I have yet to do a project (I'm well over 100 projects/deals for perspective) that went the way we drew it up. Which leads me to my next observation...

Successful people roll with the punches. Things are going to go wrong. Sometimes because you screwed them up, and sometimes because of things completely beyond your control. The successful people I deal with understand this, take the standing 8 count when things go sideways, and then refocus on the end game and try to get back on track as quickly as possible. I have had crazy stuff happen that I had no control over that had to be dealt with - like a tenant trying to grope me when I went to fix her furnace. And I have had to deal with stuff that I screwed up that was 100% my fault. I put the wrong tile in a customers shower last week - completely my fault. I offered to redo it at zero additional cost to make it right with my customer. They expressed their displeasure and moved on to get the project done without drama. Successful people recognize that not every thing that goes wrong is major, and they focus on the bigger picture and fight through issues.

Successful people develop relationships with people they trust, and then lean on those people to solve problems without second guessing every detail. I have one customer who will call me and tell me when he is closing on a deal, and ask me to have a crew there to start work the day after closing. No contract, no scope of work, no discussion about anything. He trusts us to do the right thing for him based on a history of us looking out for him. Once we start, we work out the details. That said, the same guy is a tough negotiator, and is always challenging me to cut costs, find ways to get done faster and more efficiently, and leaning on me to help him reach his goals. He has a few realtors and other folks he leans on in a similar fashion. He's no pushover, but he also knows that continuing to work with people he can trust, even when things go wrong (and we have screwed up stuff on his projects plenty of times) is a recipe for success. He knows we will always make it right, and we recognize that his success is our success. The thought process is not to try to get a bigger piece of the pie - it's to make the whole pie bigger so everyone gets a bigger piece.

Not sure if all this rambling makes sense, but I wanted to share what I have learned from all the folks I have been fortunate to work with. If you read through the traits above that all my successful customers and partners share, I think there is a lot of value for any investor, regardless of how much or little experience you have. The best part of my career is learning from all the talented people I get to develop relationships with, and I look forward to continuing my education!

Feel free to share your thoughts/observations about what traits you or other successful people have in common. It helps all of us.