PICK YOUR PROFESSIONAL
Success in real estate today can depend a great deal on your support from professionals. The team of advisors that I have developed over the years is critical to the success of each and every deal I get involved in. It took a great deal of time and effort to cultivate these relationships. When I first came to town, I relied on family members to introduce me to their advisors. I now have come to the point where my cell phone is programmed with the cell phone numbers of my banker, my CPA, my attorney and a number of R.E. agents that I count on.
I did not always realize the importance of easy access to good advisors nor was I always good at developing those relationships. I look back with a smile at how my attitude has changed. In 1985, I met a wonderful gentleman named Henry Trounstine. I bought HPT Plastics, a business I ran until 2001 from Henry. Henry was from an old Cincinnati family that had roots in many businesses. Not only was Henry very well off and well connected, his wife's family came from one of the largest retail families in Ohio.
Henry once told me, "There are two kinds of people in this world, Gregg. There are the kind of people that go to meet lawyers and there are the kind of people whose lawyers come to meet them. Son, you always want to be in that last category." What he didn't tell me was how to get to that point.
When I first came to Fort Myers, I had just purchased a condo at Parkside (a wonderful condo community off of Gladiolus Drive in South Fort Myers). I planned to keep this condominium as a rental unit and held it for many years. In any case, the title company called me to set up the closing. We discussed the HUD statement, the amount of the cashiers check I would need, and the financing details. The closing agent told me she was looking forward to seeing me at 9 am on Thursday.
"Do you know how to get here?" I added just before she was going to hang up.
She paused, quite surprised; and then proceeded to inform me that indeed the closing would be at her office, since they had a copier and conference table, etc. To make a long story short, the closing was held in my office that Thursday at 9AM. I am sure this is not precisely what Henry had in mind, and this power play game I played was not the way to develop relationships. But darn it, I had them come to me!
Things have changed over the years and these days a good title company would not think twice about coming to your place of business to close. They do it all the time.
I do have a couple of tips to keep in mind when choosing a professional.
1. He should be smarter than you at what you are hiring him for. This one should not be too tough to ascertain. Don't be afraid to interview a number of agents, CPAs, etc. Ask him what specialty he spends most of his time on.
2. You may need more than one in each field, depending on the specialty. Just because you have a great residential realtor, does not mean they know the investment market or even the new condo market. I have a number of attorneys for this exact reason. A good contract attorney may not be who you want to work on your condo doc problem, for example.
3. Hire an advisor that actually does the work. This one is tough. Over the years, I found that some advisors get to the point in their career that somehow makes them think, "I make too much money to do this kind of work." Don't hire an advisor that just wants to be like you. Hire one that is immersed in HIS business and in HIS specialty.
4. Get to know them before you need them. Take them to lunch. Let him get to know you as you develop more of a relationship with him. Share with him how you work, what your objectives are and what you expect out of the relationship. Ask HIM what he expects and what his objectives are.
5. Hire an advisor that LOVES HIS WORK. Pretty simple.
6. Compliment him and critique him from time to time. Let him know how you think he is doing.
7. Ask for his prices and ask for a discount.
8. Ask him where he is putting his money.
9. Once is a while, it's okay to have meeting at his office (Sorry Henry).
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