Marriage of Skills

Well, it has come and gone now and we had a blast, but didn’t spend a lot on it. It was essentially a family reunion. On August 2’nd, I was married to Wendy by one of my uncles. She is an integral part of my life already and always has a smile and is able to have a positive outlook. I don’t often hear guys say that their favorite fishing partner is their wife, but that is how I feel about her. An interesting comment by her daughter is, “Jim is exactly like you only in man form.” Even though I’ve known this for quite a while, it is amazing what you can do when you have a team that is effectively able to communicate and function together.  

You may wonder why I am posting this here, but I assure you it is more than just sharing my happiness. My main point is really the last sentence and in particular one word, TEAM. If you are going to be successful in real estate investing and really any undertaking, it is critical to have a good team. In real estate, the main players are and in no particular order:

1. Property Manager

2. Real Estate Agent

3. Attorney

4. Accountant

5. Contractor (General or Individual Trades)

6. Mortgage Broker

7. Insurance Agent

You can be successful managing your own properties but only to a certain degree. The whole idea of real estate is to set yourself up for long-term success where you are able to enjoy your time and efforts. If you are managing, finding, etc. your own properties, you will always be tied to them on a short leash. By having a team, you are paying for the expertise of each trade and can expect specific performance by them. You are also able to multiply the amount of work done exponentially so that you can work ON your business and not IN your business.

There are many more things to be said about teams, but I hope this gets you started thinking about how establishing a team will do nothing but benefit you.

In closing, if you click on this link, you can take a look at some individual pics from the wedding. By the way, it was at my folks place on the shores of Lake Erie in Wine Country.