The Most Important Business Lesson I Have Learnt So Far...

I have learnt many lessons in my journey of investing in real estate. The lessons, tips and tricks that I have learnt have helped me save time and money. There is one lesson in particular that I believe has made the greatest impact to me, not just in Real Estate but in my other businesses as well. The lesson is simply this: Hire the best people. To many this is common sense, yet many people do not do so, me included (before I learnt my lesson).

When I first started investing, like most people I didn’t know where to find my investment team. So I did what most people do, I used someone that my family had always used. Many people default to people they know mainly because they feel obligated to do so or do they not know anyone else to go to.
Having the habit of always favouring the underdog, I also hired a professional that was relatively new. My Thinking being that if he was new, he would care more about making sure the deal got done properly.

Many times people get lucky and the friend or underdog they have chosen is great at what they do and they suit each other’s personalities. I was not so lucky, I had to chase many members of my team and push them to do work. I was so worried to offend the “friends” that I did not say much more than pestering them consistently. The underdog I had gone with had a reason he was the underdog. I had to push him to get information and on many times I ended up contacting the underwriter myself to get anything done.
All this lead to loss of time, money and most importantly more stress.

After that deal, I made the promise to ALWAYS go with the best. This promise has put me in some awkward situations of having to turn down friends’ requests of working together, but it has been worth it. I currently work with one of the best mortgage brokers in the country, one of the best real estate lawyers in the province and one of the best Realtors in my region. I say one of the best, so I do not get into any legal trouble but simply put, they are the best for me.

What has this meant for me? More time, more money and most importantly less stress.

In my latest purchase, I had my whole team in full force working to get the job done. Because they are professionals, they kept me updated on the latest progress and they were always a call or email away. I relaxed and watched as the entire team worked in harmony with each other. Any worry that I had was not about my team, but rather my piece of the puzzle. It is an amazing feeling not having to worry if others will come through.

At this point you might think that I had to spend a lot of money to get this amazing team put together. The best part of this is that I paid about the same as I did on my first property (give or take a couple of hundred dollars). The savings in both money and energy more than paid for the small price difference.