Having a team - is it important?

I hear quite often how important it is to have a good team of professionals around you to help out with all the work.

But, because I hear this from those professionals who are obviously looking for business, I wanted an impartial opinion.

So how important is it to have a good team, and what should the team consist of?
For e.g. is it necessary to have a buyers agent?

 

The team you require depends on your own skills. Generally for most people this will include an accountant, broker, legal.
Some use a BA, many dont. How confident are you with your research?

 

Accountant and broker, definitely.

We've had a working relationship with our broker for over 5 years and he has helped us tremendously with our financing.

Accountant was great, however after the business was bought over we didn't get the service level we expected from the new accountant, so we switched.

We haven't been with the same lawyer throughout our investing journey as we mostly get them to do conveyancing - and since we've purchased in different states, we've used a lawyer in the state we purchased.

I'd say a buyer's agent would be good to have if you are time poor, interstate, new to the game etc - but if you're comfortable purchasing on your own then you wouldn't necessarily need them. We've used buyers agents for all our interstate purchases and they've been really good value.

 

like MRO said but also add in PM, those these are more location specific.

It really depends on your skill set and/or how involved you want to be.

 

Try doing everything yourself and see how far you get.

A team of competent professionals makes the whole acquisition/divestment/development process more efficient and allows time to be devoted towards looking for further opportunities.

 

I have a great conveyancer and a guy at the bank who I have been dealing with for 20 years. And those two talk to eachother. It's very efficient. The conveyancer also goes into bat for me with agents and recently negotiated a great price for me, which was interesting.

Scott

 

I think a team is a important.
I have a business partner who is a builder, a lawyer. a accountant a mortgage (ME LOL) who I trust and always work with. A team is a great idea and a good way to do business. So much people spend so much time trying to work out all the tax benefits by them selves or trying to read the contract of sale by them self just to save a couple of bucks and what happens, is there could be long term cost and most of the time they get so confused that nothing happens.

 

Thanks guys. I had planned to have an accountant/lawyer do all the work (I can read contracts but I'm no property lawyer!) and also use a mortgage broker (because.. why not)

What I don't know about are things like buyers agents, which as MRO said probably depends where I'm buying, but also investment advisors (things like the guys from the Property Couch)

 

Hi Mike,
Buyer agents are good if you are looking at buying in another state but at the moment if you are buying in Melbourne at buyer agent is useless the market is so hot that there is not time to even negotiate at the moment for certain areas.

 

You don't need a team... until you need a team. And then its too late.

The easy stuff is the broker/banker and accountant. They allow you to buy and organise your finances in the most effective manner.

Lawyers help solve problems before they start (hopefully), and keep you out of gaol or out of bankruptcy.

REA work for the seller. BA works for the buyer.
A lot of people will argue they can do what ever a BA can do and often better. A BA's job is not to "buy property under market value" as is often mis-quoted. They are there to source a property which fits your criteria. If you can do this on your own, have the time, effort, inclination, resources and know how - then why not do it yourself (I doubt a convaencer would employ a convaencer when buying a property - they can do it themselves). Same applies.

Be wary of 'professionals' or 'experts' who are not impartial. Most investment advisors are not impartial. They make money by selling you investments.

Want some real world examples?
ATO decided to audit me. Mobilising my accountant and my lawyer (who got a tax lawyer from his office involved) took me 12months and about $10k to convince the ATO I was right - however, saved me 10x this much and/or a court battle with the ATO. Not pretty, but worth every penny.

A seller who decided that they wanted to pull out of an un-conditional contract. Mobilised out solicitor who sent a nasty-o-gram and the buyer quickly pulled their head in. Was a stressful weekend, but resolved relatively quickly. Settled on the property a month later.

I could go on.

Blacky

 

Not only is a team important, its essential, especially if you want to build a large portfolio of wealth.

 

Do what you feel is comfortable, I personally wouldn't be interested in a property coach. Two reasons 1, this forum (previously SS) and two my father is my mentor. I know what my father has been through and what mistakes he has made and the advice he gives is impartial as he doesn't get rewarded in anyway besides a 'thanks dad'.