Are You Ready to Build your House Flipping Team?
By far the best way to flip a house is by using a highly skilled team. Flipping a house without a house flipping team, is like trying to catch a fish without a fishing rod. You need a fishing rod to catch a fish, just like you need a team to flip a house. Best of luck trying to catch that tuna with your bare hands - and even better luck trying to flip a house by yourself.
I flip houses for a living because I have a great team of people helping me out. Each week I work with:
- real estate agents
- wholesalers
- attorneys
- accountants
- insurance agents
- contractors
These people are essential team members because they specialize in areas that I am not an expert in. It would take me hours to figure out problems my team members can solve in 5 minutes. Spending time working on tasks someone else could do much easier is certainly not the best way to flip a house. Using my time efficiently is critical if I want to reach my goal of flipping 12-15 houses during 2013.
Recently I have received numerous emails from people who want to learn the best way to flip a house - which of course means learning how to build their team. These folks seem a little confused about how to build their team. Many of them have attended REIA meetings, Chambers of Commerce and other networking events without much success.
Attending these networking events is really just step 1. To be honest, it is very possible to meet your future team members outside of these networking events. I've even met valuable team members at Holiday parties, in the grocery store and on the golf course. The key is not where you meet, but instead how you handle each interaction.
The Best Way to Flip a House | learn how to make friends
The healthiest and most effective house flipping team is made up of friends. Now unless you just happen to already have good friends who are attorneys, accountants, contractors etc. - you will have to go out and make some new friends. In other words, if you are not good at making friends then you must learn how to.
I understand I may sound like your 1st grade teacher, but most folks have friend-making backwards. This is why so many people have a difficult time building their team - they have simply forgotten how to make friends (or never knew how to begin with).
To instantly boost your team building success, do the following.
Handle People Effectively
- Don't criticize, correct someone, or complain
- Show appreciation
A common encounter when networking, is someone saying something that is utterly and completely wrong. Somebody in the group hears this, and subsequently goes onto correct the person in front of the group. More often than not this behavior puts everyone on the defensive, and can even spark an argument.
Instead of criticizing and correcting someone, allow them to save face. Just let the comment go and move onto the next thing. Your goal when networking is not to prove your are right, but to instead make connections and start relationships. The best way to END a relationship is to criticize, correct or complain with someone you just met. The negative impact is even worse if you do this in front of a group.
At your next networking event, focus on just 1 thing - showing appreciation. Even if you don't agree with what someone is saying, bite your tongue and just listen. Learn to show appreciation for different opinions and people, and your success building your house flipping team will skyrocket.
Help People to Instantly Like You
A future team member has to like you in order to work with you. To help people instantly like you, remember to do the following:
- Smile
- Remember the person's first name and use it often
- Let the other person do the talking - and focus on truly listening
- Learn to be genuinely interested in people and what they are saying
- When you talk, talk about the other person's interests
- Remember to make the other person feel important
Talking about yourself immediately after meeting someone is the exact opposite of the above. If you find yourself talking about yourself, pause and remember that your #1 goal is to make this person like you, so that you two may be able to work together in the future. In order to accomplish this, remember to allow them to do most of the talking.
People love to talk about themselves, so go ahead and let them. They will love you for it! The funny part is that they most likely won't even understand why they like you. But you and I know the reason they like you, is because you simply shut up, listened to what they had to say, and showed genuine interest.
Win People Over
Winning people over is not done through a lot of talk. Presenting all the reasons why someone should work with you is not the best approach. The worst thing you can do is try to talk yourself up so you "sound good." Remember that your goal is to not do any of the talking. Here's a much better approach:
- Make people feel like an idea is theirs (even if it isn't)
- Get people to say "Yes" by asking questions you know they will say "Yes" to
- See things from their point of view and do it in a friendly way
- If you are wrong, immediately admit it and apologize with empathy
- Avoid arguments AT ALL COSTS and resist telling someone when they are wrong
- Resist the urge to talk negatively about someone when they are not present
Everyone wants to feel appreciated - not just little kids. Even someone with 30 or more years of real estate experience will appreciate someone who listens and shows genuine interest in them.
Be a True Leader
If people are going to trust you with their money, their time and their energy, you need to display that you are a true leader. Unfortunately some people try to prove that they are a leader by talking a lot, ordering people around, and talking boastfully about their accomplishments.
Instead of falling into that ego-trap, try doing more of the following:
- Talk about your own mistakes instead of other people's errors
- Start your conversation with praise and empathy
- If you must call attention to someone's mistake, do it indirectly
- When people do mess up, be sure to allow them to "save face"
- Ask questions when delegating instead of ordering people around
- Give people a fine reputation to live up to
- Use encouragement whenever you can
- Praise every improvement someone makes
- Make people's faults seem like minor and easy things to correct
- Make people happy to do as you ask
If you have not already guessed, all of this information comes from Napolean Hill's How to Win Friends & Influence People
If you have not yet read this book, it is an absolute must. The book only costs around $10, but the information is worth it's weight in house flips. The most valuable real estate education you can find is contained in the pages of How to Win Friends and Influence People.
If you can incorporate the above tactics into your networking, you will build a power house flipping team within a matter of a few months.
See you at the top!
Mike
