As you continue to read about real estate investing, you will no doubt come across the term 'power team'. What is this 'power team'? A power team is a group of people without whom successful real estate investing becomes very difficult, if not impossible. Included in a power team are at least one real estate agent, a mortgage broker, and a real estate lawyer, all of whom will have experience in creative real estate investing.

So, how do you go about building this team? Well, you could just get a copy of the Yellow Pages and start calling, but that will most likely take a very long time, time that could be better spent working on real estate deals! Wouldn't it be better to have these people call you? I thought so, so here's what I did. Keep in mind that this technique not only netted me a power team, but also a list of potential partners/buyers for future deals.

The local paper offers a deal on weekend real estate listings, so I placed an advertisement in the paper that read:

"Fixer-upper for sale. Cheap. Need cash and quick closing. 555-5555"

What sort of people would respond to an ad like this? Some will be tire-kickers and the curious, but a good number of callers will be investors and real estate agents. I had the number in the paper forwarded to a voicemail service, and it's a good thing I did as there were a lot of calls! I find that those who are just curious about the ad tend to hang up without leaving a message, so that takes care of those that aren't serious.

After listening to the messages I found that there were two real estate agents that had answered. I called the first one, George, and told him that the home had sold, but would he be interested in working with fixer-uppers in the future? He replied that he would, but didn't seem interested in discussing it much further. Now, I should mention here that I never actually had a home to sell - what I posted is called a 'ghost ad', used to guage interest in something. You may not feel entirely comfortable with this, and that's fine. Simply post a different ad that gets the same sort of message across.

The next agent, Elizabeth, was much more receptive. We spoke for well over an hour about her experiences in real estate - it turns out that she actively invests in real estate herself. She would be more than happy to search the mls on my behalf, as well as submit as many offers as I would send her way. Perfect!

And here's the best part: since I had found a real estate agent who also invests, I was also able to use the resources that she uses in her deals. So I now had access to a great real estate lawyer as well as a mortgage broker, along with a recommended property inspector. That saved me loads of work and time. My power team was now complete!

I've since become good friends with Elizabeth, and she regularly sends me listings that haven't made it to the mls yet. This gives me a huge advantage in pursuing deals as only a relatively small number of people are aware of the sale. I picked up my latest rental property this way - the property was going to be listed on the mls in two days time, but since Elizabeth let me in on the deal early I was able to close before the general public became aware.

A good power team is crucial to your success as a real estate investor, and oftentimes finding one member of the team can lead you to the others. Happy Investing!