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More of us are at home right now and keeping our distance, and real estate investors are changing their daily routines because of this. It’s an adjustment for everyone, but it’s also the perfect time to make sure your business has the right processes and systems in place to run smoothly and efficiently.
In the past, a lot of real estate investors had their routine down and didn’t have to think much about it. Leads come in; appointments are set; offers are made; follow-ups are consistent — it was a system.
Nowadays, appointments aren’t always going to be in person, and things might not be as smooth. You have to have processes in place if you’re going to offer virtual appointments. This includes instructing the seller on how to provide you with photos of the property and what you’re going to need to know on the phone in order to provide the best offer. You want to provide the seller with confidence that you’re able to close on the property and information on how your process works so they can rest easy knowing their home is in good hands.
Talk to your acquisitions managers, and go through ways that they can overcome the hurdles they face. They need to be buying low enough so that if there’s a decrease in prices in the area, you’re not at risk of losing a big chunk of money. With an uncertain future in the market, people are going to be more understanding of lower offers because you’re exposed to higher risk by purchasing a distressed property. Being creative will produce more juice out of the fruit. By giving them the knowledge and confidence to provide multiple solutions to a distressed home seller, the deal is more likely to work out. For your transaction coordinators, make sure they’re informed of any changes happening on closings.
With dispositions, looking at comparables will be crucial. How long are houses staying on the market? How are they priced compared to yours? Are they typically rehabbed already, or are homes that need some TLC still being sold for the right price? By keeping a pulse on the retail market, you’ll be able to keep your acquisitions manager informed of their parameters so you’ll be able to buy and sell for the right price.
Remember that knowledge is power.
It’s also important to document a training process for each task so that it can be easily handed off to another team member if needed. We use Screencast-O-Matic to record our audio and our computer screen to show the exact steps to take, and then we add the video to a project in Asana that’s specific for training purposes.
It’s common that our processes change as technology improves and new tools become available. Keep an eye on your processes to remove any redundancies or unnecessary/outdated steps as well.
By having your processes in order, your team can run efficiently throughout any changes in the market. The processes are clearly documented, and your key performance indicators (KPIs) are tracked from these processes.