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 Step #6 - Mastermind AllianceThe Mastermind Alliance is the method for bringing a team approach together for you, the individual investor. With a Mastermind Alliance you envision yourself as the head of a large corporation. You have a decision to make. You call the appropriate specialists from your staff. You present the problem and ask each specialist to bring back options, solutions. You evaluate the data sent to you. You clarify; you ask questions. You take recommendations. You reach a decision based on the team approach.
The morale is that it isn't so much how much you know as do you know the people who know. If you know good lawyers and accountants and bankers and carpenters and electricians, then you don't have to know what they know. You only have to know them. Why not you? Why not model your decision-making activities after the experts? If you can do it, don't you think you'll be way ahead of the average investor? Don't you think these kinds of things; ways of understanding and doing, using intellect and effort are going to put you in a position for success? Success will be finding the best properties at the best prices, getting the best financing and providing the best management. Success will be that property, with time, tripling or quadrupling in value. You've seen the numbers. Success will be the material things and the time freedom. Success is your goal. Why not you? Make a list of the people you'll need to form your Mastermind Alliance. This is the team you're going to put together to help you reach your goal. You need a good real estate office and an expert agent. You need a lawyer and an accountant who know real estate. You need good reliable contractors: a carpenter, plumber and electrician. You need a good part-time handyman. You need banking connections. You need mentors. How does the business world work? Connections, networks, alliances. Expert Agent: Lawyer: Accountant: Architect: Carpenter: Plumber: Electrician: Landscaper: Handyman: Banker: Home Inspector: Other Investors: Start your list with people you already know. Your brother's a carpenter. Your next-door neighbor is a lawyer. You have Jones for an office and Nardo for an agent. If you want the best, ask for it! Research. Ask the people you know to recommend others. Well, the carpenter can recommend a plumber and an electrician. The lawyer knows the accountant. Jones has the banking connection. Nardo has other banking connections and also knows a great electrician, his son. Nardo's son knows a retired builder who would love a little extra work as a part-time handyman. You get the idea. You make connections. You get recommended names and phone numbers. You may need a landscaper, carpet layer or roofer. Get recommendations from your Mastermind Alliance. - you plan to build your own home.An architect can be hired to assist you and your residential property specialist in performing any one or more of the services listed in Table I. The Architect's Role
In choosing an architect, the best source for reliable information is your residential property agent. Your agent is experienced in the phases of building design and construction. Your agent can assist you in preparing a list of candidates, evaluating their credentials, reviewing their previous work, talking with previous clients, and determining the investment quality of the architect's proposed work. If this all seems like hard work, so be it. In twenty years (or less!) when you are comfortably retired, you won't regret these days. The important thing is not to stop questioning. Curiosity has its own reason for existing. One cannot help but be in awe when he contemplates the mysteries of eternity, of life, of the marvelous structure of reality. It is enough if one tries merely to comprehend a little of this mystery every day. Never lose a holy curiosity. - Albert Einstein
When you call someone new from your list, you're not a call from the blue. You've got a connection. You call Sullivan the roofer. "Mr. Sullivan, my name is Bill FitzPatrick. Fred Jones recommended you to me. I have a roofing job and I'd like you to give me an estimate." Personal contacts are better than walking your fingers through the Yellow Pages. Try it.Every member of your Mastermind Alliance works for you. The organizational structure is here on paper and in your head. You don't call everyone together for a meeting and say, "Hi, I called you all together to make me a fortune in real estate". If you did, the alliance would be looking for the best psychiatrist to get you help. You know the organization and structure, and that's enough. No one else has to be involved with how these connections are made. Two other points should be made relative to the Mastermind Alliance. First, the people close to you, husband, wife or best friend should have a general idea of your goal. People who care about you might wonder why, for instance, you're driving around alone on a Sunday morning. They might wonder where they went wrong when you start talking in terms of making hundreds of thousands of dollars. Sit down with them and explain your goals. If they haven't read it already, give them a copy of the Action Principles®. Explain that you're going to buy one piece of property and eventually six properties. Explain the Master Real Estate system to them. Your research and planning should dispel skepticism. You need and should have the encouragement of those close to you. After all, as an Action Principles® Champion, you are certainly going to include them in the enjoyment of your prosperity. The Mastermind Alliance is your team, your organization. If you have a question, pick up the phone, make the connection and get the information. Your Mastermind Alliance will evolve and develop with time as you add and drop members.
You are a local real estate investor. You own quality properties. You want to buy more. Remember, real estate has a longer life expectancy than most people. Real estate passes from old hands to young. The old guy owns it today and you own it tomorrow and someone else will own it after you. You are only the temporary custodian. The following list helps sort out a few of the players and their roles.
Sign on only the best and most qualified consultant available within the desired field of expertise. Use written documents that are clear, concise and fair to both sides. Be sure the contract documents spell out exactly the work expected with timeframes and payment schedules. Define the results you expect from the consultant. Work with and assist the consultant whenever possible. Establish lines of communication with the consultant. Coordinate the services of all consultants working on the job to prevent overlaps, which may result in cost and time delays. Stick to the consultant's recommendations in any specialized, technical and/or regulated matter. That's why you hired him or her. Avoid any actions that delay the consultant's work. Keep the consultant informed of any changes being made that may impact his or her work. Allow adequate time for the review of consultant's work and/or reports and decisions and submissions based on the consultant's recommendations. Keep in mind that the consultant is only as good as the job specifications and how well he or she is kept informed and supported throughout the task. When the average homeowner calls in a contractor to negotiate a remodeling job, the contractor starts out with a big advantage. The contractor knows material and labor costs, suppliers, specifications, estimating, scheduling, and the definition of quality workmanship. He also knows what provisions to put into a written agreement. Most homeowners must concede these initial advantages to the contractor. After all, the contractor is in the remodeling business.  Those homeowners who do know a great deal about carpentry, wiring, and plumbing often choose to halve their costs and perform much of the work themselves. Approximately two-thirds of all major home remodeling is done by the pros and one third by do-it-yourselfers. This article is intended to help those homeowners who'd rather let the pros do the work. The vast majority of homeowners aren't greedy or bargain basement oriented when it comes to upgrading their properties. They want a dollar's worth of quality work for every dollar spent. But they don't want to experience the type of dispute that results in a visit to the Better Business Bureau, consumer protection agencies, call-for-action talk shows, the Attorney General's Office, or the small claims court. The common sense checklist below can help you protect your interests when you deal with remodeling contractors. 2. Get several bids for the project. 3. Deal with an established firm. 4. Check the contractor's reliability record with the Better Business Bureau. 5. Check the contractor's credit references. 6. Ask for a list of previously satisfied customers. 7. Verify that the contractor carries adequate liability insurance. 8. Insist that everything be put in writing. 9. Be attentive to details, and make the contract specific. 10. Ask for contractor and manufacturer guarantees. 11. Insist that the final and total cost of the job be included in the contract. 12. Insert a final completion date in the contract. 13. Don't sign a standardized contract that contains any blank spaces. 14. Don't hesitate to have the contract reviewed by your lawyer. 15. Don't make the final payment until all work is completed to your satisfaction, including clean up. 16. Don't pay cash. Continuing Education: FannieMae.com Official website of Fannie Mae, the nation's largest provider of funds for home mortgages. Go to Lesson 4
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