Building a wholesale team is a process that requires an acute attention to detail. Done correctly, the fruits of your labor will be realized through higher profit margins. Developing a wholesale team that compliments your business will make you more productive, as you will be allotted the time to focus your attention on more important matters. The more time you are able to spend on income-producing activities, the more profitable your business may become. After you have established the proper foundation and implemented the appropriate systems, it is time to consider which positions you want to fill on your real estate wholesale team.
Positions on Your Wholesale Team
1.) Office Assistant:
As the first wholesale team member you should consider hiring, an office assistant should be responsible for executing any tedious and mundane tasks that are essential, but not a priority. Their job responsibilities may include: running errands, answering phones, checking the mail, making copies, marketing fulfillment and anything else you deem relevant. More importantly, their presence is specifically intended to allow you to concentrate your efforts on more important matters. With your “busy work” allocated to an office assistant, your skills may be directed towards income-producing activities.
Relatively inexperienced investors are advised to seek the assistance of someone just out of college; an intern perhaps. This will provide you with a motivated individual who does not have the experience to demand a higher wage. Those looking for a little more experience should consider acquiring an office assistant from a competitor’s business. Doing so will guarantee that they have the experience required to serve as your office assistant. However, it should be noted that their experience would require a higher wage. If this is not an option, try placing an ad on Craigslist or a similar job-listing site. Doing so will likely result in a myriad of resumes at your disposal.
Candidates for the office assistant position should have most of the following personality and characteristic traits:
- Very friendly, organized and detail-oriented
- Skilled, pleasant and know how to act accordingly
- Comfortable with technology and computer operating systems
- Reliable
- Willing to do whatever tasks, menial or not, asked of them
Assuming you find an office assistant that meets your criteria, their wage will vary on experience. However, a typical wage for an investor’s office assistant is anywhere between $8 to $20/hour. We recommend that you pay your office assistant with an hourly wage for the first three to six months, as it is likely a trial period. Once they prove themselves, switch them to a salary. Once salaried, you can be more demanding with their work schedule without having to worry about paying overtime.
2.) Processor:
Investors are advised to hire a processor once an office assistant has successfully integrated into their business. The acquisition of a processor is one of the most important steps you will make, as they will take over the role of bringing a contract from close to sale. As such, the characteristics of a processor must demonstrate an increased propensity for multi-tasking and working under pressure. The person holding this position can’t be intimidated by several competing deadlines. Their tasks will include, but are not limited to: filling out paper work, arranging financing, solving problems, motivating team members, mediating discrepancies and coordinating a variety of people and events.
Processors can be acquired through several means. For example, within the real estate industry, agents’ assistants or office managers make great candidates. If this is not an option, consider seeking the assistance of a paralegal that works for an attorney and is familiar with closings.
Candidates for your wholesale team should exhibit the following characteristics:
- Very detail-oriented (should be the most organized person in the office)
- Good at managing people and building systems
- Knowledgeable about wholesaling and real estate closings
Processors should require an hourly wage of somewhere between $15 to $20/hour when they are initially hired. As with the office assistant, keep them on an hourly wage until they meet your expectations. Once they do, switch them over to salary. Subsequently, a good salary for a processor will range from $25,000 to $40,000 a year. Where they land on this skill is dependent on their skill level and the cost of living in your particular area.
3.) Marketing Director:
Hiring a marketing director is one of the most important steps you can take as an entrepreneur building a real estate wholesale team. As the third addition to your business, the marketing director will be in charge of expanding your visibility. They will both develop and implement monthly marketing strategies that increase exposure. Their direct involvement is specifically intended to bring your company potential deals.
While marketing, they will also track the progress of their individual techniques. This includes focusing on which campaigns are doing well in their respective areas. Understanding analytics will allow you to focus marketing efforts in areas that generate a larger turnover rate. Accordingly, future budgets will be better spent on campaigns that draw more attention to your company.
Despite the importance of specialized marketing campaigns, they are naturally associated with a myriad of time-consuming and menial tasks. So while the director designs and develops campaigns, they will need to oversee one or more assistants that are relegated to hard labor.
There are several places you can go to find yourself in the company of a capable marketing director. However, a marketing director that is fresh out of college will be well versed in new strategies, technologies and terminology. College students typically exhibit a lot of enthusiasm, a trait that can be beneficial to your marketing campaigns. When interviewing potential candidates, make sure they provide the following characteristics:
- Highly creative
- Organized
- Able to manage other people
- Ideally has a degree in marketing or advertising
The marketing director should receive anywhere from $10 to $20/hour initially. As with the other wholesale team members, consider moving them to salary once they have proven their competence. After a period of three to six months, a good salary range for a marketing director should be somewhere between $25,000 to $35,000 a year.
4.) Acquisition Specialist:
What real estate wholesale team would be complete without a talented acquisition specialist? This individual is perhaps the most valuable addition to your company, as they will be responsible for evaluating and acquiring prospective deals. Subsequently, their specific skill set will determine whether or not your business brings in a respective deal under contract.
As a consummate professional, they understand exit strategies, financing, offers and the generation of accurate repair lists. The ideal candidate will be able to handle a lot of your company’s short sale negotiations as well.
We recommend hiring an acquisition specialist with previous sales experience in the real estate industry. This may include a former real estate agent or mortgage broker. It is particularly beneficial if they exhibit the following characteristics:
- Outstanding sales and people skills
- A skilled negotiator
- Can read people effectively and build lasting relationships
- Organizational skills and the ability to follow systems
- A good understanding of technology
- As an added bonus, a familiarity with the construction industry
The acquisition specialist will require you to tweak your compensation strategy a bit. For this particular wholesale team member, consider a commission-based salary that will give them a percentage of each sale. The percentage rate you decide on is at your discretion, but make sure it is competitive for your area. It might be worth it to find someone who has minimal experience bat has demonstrated a lot of up side potential.
5.) Selling Specialist:
With your wholesale team finally coming together, it is time to consider the addition of a selling specialist. Their presence on your real estate team will be very similar to that of a buying agent Realtor, as they will focus the majority of their attention on marketing to find buyers. This includes developing a well-devised buyers list that is as trustworthy as it is extensive. Your selling specialist will prescreen and evaluate buyers, get them pre-qualified with your hard moneylender, mortgage broker, and/or private lender. The selling specialist works hand in hand with the processor to make sure that the deal closes.
Consider the following characteristics as a necessity for every selling specialist candidate:
- Ability to sell and close deals
- Great at communicating
- Handles adversity well
- Has an understanding of construction
- Works well under pressure and meets deadlines
- Must know how to respectively “hustle”
Consider starting your selling specialist on either an hourly rate or a small salary. Similar to that of your other wholesale team members, transition them to a different form of compensation once they have demonstrated a competent ability to serve your business. We recommend transitioning them to a commission based salary after three to six months. A commission-based salary gives them extra incentive to close deals in a timely and profitable manner. It may also shift the risk from yourself to your employee.
6.) Runner:
The runner can also help with marketing-related tasks such as mailing lists, direct mail, and anything else the marketing director needs help with. The runner does not need to have any prior experience in real estate.
Your runner should have the following characteristics:
- Reliable
- Strong work ethic
- Good Grasp of technology
The runner position, while critical, can initially be part time. As your business continues to thrive, consider making them full time. It is common to provide an hourly wage of $8 to $10/hour.
