Investing in real estate can be a very lucrative business when done
correctly but, like most other things of significance, when it is done
incorrectly due to a lack of knowledge and/or experience and results in
too many missteps and miscalculations, real estate investing can be very
frustrating, stressful and hopelessly desperate. This often leads to
unmitigated losses in assets, time and other resources.
Real estate investors who have been successful conduct their business
in accordance with a few time-tested principles that guide them in every
transaction. One such principle is related to the relationships
developed with third-party real estate professionals, some of whom we
will refer to as specialists for the purpose of this article. Seldom is a
real estate transaction completed without one or more of these
specialists.
The realtor or agent is one of the most important
specialists in real estate transactions nationwide, except in those
instances when a home seller sells his or her own house (FSBO) to a home
buyer who is not represented by a real estate agent. In these instances
other specialists required to perform specific functions for the
transaction to close are appraisers, mortgage brokers & lenders,
abstract & title insurance companies, agents and closers, real
estate attorneys, surveyors, lenders’ attorneys, PMI (Private Mortgage
Insurance) companies in some cases and property insurance companies and
agents.