How to Streamline your Real Estate Acquisition Process

Financial savvy and organizational cunning are indisputable skills necessary for real estate acquisition and syndication. Spartan specializes in driving both acquisition and finance—crunching numbers and gathering information for our valued investors, and opening conversations for potential acquisition targets.

Since designing and executing an effective real estate acquisition strategy is nothing short of challenging, we sat down with Ben Lapidus—Chief Financial Offer and Acquisitions Lead at Spartan—for some tips and insight into investor communication, operational advice and selling yourself as knowledgeable in the real estate space

Selling Yourself

Maintaining a successful and potent partnership with investors is crucial, and the manner in which you present yourself is of utmost importance. Although it can be tempting to pretend you have all the answers and knowledge in your arsenal, being comfortable with saying you don’t know is an invaluable tool. There is power in saying you may not currently have the answers but will put in the work to find them.

It’s also imperative to remember—most people perceive you based on your integrity, not always your technical skills. Of course, technical abilities are fundamental to investing and acquiring, but focusing on a long-term relationship built on trust, diligence and sincerity is vital.

Preparing for the Hard Questions

Most questions will likely pertain to the mindset investors find themselves in: how will they get their money back? If you have invested before, use that personal experience to your advantage—whether it was investing with a syndicator or putting your own money at risk. Even if you don’t have the technical answers, making that connection and pulling from your own background to formulate a response is a great approach.

Understanding the psychology of an investor enables you to answer the majority of their questions and meet them where they are.

Overall, being as prepared as possible will help to ease communication. For quick, digestible knowledge and learning opportunities—try a Google deep dive, read a few books or take an underwriting class online. Be ready to learn as you go.

Operational Advice

Putting your trust into the right parties will quickly prove to be valuable. Always remember who is incentivized by a purchase, whether it’s real estate brokers, general contractors or property managers, they will all turn a profit regardless of how the asset performs. Considering this—you have to verify all information, data and numbers before underwriting. Precision does not always equal accuracy; prepare to slowly improve various properties and rent.

When processes don’t go according to plan, being able to carefully and sensibly pivot can distinguish you from others in the market.

Number Crunching Tips

Come up with a system to filter your leads and focus your attention, so before you start your underwriting—look for red flags and differentiators. This brief glance allows you to do the necessary research, productively prioritize your time and focus on areas that need the most work and verification.

Spartan has the skillset and expertise in strategy, feasibility, market reduction, positioning, operations and more to get development deals pushed through. These resources and tools allow us to offer real estate services and guide investors in the right direction.