I am often asked, “What kind of real estate investors do you work with?”. When I hear this question the first thought that pops into my mind is, “The kind that wants to make money in real estate.” I have never been the kind of person who had to categorize everything and label it. However, since I do get this question quite often, it got me thinking about how I would classify different types of real estate investors. Feel free to let me know if you can think of one I have forgotten.

The Shark

Usually at the top of any real estate market’s food chain, the Shark is the go to person in that area. There are only a few sharks in each individual market. You can distinguish a Shark by going to your local real estate investment club. They are the people standing on the outside looking in, usually talking amongst themselves and pointing at all of the fresh bait in the audience. Your local real estate investing club owner or president is usually the most prominent Shark.

The Player

The true picture of the Player is a full time real estate investor that knows all the ways to make a deal happen. The Player will own some investment properties for long term investments, be working on a few rehab deals, have some wholesale properties waiting to be bought up, and be putting contracts on a few more, usually all at the same time. Real Estate is the Player’s BUSINESS and he knows his business well. You can usually spot a Player in the market because if you are actively investing, you have either bought, sold, or possibly even borrowed money from him on a deal or two.

The Landlord

This one is pretty easy. The Landlord is a real estate investor with a long term business plan that involves holding property long term and playing them like blue chip stocks. The Landlord is one of the most savvy of all investors and knows exactly what he wants, because he follows a plan. This group could be full time investors that own many rental units, or someone that owns a couple of units and it holding them for the long term.

The Rehabber

The group with the hardest job, by far, but usually with the largest potential for profit, that is the Rehabber. I know people in this group that do rehab projects full time, with multiple projects going at the same time, and I know people who rehab properties one at a time, in their spare time, usually a couple of times a year. These are the risk takers, those that will take some risk in order to make a windfall profit.

The Beginner

You can classify anyone who has done at least 1 deal as a Beginner. They had the guts to take the hardest and most important step, actually get into the game, but they have not done enough deals, or have enough experience to have found their niche and quit their day jobs. These are the people to watch and the future big players in the business. I love to watch beginners because that is where you get fresh perspectives and new ideas.

The Birddog

Sometimes much maligned, but an always needed part of the real estate investing food chain, the Birddog is the guy out on the street that is pounding the pavement searching for opportunities. The Birddog often works for a Shark or Player and is exclusive to them. In this relationship, the Shark or Player are usually mentors to the less experienced Birddog and offer them this relationship to gain valuable experience. Being a Birddog is almost always a stepping stone to one of the other real estate investing groups.

The Learner

Learners are just what you would think they are, they are the ones that buy every course, take every class, go to every meeting, but NEVER do anything. They will spend thousands of dollars educating themselves, but will not act upon that knowledge. I understand that everyone is different when it comes to comfort level in this business, but you can never profit without acting. I have known some Learners that have spent tens of thousands of dollars and years trying to get comfortable in this business. If that is you, you need a different kind of course.

The Clueless

You have all seen them. They are the ones that talk about how they are going to spend all the money that are going to make in real estate. They go to the meetings, talk a pretty good game, but never do a deal. They will not even take the time and money needed to educate themselves in this business. They are the wannabees that look at the successful people around them and all they do is talk about how great it will be when they have that much money. The Clueless will never succeed.

I believe this will pretty much cover all of the bases. There may be a couple of people that I have met so far in my career that do not fit into any of these categories, but I did not think that two or three people would warrant their own group. Now that I think about it, that may be the MOST important category of them all. They are the ones that make their own way and are, by far, the most successful of them all. Let’s call this last group “The Maverick”.

Now go and make your own way!