As a professional real estate investor, your mission should be to develop systems that make every part of doing business with your company easy and timely. Getting from contract to closing on an investment can be seamless if you develop a keen understanding of the process and outline systems to follow each time.

A key is to understand the process and the teams that participate. As a professional you build trust in all parties to the transaction by being both an excellent communicator and facilitator and being transparent in your actions. Here’s a list that will help you in creating your systems:

Home Inspection Team – Get them lined up early so that you can quickly get clearance to move the deal forward. Provide them with clear expectations so that their inspections can be thorough without being disruptive to the tenants.

Property Management Team – Utilize them to get leases transferred over and security deposits in place. Review prorated rents and security deposits so that there is a clear transfer of funds at closing. Utilize a tenant estopel certificate to confirm the agreement between current landlord and tenant (amount of rent and security deposit between each tenant.) Verify responsible parties for utilities and verify with the service providers that they are up to date.

Lender – Make sure all documents are in place so that the transaction goes smoothly. Be timely in getting documents to the lender so that there will not be any unforeseen delays. Connect them with the title company so that they can work together in the process.

Title Company – Get the search done so that you know there are no outstanding liens on the property that would hinder the seller from transferring a good title. Often you are doing the work for the seller in making sure there are no stumbling blocks to getting the deal closed.

Insurance Provider – Find out what your insurance provider needs to make his/her job easy. Get a quote early in order to get the best rate and make sure there are no outstanding claims on the property.

Tenants – Be aware that your investment is someone’s home. Work to make sure that they are included in the transition so that they can feel safe that their world won’t be jeopardized by having a new landlord.

If this is your business take the time to develop not only a working checklist but a firm timeline project management sheet. These two elements will build successful habits and prevent you from missing something that might cost you.

This is as important in making your investment business run smoothly as if finding and negotiating great deals. When you make it easy for sellers to release the property and move on to whatever is next for them, they will tell others and who knows what kind of impact that can have on your business success.