The Deal Triangle
Real estate is a team sport. You don’t have to know how to do everything. In fact, you shouldn’t try to do everything. What you should do is execute on your SWEET Spot, and find others who execute on theirs. It’s not a how thing; it’s a who thing. This becomes especially important as you start taking on bigger deals.
Case in Point: Moving up the market
Think about a large multifamily apartment complex. If you’ve been flipping houses, you might know everything about your current level, but moving up to a bigger deal? That’s a different game. Every time you level up, it’s not about learning how to do everything but about finding your place in the deal triangle. You add value where you’re strongest, and over time, you learn more. That’s how you solidify your floor and move up.
When I first started flipping houses, I didn’t know how to do it. I focused on what I do best: finding deals. As a salesperson, I knew that was my SWEET spot. Then, I learned how to raise money. Eventually, I figured out how to run the flips.
Later, I got into development. I didn’t know sh*t about development, but I knew someone who did. And they were missing something else that I could bring to the table. That’s how you move up the market. It’s always a who thing. Always.
Finding your lane in the Deal Triangle
The Deal Triangle is a simple way to visually think through where you fit and who else you need on your team to make a deal work. Every good deal needs three key roles:
- The Deal Finder – The person who finds and sources the opportunity.
- The Operator – The person who runs the project and executes the plan.
- The Investor – The person who brings the capital.
The fundamentals for every deal are always the same. They never change. In practical application, each side can be bigger or smaller, more critical or less important. Whether you’re flipping houses, developing townhomes, or building skyscrapers, it's always an operator, a deal finder, and an investor. It’s always these three sides.
For example, sourcing off-market single-family deals doesn’t directly translate to sourcing large multifamily opportunities. But the process - networking, relationships, strategy - is similar. The same goes for capital raising: raising money for a fix-and-flip is different from raising for an apartment complex, but the principles don’t change. It’s about applying your skills to a new level.
Now, those skills don’t transfer across the triangle, but they do within the same lane. So you can smartly move your game forward by joining the right players.
The Club: All Three Sides of the Triangle
As a team sport, real estate and business are all about relationships and connections.
This is where people get stuck. They want to move up but don’t know how. The thing is that you don’t need to know how to do it. You need to find who to do it with. And at The Club, we’ve got all three sides of the triangle covered: deal finders, wholesalers, marketers, flippers, developers, experienced builders, capital raisers, hard money lenders, bankers, and I could go on and on and on.
On our team you’ll definitely find the two other sides of your triangle.
So, if you’re looking to move up the market, don’t look any further. You’ve found what you need.
Relationships Are Everything
I joke that I pay for my friends sometimes, but it’s true. If you don’t understand that relationships are everything in this business, you’re missing the point. And guess what? You can pay to get into the right rooms with the right people. Why wouldn’t you?
You can shortcut the process. You can build the relationships that will take you to the next level.
You just need to know where you fit in the Deal Triangle and then find the right who to complete the team.
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