Article written by Brandon Turner
Published in Entrepreneur magazine on 01/27/2016

Sometimes a team can accomplish far more than a group of lone individuals. For example, cyclists in the Tour de France take turns riding at the front of their group, decreasing the wind for those behind them. Wolves hunt in packs to take down animals 20 times their size. And for those of us who were children of the ’90s, we all remember Ducks Fly Together.

This brings up another team that can accomplish amazing things — not a team of people, but a team of benefits which, when combined, can help you achieve your greatest financial goals. Specifically, I want to talk about real estate.

Source: CoreLogic

CoreLogic® (NYSE: CLGX), a leading global property information, analytics and data-enabled services provider, today released its June National Foreclosure Report, which provides data on completed U.S. foreclosures and foreclosure inventory. According to CoreLogic, for the month of June 2014, there were 49,000 completed foreclosures nationally, down from 54,000 in June 2013, a year-over-year decrease of 9.9 percent. On a month-over-month basis, completed foreclosures were up by 2.7 percent from the 48,000* reported in May 2014. As a basis of comparison, before the decline in the housing market in 2007, completed foreclosures averaged 21,000 per month nationwide between 2000 and 2006.

SAN ANTONIO, Aug. 1, 2014 /PRNewswire/ USAA Real Estate Company today announced the acquisition of Chestnut Place, a 30-story residential building located at 850 N. State Street in Chicago, in partnership with Chicago-based Golub & Company, an international real estate investment and development firm.

Michael Goldman and Collin McKenna of Golub, and David Reahl of USAA, negotiated the acquisition. The seller, Chestnut Place Associates, was represented in the transaction by CBRE. The purchase price is undisclosed.

Sales of new U.S. homes rose in June to the highest level in five years, pointing to gains in residential construction that will support the economic expansion in the second half of the year.

Purchases climbed 8.3 percent to an annualized pace of 497,000 homes, the highest level since May 2008, the Commerce Department said today in Washington. The medianestimate of 77 economists surveyed by Bloomberg called for a gain to 484,000.

What’s the biggest mistake a real estate investor can make?

Not hiring a realtor.

Yes, they can be a big expense, but a realtor can be an invaluable asset when scoping out properties that you plan on investing a lot of money into.