This month and next we have two articles about the need for a 'Power Team', which is an essential part of the jigsaw for anyone starting out in property investing.

Property investment is a team business. You are unable to fulfil all the roles and it is essential that you recruit or appoint a number of people to your 'Power Team', as it is commonly called, before you buy your first property.

This is even more the case when buying at auction for three reasons.

1. A number of your Power Team members will be sources of information vital in making the decision to bid and calculating your maximum bid.

2. You will start to use some of your Power Team before auction day and the number will increase as you approach completion.

3. There are generally 28 days between catalogue release and auction day, followed by another 28 days between auction & completion day. These periods are not sufficient time to reliably arrange all the matters that need to be in place on completion day and generally, members of your Power Team should not be appointed in a rush.

Members of your Power Team fall into two categories, national and local.