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Posted about 8 years ago

​Getting plugged in...Twitching and Typing

Firstly, I want to say how grateful I am for all those that responded to my last post - it is a testament to the amazing community BiggerPockets has built in the outpouring of insightful and in-depth replies that I received to a number of questions that I posed in my "I'm new, I don't know what to do - Gurus and Gotchas" post from last week.

This week I continued to focus on a number of beginner hurdles that I am sure many people face when they are diving into real estate investing for the first time. It was clear to me that one thing I needed to do right away was get to a meetup of re investment professionals in my area. So last week I attended a real estate forecast put on by one of the local real estate investment groups.

I was a little apprehensive going to the event because I knew I was a newbie and so did everyone else in the room when they saw the glazed over look I had in my eyes as I surveyed the crowd in hopes of finding a welcoming place to sit. In fact, the hard money lender that I happened to land next to (who was actually very helpful and shared some advice with me....wooden nickels maybe but hey I'll take anything at this point) remarked as much - his first smirking question being, "You haven't been to this meeting before have you..." How he knew that, I will never know (the twitch in my left eye might have tipped him off).

As I listened to the forecast and frantically typed my notes, it occurred to me how many different types of people were in the room (we all had to do introductions - if you have a fear of public speaking I would suggest preparing something ahead of time for fear of passing out). There were people from all walks of life and all sides of the real estate equation. I met a wholesaler, a real estate broker, a hypochondriac and a gentleman that wants to put up an airplane hangar, to name a few.

My questions to the BiggerPockets's community are:

1) When first starting out, who are the three most important people that you need to meet and develop a relationship with?

and...

2) What are some words of advice for screening different people in the real estate world - put another way, what are some types/people to be wary of or avoid altogether?


Comments (2)

  1. Great questions, Sam, and welcome to the world of investing. Happy to share my thoughts to your questions.

    1) The 3 most important people I connected with were cash buyers, cash buyers, cash buyers (at least for the type of investing that I do!). Find people with money and build a deep relationship with them. Everyone else is secondary.

    2) The simplest test is this: are they investing right now? Whenever someone tried to give me advice or sell me something, this simple question helped me know whether to be wary of them or not. (Sure, those people MIGHT have something of value to share but I want to learn from people who are practicing what they preach).


    1. Thank you Kent! 

      Your advice is sound - understanding where people are coming from and their motivations for doing what they do is essential.

      I will try to take your insight and run with it as I continue to go out and meet people.

      Thank you!