"Marketing" by Networking | How to introduce yourself?

Question

I have a small portfolio (3 SFH) entirely in my own backyard. Between a demanding FT job (that I enjoy,) a wife who also works FT, and two young children, I have no real desire to "all in" to real estate as a FT career at this point in my life. I'd consider my RE business to be more boutique. We want to keep our geographical footprint small. We also can really only handle one acquisition every 12-18 months.

Current State: Knowing the neighborhood(s) we target, and having driven them (regularly) I have a pretty decent list of "looks distressed" properties. I also do post to local neighborhood groups on Facebook periodically but recently have cut down on my social media dramatically (too much drama, arguing, and general hatred towards one another.)

That said, when you meet someone for the first time and they say, "What do you do for a living" I've (finally) pivoted to say, "I own a small real estate business" first (instead of after talking about my W2.)

My Question: How do I quickly position "what I do" to focus on "I'm looking for houses in this area." What's the 5 word pitch? I buy houses? Something not as cliche? I'm curious how other people approach this to let others know, "I'm the local guy who wants to reinvest into our shared community."

Christopher Abele · Answer

I take it a step further - I don't mail postcards. I mail a brief, hand written letter where I introduce myself. The challenge is getting to the house that doesn't look distressed. As I was considering the question I posed, it might just be, "I'm in real estate acquisitions" and then allow the other person to ask more questions about what that means. That said, I'm still very much interested in hearing other approaches.

Jonathan Greene · Answer

You lead with, "I am a local homebuyer." When you buy slowly in your own backyard, you are the asset because you know people they know. The best off-market local experts in acquisition position their area knowledge and relationships in every opportunity. When you mail postcards, you short-target only those homes you like and you write something different depending on where it is so you can connect. You have an advantage over those who don't live there and don't want to help.