Building your Network
I do not exactly know who came up with the quote, "It is not what you know, but who you know." However, I do know that I hear it a lot during phone calls, often catch myself saying it, and read it in certain texts. Maybe it is a cliché phrase or an overused sentence in the business world, but I think it has meaning.
The reason I say that is to bring up the question, "How did you build your real estate or personal network?" As a young professional in the real estate world, I have observed what has worked for me and just as important, what did not work for me. Lately, I have had engaging investor calls or personal phone calls with friends with one common theme. It seems that everyone is curious about how to connect with others, or maybe to share how they grew their network. There are plenty of directions to take that conversation or pieces of advice, but I wanted to highlight a few of my learnings over the last few years:
1. Provide value- If someone is taking time out of their day to join a call or meet you for coffee, you must show them how you could bring value to them and make it mutually beneficial. With only about 2.5 years of real estate experience under my belt, I still have realized that I can add value to a seasoned investor. It may giving them feedback on a certain deal from a new perspective or it could be asking a question that they never thought about.. Which leads me to my other learning point.
2. Be curious- Effort. Sometimes you just need to show a mentor that you want to learn and that you are listening to their advice. The act of being curious is not just asking questions, especially in real estate. Maybe it is driving the neighborhood that your partner just invested in to learn more or it could be requesting a book from your friend that they found valuable.
How did you build your network? What worked and what didn't?