Tips to successful networking in Real Estate

I am an investor, not a Realtor, but I happen to be a pretty big fan of Realtors.  They have definitely assisted me in finding deals, have provided great insight in unique situations that occur during transactions, and have a very good knowledge of specific subdivisions when it comes to After Repair Value.  Prior to any wholesale or fix n flip opportunity, I always run my numbers through my team of trusted Realtors to see what their opinion is of the potential transaction.

The point here is that while many investors choose to look at Realtors as competition or an enemy, I choose to utilize them as allies and partners in business.  And this has helped me grow my business.  In addition to their knowledge, I am also able to achieve referrals from them on non conventional types of transactional opportunities (in return, I send them business that doesn't fit in my scope).

I also run a couple of networking meetings in Austin, and one of the things I've noticed is that the average new investor does not know how to communicate with a Realtor. Most of the times, their 'elevator' pitch goes along the lines of 'I need you to do a bunch of work for me with no guarantee of payment.  Who wants to work with me?'  For example, I'll here the following sales pitch to a realtor from an investor:

"I'm a new investor and my strategies are wholesale, fix n flips and short sales. I'm looking to work with a Realtor who will find me deals and run comps for me.  If you are interested, please contact me"

Who would answer that call?  Basically, what the new investor has said to the Realtor is that if you do all this free work for me then I'll give you your commission as a reward when it closes.  This isn't all that attractive of a proposition to a Realtor and you haven't really stood out.

The most important item that you can offer to Realtors is reciprocal value. Here's an example of my elevator pitch that I will use when speaking to Realtors regarding short sales:

"What do you do if you come across a motivated seller who owes more than the property is worth, the home needs repair, and they are behind on payments?  If the answer is 'turn the other way and run', I may be able to assist you.  If you refer these sellers to me, I can gather all necessary short sale paperwork for you, call the bank and wait on hold for hours for you, negotiate with the irrational loss mitigation department for you, and in many cases, be your end buyer.  All you will have to do is collect a commission, as you would be the Realtor of choice for any short sale you bring me.  So if doing nothing on a lead that you would otherwise throw away, helping a customer that would otherwise not be helped, and still being able to make a commission on a successful transaction that you would otherwise not be able to perform sounds good, take my card and contact me at the number below."

Do you see how a presentation such as this would create value?  What value creation can you come up with for different strategies, such as owner financing, subject to, or fix and flips?  Determine how you can create value when speaking to Realtors and you will achieve a great colleague in your real estate investing business.