If you aren't networking, you're losing.

I’ve gained a mountain of knowledge in the last few years regarding real estate investing and like everyone else I continue to learn with every deal I do. In the real estate world knowledge can be converted into currency. Knowing vacancy rates, repair costs, tenant profiles and how to calculate capital expenses allows you to put deals together. The knowledge you use to put deals together comes back to you in the form of money. The more knowledge you have, the more profitable the deals you put together will be. I’ll give it up for BiggerPockets as the majority of my knowledge has been gained from listing to their podcasts and on the forums. There is however one source I did not expect to gain so much knowledge from; networking.

When I started out in real estate investing I had a scarcity mindset. It was me against the world! I assumed that talking to other investors would be like telling the other players at a poker table what cards I had. I now view real estate investing as a puzzle; the more people you work with, the more pieces you have and the bigger the picture will be. Real estate investing is best utilized as a collective, not a competition.

There are may pieces of a puzzle that are needed before a real estate investment can be put together. You might have enough pieces to build a very small puzzle but you will run out of pieces very quickly if you don’t share. After one or two small investments you will probably hit a wall. If you work collectively you might find you can build something far bigger than you ever thought possible.

I started hosting meet ups for investors just over a year ago. As a real estate agent my goal was to find buyers to work with so I could get a pay cheque. What I’ve received is infinitely more important. I’ve met investors that specialize in markets I had never considered. Student housing, rezoning, fully furnished employee housing, new construction, Air B&B and joint ventures to name a few. I’ve met people using creative strategies to make local areas profitable that otherwise weren’t. I’ve learnt what municipalities are pro development and which ones aren’t. I’ve met contractors, lenders, accountants and home inspectors. All local and all relevant.

When I attend a networking event now I’m not looking to learn anything in particular but leave with a multitude of actionable knowledge and motivation from like minded people. You never know who you are going to meet or what you might learn but if you can put yourself in a room with a bunch skilled investors you will leave the event more knowledgeable. The evidence of this is obvious. Look at some of the biggest players in real estate; are they one man shows? No. People like David Osborne, Grant Cardone and even Brandon Turner attend networking and mastermind groups because the only thing better than one knowledgeable, successful brain is a room of 5 or 10 or 100 of them.

If you are new to real estate investing, go to networking events. A lot of them are free. What’s better than free education? If you are wondering why I only suggested that new real estate investors should attend networking groups it’s because successful, knowledgable investors are already there.