While it’s true that success in the real estate industry, in general, depends upon your ability to network and create connections, this is especially important when talking about wholesale real estate. Remember that this is a scenario where you need to essentially create a mutually beneficial situation for three parties: the buyer, the seller, and yourself. Not only will an emphasis on networking help you expand your professional connections, but it will also lead to increased opportunities as well.
1. Attend Industry Events
Attending real estate industry events in your area is a great way to meet like-minded people and do so in person. Yes, there’s a lot to be said for the convenience of establishing relationships online. But industry functions let you shake someone’s hand, buy them a drink, take them out to dinner, and just engage with them in a personal way that a lot of professional networks still rely on.
You’d be surprised by how many realty-specific events take place in your area – particularly if you live close to one of the major cities. Note that you should also be on the lookout for events pertaining to local community groups, too. Establishing relationships with someone outside the real estate realm could still easily come in handy down the road.
2. Put Social Media to Work For You
Another great strategy to help grow your wholesale real estate network involves taking full advantage of the social media era we’re a part of. Try to be as active as possible on all the relevant sites that the people you want to connect with are a part of. You know more details about Paradise Hardscapes here.
Use Facebook to write longer, blog-style posts about what you’re up to and what you might be looking for. LinkedIn can be a perfect chance to connect with people more professionally. Are you touring a new property for which you’re trying to find a buyer? Recording a quick YouTube video can really make a difference.
You can share interesting industry-related articles that you’ve found on Twitter/X, post photos and other visual content on Instagram, and more. Whatever you do, stay active, comment, and reply as much as possible.
Note that you can also engage in social media networking alongside the other best practices on this list. Are you attending an industry event with a number of interesting speakers, for example? There is probably a fair amount of downtime in between each presentation – use it as an opportunity to put up a quick Facebook post outlining who you just saw, what you took away from their speech, and what is coming up that you’re looking forward to.
It’s a great chance to show people how seriously you’re taking wholesale real estate, as well as to make people feel like they’re at the event right alongside you.
3. Find and Join Investment Clubs
Finally, don’t neglect how helpful wholesale real estate investment clubs can be – particularly if you’re just starting out and may not be sure how to proceed. Sometimes, new wholesale real estate investors, in particular, have a hard time gaining traction for reasons like having limited contacts in the industry. Investment clubs help solve that by putting you in contact with people who are interested in collaborating with you on future deals.
Many investment clubs also have regular events with guest speakers who will share their thoughts on various topics, from the basics all the way up to the more advanced best practices. This, again, can be a perfect chance to meet new people and expand your network, all while maintaining a healthy emphasis on continuing education for yourself, too.
Even if you don’t necessarily stay in the club for very long, it’s still a chance to make sure you’re headed in the right direction.
Beyond that, there are two key ideas that you need to buy into in order to make it in the wholesale real estate field. First, networking is not something that you “do once and forget about.” Attending industry events or being active on social media shouldn’t be a priority only until some opportunities start to come your way, at which point you allow them to fall by the wayside. You need to set aside time each week to engage in these types of activities for the foreseeable future.
Just because you seem to have a lot of connections today doesn’t mean that the situation won’t change drastically tomorrow. At that point, it will take some time to build up momentum for yourself again – if you’ve allowed your networking regimen to fall stagnant, that is.
Secondly, you need to focus on building genuine relationships, not passive connections. You’re not looking for someone who you can “use once” and be done with. The world of wholesale real estate is small, and to thrive over the long term, you’ll need to be able to rely on the same people over and over. That means offering legitimate value to all potential partners that you come across. Go out of your way to help people and give them something without necessarily expecting anything in return. Doing so increases the chances that they’ll return the favor at their earliest opportunity.
Relationships are the Key to Success
Wholesale real estate professionals can build a robust and dynamic network over time by implementing actionable tactics like those outlined above. Almost immediately, this effort will begin to facilitate access to new deals that they may have otherwise been cut off from. It also helps establish themselves as prominent players in the wholesale real estate market, which in and of itself is the most important benefit of all.