I’ve been to 3 Real Estate investment clubs, and they all seem to be sales or recruiting tactics. IE Neavue Riche University, companies selling investment videos, asset protection kits and Pre-Paid Legal. What do you guys think?
A good REI club will have a mix of things. Yes, there will always be someone there trying to sell something - but I think the networking is the best part.
You can get referrals for all kinds of services, who to stay away from, etc.
The REI club near me has meetings once per month. They have a networking time scheduled, plus vendors. Then the meeting part, where a speaker talks about some topic.
Then there is the part when people go up and discuss the recent deals that they made - sort of a ‘hurrah’ thing.
Everyone who goes to an REI meeting is trying to build their business, whether that is as a mortgage broker, contractor, attorney, investor, whatever.
gypsydog,
At almost every larger REIA, the vast majority of people in attendance will be newbies. If you go to a meeting today and then in a few months, you’ll find that there is an entirely new group of newbies. Almost all the newbies at the original meeting will have already given up. This is also true in the stock trading, MLM, and work from home industries. What all these industries have in common is that they are all seen by the public as “get rich quick” schemes. All of these industries will have a lot of people trying to sell to the newbies. So, when you first start going to the REIA meetings, it may seem that everyone has something to sell to the newbies.
However, there are really two meetings happening at these REI clubs. There is the meeting that is visible and there is the behind the scenes meeting. The behind the scenes meeting is nothing more than the successful investors (who are friends) talking to each other; sharing info; and doing deals.
If you want to be successful, it is your job to identify and become friends with the SUCCESSFUL investors. However, in this group, credibility is EVERYTHING! Get your financing or cash ready and determine your purchasing criteria. When one of these investors gives you a deal, be prepared to buy it. Nothing will hurt your credibility more than saying that you are an investor and then not being able to close.
Good Luck,
Mike
thanks for your insight on that Mike…
I went to one before, and all it seemed like was sales…or the “core group” was already settled and there was no room for newbies…