Networking with Realtors

You only need to work with two to four listing agents per year to make a comfortbale living. You can find listing agents in the real estate section of your newspaper or through personal contacts or your investor groups. I have on Realtor in my area who gives me only one deal a year, but I make at least $30,000 each time. I stay in touch with her every few months just to keep my name fresh and to keep the realtionship moving forward.

Realtors know lots of other Realtors, so if you have one contact, you can network through that one to access many others. Call the local real estate board to find out when they have local functions, and go mingle. Exchange business cards at the functions. If you don’t have cards, get some printed. It’s more important at this point for you to have their cards than for them to have yours, but having a card to exchange is more professional. You want them to know who you are and how to get in contact with you. Take a Realtor out to lunch.

Rent a conference room and invite Realtors to a wine and cheese party; then give them a presentation about lease options or lease purchases. Draw them in by focusing on what’s important to them: “Would you like to sell more listings and make more money this year? I can teach you for free!” Do something to advertise it that grabs their attention without giving away all the details. Don’t be alarmed if only five or six people show up, because those few are very interested in creative solutions. You might even put on your invitations: “Would you like to be more creative than your competition? Would you like to know things that your competition doesn’t know yet? I can teach you some creative ways to sell your listings that your competition hasn’t even thought of."

If you are not sure who to call to get started, talk to the people in your local investing group, since there will be some Realtors in your group. These are not the Realtors you will be working with, as these are investors themselves and not traditional listing agents, but they should be able to tell you who the listing agents are in their offices. The top listing agents from the companies are also listed in the paper. It’s worth starting a database or spreadsheet to keep up with who is where and what they do, especially with the people you begin to contact and develop realtionships with.

Your local investors group can also be a great resource for brainstorming more ideas on drawing people in. Not only will they be interested in giving you feedback, but you may even find a money or managing partner there who is also keen on investing in the lease option strategy. You can then go in as a team and make a presentation.



Excerpt taken from Investing in Real Estate with Lease Options and “Subject-To” Deals Chapter 10, Pages 138-139.