3 Tips for Building the Relationships that Build Your Business

by Vena Jones-Cox

If you don’t think that real estate investing is a relationship business, you haven’t been paying attention. 

It’s your connections with other investors that bring you the local knowledge, the referrals to the right professionals, the money, the partnerships, and the deals that let you prosper now, and for years to come.   

But these relationships don’t ‘just happen’ for most people. You have to be intentional about building and maintaining them, just like you’re intentional (I hope) about building a rental portfolio, or a buyer’s list, or a marketing plan.   

COREE exists, in large part, to provide a platform for you to find and interact with like-minded folks who can encourage and help you be successful, but you have to do your part, too. Here are some tips for the 95% of us who aren’t just natural ‘connectors’:  

1. Be intentional about your professional development. There’s no job you can have or business you can be in where your value isn’t enhanced by knowing more. 

And in real estate, that value comes in two forms: knowing more just flat out means you can do more deals and make more money but knowing more also means that you have more to offer to other your colleagues.    

Knowledge is one currency that you can share to get what you need from others, and it’s a way of offering value to other people. Plus, it’s not fair to expect other people in the community to ‘teach’ you every single thing you need to know about real estate; if you’re not attending meetings, investing in your education in some way, and clearly serious about growing your skill and knowledge base, it’s hard for others to take you seriously.   

As we head into this new year, think about WHAT you most need to know, and how much time and/or money you’re willing to invest in learning it. With our SIXTEEN meetings, focus groups, and workshops each month, the opportunity to learn what you need to know will probably crop up sooner rather than later—make sure you’ve thought about it so that you can grab the chance when it comes around.   

2. Be intentional about who you need to meet. With over 900 members and growing, there are a lot of people at COREE, with a diverse set of strategies, experience levels, and areas of expertise. It’s going to be a long-term project to get to know them all, so you need to think about who you MOST need in your life. Is it serious buyers? Potential cash partners? Accountability buddies? People who are very experienced with creative finance deals? Contractors? They’re all here, and if you can tell us who you need to make connections with, we can direct you to a whole slew of them.
3. Be intentional about networking. Come to each meeting with a clear idea of what you have to offer (it’s something, even if you’re brand new), and how many new people you’re going to have a real conversation with before you leave.

Think about it: even if it’s only 5 per meeting, you could have DOZENS of new connections each month…but not if you sit with the same people, only talk to the person you came with, or, worse yet, don’t talk to anyone at all. And if you don’t know who’s who yet, ASK. Our board members, staff, and long-time members can all point you to people that have what you want and want what you have, if you’ll just say what that is.        

Relationship-building isn’t instant, but it’s incredibly valuable, and it’s an investment worth making. Build your value to others and set “make more connections” as a goal for 2023!