Opinions on REI Club First Meeting
Wholesaler · Alexandria, VA · Member since 2016 · 22 posts · 4 votes
So I'm new to REI but moving quickly to get my business moving. It's going pretty good so far and meeting four sellers next week.
One of the first things I did was to attend a nearby REI club meeting. Now I understand the deal to some degree but basically the whole 4 hours was hawking $20K education programs. Yes, I learned a few things but the sales pitch was epic. It's my first time to attend an REI club meeting in person. I came there to network and see what others are doing. Some of the topics they touched on in the "education" program I found for free on the internet when I got home.
My spidey sense is tingling a bit and not sure what I should do. The leader seems like a cool guy but the tease is "get your education (as in buy the program) and I'll let you in on the deals we are doing".
What do you think?
"What is the typical format for these meetings? Things to look out for?"
Format
I've been going to one of the local REIA meetings for a little over a year now. This is what I've seen. Keep in mind that probably every group does it a bit differently; this is all my own observations and opinions.
The meeting is held once a month at a local hotel, in one of the bigger conference rooms. There is hotel-conference-room type food available starting at 6 PM. (What I mean is, don't expect steaks and sushi and Scotch. :D Think fried chicken, ravioli, meatballs, water, iced tea, stuff like that.)
There is an admission charge. You can attend one meeting for free, and then pay for meetings one at a time, or buy a quarterly or yearly membership. The yearly membership at the one I go to is $100. I'm sure the REIA makes a *little* money on this, but I think it mostly goes for the food, renting the room, etc.
The "formal" program doesn't begin until 7 PM; from 6 to 7 you can grab some food, wander around and talk to people, check out the vendors (see next), or do whatever you want.
There is a "vendors" area next to the conference room. This consists of a set of tables where various people/companies advertise their products and services. Some of the vendors have a slick trade-show-booth setup and sometimes it's one person with a stack of flyers. These vary a lot: I've seen hard money lenders, turnkey providers, wholesalers, building contractors/tradesmen, suppliers (flooring, cabinets, appliances), companies that offer tenant screening, property managers, etc. Home Depot was there once explaining their "pro buyer" and paint discount programs. There is also a table in the vendors area for people who don't have a whole table of their own, but put out flyers, business cards, brochures, etc for their business. The vendors are always there from 6 to 7 PM; some of them stick around after the formal presentation and some don't.
At most meetings, there is a small meeting for total newbies (people who are there for the very first time) from 6:30 to 7. This happens in a smaller room or in the corner of the big conference room. The head of the REIA group will briefly explain the group, what it is, how the meetings work, etc.
At 7 PM, the formal program begins. Everybody sits down and the head of the REIA group welcomes everyone and makes announcements. Sometimes they talk briefly about some issue that might affect everyone, like changes in state laws. They often mention other REIA group meetings that happen in the local area. Also, each of the vendors comes up and gives their 30-second pitch for what they do. This whole part of the program takes maybe 10 or 15 minutes.
Then, the head of the REIA group introduces the main speaker for that evening. This person usually talks (and takes questions) for 60 to 90 minutes on one particular topic. Some of the ones I've seen include: a local landlord giving tips and "lessons learned" from their experience renting out houses; a representative of a company that does self-directed IRAs; someone who was pitching a guru program. In my experience, some of these were good and relevant to my interests; some were good but were about a type of investing or financing that I'm not interested in *right now*; some were sales pitches. (It's OK to leave if you decide it's just a sales pitch.) Occasionally there will be two main speakers... in that case, usually the first one has a short presentation, like 20 or 30 minutes, and then the second one has a longer one.
After the main speaker is done, some people leave and some people hang out and talk. The conference room "closes" at 9 PM and some people then adjourn to the hotel bar. :)
In the December meeting, there is no main speaker... instead they set up a long line of tables and we do "speed networking", like speed dating. Basically, half the people sit on one side of the tables and half on the other. When they say "go", you have 90 seconds to introduce yourself and give your pitch, and then the other person has 90 seconds to do the same. When that's done, everybody moves one chair to the left, and does it again. Most people bring a stack of business cards (or flyers or whatever they have) to exchange during this process.
Things to look out for
There should be a mix of people there. What I mean is, if everyone there is brand new to investing, you might be at a sales pitch. At a "good" REIA meeting, there will be some newbies, but there will also be people that own a few rental properties, people that own a *lot* of rental properties, money/finance people, wholesalers, real estate agents, lawyers, etc. The focus will be on meeting different people who you might be able to work with when investing. For example, you might meet a wholesaler who has a good deal on a house that fits your criteria, and someone who can help you with the financing on it, and maybe a contractor who can help with some of the rehab. It works both ways... if *you* have a house to sell or money to lend or whatever, *you* can look for/talk to someone who might be interested in what you have.
If the person who seems to be in charge is affiliated with the same company that the "main" speaker is from... you *might* be at a sales pitch. (It wouldn't be totally unheard of for the person in charge at an REIA meeting to also spend some time talking about their own business. If their message is "everyone in the room needs to give *me* money" - sales pitch. If their message is more like "this is what I do, if you're interested, come see me later... now on to the rest of the meeting", then that's more legit, in my opinion.)
One progression I have seen a couple of times is that the "main" speaker will talk for 60 minutes or so "for free", and then pitch a 1-day or 2-day session on an upcoming weekend that costs $50-$200 or so. If you sign up for the weekend session, you will probably learn some things you didn't know before, but you may also get pitched to sign up for further training that costs a lot more (thousands).
I am less sure about this, but having to spend between 5 and 20 bucks to get in the door seems to be a sign of a "good" REIA meeting. The sales pitches all seem to start with a "free" meeting. Again, this probably varies more than I know about.
What I've done at the meetings
Mostly I'm there to network, but sometimes the speaker is interesting as well. (The landlord that talked about their experiences gave some good information.)
I laser-print my own business cards to give out. The front has the usual contact information. On the back, I print a short blurb about what I'm interested in. I also usually put the name of the meeting and the date on it. The very first ones I gave out, last year, said "New to real estate in 4th quarter 2015. Looking to purchase and rent out a single-family home or duplex in Blue Springs, Lee's Summit, or south Independence, Missouri." on the back. You could also get nice professionally printed cards and then print your own sticker to put on the back, if you want.
The reason I do that is that it's kind of common to get lots of business cards at one of these meetings, and then have a hard time remembering what that person *does* when you look at the card later. Advice: when somebody gives *you* a card, compare what's on the card with what they've told you they do or are looking for. If the card doesn't have the same information, immediately write a few short notes on it with a pen, so you can remember later. Like, "wholesaler, north side, single-family", or "looking for multi-family in Exampleburg and Somewheretown", or whatever.
I hope this helps!
Matt R.
Your sense of things were correct. There are some clubs that are there to exchange ideas, have guest speakers, and network. Other clubs give very lite levels of education and the go into the heavy pitch for mentorship and education. Unfortunately, most industries are like that. It makes it hard to decipher what's worth engaging in.
I appreciate that input. I am laser focused on learning, building my team and getting deals done. I'm glad I found the BP community.
This is exactly the question i was going to pose to the community. I am getting ramped up to do my first deal in 2017--if you dont count my unintentional house hack im currently living in--and thought a REI club would be a good way to learn more about my area. Im wary about walking unknowingly into shark infested waters. What is the typical format for these meetings? Things to look out for? Finally, how effective are they?
This is actually the reason i joined the BP community. How much can you really help someone when they are to become your immediate competition? For example, i run a part-time woodworking business aside from my office job. Even with my limited experience, i share tips from my success with people online all the time, but im very wary of locals asking my advice. If they are in a completely different niche market from me i.e., they make cabinets, i make butcherblock countertops/furniture, then i am very open with them. There are a lot of business related topics that are the same for a guy making cabinets as a guy making furniture, but they do not compete with one another for the same clients. The flip side is a recent discussion where a guy is getting started and wanted a carbon copy of my business. I found myself immediately withdraw from sharing anything worthwhile that could help this guy. I actually point blank told him i was not interested in discussing specifics related to my products. We still discuss shop setup, tools, etc, but this analogy seems to carry over to local REI. Is it wise/best to have a local mentor, or should i look for someone outside of my circle of local competition? It could just be that im a selfish jerk, but it goes against human nature to help direct competition.
Thanks for the input Patrick,
The thing I would say to you is to approach things from a mindset of abundance rather than scarcity. I don't know about your area of the country but I would be surprised if opportunities were really limited so don't worry too much about competition. In fact if you look at it a different way there may be team-up opportunities. Just my 2 cents on that.
I am learning that many of these REI clubs are profit centers for the owners in one way or another. I mean I was shown power points of 25-50% commissions on the education programs they are selling. Hey, if the company can pay out 50% on a sale could I not find the same information/training for half the price? Or even cheaper?
What I'm still hopeful for is that I can find people and groups who are sincere about working together on Real Estate. Not naive enough to say that every opportunity should come for free though. But I don't think my "skin in the game" will come from $20K in paid "mentoring". I will work very hard on becoming valuable to people, hustle my butt off, play smart as I can and see where it takes me.
"What is the typical format for these meetings? Things to look out for?"
Format
I've been going to one of the local REIA meetings for a little over a year now. This is what I've seen. Keep in mind that probably every group does it a bit differently; this is all my own observations and opinions.
The meeting is held once a month at a local hotel, in one of the bigger conference rooms. There is hotel-conference-room type food available starting at 6 PM. (What I mean is, don't expect steaks and sushi and Scotch. :D Think fried chicken, ravioli, meatballs, water, iced tea, stuff like that.)
There is an admission charge. You can attend one meeting for free, and then pay for meetings one at a time, or buy a quarterly or yearly membership. The yearly membership at the one I go to is $100. I'm sure the REIA makes a *little* money on this, but I think it mostly goes for the food, renting the room, etc.
The "formal" program doesn't begin until 7 PM; from 6 to 7 you can grab some food, wander around and talk to people, check out the vendors (see next), or do whatever you want.
There is a "vendors" area next to the conference room. This consists of a set of tables where various people/companies advertise their products and services. Some of the vendors have a slick trade-show-booth setup and sometimes it's one person with a stack of flyers. These vary a lot: I've seen hard money lenders, turnkey providers, wholesalers, building contractors/tradesmen, suppliers (flooring, cabinets, appliances), companies that offer tenant screening, property managers, etc. Home Depot was there once explaining their "pro buyer" and paint discount programs. There is also a table in the vendors area for people who don't have a whole table of their own, but put out flyers, business cards, brochures, etc for their business. The vendors are always there from 6 to 7 PM; some of them stick around after the formal presentation and some don't.
At most meetings, there is a small meeting for total newbies (people who are there for the very first time) from 6:30 to 7. This happens in a smaller room or in the corner of the big conference room. The head of the REIA group will briefly explain the group, what it is, how the meetings work, etc.
At 7 PM, the formal program begins. Everybody sits down and the head of the REIA group welcomes everyone and makes announcements. Sometimes they talk briefly about some issue that might affect everyone, like changes in state laws. They often mention other REIA group meetings that happen in the local area. Also, each of the vendors comes up and gives their 30-second pitch for what they do. This whole part of the program takes maybe 10 or 15 minutes.
Then, the head of the REIA group introduces the main speaker for that evening. This person usually talks (and takes questions) for 60 to 90 minutes on one particular topic. Some of the ones I've seen include: a local landlord giving tips and "lessons learned" from their experience renting out houses; a representative of a company that does self-directed IRAs; someone who was pitching a guru program. In my experience, some of these were good and relevant to my interests; some were good but were about a type of investing or financing that I'm not interested in *right now*; some were sales pitches. (It's OK to leave if you decide it's just a sales pitch.) Occasionally there will be two main speakers... in that case, usually the first one has a short presentation, like 20 or 30 minutes, and then the second one has a longer one.
After the main speaker is done, some people leave and some people hang out and talk. The conference room "closes" at 9 PM and some people then adjourn to the hotel bar. :)
In the December meeting, there is no main speaker... instead they set up a long line of tables and we do "speed networking", like speed dating. Basically, half the people sit on one side of the tables and half on the other. When they say "go", you have 90 seconds to introduce yourself and give your pitch, and then the other person has 90 seconds to do the same. When that's done, everybody moves one chair to the left, and does it again. Most people bring a stack of business cards (or flyers or whatever they have) to exchange during this process.
Things to look out for
There should be a mix of people there. What I mean is, if everyone there is brand new to investing, you might be at a sales pitch. At a "good" REIA meeting, there will be some newbies, but there will also be people that own a few rental properties, people that own a *lot* of rental properties, money/finance people, wholesalers, real estate agents, lawyers, etc. The focus will be on meeting different people who you might be able to work with when investing. For example, you might meet a wholesaler who has a good deal on a house that fits your criteria, and someone who can help you with the financing on it, and maybe a contractor who can help with some of the rehab. It works both ways... if *you* have a house to sell or money to lend or whatever, *you* can look for/talk to someone who might be interested in what you have.
If the person who seems to be in charge is affiliated with the same company that the "main" speaker is from... you *might* be at a sales pitch. (It wouldn't be totally unheard of for the person in charge at an REIA meeting to also spend some time talking about their own business. If their message is "everyone in the room needs to give *me* money" - sales pitch. If their message is more like "this is what I do, if you're interested, come see me later... now on to the rest of the meeting", then that's more legit, in my opinion.)
One progression I have seen a couple of times is that the "main" speaker will talk for 60 minutes or so "for free", and then pitch a 1-day or 2-day session on an upcoming weekend that costs $50-$200 or so. If you sign up for the weekend session, you will probably learn some things you didn't know before, but you may also get pitched to sign up for further training that costs a lot more (thousands).
I am less sure about this, but having to spend between 5 and 20 bucks to get in the door seems to be a sign of a "good" REIA meeting. The sales pitches all seem to start with a "free" meeting. Again, this probably varies more than I know about.
What I've done at the meetings
Mostly I'm there to network, but sometimes the speaker is interesting as well. (The landlord that talked about their experiences gave some good information.)
I laser-print my own business cards to give out. The front has the usual contact information. On the back, I print a short blurb about what I'm interested in. I also usually put the name of the meeting and the date on it. The very first ones I gave out, last year, said "New to real estate in 4th quarter 2015. Looking to purchase and rent out a single-family home or duplex in Blue Springs, Lee's Summit, or south Independence, Missouri." on the back. You could also get nice professionally printed cards and then print your own sticker to put on the back, if you want.
The reason I do that is that it's kind of common to get lots of business cards at one of these meetings, and then have a hard time remembering what that person *does* when you look at the card later. Advice: when somebody gives *you* a card, compare what's on the card with what they've told you they do or are looking for. If the card doesn't have the same information, immediately write a few short notes on it with a pen, so you can remember later. Like, "wholesaler, north side, single-family", or "looking for multi-family in Exampleburg and Somewheretown", or whatever.
I hope this helps!
Matt R.
@Matt R. Nice detailed description! It sure helped me. I'm definitely going to check out the January meeting.
There are several different types of RE investing groups, below are summaries, understand I am generalizing and a group may or may not fit into one of these categories.
A few things to keep in mind when you go to events
So just go, leave your credit card at home, fill your pockets with business cards, and make the most of the connections. You will find wholesalers, buyers, contractors, and affiliated professionals such as real estate attorneys and real estate agents. As well as scammers. Keep your eyes and ears open and don't take anyone at face value. Do your homework.
Maybe I should have turned this into a blog post. :=)
That's great insight Ann. Very helpful perspective. I really appreciate that!