What are the advantages of joining a Real-Estate Investment club?

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Colonel - I've found that the biggest benefit of membership for me are the referrals I get for lawyers, handymen, contractors, power washers and anyone else under the RE sun who I need to run my business. I'm not a fan of paying someone I met off the street for a service or product. In this economy, scam artists are all over the place. But I can contact my REIA and find out from various members who I can rely on (for example) to install carpet with perfection and at a great price.

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Colonel, As the past president of a club with over 100 members, I can say I did a ton of business from the group. With that said, be aware that you are a newbie and there are some sharks in the room. It is a great place to get plugged into the local investment community though. I STRONGLY suggest getting a mentor. It really helps to have someone hold you accountable and help you avoid the costly pitfalls. :mrgreen:

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Hi Colonel, We started out our investing business by asking friends, real estate agents, handymen etc for their advice. That was OK but after joining our REI it became clear that more useful information came out of each 3 hour REI meeting than any of our other sources combined. We find the "member helping member" attitude to be a major reason for us being successful. Mark

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http://www.reiclub.com/real-estate-clubs/Texas.html http://www.richclub.org/

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The biggest benefit I have found from our local REIA besides networking is finding out about the new local laws and policies that affect real estate investors. You need to be on top of the changes affecting real estate investors in your market and there's no better place to find out about them then the local REIA.

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I'm not a big fan of REIA's. Certainly not the one by me. It cost me 240 bucks a year to join and they wanted me to pay extra to shop my deals in front of the room. In addition there was alwasy someone there trying to sell me the latest greatest REI strategy. If I had to do it all over again I would probably go the mentor route. Learn by doing. Find someone who is doing what you want to do and ask them if they would show you how they became successful at it. If you want to join a REIA so be it. Just adopt the strategy "take what you need and leave the rest".

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Great advice on here, the clubs are worth it. But please start by immersing yourself in real estate information. Go to a well stocked library and check out 10 or 15 good books, and devour them. 75% of the info will overlap, but the repetition is GOOD for you as a beginner. Also, read like he** on this site. You need a foundation to be able to separate the wheat from the chaff, so to speak. Meanwhile, study the listings in your area intently, check out what is popping up on Craigs List, look for real estate companies with web sites and study how they pitch their properties, go visit some apartment properties, drive around and survey your area, etc. etc. I also like having partners. It provides encouragement, motivation, comradery, and the varying skillsets and perspective can be invaluable. It'll also give you more buying power in going after larger apartment properties.

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This doesn’t have to be some sort of agonizing either/or decision. Nor wouldn’t pay for an annual membership. Every club I know of will allow you to pay by the meeting and the discount for paying annually is usually small. Miss one or two meetings during the year and you’re even. An REI club is probably the simplest place to meet and make friends with like-minded real estate investors. (The other might be to become a residential or commercial agent, but this is more of a career move.) Depending on the size of the club, you should find those active in many areas of real estate. You’ll also get a sense of the direction of your market. I’d gravitate toward those who’ve been around awhile in an area that interests you. Depending upon your skill set and available time, you could volunteer to help them as a gopher, for free, with the clear understanding they’ll show you the ropes. A mentorship could form from this as you grow to like and trust each other. Merely asking someone to become your mentor won’t work. And for heaven’s sake, don’t pay for this. Good luck. Jeff

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1.Networking (your network is directly related to your networth!) 2. Information 3. Meeting other local investors and learning from their experiences. 4. Education provided (assuming you attend good clubs that are not just pitch fests for guru types looking to take your money and run) 5. Getting referrals for service providers and other contacts you will need. 6. Building buyer's lists 7. Meeting others whom you may do deals with (JV, wholesale, buy from, etc) 8. There are more, but the first 7 are more than enough to make it worth your while to join at least one good one in your area. BP Nation right here is also a great start too! :lol:

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Justin - A good REIA club has a value that you just can't put a price on. Our club brings in national speakers, has panels of local successful investors and so much more. You can buy properties, sell propertis and it is there that you will find a mentor. Our group even has a formal mentoring group. Go to the meetings, meet folks and network with them.