Can you have everything you want in real estate if you help enough other people?

Question

The late Zig Ziglar once said, "you can have everything in life you want, if you will just help enough other people get what they want."  Do you think this applies to real estate investing?  Seems fairly obvious for realtors, but what about wholesalers, flippers, hard money lenders, etc?

Dev Horn · Answer

What we teach is to be a SOLUTION PROVIDER.  Have multiple ways to solve someone's real estate problem, even if that means referring them to a Realtor friend when you can't make a dime off the referral.  If you can buy, sell, list. lease option, owner finance, etc. etc it allows you to understand the client's problem and propose the best solutions for THEM, not you.  They see that you are not forcing them into one particular solution, and you don't care which way they go because you have a range of services that meet a range of needs.

I think when we go in and all we have is a low-ball cash offer, that will work 5% of the time.  Their is a HUGE opportunity to serve the 95% who are NOT going to sell their house at a 40% discount....

Ultimately, you have to have integrity and feel good about what you are doing.  If not, it's not what you should be doing...

"There can be no happiness if the things we believe in are different from the things we do." ~ Freya Stark

Hattie Dizmond · Answer

Well, you can call it Karma if you like.  I prefer to believe it is the simple truth of sowing and reaping.

What's more, unless it's directly related to a crop you are sowing (like a direct mail campaign), I believe that sowing wildly, lavishly even, without thought or regard to reaping is akin to applying just the right blend of fertilizer and water.  Because, when we give with an eye toward what we will get in return, it ceases to be giving and becomes a form of lending.

It's sad to me, that when I help someone, they so often ask how they can repay the favor.  We have become a society who no longer understands the concept of "unconditional".  When I give, whatever it is that I give, I give it freely and unconditionally.  I take my hands off of it.  It now belongs to the person to whom I've given it.  What they do with it...how they steward it...is something they have to answer for, not me.

So, in answer to the original question, I believe by helping enough people succeed I can have everything I really need...which is peace & freedom.  The other stuff will come, but that's not what's important.

Mary B. · Answer

No matter which business industry one chooses, believe it or not, in life there is something known as KARMA....

Kudos,

Mary

Account Closed · Answer

Interesting perspective, Peter, I agree.  Being fair, genuine, and ethical are vital both in business and in life--and the better you are at those, the better your outcomes.

There is another element at play here, however: the abundance versus scarcity mentality.  Someone with a scarcity outlook might reasonably make the argument that helping others means there is less left over for him or her.  I see this position being especially attractive in hyper-competitive markets where deals are difficult to come by.

But I maintain the abundance mentality is ultimately more fruitful.  True, you may get one less deal if you help someone else get it, but the upside--the goodwill developed and the resulting connections and leads--is far greater.  I think Zig was spot on.

-V

Brian Gibbons · Answer

What is helping people mean in real estate?

I use creative finance to help people that are stuck with a have no equity in their pretty houses, or in a minor rehab and I'll do a joint venture with the home seller if the wholesaling method doesn't work

I try to give a cash offer and it turns off her with every home seller lead I get

And live like the golden rule:

"he who lives the golden rule gets the gold here too"

Ramon Jenkins · Answer

I try to help or assist at least one person per week.

Regardless, if I know he or she is basically trying to use me.

My theory is three strikes and you are out.

Peter MacKercher · Answer

I think so -- that's a core tenet of all my business practices, since you can boil that question down to being ethical and trying to genuinely help others. I'm sure a lot of you have read How to Win Friend and Influence People, and I think that genuine approach to resolving conflicts and making sure that everyone (as much as possible) gets something beneficial from your interactions is central to whatever endeavor you're in, real estate or not.

The question about wholesalers and hard money lenders I think comes down to the different degrees of risk the two parties take on when they're working with someone, and we're probably hardwired to interpret their lesser risk as being purely about extracting value. But I believe anyone that's good at what they do (and I believe being good is synonymous with being ethical) provides value. I've done a lot of wholesaling and I try to honestly help the investors I work with, and I'd hope that's what others do, too.

Can you have everything you want in real estate if you help enough other people?

Most Popular Reply