Are REIA’s worth the 100$ membership?

[Anna Marie Holland]

I'm looking to network with other local investors in the area to help build my knowledge, grow relationships and also meet other investors that may be interested in properties I may have under contract in the future but I'm not sure if I should be investing in paid membership groups like the REIA or if there are free groups or meetups. I'm new to the real estate world so I don't really know any other investors and I'm having trouble finding any kind of meetups. I guess my question would be whether or not I should be spending money on the paid memberships or if there are any recommendations you have for finding local meetups where I can network and meet new people.

Thanks in advance for the information! 

[Stephen Stokes]

@Anna Marie Holland as @Matt Stricklen said, unfortunately the Austin REIA has been taken over by a husband and wife " real estate guru" salesman named Phill and Shenoah Grove. The fee is not $100 it is actually $10k+ just to get in and $50k if you actually want access the Phill and Shenoah otherwise you get will get pushed to one of their "trainers". They brand their program as the "big dogs" and are mostly pushing folks to focus on areas outside Austin like San Antonio, Dallas and Houston. Really does not make sense at all for them to be allowed to run the Austin REIA but I am guessing the folks at the national level look the other way to this because they bring in fresh money.

I understand that this is usually not the case and most REIA's are wonderful. It actually pains me to know that this continues and wish we could somehow overthrow their rein on the Austin REIA.

I for one choose to attend some of the smaller format and free meetups. Dan Castro runs another group called “investor underground” which started as a Facebook page. Their group also has costs associated for the meetings but is probably a better place to look if you want a paid experience. I personally do not have any experience with them so cannot comment to the value but know others have said good things.