Real Estate professional seeking network

[Levi Bennett]

I recently had a beer with a colleague I met on BP, and something he said that stuck out to me was this, "The nice thing about moving somewhere totally new, and doing something you've never done before is that if you mess up, NOBODY WILL KNOW."

It made me laugh, but it's true. I've lived in Orlando just under two months. I haven't met many people as my wife works full time, and I have been busy getting settled here and kick-starting my real estate career. I've successfully obtained my Florida Real Estate License, paid all the dues for the board, MLS, etc, and joined an exciting team with Century 21. However, there is still one big problem: I don't know anyone. Even with a great team, I know you need a personal team AND a client base.. for instance, as a real estate agent, if someone shows up at open house, gets excited about buying and wants to look at additional properties, I need to get them pre-qualified. The best real estate agents I know have someone on speed dial that pre-qual the same day. Same with insurance. It gives everyone a good idea of what to focus on when looking at property.

Additionally, and maybe more importantly, I'm looking for a mentor. The first gentleman that I gained a high respect for in the industry here politely declined because he was too busy with other mentee's, he also owns 4 companies and was busy with those as well. I'm a pioneer in my family. There are some great leaders in my family, but none that can answer my specific real estate questions as nobody in my family has ever done real estate before in any capacity. My dreams in real estate go back to my pre-teen years. I used to draw floorplans on graph paper when I was 12. I read "Rich Dad Poor Dad" when I was 14. I'm 27 now, I have a wonderful wife pursuing (successfully) her dream, and in getting started, I'm looking to build a team and crush this Real Estate thing. 

My goals in real estate go beyond being a realtor. Honestly, I want to be a realtor for as little time as possible so I can get on with my dream of owning my own properties, vacation rentals, and begin my development career. 

Thoughts? Suggestions? Anyone in the Orlando area that supports real estate agents in the capacity I described above, whether you are a lender, insurance guy/gal, or just know of some ways to kick-start a client base of buyers/sellers.. let me know. I'm all ears. Thanks again. I love this BP community, you guys are awesome.