Finding Business Partners Who Are Serious

[Payton Pearson]

So, as we all know, real estate investing tends to be a very high barrier-to-entry venture, and therefore having partners who can invest with you is very much desirable. However, finding people who are more than simply tire-kickers, and/or who you can trust is very hard in and of itself.

Recently, I have had five separate people all express an interest in going the distance in investing, but it turns out every single one of them was simply riding the wave of energy I was putting into it. And frankly, carrying all that undertow of people who are jokers and not actual aces is sucking the wind out of my sail.

So the question is, what techniques do you guys use in order to find investing partners who are actually serious about partnering with you? So far, Bigger Pockets isn't doing the trick either... And I'm quite frustrated with doing this on my own.

[James Galla]

Picking a partner is probably one of the more difficult things to do. Some folks on here may partner with anyone that brings cash to a deal, and that may be fine depending on the circumstances, but my read on your post is for a more long-term engagement with someone that is more than a bank.

For me, I've only found one person I'd entertain a partnership with. To get to that stage, it took over a year of knowing him professionally and then as a friend.  At first, we worked together professionally for a period of time. We were able to gauge each other's working habits, skillsets, and resumes.

He's actually invested in real estate. This means he isn't someone I had to convince that real estate was a life altering path. There is no illusion here. He will proceed with his investments irrespective of my choices.

He defers to reason. A good partner will defer to reason, which means they aren't bullheaded. Their also not a pushover. So, when you find some random guy on BiggerPockets and you convince them that real estate is the right path, they might be a pushover and just take whatever you say as gospel. If they do that, that's a big indicator that they aren't interested. Also, it shows that they aren't going to contribute any ideas.

Naturally, I suggest linking up with your local real investors association. When you're there, you can network and see if that's an avenue to connect/partner with someone. You want to link up with different professional associations as well - not just real estate investment. You can meet plenty of professionals that may be interested in crossing over.

Finding partners on the internet is difficult. Of course, there are plenty of folks that succeed in that venue, though. I think it takes a lot more internet networking to even assess whether someone would make a good partner or not.