The art of relationships- an often overlooked element

[Noel Lumbo]

Marketing is the bloodline of your business! We're not in the business of real estate we're in the business of marketing. If you don't market you don't eat. Plain and simple.

Now onto the meat and potatoes.  No longer am I on the sidelines wishing I was on the field playing. I am IN THE GAME. Before I closed my first deal there was a little voice in the back of my head which had me questioning if this was real. In theory the process is easy; Find a distressed property or a seller in a distressed situation, get the property under contract, find a buyer and assign my rights to that buyer for a fee. Easy as 1,2,3 right? There are so many moving parts that goes on between points A to Z that would make most people quit. I guess that's what separates those who just want it from those who REALLY want it.

As I previously stated marketing is DEFINITELY the most essential aspect of the business. BUT believe it or not there is a concept that actually trumps marketing. RELATIONSHIPS! Let me explain.

In one instance there was a seller who actually followed up with US! They received an offer  which was higher than what we offered. Who do you think they went with? For WHATEVER reason they chose not to go with the higher offer and go with our offer. And the icing on the cake ladies and gents..... our end buyer was the investor who made them the higher offer! lol WHATEVER that reason was they chose to go with us instead of more money I am sure rapport had everything to do with it. I've heard of it happening several times in this business and I can actually say I've experienced it first hand. Building relationships will help you go a long way in this business!

Up until recently my partner and I handled all our marketing in house. We do direct mail; so everything from printing letters and envelopes, folding and stuffing those envelopes and dropping them off at the post office was all handled by us. Sounds cute right? Well, I didn't mention the paper jams, letters and envelopes printing off-center having to fix those and reprint and if that doesn't work using good ol white out or in some instances handwriting the fixes to the letters/ envelopes. Still doesn't sound like much right? Did I mention the mailing list is about 4,200 entries big. Throw in working 40 hours a week full time on top of having (a) kid(s) and wives/girlfriends. Yeah it can be quite the challenge. So with all those different things going on our mail was not going out consistently. But business didn't slow up AT ALL. You know kept us afloat? Referrals. And believe me when I say it wasn't just a referral here or a referral there it was A LOT. Referrals from sellers we bought properties from, referrals from friends and family, AND even a referral from a buyer. Needless to say we wouldn't have all these referrals if we didn't have relationships with these people.

Networking. Very often when most wholesalers go to networking events their main agenda is meeting as many buyers as possible. I know that's how I was when I first started going to networking events. There is nothing wrong with that at all. PLEASE don't forget that buyers are not the only people at these events. You never know how far a conversation will take you. People definitely go to these events to learn and get something, but please also go with the mindset of giving and sharing too. I've met a ton of buyers at REIA's and networking a events, but in all honestly my most BENEFICIAL relationships came from networking with other wholesalers believe it or not. Small doors open up to large rooms.

So in conclusion- in all aspects of this business we are dealing with people. In all aspects of life we deal with people. You never know who someone knows or what they can do for you and you never know what you can do for someone.  So let EVERYONE and I do mean EVERYONE know that you buy houses, always make a good impression and ALWAYS be ethical. People like honest people. 

The moral of the story is: Marketing is the bloodline of your business and so are relationships!

Happy investing