How to form relationship with realtor?

[Rita Grimes]

Hey guys! I am new to this website. I've listened to the podcasts and am so inspired by you all. My husband and I have decided to focus our attention only on wholesaling for now and eventually do rentals. We had been talking to an awesome realtor in town for the past couple months trying to find rental deals (until we decided to focus on wholesaling) and he was very familiar with the investing community in Augusta, Ga. I'm wanting to ask him for help forming a cash buyer list by asking him for names of contractors, buyers, etc that he knows. Would realtors be willing to give that information? Will they somehow benefit off giving me this information in the future? Or opposite? What can I offer him in return for this information? Would it be a good idea to take him to lunch and explain our goals to him? We like him a lot and has proven to be a great resource for real estate investing and would love to form a good relationship with him, but also don't want to burn any bridges by asking too much from him. Any insight would be great!!! Thank y'all in advance!

[Chris Majors]

@Rita Grimes

I am an investor/realtor in your area.  I will say that our market is small enough where most investors that do regular business know each other.  You are already doing a good thing by posting on BP because you just got someone to add to your cash buyers list.. me, lol.  I'm sure some other Augusta investors will chime in as well. 

Another good way to meet other investors is to network at groups like the Real Estate Investor Association meetings (REIA) and another is the Art of Real Estate (AORE).

To answer your question about asking realtors for all their contacts I would treat it like any other business relationship.  Get to know them, do some business, then start asking for referrals.  There are too many time wasters in our industry, add some value to a relationship before asking for everything.

If you want to be a successful wholesaler I would advise to focus on learning to find good off-market deals and not a buyer list.  Trust me, if you find a real deal, I will buy it and know dozens of other investors that will as well.  In order to know if it's a deal or not you need to learn the market.  I would also recommend having either the cash, line of credit, or private money available to close if you are out there making offers.