Should I build my brand?

Question

I plan to start BRRRRing next year, but I am focusing on wholesaling right now to try and generate capital quicker. I keep hearing that I have to build my brand/business before investing and I am starting to believe this is true. I am trying to 'outsource' by contacting agents and asking if theyd be willing to send me distressed properties if I provide them with a finders fee, but all of them kindly deny. Is this because I haven't made a name for myself yet? Or am I asking about the wrong properties? It's been a month and a half and I still have no connections or leads. Idk what I'm doing wrong.

Mitch Messer · Answer

Hi @Kayla Holbert and welcome to BiggerPockets!

Well, you're sorta right: You do need to build your personal brand. The problem is this: The way you're doing it not only doesn't work, but it is rapidly killing your reputation in your local investor community!

Why?

Let's say your #1 agent contact does come across a distressed property. They can either send that deal to an actual cash buyer and possibly earn a full commission on the sale, or they can call you, an inexperienced investor, and most likely never see a dime when you fail to complete your wholesale transaction. If you were the agent, what would you do?

Can you really blame them for declining your offer of a finder's fee?

What if, instead of taking, you tried giving?

What if tomorrow you reached out to everyone in your network, every friend, relative, former high-school classmate, college roommate, co-worker -- I mean everyone -- and asked them to start bringing you all their real estate problems, hardships, and troubles?

Can't sell your house? Call Kayla! Tenants from hell giving you migraines? Call Kayla! Property taxes too damn high? Call Kayla. House underwater (either literally or figuratively)? Call Kayla!You want to be in the middle of any and every ugly and troublesome situation involving real estate that your local network can bring you!

Then -- and here's the crazy part -- what if you actually talked to these people about their problems! Not to try to buy their house, and not to make a deal: Just to understand their challenges and get comfortable dealing with tricky situations and thinking creatively.

Talk to enough people with problems and eventually someone's going to decide they just want to sell. That's when you say "Hey, I know a great agent who can help you sell; let me get them on the phone right now!"

You call #1 agent back and now, instead of begging them for a lead, you're bringing them a listing!

Do that a few times for a few agents and then see what happens to your personal brand!

Kayla Holbert · Answer

@Mitch Messer Wow, great advuce. That has never even crossed my mind. I definitely will go ahead and reach out to my peers and try to build my brand that way. Thanks!