You Can’t Fly Like an Eagle if You Hang Out With the Turkeys

These birds don't fly like Eagles

Wise words from my fellow Rock Star Coach Andrew Palhetas!  Did you know you are likely the average of the five people you associate with the most?  So for ambitious people like real estate investors, it makes sense to spend as much time as possible associating with like minded people and people who already have what you want.  Where do you find these people? NETWORKING!! I personally love networking because it can be so mutually beneficially when you meet someone who inspires you, teaches you something new, answers your questions and vice versa.

Where can Hamilton investors network?  Here’s some suggestions:

The Real Estate Investment Network (REIN) – possibly the best residential real estate education program/network/workshops out there.  If it’s not, I challenge you to find me something better and I will gladly check them out.  The President is Don R Campbell, bestselling author of “Real Estate Investing in Canada: Creating Wealth with the ACRE System” and a number of other real estate books.  Whenever someone tells me they’re interested in investing, I tell them to read “Rich Dad, Poor Dad” and then Don’s book.  REIN operates monthly workshops with 300-400 attendees where the focus on why we invest, education and economic updates.  Before, at break and after each workshop everyone gets a chance to network with high level investors.

The Rock Star Inner Circle – full disclosure time, I work with Rock Star but I still highly recommend becoming a member of the Rock Star Inner Circle (RSIC) and I don’t make a cent if you do or do not join.  Members benefit when becoming inner circle members by getting to work with Rock Star Coaches (aka real estate agents) but we’re not your everyday real estate agent, we all walk the talk.  We all own investment properties, we’re experienced investors and we treat our clientele like family.  What many people do not know is behind closed doors we meet each week to track the status of our clients’ properties.  This meeting is very much like a mastermind meeting where our agenda is to share our clients’ successes and find solutions to help our clients fill vacancies.  This meeting also doubles as a real time, from the streets market update on the housing, rental and rent to own market, what the vacancy periods are like, what rents to charge, what property types work and don’t work in different markets.

Which should I join? Both! And why not? They complement each other!  I see REIN as higher learning like going to university but how street wise were you when you left university?  I thought I knew everything when I graduated from business school but really I knew jack.  But when you hit the streets with a Rock Star Coach, you benefit from their street knowledge and academic knowledge.  I myself have been a REIN member since April 2008.

But don’t take it from me, check out the RSIC for yourself by signing up the for the free training here: http://www.canadianrealestatetraining.com/.  The course is taught by Tom or Nick, the founders of Rock Star Real Estate but let me know if you’re going and I’ll be there after class to say hi and answer any questions you may have.

Hamilton Investor Meeting – 15 to 20 REIN members, RSIC members and non members meet once per month at the William’s Coffee Pub on Appleby in Burlington (for details and the next meeting date go to my events calendar) on the Sunday the week following the REIN meeting.  The event is free and open to anyone keen on networking with other real estate investors in Hamilton Ontario.

Start you own mastermind group – tired of trying to talk about real estate to your friends, family and spouse and equally tired of them brushing you off?  Then start your own mastermind group.  Ask a small number of people from your network whom you respect, have a skill or experience or success you don’t already posses. Create some structure to your meetings, make sure everyone has a turn to speak and have their problems solved by the mastermind, set goals to be completed before the next meeting and hold each other accountable.  For three great reason why you want to be held accountable, I’ll let me friend and fellow Hamilton real estate investor Neil Uttamsing explain in his blog post titled: 3 Reasons why you need an accountability partner

Till next time – Your Life, Your Terms!

Erwin