Why REIA Groups are a Must Today!
By Pete Youngs (aka Mr. Rehab)
Whether we like it or not, ever since Covid came along the business environment has extremely changed for how real estate investors (as well as other businesses) have had to operate and adapt. In my particular case, not only was I investing in property, but I have been a national speaker for my whole career and do anywhere from 100 to 200 cities a year in live training sessions. Then, suddenly, it seemed as if the world closed down. People were not able to gather in groups of any kind, venues were closed, meeting spaces were unavailable and, in all honesty, my business was completely shut down.
After all, the essence of my business was face to face networking. At a main event, we could have anywhere between 75 to 300 people as well as field trainings with bus trips handling roughly 50 people. These weekend bus trips visited properties where I taught inspections, estimating, rehab costs and how to hire out contractors for about 50% off the regular general contractor rates. I was also stopped from doing my favorite and most popular things, such as my Mold Certification training and my Signature Home Depot Nationwide Store Tours that I originated over 20 years ago at corporate.
Now with live and in-person events put on hold during the pandemic (although I am happy they have since resumed), which no one could really predict how long they were going to last, changes had to be made. I consider myself to be old-school and the people whom I had been speaking alongside of all these decades also needed to adjust how they were to stay afloat.
Originally, I was brought into the business by my brother, Tony Youngs, who is an expert in finding distressed and hidden market properties and I was the fix-up & rehab guy. Tony has set up with coaching calls once a week and one-on-one trainings for years – a smart move to have made. However, the pandemic opened up a whole new breed of people who took advantage of the limited face to face seminars and REIA meetings to those who were internet and tech savvy.
They opened up the world to online meetings – Zoom, etc. Sure, most people were already there but not very many of us “career investors” were using these tools. So, when everyone found out that they could sit at home in a pair of pajamas and watch seminars without making the trip to an in-person event, a lot of them loved that concept. Even some of the REIA groups fell for the idea that their overhead costs would go down if they went that direction – room rental, food & beverage, speakers’ travel costs, etc. However, many of the REIA groups who were not tech savvy lost their businesses, failed or even sold.
Now, I will explain my reason for sharing all this background. Recently, I adjusted to the market by changing my business plan. My wife Barb and I used our IRA accounts with Camaplan, and started using our tax free and tax deferred plans (CamaPlan is a National REIA preferred vendor) to replace our incomes. We bought two REIA groups that I run personally, North Metro REIA in Atlanta, GA and Metrolina Reia in Charlotte, NC. We did this because live and in-person trainings are getting back up to speed. While most REIA’s are not back to full rooms, I can’t stress enough the huge advantage face-to-face and the in-person networking that goes on in REIA’s all across the country.
Attending meetings and swapping business cards with buyers, sellers, private money lenders as well as the education that is brought to you each month is really unmatchable – anywhere.
In addition, know that if your REIA is a member of National REIA, the benefits also include 20% off almost every paint in Home Depot and a 2% biannual rebate, cabinet and appliance discounts, as well as many other money-saving benefits from other providers. You can see all of the member benefits on National REIA’s website.
But most of all please remember this; There is no better investment than membership in your local REIA group (especially one affiliated with National REIA). Where else for the cost of a nice dinner out can you improve your future? There are opportunities out there every day. There are those who sit at home and hope that some clearinghouse or lottery is going to deliver a life changing event to their mailbox and then there are people who realize that if you do not move, you never go anywhere.
That being said, my last thought to leave you with is this; Don’t let someone who gave up their dreams convince you to give up on yours… Think about that for a moment and thank me later.
Pete Youngs also known as “Mr. Rehab,” is a national speaker on rehabbing homes for up to 50% off. He does seminars and bus trips promoting his training system called SWAT (Simple Ways And Techniques). He has been a contractor/investor for over 30 years. Learn more about him at PeteYoungs.com.