When I first started investing in New York real estate years ago, everything I tried to accomplish, from marketing to distressed homeowners to correctly evaluating potential deals, seemed to take longer than it should. Eventually, I wised up and decided I needed to find more experienced investors who were willing to help reduce my learning curve so I that could stop wasting so much time.

The first places I looked were at some of New York’s real estate investing clubs. It took a little bit of trial-and-error to find some decent ones and I know there are still some clubs around that might be worth attending. If you need to know where they are so that you can potentially put your own learning on the fast-track, here’s where to start.

A Closer Look at Real Estate Investing Clubs in New York

The point of attending a real estate investing club, of course, is to network with other investors, exchange ideas, and maybe even strike a few deals. If you can connect with a real estate investor mentor who can help you navigate and overcome the rough times when you’re just starting out, all the better. But, even without a mentor, having access to a network of colleagues is crucial to getting, and keeping, you and your bottom line on the right track. After all, there may come a time when you need advice on how to find the best distressed homeowner leads or want recommendations for an experienced real estate agent when selling an investment property. A good network can guide you toward making great decisions. Let’s take a closer look at some of the real estate investing clubs in New York and whether they’re worth checking out.

Connected Investors

Connected Investors hosts multiple investing-related groups throughout the city, each with a slightly different focus than the others. So, if you’re interested in buying New York residential investment properties to hold, there’s a group for that. If you want to learn more about the local market and how to streamline your business practices, you’ll find a group for that too. There are also groups that connect you with wholesalers and hard money lenders. And, you don’t have to pay to join or to attend the meetings, which is a big plus.

But, you won’t know how many people participate in each group, what their qualifications are, how often they meet, or what topics they cover without joining first—which is a big minus. That might be because the parent company, which is not even headquartered in New York, has another agenda: to offer learning materials, webinars, and real estate software. These things in-and-of themselves are certainly useful. But I want support from my network, not a sales pitch. And, you should too.

New York Real Estate Investors Association

New York Real Estate Investors Association invites real estate professionals of all kinds to join in on the regular meetings, which are held in various locations around the city. Meetings are typically scheduled once a week, though sometimes every other week, and are often only $10 to $20 to attend. Discussion topics include everything from securing financing to how to buy from foreclosure auctions and sheriff sales. The group was established in 2009 and has an impressive 10,000+ members. Meetings are well attended—sometimes over 100 people show up.

But, many of the attendees may not even be investors since real estate agents, attorneys, and mortgage lenders are welcome to join the events. It’s not that you won’t benefit from speaking to other real estate industry pros, but you’ll benefit more from connecting with experts in investing—especially in the beginning. Will you find a mentor at one of these meetings? Perhaps. You’ll have to attend a lot of them to find out for sure.

REIA NYC

REIA NYC is the official New York chapter of the national Real Estate Investors Association (REIA) and offers a lot of perks with its membership packages. The basic membership for $497 provides 12-months of access to training materials and business resources, but little access to a support network. Other packages, which range from over $5,000 to almost $10,000, give you the opportunity to connect with successful investors at various events and work with a mentor. Of course, there are local chapters and meetup groups throughout the five boroughs and in the suburbs, but membership in the club starts here.

Unfortunately, it’s an expensive place to start as a new investor. REIA gets great reviews online and they’ve certainly got bragging rights in terms of membership numbers, but does that mean that membership will get you the right network and mentor? It might—for a price.

As far as networking with your fellow New York investors goes, attending these real estate investing clubs could get you there. And, that’s saying something considering there aren’t many to choose from. But, because you’ll likely be hobnobbing with other newbies most of the time, you’re not likely to get a mentor—or much further in your career. So, if you’re looking for a network that’s truly worthy of your time, look into joining a real estate investing franchise.

Attend to Your Worth With a Real Estate Investing Franchise

After bouncing around a few different investing clubs in New York, I decided the trial-and-error method was no longer for me. Not only did I not find a mentor, I had a hard time cobbling together enough experienced real estate investors that I could call on regularly for support. And there were definitely some times that I could have really used some help figuring out how to save, or unwind, a deal.

But, when I became an independently owned and operated HomeVestors® franchisee I was connected with a seasoned Development Agent who provided one-on-one mentoring whenever I needed it. I also got immediate access to a regional network of other franchisees who gave me support and suggestions whenever I asked. By joining the HomeVestors® team, I was able to put my money-pit buying days behind me and start attending to the deals that were worth my time.

If it’s time for you to stop learning by trial-and-error and get yourself a tried-and-true network, call HomeVestors® today. You’ll find it’s worth it.

Each franchise office is independently owned and operated.