New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman frequently talks about how technology has “flattened” the world, which both makes connections easier and business models more fragile. This is nowhere more true than it is in residential real estate, which used to be local and, thanks to distressed property programs such as ours, is now shifting toward something broader.
But even in an electronic world, when all you face is a computer screen and all you hear over a telephone line or a Skype connection is a disembodied voice, participants must trust who they’re dealing with. I’ve made some interesting connections this past week that show both the potential and the pitfalls of this new flat world.
As regular readers know, I participate frequently in the forums of a Web site called BiggerPockets.com, a social networking site for real estate investors. I got a call from another member on the site, a young man with a South American accent but clearly fluent in English. He has a bachelor’s degree from San Francisco State in business administration, and like me, has worked in both real estate and as a mortgage broker. He has big dreams, and he’s savvy about the Web.
He unabashedly told me he was intrigued by what DBNR Investments is doing and asked if I would be his mentor. Although I usually associate the word mentor with someone who’s a celebrity in one’s field, I realized doing that has some of the same characteristics as being a coach, which I’ve certainly done before. However, I’ve always charged for coaching services; I’ve never known anyone to charge for being a mentor.
It’s conceivable that I could be teaching this young man everything I’ve learned over the past few years, only to find out that he’s struck out on his own and become a competitor.
The second connection came from one of those unsolicited e-mails that pop up in your electronic in-box with annoying regularity. But this one was intriguing. It was from someone in Las Vegas offering assistance in navigating the morass of grants and loans the federal government was offering small businesses for the acquisition of assets — including real estate.
I spent 15 minutes on the phone with this person, who turned out to be a grant writer. He offered no promises regarding the money, only his assistance in navigating the nightmare of red tape that was potentially involved.
Will working with each of these individuals be sinkholes of time and effort that will come to naught? I don’t know. I do know that the structure for trusting people is the same whether the world is flat or you never venture out of your neighborhood. I converse with them. I take notes. I compare their ideas to others I’ve talked to. Are their ideas concise and logical? Do they have conviction about what they’re doing? Are they confident about their skills? Most important, do they deliver what they say they will?
I consider establishing a connection with these people a low-risk effort. Finding connections in the business world may come from longer distances and be stranger than ever before, but over time, when both sides deliver on what they said they will, trust will always develop.
