If you have a mobile phone and own real estate, you probably receive several text messages a day from people seeking to buy one or more of the properties you own. I have noticed an interesting trend in some of the more recent texts I have been receiving. They are more thoughtfully crafted and seek to build a relationship through texting.
As someone who was born at the very tail end of the baby boom generation, my perception of technology and how it is used is different from others. You see, I don’t believe you can really build the relationship needed to engage in a large financial transaction simply by texting. Can it start the conversation? Possibly. Can it lead to a phone call? Hopefully. Will the phone call allow you to start developing a relationship with a prospective buyer or seller so you can move to a meeting of the minds and complete the deal? Well, I suppose that’s the end goal of the flurry of text messages that are sent each day by some of these investors using some sophisticated technology, and some of it is my fault.
I will admit that because I am a co-founder and minority owner of Realeflow, LLC, and Realeflow is on the cutting edge of this type of marketing for certain types of sellers, some of the responsibility for some of these calls falls on my shoulders. I’m in the unique position of being both an owner of the company with a view toward operations and compliance as well as being a recipient of some of that technology.
My point is that merely texting is not enough to build a relationship. It’s enough to break the ice. Over the next few articles, I will talk about the seeds of deals and the crucial element of building relationships to bring about successful transactions and deals.
