Advice for taking prospecting to the next level and converting into business
I’ve been doing Multifamily CRE for the past 7-8 months, mostly cold calling and building a database of owners/properties. I’ve gotten comfortable on the phone and have a good number of people who I talk to regularly and know me. 

Now, I want to start really building relationships and expanding my network. 

Experienced brokers: Does meeting with prospects/buyers/brokers for coffee seem to be a good way to expand your network? 

I get a bit nervous because I’m new and don’t have listings or amazing off market deals, so I don’t want to come across as an amateur, but I do want to start getting to know the players in the market.

Any advice on how to move forward beyond just cold calling would be appreciated. Thanks guys.
[{"id": "i0knwig", "text": "It\u2019s ok to be an amateur and want to get to know the local players through coffee,lunch, drinks, whatever. We all start somewhere. People will get that. Don\u2019t waste their time by pretending to be something else, they will see right through it and you\u2019ll immediately lose all credibility.", "replies": [{"id": "i0nhz6o", "text": "Great advice, I'm definitely not pretending to be something I'm not. I just say \"(name), I was wondering if you had 15 minutes to spare sometime this week, I'd like to buy you a coffee. I like the way you look at real estate and want to continue to find you deals in the future. Let me know if there's a time that works for you\" or something along those lines. \n\nI'm fresh out of college and I plan on being very upfront that my main goal is to build relationships and learn as much as I can so I can help provide value for them as my career progresses. It certainly isn't a veiled listing appointment or me trying to show off as some big shot broker.", "replies": [], "depth": 2}], "depth": 1}, {"id": "i0n33qa", "text": "In my experience there are so few brokers willing to hunt that it\u2019s best to sit down with vetted buyers of your choosing and tell them you\u2019d like to work for them finding off market deals. They\u2019ll give you their criteria. Over time it becomes a working relationship. I have 5 buyers I talk to almost daily and they all make offers on almost anything I bring them. Honestly prospecting for those 5 guys are my whole job. In MF, if you\u2019re  working for good value buyers (value add is almost entirely hard to come by now) you want to target small &lt;50 door properties, family owned with a bad property manager, or mispriced rents. You want to put good managers, owners on poorly managed properties and underperforming assets. No institutional sellers, you\u2019ll run your head against the wall there. You may end up convincing them to sell and they\u2019ll just list with their favored broker.", "replies": [{"id": "i0n4vyc", "text": "Thanks for the advice. I focus on anything from 4-24ish units. My senior handles the 50+ unit deals because he is an industry veteran. \n\nI want to meet with my buyers but I know a key is adding value to their day/business, which I don\u2019t necessarily have immediately. My plan is to just meet and be honest, \u201ci\u2019m new owner of the business, I\u2019m trying to learn the market and I want to learn more about your strategy so I can help you in the future\u201d", "replies": [{"id": "i0njemw", "text": "Sorry I meant less than 50 units. You\u2019re adding value already if you\u2019re willing to hunt for them. I think the important part is picking your buyers. You want buyers with a track record of new acquisitions. And sometimes \u201cvalue-add\u201d is as simple as increasing rents. Tell them you\u2019re willing to hunt off markets for them, ask for criteria and ask if they\u2019d be willing to protect your work when they make offers. Finding off-market value is where it\u2019s at. Any buyer knows this and should be willing to protect the pay of an agent that\u2019s working for them. The trade off is they pay you but they get to see a lot more deals than what\u2019s just on the market now (which is often total garbage.)", "replies": [], "depth": 3}], "depth": 2}], "depth": 1}]