Real Estate Pros Meet Up With Home Buyers, Sellers and Owners at RealtyJoin

(MoneyWatch)  This is Andy Heller, sitting in the Corner Bakery in Oakbrook, Illinois.
Andy is an Atlanta-based real estate investor, a real estate investing book author (I reviewed his book, Buy Low, Rent Smart, Sell High when it came out in 2003), and he is now, along with his partner Scott Frank, a real estate technology entrepreneur.

Except, he still doesn't have a PDA that will let him check his email on the go.

So, call him a newbie tech-entrepreneur, whose latest project, RealtyJoin, might actually change the way real estate investors and real estate professionals communicate with each other.

RealtyJoin is a community for anyone who lives, works, and breathes real estate. It's for real estate agents, real estate investors, plumbers and electricians, stagers, and anyone who believes that the free exchange of information will increase sales.

Andy told me that although the site has just officially been launched, already more than 1,000 people have signed up (it's free) and started passing referrals for business back and forth.

"An electrician got a referral that was worth $400 on the site from a real estate agent in his area who was signed up," he told me.

Does the real estate world need another place to communicate? As someone who contributes to Trulia, ActiveRain , ThinkGlink.com, and other interactive sites, I'm betting the answer is yes. The real estate industry relies on its connectivity to survive and thrive.
If you want to be a successful real estate investor, you'll need to know agents who know where the good properties are. You should also put together a top-quality team of plumbers, electricians, home inspectors, mortgage brokers, contractors, etc.
And as Andy puts it, if you're the "vendor" (i.e. the real estate agent, electrician, home inspector, mortgage broker, or electrician), you need to let as many people know you're there as possible - especially in tough times like these.
RealtyJoin aims to bring both sides together, in a community that provides tools to get people talking to each other about what they do best. I've signed up. It will be interesting to watch what happens.

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Ilyce R. Glink is the author of several books, including 100 Questions Every First-Time Home Buyer Should Ask and the upcoming Buy, Close, Move In!. She blogs about money and real estate at ThinkGlink.com.