Real estate professionals not only provide safe and attractive homes and offices, but also increase property values and contribute to the community through tax payments.
We often see headlines about greedy landlords, evictions, and record shortages of affordable housing. Despite these headlines, real estate professionals make significant contributions to their communities, often in under-the-radar ways. Basic contributions include providing housing and office space, increasing property values, and meeting real estate tax obligations, but there are several other ways to positively impact your community.
Being a person or company in the business of maximizing the value created and shared is not only good for your community, it's good for your bottom line.
Let's explore these six.
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- Network with other local professionals and community leaders
- Mentoring new real estate professionals
- Create and share valuable content
- Giving back to local community organizations
- Join and support your local landlord/property owners association
- Communicate with local leaders about real estate-related issues and voting
Network with local experts and community leaders
Real estate professionals generate a lot of economic activity within their communities. The real estate industry not only provides the housing desired by community leaders, but also provides jobs for contractors and various real estate service providers. Real estate-related initiatives encourage home improvements and furniture purchases. And commercial real estate companies provide space for a variety of businesses.
Real estate professionals help all of these parties work with various government agencies to achieve the housing and economic development goals that communities need.
Mentoring new real estate professionals
We all started out knowing very little. Our growth is due in large part to our experienced mentors who took the time to be with us and support us as we grew our real estate careers.
By serving as a mentor to less experienced real estate professionals, you can ensure that industry standards are maintained. Being a mentor and raising your standards of professionalism will ensure that others have a positive experience and impression of real estate professionals like you.
Create and share valuable content
One of the most valuable things we can do as real estate professionals is create and share content with our community that educates about market conditions and the best ways to succeed in the current environment.
Choose your favorite medium and start sharing your expertise. Creating and sharing content helps keep consumers and communities informed.
Giving back to local organizations
As a real estate professional, there are many ways you can contribute to your community through local organizations.
Consider volunteering your time on a service project or organizing or supporting an effort that you think will help a cause you care about. Consider financially supporting an organization you believe in or whose housing mission supports yours. If you have time, you might be able to take a leadership role in one or two of these organizations.
By modeling giving back, we not only contribute to the immediate service, but we also inspire others to serve as well.
Local landlord/property owners association support
With so many issues impacting real estate and housing these days, it is in a real estate professional's best interest to join and become an active member of a local landlord, trade association, or property owners association.
These are sometimes called apartment associations, real estate investor associations, or professional trade associations. Its purpose is to inform members about local and national issues that affect business. They advocate for elected and community leaders on behalf of their members and educate them on issues affecting the real estate industry.
Real estate is such an important economic driver that joining and being actively involved in these associations will not only benefit you, but the wider community as well.
Communicate with local leaders about real estate-related issues and voting
As real estate professionals, we are knowledgeable about the issues facing real estate and can help educate elected and community leaders. By taking the time to visit, communicate, and educate leaders, we can ensure that the policies that are put in place are in the best interest of our communities and the real estate industry.
Remember that we need to not only engage and educate, but also vote for leaders and policies that add value to our community and industry.
communication, communication, communication
Real estate professionals need to better communicate how our businesses benefit our communities. Review the six value-adds he described here and be prepared to remind others in your community about them. The bottom line is that by continually adding value to the community, we not only help the community, but also our own businesses and ourselves as real estate professionals.
