Are you building for success with a solid foundation for your real estate firm?

Mike Child 

Everyone can appreciate the importance of — and need for — a properly built foundation. It serves three critical functions for any building: to support, to protect and to anchor. A solid foundation keeps the structure stable for many years and gives occupants trust that the building will endure the test of time.

Likewise, it’s important to build your professional team on a strong foundation, one that involves people who will support, protect and anchor you as you work to achieve your goals.

Three groups — lenders, trade associations and community organizations — can help fortify your foundation as a real estate professional or industry professional so you, too, can be successful now and into the future.

Here’s how:

1. Lenders support you by providing advice, helpful resources and products.

Local lenders provide an invaluable understanding of — and deep commitment to — the communities they serve. This means that quality, timeliness and customer service is at the core of every interaction. In Utah’s fast-paced, challenging real estate and construction environment, that can give you a competitive advantage.

For residential home buying and construction, realtors who collaborate with loan officers at community financial institutions know their business and their clients are in good hands. They know they will get access to a wide array of loan products, to knowledgeable lenders and to local underwriting teams, which makes the process easy and efficient.

Homebuilders also enjoy a smoother experience when they have a longstanding relationship with a lender. They appreciate thorough, efficient construction loan draws, which keeps them organized and on schedule and which in turn keeps their clients satisfied.

Commercially speaking, local lenders not only offer a variety of financial solutions for real estate and construction projects, they also offer in-depth knowledge of the market and industry trends. They have data and statistics that can help developers and builders know what to expect, what average prices are in specific areas and more. This type of data can help investors make more informed decisions and help structure projects to maximize profitability.

For both residential and commercial financing needs, local lenders also offer a personal touch. Relationships matter. This means you can rest assured that your clients’ projects or your own projects will be considered carefully and thoughtfully, and that you’ll be given advice that is relevant and constructive.

Trade associations, such as homebuilders associations, protect your business reputation by reinforcing best practices and offering continuing education and protect your industry through public affairs.

Being a member of a homebuilders association says a lot about you to your clients, community members and colleagues. It says you want to broaden your knowledge, to benefit from connections with other industry professionals and to work to keep your industry strong.

Open to homebuilders, realtors and others in the construction industry, your local homebuilders association offers educational opportunities, from licensing and re-licensing courses to test prep to seminars about code changes, innovations, energy updates, goal-setting and more. By taking advantage of these opportunities, you demonstrate quality to your clients and integrity to your industry.

Joining a homebuilders association also allows you to connect with professionals, from fellow builders and Realtors to lenders to others in the construction trades. Not only does this allow you to acquire fresh perspectives and new ideas, but it also creates opportunities for you to get advice and support.

Members of a homebuilders association are themselves advocates for the building industry and are also advocated for by a large, unified voice. The organization serves as a resource on issues affecting the construction industry and educates lawmakers on how legislation, regulations and codes can support building and, ultimately, benefit customers and communities.

Community organizations anchor you by providing connections to the areas where you live and work.

As an industry professional, you have to know your community. You have to be current on what’s happening within your municipal governments, your schools and your neighborhood businesses. One of the best ways to become acquainted with your community is to get involved.

A plethora of opportunities are available, from joining civic organizations such as the Rotary Club to volunteering with a nonprofit that addresses housing needs to even coaching a youth athletic team. However you choose to interact with your community, your neighbors will know you’re invested in making the area a better place to live, work and play.

As you’re building roots in your community, you’re also widening your network and strengthening your personal brand.

As you think about your career in the real estate and/or construction industry, consider how you’ll continue to build your success. The first step — assess your foundation. Is anything missing? Do you need to develop stronger professional relationships? Do you need experts to call on when you need information? Do you need to connect more with others in your industry and in your community?

As a 33-year veteran of the mortgage and real estate industries, I can say that the answer to all of those questions is a strong “yes.”

Think of it and remember it this way: A solid foundation is the only way to have long-term success, whether you’re building a structure or your career. Work just as hard building one as you would the other.

Mike Child is vice president and residential construction sales manager for Bank of Utah in Utah.