..as reported in The Charleston Post and Courier

Club like a support group for real estate investors

By Katy Stech

Across the country, real estate investors are starting to regroup in preparation for the housing slump’s weakest point. Locally, some investors are also gathering, but more in the name of professional development.

Welcome to the newly formed Charleston Real Estate Investors Association.

The club is a variant of a support group, where members can talk about real estate industry issues and discuss their latest ventures, said Bobby Wallace, general manager of the 1-800-SELL-NOW brokerage company in Mount Pleasant, who is helping organize the club.

Some of the club’s founding members attended South Carolina Real Estate Investors Association meetings, but because all real estate is local, it made sense to start a local branch, he said.

So far, the group is a mix of folks from longtime investors to industry professionals to people who are still working on their first buy.

“Our group is different because people will talk openly about their business plans and principles,” Wallace said. “It’s hard to find that because if you’ve got 20 or 30 people in a room together, they usually don’t want to give away trade secrets.”

Most group members also take the Warren Buffett investing approach, meaning they are planning to make money gradually over several years, he added.

The group meets every two weeks. Membership costs $99, but the first meeting is free to attend.

The next meeting is at 6 p.m. Tuesday, April 22, at Carey Hilliard’s Restaurant, 6601 Rivers Ave., North Charleston.

For more information, visit www.charlestonrei.com.