Do You Know How To Dress For Real Estate Investing Success?
Many of you know the importance of dressing for success. What many of you may not understand, however, is that there are two reasons we do it. The first reason we do it, is for ourselves. Being successful in real estate requires a great deal of confidence and when you look good, you feel good. If you want to be the very best in this field, you need to dress like the very best. If you are walking around in a brand new classy outfit and you feel like a million bucks, then you are worth a million bucks, because “we are what we think we are”. Our outside appearance has a strong affect on how we think and feel on the inside. Instead of going out and purchasing many new items of clothing, buy quality versus quantity. Purchase only a few of the best items, because they will last you twice as long as cheap clothing. The second reason we need to dress top notch is, of course, for other people. As much as people hate to admit it, appearance is extremely important. There have been several studies done where people have been shown two pictures of a person and asked their thoughts on each picture. The first picture showed a clean shaven man in a business suit. The second picture showed the same man, but he had a beard and was in a ratty t-shirt and shorts. Almost everyone had only positive thoughts about the first photo and said he looked like a man of respect and importance. As for the second photo, they had only negative things to say, such as he looked dirty or lazy or probably did not have a lot of ambition. You can easily try this experiment for yourself. The next time you are looking to purchase a car, go to the dealership dressed in your best clothes. Then a couple of days later go to the same dealership dressed in jeans and a T-shirt and see the difference in how you are treated.
Obviously, the homeowners we are working with want to feel that they are working with a skilled investor who is going to help them out of their situation. When you show up to a seller’s house dressed appropriately, you immediately gain credibility and they feel you are someone who can be trusted and get the job done. This applies not only to sellers, but to networking events, REIA meetings and anywhere you may be trying to improve your business. For men I recommend the following:
- Make sure you are clean shaven, no beards or mustaches
- Get a haircut, people do not like long hair on guys
- When going to a seller’s house wear khakis and a button-up collar shirt. You do not want to overdress, because if you show up in a three piece suit, you will look like a slick salesmen
- Wear dress shoes, no sneakers
For Women I recommend the following:
- Wear make-up in moderation, do not overdo it
- Make sure your clothing is not too tight
- Do not reveal too much skin
- Slacks or a dress are always appropriate
- Do not overdo it and show up in a prom dress
Since we are the best, we need to dress like the best, so we will be treated like the best.
Lets see...You are saying my standard dress of Crocs, jeans, t-shirt and my beard are limiting my ability to earn a lot of money in Real Estate?
All along I thought it was because I paid too much for a house...or sold it too cheap. Live and learn, huh?
I'm with you Bargain. This may be the stupidest article ever posted on TCI.
Years ago there was an article, I think in Forbes but maybe it was fortune about some guy who goes to a Venture Capital fair. Turns out there were two sorts of "uniforms" at the fair. Blue jeans and Polo shirts and the suit and tie look described above.
The author describes his trials and tribulations of attempting to find an investor for his startup. It is only on the third day of the fair after networking for all he was worth that he reaches his most significant insight. NOBODY wearing a suit and tie had any money. All the VC's were in blue jeans and Polo's.
If you are stupid enough to believe that how you dress determines whether you make any money in Real Estate you are also probably stupid enough to believe that you must buy buildings that look good inside and out. But the money is made in fixer-uppers of various sorts.
Your dress for success model may be important when you are trying to convince the Newbies that you know what you are doing so that they will sign up for your overpriced bootcamp and coaching services but it says a lot about you personally-- that your understanding of what makes markets tick is shallow-- skin deep. No, not even that deep, completely concerned with the veneer with no understanding of the substance.