Updated October 2, 2021

The Realty Investment Community of Houston—or RICH Club as it’s known to its 1,000 or so members—is an organization of Houston-area investors created to network and develop their knowledge of real estate. Fortunately, joining the Realty Investment Community of Houston is remarkably easy. In fact, all you need to do is decide to join—and then act with these three simple steps.

3 Steps for Joining the Realty Investment Community of Houston

• Select the membership that’s right for you.
• Pay for your membership.
• Enjoy special discounts as part of your membership.

Many people have heard of the idea of building cash flow through a real estate investment strategy in the Houston market. Making money from real estate in Houston can take many forms. Residential real estate provides opportunities for buying distressed properties (like single-family homes) and turning them into a rental property or putting them back on the real estate market for a profit. Commercial properties like office buildings or a multifamily property present other real estate investing opportunities.

No matter what your goals are in terms of Houston investment properties, joining a Houston REIA (real estate investors association) will help you get there—and the Realty Investment Community of Houston (RICH) is the local chapter of the National REIA, where buyers, sellers, lenders, and real estate professionals meet and grow.

3 Steps for Joining the Realty Investment Community of Houston

Select the Membership That’s Right for You

There are four different types of membership in the Realty Investment Community of Houston, and each membership is geared toward a different type of real estate investor and their goals. Each membership type grants the member access to the monthly meetings and focus groups, which RICH values at $1,400 in terms of networking and educational worth. Members also get access to special discounts with vendors.

An Individual Membership can be purchased for $257 in annual dues and comes with many benefits. Members get instant access to all the video archives of previous events. They will get discounted tickets to special events, seminars, and workshops. They will get a discounted rate to email blast property listings to the RICH buyer’s list, and early access to wholesale deals. A quarterly bootcamp, toolkit for new investors, and a thirty-minute coaching call to jumpstart their real estate career are just a few of the other perks. Investors will also get their own website, which is a great way to showcase investment properties.

The VIP Influencer Level Membership can be purchased for $997 in annual dues and is geared towards serious investors who want to take action. It includes all the perks of the Individual Membership with some additional bonuses, such as additional monthly webinars and Mastermind Focus Groups. They will get a customized website, email support, and free email blasts to the RICH buyer’s lists. VIP Influencer Level Members are welcomed into the community with a RICH briefcase packed with educational materials and books, a two-hour introductory coaching call, early seating at bigger events, and exclusive introductions to private lenders.

Both the Individual Membership and the VIP Influencer Level Membership are for individual members, but if you want another person—like a spouse or business partner—to be included in your membership, attend monthly meetings, and gain access to all the same benefits, you can upgrade either membership to Plus One Status—to $357 total for individuals and $1800 total for VIP Influencers.

Pay for Your Membership

Once you’ve read over the benefits of each membership type and decided which one makes sense for you and your professional goals, you can just click on the signup button at the bottom of the description, where you will be taken to a payment page. Sometimes RICH will offer discounts on memberships, which might be a pleasant surprise once you get to the payment page. There is also a space to input a promo code if you have one. Your payment can be made with PayPal or a credit card. Once you’ve made your payment, your membership in RICH also grants you membership in the National Real Estate Investors Association.

There are no lengthy forms to fill out or an application process to weed out unfit investors. Everyone with an interest in or a passion for real estate—no matter their level of experience—is welcome to join RICH. Once you’ve paid for your membership, you’ll get instant access to the aforementioned features and benefits, which include 60 annual investor meetings (monthly meetings and dozens of focus groups), your jumpstart coaching call, and complimentary guidance from the legal team and CPA about forming an LLC or similar vehicle to reduce your personal liability and protect your assets. Best of all, you’ll join a thousand-strong club with access to a network of investors on the buying list of around 20,000 local to Houston, and 50,000 around the country.

Enjoy Special Discounts as Part of Your Membership

There are so many membership benefits of joining RICH, but in addition to the networking and educational opportunities, members will get some serious discounts at real estate related vendors.

RICH Club members are enrolled in the Home Depot Pro Xtra loyalty program, which gives them access to an exclusive catalog designed for National REIA members, special discounts, and an annual 2% rebate on Home Depot purchases.

Rent Perfect will provide landlords in RICH with access to customized, secure, online lease agreements, along with credit and background checks—all of which can be accessed for a low startup fee of less than $1. Property management can sometimes make investors realize that rental properties are not passive real estate, but with the right tools—like those offered by RICH—they can come one step closer to passive income from rentals.

Other benefits include a 10% discount with 1-800-GOT-JUNK, a vendor that investors engaged with flipping houses will certainly need with every real estate project. RICH members can also locate a good, reliable contractor through BuildZoom, stay connected with tenants digitally with CallFire, and exterminate pests with a 10% discount offered by ClearVue.

RICH Club members can also open a free self-directed Independent Retirement Account (IRA) with Equity Trust. They can also purchase property insurance with Arcana Insurance Services through a streamlined, landlord-friendly process to protect their landed assets, whether they’re currently occupied or vacant. RICH members also get ancillary benefits like discounts at office supply stores and on rental cars—which they might need if they visit a different market and want to scope out the neighborhoods in person.

Benefits of Joining RICH

If you live in the Houston area and you’re interested in real estate, joining RICH will be one of the best decisions you make.

We’ve already outlined the vendor discounts you get with your RICH membership, which RICH values at $1,200 or more. But the main benefit of joining RICH will be the opportunity it affords you in terms of networking and education. The monthly meetings are great opportunities to meet fellow investors or perhaps a real estate agent or lender. Recognized experts on real estate and related topics will speak and present, and small group discussions will be facilitated.

There are many topics to learn about how to invest in real estate. Investors searching the housing market for homes to rent will need a different set of tools than someone who wants to set up an investment group and purchase a multifamily apartment complex. A person who wants to fix and flip luxury homes on the premier real estate market will have different needs than someone who wants to profit from low-income housing offered by the Houston Housing Authority.

An investment in Houston real estate will also be uniquely colored by local conditions like zoning laws and regulations—everything from the cash used to fund a deal to the square feet of an area scheduled to be remodeled. While a nationally accessible online network or generally available educational materials can be helpful, joining a local Houston REIA will afford you the best opportunities to get educated on how to succeed in the Houston market specifically.

Non Members can attend monthly meetings for a $30 entry fee, but they are free to members who pay the annual dues. These monthly meetings are a great place to get started learning about real estate investing for beginners in a friendly, welcoming, non-judgemental environment; real estate professionals and dabblers mix and mingle with a common goal to learn more about real estate. It’s the perfect environment for discovering real estate investment opportunities.

Occasionally RICH will offer a Millionaire Mastermind Group, which is meant for intermediate to advanced investors to come together in a small group to get guidance from some of the region’s top investing professionals, who can work with the investors on a one-on-one level to strategize for success. Participants in the Millionaire Mastermind Group also receive a $1 million line of credit to finance their project.

As mentioned, RICH is part of the National REIA, a nationwide organization with many of the same goals and benefits offered by its local Houston affiliate. For investors who are interested in opportunities outside their local area, the National REIA offers access to a larger pool of fellow investors for networking at a few different events throughout the year. These events may be focused on a particular topic, such as innovative ways to capitalize on market challenges, and tend to rotate locations. Some of them might be in Washington, D.C., while others might be in select cities throughout the United States.

The Realty Investment Community of Houston

Joining a local Real Estate Investors Association is an important step in developing a real estate portfolio, whether you want to have some side income from residential rental properties, or you have goals of getting into commercial real estate. Real estate is an industry where it’s nearly impossible for investors to succeed alone. Every investor needs a good network of individuals like hard money lenders, estate agents, property managers, and fellow investors who have properties to buy and sell.

Contrary to its name, you do not have to be rich to join RICH, but you should have some aspirations about achieving a degree of greater financial independence or wealth. RICH is tailored to meet the needs of each investor in the Houston, Texas area that joins its ranks. They offer a plethora of educational materials and business tools like a free website, email blasts, and discounts on accounting tools and real estate profit calculators. No matter where you land on the spectrum of real estate investing experience, you will doubtlessly benefit from the many member benefits of RICH.

Buying your first investment property can be intimidating. With all the things to know about generating cash from real estate, the choice to invest can be easy to put off. By choosing to invest in yourself with a membership in RICH, you can get more informed about, and comfortable with, what it takes to succeed in Houston real estate market and get closer to generating income from real estate investing.

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