Salvatore Genovese

Social networks and interactive Web 2.0 technologies have become dominant features of social life and news lately, and millions regularly spend hours each month on sites like Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn. One startup company with a selective vision for a real estate investor oriented social network decided to focus on the quality of members as opposed to quantity.

The invitation-only community, ConnectedInvestors.com (www.ConnectedInvestors.com), was founded in 2005 by real estate investor, entrepreneur, and author Ross Hamilton. Hamilton says he started the real estate investor focused social network to help other investors create a community to support each other as well as to serve as an online way to track deal flow and utilize all of the best-of-breed available web marketing tools like automated customer list building, automatic customer follow up, and audio/video compatibility.

Hamilton, author of "Real Estate Investing in Your 20s," also indicated that part of his motivation was to build a personal network because, "it was a little lonely working as a full-time real estate investor in my 20s. I didn't have many peers my age, so I just focused on networking with other investors." His efforts appear to be paying off as website popularity tracking company Alexa.com reports that his site has experienced 400% growth in the past three months.

"We at Connected Investors believe that now is an historic time in real estate and that sophisticated real estate investors who have access to the best tools and a community of other investors will be able to create wealth for their families and help America come out of the worst housing crisis since the Great Depression," continued Hamilton.

Showing that the members of Hamilton's social network are in smart company, Sequoia Equities (www.ExperienceSequoia.com) recently highlighted the launch of a distressed real estate platform called Sequoia Debt Ventures (SDV). With institutional players like Sequoia Equities (who currently manage $1.6 billion worth of real estate) focusing on buying residential real estate from banks, lenders, private equity firms, and other investors, individual investors may very well need to create their own networks to level the playing field.

Hamilton emphasized his website and network is designed to, "show investors how to use the Internet to make more money in their real estate business right now."