Mentorship Advice For New Investor

[Sebastian Bennett]

I've been actively using BiggerPockets for over a while, have been educating myself and attending a lot of networking events. All have proved helpful but still feel like I need some additional support. I've met plenty of individuals with far more experience than me who have offered referrals, advice and so on but I'm looking for more handholding than is reasonable to ask for someone to provide for free. I've done extensive research into the options and a lot of the paid options seem to focus on teaching specific investment methods. There's some who are more so there to help advise as I make my own path presumably with the ability to identify issues ahead of time. Consider it more so like having my own in house representative to be there as needed. I still  have to do some more research into the individuals behind both concepts but what option do you believe offers more value? I will close by saying I am not expecting a be a multi-millionaire by next year following someone's system. I am more realistic than that. 

[Nathan Gesner]

I don't think you need a mentor. I think you need a little more education and a mindset shift.

Real estate investing is a fairly simple process. You save up money, buy an investment property in a market you believe in, and hold it for 30+ years while managing it as best you can. It's a simple, guaranteed formula for success. However, if you overthink it or waste too much time listening to YouTube gurus, the options and details become overwhelming.

1. Start with BiggerPockets Ultimate Beginners Guide (free). It will familiarize you with the basic terminology and benefits. Then you can read a more in-depth book like The Book On Rental Property Investing by Brandon Turner or The Unofficial Guide to Real Estate Investing by Spencer Strauss.

2. Prioritize your financial stability. Eliminate debt, establish a budget, and save. Remember, the notion of amassing wealth without investing is a dangerous myth perpetuated by self-proclaimed experts. A prudent investor doesn't seek quick riches through shortcuts. To thrive in real estate investing, you must maintain a firm grip on your finances. Explore my personal favorites, Set For Life by Scott Trench or The Total Money Makeover by Dave Ramsey, for invaluable financial insights.

3. NETWORK!!! Get out of your comfort zone. Stop hanging out with your deadbeat buddies who spend all day drinking, talking sports, and otherwise wasting away. Go to BUILD YOUR TEAM at the top of the screen and look for local investors or meetups in your area. You can also find real estate investing groups through meetup.com, Facebook, or a Google search. Birds of a feather flock together!

You can build a basic understanding of investing in 3-6 months. How long it takes to be financially ready is different for everyone. Once you're ready, create a goal (e.g., "I will buy at least one single-family home, duplex, triplex, or fourplex before the end of 2025") and then do it. Real estate investing is forgiving; the average person can still make money even with some big mistakes.

[Jonathan Greene]

Most people who go to as many meetups as you have developed the confidence to move forward because they see everyone else doing it? Why do you feel like you need someone to hold your hand? That's a crutch. You are asking here to pay someone for their time in reality and that is where you will get pitched every program on earth when in reality, you are doing the right thing by meeting a lot of investors. Have none become real friends?

This will answer all questions - how many investment properties have you viewed in person? If zero, this is your issue. You aren't getting reps in the field.

[Becca F.]

Quote from @Jonathan Greene:

Most people who go to as many meetups as you have developed the confidence to move forward because they see everyone else doing it? Why do you feel like you need someone to hold your hand? That's a crutch. You are asking here to pay someone for their time in reality and that is where you will get pitched every program on earth when in reality, you are doing the right thing by meeting a lot of investors. Have none become real friends?

This will answer all questions - how many investment properties have you viewed in person? If zero, this is your issue. You aren't getting reps in the field.

 I totally agree. I just commented on someone's post in this forum. It was a thread with almost all aspiring women real estate investors about some master class that was $7 and a mentorship program costing $20,000 run by a woman investor. Yikes! 

I think a lot of people are hoping a mentor/coach/RE guru, will hand hold them and they buy X amount of properties and generate X amount of dollars in rental income and they become "financially free from their W2 job" and wealthy. There's no magic pill. It takes a long time to build wealth in RE 15 to 30+ years from the California investors I talked to. The lucky few were able to scale quickly in maybe 7 years by buying properties at a discount (e.g 2008) or someone with very high W2 income and tons of capital. 

[Bryce Jamison]

If you're scared to take the leap to get your first property, I'd advise making your first deal as low risk as possible. 

To me this means a 2-3 bd single family home in a high B / A area and saving a big emergency fund. Risks become less worrisome the bigger your emergency fund. You can easily self manage 1 property with Zillow and Excel. You certainly can have more robust systems, and probably should as you scale, but if you're looking for easy mode don't stress about it. Your realtor will do a lot of the acquisition hand holding you're looking for and BP and your local network can help with any concerns you have getting folks into the property and managing it, or you can hire a property manager to do it, albeit at 10-15% of gross and they won't do as good a job as you will. If it's the worst deal ever and you ruin everything, sell it and maybe you're out 5-20K. That's not a trivial amount of money, but it won't leave you on the streets when you're retirement age.

You got this! I feel confident after you do your first deal you'll be kicking yourself for not doing it sooner.

[Travis Timmons]

It's really nervy and stressful to buy a property. That's just a fact. I'm closing on one next month. It's my 5th active investment property and probably my 10th purchase total. Those nerves should be gone, but they are not. One could argue that they are worse now because I know the realistic stabilization period that it takes before a property is no longer a cash vacuum. 

Real estate investments (STRs, MTRs, live in flips) have produced my best returns by a good margin. They also take more work, are more stressful, require you to be on the hook for a monthly payment and scary amount of debt, and are hard to pull off. If you do pull the trigger and buy something, it's likely going to get worse in the first 3-6 months after closing. It'll feel like you forced it; you'll wish you had that cash back. 

Fast forward a few years, and you'll feel like a genius with a low maintenance, leveraged, and appreciating asset. It's a tough, stressful road to get there, though.

[Michael Smythe]

@Sebastian Bennett if you were going to start working out, would you:

1) Hire a personal trainer

2) Figure it out on your own

RE investing is no different. 

If you feel a consultant would help you reach your goals faster, then get one:)

Not sure how well the, "one-size fits all" approach works.

Guiding you to find your own path would seem a better idea.

DM us to chat more!

[Tim Ryan]

I'm in the camp of get help from a real person as opposed to listen to more podcasts and read these threads.

I'll agree that you need to be very cautious with a "Program". I've seen many people lose their money. However, I have also studied this and have seen that the majority of those who lost was because of themselves. They had the dream (and the tuition money) but didn't have what it takes to make it all happen.

Therefore, a mentor is my best advice for you and others in this same situation. But know that there will need to be a cost to you. Many people look and hope for a free mentor. Just keep in mind, you get what you pay for.

So where are these Mentors? Find them at a local meetup or someone you know. I believe they need to be in close proximity to where you live.

But what will you have to offer them? Money? Well, they might not need money from you. Work? Usually that just slows them down to train you and watch over you.

Find out what someone likes, call it a gift, show you'll do anything to learn. Pay for dinners, lunch (rich people love freebies).

You are on the right track to search for a "hand hold". Maybe call it something else since that's too easy to ridicule lol.

[Robin Smith]

Quote from @Bryce Jamison:

If you're scared to take the leap to get your first property, I'd advise making your first deal as low risk as possible. 

To me this means a 2-3 bd single family home in a high B / A area and saving a big emergency fund. Risks become less worrisome the bigger your emergency fund. You can easily self manage 1 property with Zillow and Excel. You certainly can have more robust systems, and probably should as you scale, but if you're looking for easy mode don't stress about it. Your realtor will do a lot of the acquisition hand holding you're looking for and BP and your local network can help with any concerns you have getting folks into the property and managing it, or you can hire a property manager to do it, albeit at 10-15% of gross and they won't do as good a job as you will. If it's the worst deal ever and you ruin everything, sell it and maybe you're out 5-20K. That's not a trivial amount of money, but it won't leave you on the streets when you're retirement age.

You got this! I feel confident after you do your first deal you'll be kicking yourself for not doing it sooner.

 I like this advice! 

[Becca F.]

Quote from @Tim Ryan:

I'm in the camp of get help from a real person as opposed to listen to more podcasts and read these threads.

I'll agree that you need to be very cautious with a "Program". I've seen many people lose their money. However, I have also studied this and have seen that the majority of those who lost was because of themselves. They had the dream (and the tuition money) but didn't have what it takes to make it all happen.

Therefore, a mentor is my best advice for you and others in this same situation. But know that there will need to be a cost to you. Many people look and hope for a free mentor. Just keep in mind, you get what you pay for.

So where are these Mentors? Find them at a local meetup or someone you know. I believe they need to be in close proximity to where you live.

But what will you have to offer them? Money? Well, they might not need money from you. Work? Usually that just slows them down to train you and watch over you.

Find out what someone likes, call it a gift, show you'll do anything to learn. Pay for dinners, lunch (rich people love freebies).

You are on the right track to search for a "hand hold". Maybe call it something else since that's too easy to ridicule lol.

I agree that finding a local mentor is much better than paying a social media coach/mentorship guru who is charging $500 (that's the cheapest I've seen) to over $20,000. I'm on Instagram and literally everyone is a real estate or investing (usually stocks/index funds) expert. I asked one of these coaches who said her rental income is $140,000 a year if that is the gross rental income or net rental income (after mortgage payments, property taxes, insurance, repairs, vacancies, capital expenses). This person manages her own properties so no property management fee. She won't respond to my comment and someone else asked her the same question LOL... If I told someone my gross rental income, it sounds impressive.  I'm still working my W2 job especially living in one of the most HCOL areas in the USA. 

My beginning mentors were two RE investor friends who did become retire early from W2 jobs by the age of 40 but they bought their properties in 2014 and going back to the late 1990s. Obviously you can't buy a coastal California property for a low price now so that their strategies don't work in 2024. They've given me advice more with property management and how to add value and look at the asset. 

I've been going to local RE meet ups and talked to other investors who have used many different strategies: out of state, syndications, NNN (triple net), commercial, AirBnbs, mid term rentals, co-ownership, house hacking, etc. Some of them have a lot more capital than I do and higher risk tolerances. There's no one right strategy for everyone - it's very individual. RE meetups that have helped me are very specific to San Francisco Bay Area market (sales and median rents in the last year and last quarter) so I'd recommend finding a meet up or session that might address your local market and if that's a viable option for you to invest in.

[Travis Timmons]

I'll push back on that "add value in return" to a mentor notion. There's not a lot that you can do. Someone either takes an interest in you and wants to help or they don't. I can pay vendors to do work, buy my own lunch, and don't need or want unskilled or inexperienced free help. 

@Sebastian Bennett I have nothing to sell and would be happy to help if you think that I can be a resource. 

[Wale Lawal]

@Sebastian Bennett

Special Method Training Programs focus on a specific strategy, providing structure but not covering all questions or decisions as you grow your investments. Ongoing Advisor/Mentor offers personalized support, addressing broader issues like deal analysis, risk management, financing strategies, and navigating new challenges. To evaluate an advisor, consider their track record, flexibility, and compatibility with your goals. Reach out to individuals to determine the right fit, as the best mentor should balance support with decision-making.

Good luck!

[Nicolas Martin]

A method-focused mentorship gives a structured, step-by-step approach to specific strategies like BRRRR or house-hacking, which is great if you're set on a method. However, it can feel limiting if you're aiming to create your own path and may not cover broader skills deeply.

An on-call advisor provides flexible, tailored guidance, helping you tackle issues as they come up across various areas. If you want practical support without being bound to a specific system, an “in-house” advisor could be the ideal fit for you, offering versatility as you build your own approach.

[Daniel Vineis]

Honestly @Sebastian Bennett I don't think you need to pay anyone to mentor you. Make a friend at one of those meet ups that is where you want to be in 2-5 years. Make sure they are just a investor so there are no ulterior motives involved. Then ask if you can use there resources like a realtor etc. Whenever something pops up that you need an extra opinion on just ask the investor what he would do and take action. Real estate is relatively easy and straight forward. Don't pay for advice unless your trying to get into a incredibly niche field of real estate. Most of the time when people pay for a mentorship program they are really just paying to eliminate a fear not for knowledge. So I would just address whatever is mentally holding back get a team together and take action. You got this!

[Maxine Antoine]

Hi @Sebastian Bennett. I hope all is well with you. I am very new to real estate as well and I am in a similar predicament as you in terms of desiring that handholding so that you don't make a costly mistake. I am not on expert level at all and at times I do get overwhelmed with all the information I'm absorbing but it's exciting too. As for me, I want to get into real estate so I can be financial free and have more time to live my life. I'm not lazy or anything but I'm tired of working jobs that don't pay enough to properly support me or my dreams. That's where I feel real estate comes in for me. From what I observed there's bigger income to be made with due diligence to find that property, but with big income can come big risks if you're not careful which scares me so much tbh. For me, the absolute worst thing is to not try at all despite this. I'm a pro member here at Bigger Pockets but I've also looked into Renatus and my local Real Estate Association. I did the 7 day trial with Renatus and it's very organized information but it's very pricey for their premium package. Their basic plan is not too expensive. They teach you more than real estate. They teach you about becoming wealthy and they have their own network of investors as well. I have yet to attend an event with Bigger Pockets and my local RE Association but will do so eventually. I just felt the need to reply to just let you know you are not alone in this feeling but like everyone says it's a feeling and it won't necessarily go away after doing your first one. Let's do it anyway! We got this! Have a wonderful day. 

[Crystal Smith]

Quote from @Sebastian Bennett:

I've been actively using BiggerPockets for over a while, have been educating myself and attending a lot of networking events. All have proved helpful but still feel like I need some additional support. I've met plenty of individuals with far more experience than me who have offered referrals, advice and so on but I'm looking for more handholding than is reasonable to ask for someone to provide for free. I've done extensive research into the options and a lot of the paid options seem to focus on teaching specific investment methods. There's some who are more so there to help advise as I make my own path presumably with the ability to identify issues ahead of time. Consider it more so like having my own in house representative to be there as needed. I still  have to do some more research into the individuals behind both concepts but what option do you believe offers more value? I will close by saying I am not expecting a be a multi-millionaire by next year following someone's system. I am more realistic than that. 

In one of our companies, we have a board comprised of people with different expertise. I do not call them mentors, but at the end of the day, the role they fill is to provide advice based on their expertise and their knowledge of where we are in our business.  My recommendation:  Take all of the people you have met at your networking events, put them into a CRM, and categorize what expertise each person has.  Then, start building your informal board or "in house representatives" using the words in your post.  The challenge with using a paid option is expecting one person to have all the knowledge you need to succeed unless that person is giving you access to their board. 

[Julia Lyrberg]

It sounds like you've done a lot of groundwork, which is great! If you're looking for ongoing, tailored guidance, hiring an advisor or mentor who can work with you through your own path might be more valuable than a course focused on specific strategies. This way, you can avoid costly mistakes and get personalized advice as you navigate deals. Just make sure that whoever you choose align with your goals and have the expertise to back it up.

[Colby Fryar]

I think education is great but at some point you have to jump in and get started.   I also agree with Julia.  I think mentorship is so under-valued in this business.   It changed my life- I can honestly say that.

[Johnny Lynum]

All great insights here! 🙌 
@Sebastian Bennett I'm a believer that to each is their own. I think, the first, is understanding your goals, resources, and skill set. For one, it's gonna help you position yourself with the value exchange. And second, it'll help you find a mentor that aligns with your goal - someone who's already achieved what you want to do. Education is really important, we all agree on that. Execution is just as important, even if it's just getting started with looking at some deals, analyzing them, or being intentional by networking with other investors. Staying consistent is the key. You got this! 💪

[Tanarat Bunchom]

Hey there,

It sounds like you’re in a great spot, actively educating yourself and networking, but looking for a bit more structured support. Based on what you're describing, I think a mentor or advisor who focuses more on guiding you through the process rather than just teaching specific strategies could provide the most value. Having someone to help you navigate challenges, anticipate issues, and give you personalized feedback as you build your own path is incredibly valuable, especially as you're just starting out.

While paid options with specific systems might seem appealing, I agree with you that the key is finding someone who can provide ongoing, situational guidance, particularly someone who has experience in real-world application. Keep researching, but ultimately, finding someone who aligns with your goals and approach is going to be your best bet.

Good luck!

[Tim Ryan]

I do believe in mentoring (of course, my profile says I mentor). But I've had, and still have many mentors. Some are free, and the best I pay for. 

For your situation I think you need someone who is not just teaching a method but will be interested in your success.  So that can't be someone selling you properties or stock investments (they say they care...)

Best to find someone local to you usually. 

[Robin Smith]

Quote from @Tanarat Bunchom:

 Based on what you're describing, I think a mentor or advisor who focuses more on guiding you through the process rather than just teaching specific strategies could provide the most value. 

Well said!

I have been interested in a mentor, too. Not so much for step by step guidance but for "check in" to make sure there's something I may be missing (or have incorrect).  I don't feel like I have anything to give back to a mentor though.  I have no skill, some money, and some time, but it's intimidating offering so little to somebody who would be giving me so much.  It doesn't seem fair that I'm unable to reciprocate on their level.