Looking for advice on leveraging an assistant position

[Whitney Henry]

Hello! This is my first post on Bigger Pockets, so bear with me :) 

I recently 'informally' accepted a gig to assist a local Real Estate Investor in Tampa, FL with marketing. We met and he told me about his business, goals, and what he would need from me. A lot of my role would be social media related as well as managing the website, etc. I expressed to him that I was very interested in learning about real estate and see this role as a way for me to gain experience. He told me that people have asked for him to mentor them, but he has not had the time to do so. He also told me that he's had other assistants but in the past he was being cheap and hiring high school students or family members/friends. He was very open that I would learn a lot about the investment business and that I would probably be able to start investing myself one day. He sent me an e-book to read and encouraged me to learn more on my own while he's out of town. I will start in April. 

My question is, how exactly should I leverage this opportunity? I've worked jobs where managers told me I would 'learn" more but I felt held back as if they didn't want to teach me more for fear I would leave or even know more than them.  I've been lurking the forums and one thing that really stood out to me was forming a partnership. My 6-12 month goal is to be able to house hack. That's where I would like to ideally start my real estate investing career. This would give me the opportunity to have my own place as well as live free or for less. I don't have the funds to do this and have been researching wholesaling. From what I know about his business, he wholesales, buys, flips, etc. I know myself well and hold my work ethic to a high esteem. I can bring his business immediate results through my marketing abilities, but for an hourly wage how can I make sure I'm getting a return? How long should I assist him before I ask about partnering? Should I bring him deals I've found and if so, should I ask or expect a commission if it's something he moves forward with? Having a sales background, one thing that has always frustrated me was putting in so much work to sell a product/service and seeing minimal if any reward for my effort. while seeing the overall business thriving. For example I did an $11K deal for a job one time that is now an annual profit the company will see and saw a $60 commission. I don't want to be in another situation like this, however I want to make sure I don't come off as entitled or that I'm going to learn his business and duplicate it and leave him in the dust. I would love to have him as a mentor and future partner, I just don't want to be taken advantage of. 

Sorry for the length, but I'm hoping someone has advice or experience in this from a newbie or established real estate investor perspective. Thank you in advance! 

[Account Closed]

@Whitney Henry hello, and let me be the first to welcome you to bigger pockets ..And to congratulate you on taking the firsts steps that may actually change your way of life forever .. did you just get chills ? .. i did .. I just love saying that to newbie's .. everyone needs to start somewhere and instead of trying to do it on your own , you have found a way to learn while you earn .. it may not be earning a lot but at least your not , not going to get paid .. some people out here would be happy to learn from a seasoned professional and do it as a intern " free of charge " .. that being said .. I know your not complaining , you are just looking out for yourself and there is nothing wrong with that .. what you have to offer may very well be valuble to his or anyone's company .. what would you normally charge for it ? .. now consider that a decent mentor could charge $10-20 even $40k dollars for teaching a student their secrets .. but I doubt this investor would even consider trying to charge that much .. although his time sound pretty valuable also .. so here we are .. your service is valuable ..his knowledge is valuable .. the best thing to do is have a discussion about expectations of each of you .. if you feel you can surpass his then i would suggest you try to put a day stamp on it .. like ok .. lets say tou make a deal with him .. if your services increases his business by 15% by a certain time frame then you would expect to become a partner with a certain amount of % on his deal after that criteria is met by your services .. how much shoukd you ask for , I have no idea .. because I dont have a real understanding of the service you provide and you are already going to get paid something for it .. if it really does increase his business then why not ask for a small piece of what it generates .. say 10% plus your hr wage .. and then explain that because this is business you and him might be better off by writing a partnership agreement spelling out exactly what is expected between each of you .. if not for anything more than so you can get practice with contracts a bit and because it just makes good business sense .. that way if you dont live up to what is expected of you or if he does not do the same for you then either of you can refer back to the contract between you . 

  Generaly someone has to bring more than just desire to the table in order to become a 10% or more partner .. he has all the cards. Are you the only one who can preform the service he wants to hire you for ? .. if so then you have a worth greater then just a hourly mentee .. but if he can just hire someone else and not have to bother trying to mentor someone than .. your stock just went down .. I wish desire is all someone needs .. but it isnt .. the good news is .. if you have the desire and the discipline then everything you need to know ..from wholesaling , to flipping to tax liens to mobile home investing and mobile home parks and commercial real estate and so on .. is right here on this site .. no need for a mentor .. only a good set of eyes and ears and meybe a typing finger .. there is no need for a class or instructions other than what right here on Bigger Pockets .. the only thing a mentor might give you more of is self confidence .. thats what a lot of newbie's actually lack .. they dont even know it .. but they lack it .. its hard making that leap into the deep end with the sharks .. my suggestion is .. don't tip your toes to feel the warmth of the water , just hold your nose and jump right in .. and if you have a mentor that can teach you how to swim faster and a bit better .. then take it .. learn as much as you can until you feel like there is nothing left fir him to teach you ... then .. learn some more.. because if this guy has been at it for twenty years then he has a lot to teach .. I wish you the very best ...i hope you keep us up to date on how it is going or if you have any questions .. 

God Speed, 

Michael Short