Identifying mentor oppurtunities

[Griffin Stephens]

Hello, I am a 24-year-old military veteran and current college sophomore looking to identify potential mentor/internship opportunities. My question is this: How do I find these opportunities? 

Should I attend RE meetups and conferences? Call local RE investing firms? 

Successful investors: How could someone in my position provide value to you and your business? 

I live in Raleigh, NC if that helps at all.

Thank you for your time.

[Tamara Deering]

@Griffin Stephens

I don't know, how can you add value to my business?  What can you do?  What do most of the people you admire on this forum dislike doing that you can take off their plate?  What are your skills and interests?  You say you would like to add value but you are asking people to tell you how, that is the opposite approach you should take.

You are a military veteran so you understand a command structure, working through red tape and perseverance, right? How do those traits relate to real estate investing? You could bird dog, cold call, canvas neighborhoods to find a potential deal to bring to someone.

You live in Raleigh NC, a real estate hot spot that is more affordable than a lot of markets, can you help someone from CA learn your local market?  Do you know where the next big thing is going to be?  You are a college student you have access to a large pool of renters, where do they want to live? How do they want to live? That information is invaluable to people trying to invest remotely.

I haven't even touched on what you are studying.  You have been researching real estate investment, package what you have going for you to meet the needs of investors and then offer it to them, without strings and see what comes of it.

Aside from that get a job in the industry, working for a construction company or a property management firm is a great way to get experience that will benefit you in the future.  So is working at a bank or hard money company, heck even selling cars would help.  It's all in the way that you look at it, everything can teach you something about where you want to go if you no where you are headed.