Question about mentors or so called mentors and best wholesaling technique

[Brianna W.]

Hi everyone, I'm a newb. I have been studying REI for the past 5 months now and I'm ready to take action. Back in April, I began sending out yellow letters to probate leads and absentee owners here in Ohio as well as putting out bandit signs. That was really adding up money wise and after making my first cold call to a FSBO property that i'd found while driving for dollars....I realized how uncomfortable I was with knowing what to say and how to talk to sellers and buyers in the most effective manner. I guess you can say I that I didn't want to come across as a newbie although I am.

So I started looking for a mentor. I contacted a few people, some who were not actively wholesaling, some who wanted to charge $1k or more for phone calls! and then I found my current mentor who I've been working with for the past week. I explained to him that I really need help with talking to sellers, he is very nice but later on in the week when I asked how long he has been a full time wholesaler....he informed me that he is not full time. He has a mentor himself, and that his mentor got in his butt that day actually (sorry thats the only way I could think to word this at nearly 2am).

Well, he has me working on owner finance deals, which is what he focuses on because it's what he has learned so far. I have gathered 61 leads over the last 4 days and began calling them to process the leads. To make a long story short, he has given me a property that I have to set up showing for in a matter of 2 days because the home owner will only show this property this weekend. I haven't seen the property and I can't market it the way I feel is appropriate because he doesn't always get pictures. He is really very nice, but am I on the right path with this? I love the system reiwebtools because it makes keeping track of leads so easy, and saves money on web hosting, it also provides the contracts that I NEED and was having a hard time finding. Though, I cant help but wonder if this method will get me to the closing anytime soon.

I would appreciate any feedback or suggestions. Now, after talking to about 20 buyers I feel much more comfortable and I think I can get this thing going on my own. I would go back to sending out letters and marketing online through CL and my business website. From reading here on BP, this method seems to bring in the most deals and closings.

Sorry for such a lengthy post, I just REALLY want to make things happen, I need to get out there. I hope to close my first few deals over the summer.

[Bill Gulley]

Brianna W., Doesn't sound to me like really need a coach or paid mentor. You need to get out more and networking face to face. Confidence won't come to you speaking to the same person. You need thick skin in RE.

A mentor who has a mentor means you may have selected someone who should not be teaching anything unless it's free, depends on what they are being mentored in. A good mentor coach should have a good working knowledge of all aspects of residential RE, otherwise I guarantee you that what they attempt to teach is how to fit a square peg in a round hole, forcing their tactics upon a seller/buyer and property. That's not the practice of residential RE.

As to teaching, coaching or mentoring, I agree with aspects of what Reggie was saying, but there is a world of difference in life skills and teaching social interaction with confidence and teaching a business, while there are similarities the goals are not the same. I have coached kids to be all they can be, but the standards can be the degree of improvement made, in business there will be a standard to be met and if not met you're out. There are certainly aspects of social norms and expectations in be in RE, but that should be there before you begin. The best way to improve your confidence is to face the fear perceived, get out there and get before the public face to face.

Learning the basics, RE financing, types of property rights and deeds, etc. together with your marketing knowledge will give you more expertise in RE than 90% of the public, you can easily be the expert in the room. You will only learn how to take command of the conversation, leading others, by practice. You may not need a RE mentor at all, you might seek motivation from other "programs" or mentors in business.

I see nothing wrong with your communications skills, you appear to be well spoken here, all I see are cold feet and perhaps the lack of knowledge of the big picture. Good luck......go get'em! :)