How does one find mentors for Commercial?

Question

I am near Charlotte NC and just went under contract with a small complex near Asheville NC.  I would love to start networking locally, but also start mentoring as I learn more on the commercial side.

Sorry if this has already been covered, but I didn't see a recent post on the topic.

Thanks in advance,

Mike

Gino Barbaro · Answer

@Michael Hutchinson

HI Michael

we just recorded a podcast with Bob Burg from The GO Giver and I asked him how people should try to secure a mentor.  It's all about giving value for value.  What can you provide to your mentor.  In your case, maybe offering a mentor a piece of the deal in exchange for his knowledge/expertise.

Don't start the conversation with "Can I pick your brain"?  How would you feel if it took you 20 years to become proficient in a skill and someone comes along and asks you this question.

We also had a podcast with @john Ruhlin from Giftology. He has some terrific strategies of building rapport.

good luck with the deal!!

Best

Gino

Chris Tracy · Answer

If you're looking for a paid mentor there's no shortage of them on here.  The ones I am aware of (& I'm sure you'll find more if you Google)...

Dave Lindahl

Joe Fairless

Jake and Gino

Michael Blank

Lance Edwards

Rod Khleif

Sue Nelson

Brad Sumrock

I just came from Brad Sumrock's event and there were a lot of successful students there telling their story about how they are currently doing deals, etc.

His 1-on-1 program is a little pricey but appears to be well worth it because he has a whole network that a newbie can plug into.

If you have the money... it's kind of a no-brainer.

Shop around anyway though and I wouldn't try to skimp and go the free route.

Buying an apartment building is not like buying a condo.

Todd Dexheimer · Answer

@Michael Hutchinson I will echo @Gino Barbaro and others. What can you give back? Make sure it is defined and you understand your value. I have plenty of people that ask to meet me for lunch, but give no reason or just say that they'd love to learn from me. I also get people that say I would enjoy learning from you and will help you out in whatever way possible. That is great that they are offering to help, but I usually know nothing about them, so I have no clue what they are good at. I could tell them to help me analyze deals, but if they are bad at that, then they are not adding value and likely costing me time and potentially deals.

Michael Hutchinson · Answer

Thanks again. Great experience Todd BTW ... I hope to be where you are down the road.  First steps and such.   :)  Also, love "Joe Fairless" advice.  I looked up all the names and his syndicated deal analyzer is a pretty slick tool.  I don't want to do syndication yet until I know better what I am doing, but what a great tool to make that easy.  I am also now using it to better see my assumptions, P/L and "exit strategies".  I am buy and hold guy (at least for now), but the "exit strategies" is a great part of that solution for estimating refi/cash out scenarios.

@Henri, I just looked near me ... wanted to be able to drive to the property.  Asheville area is my furthest in my search area.   I started looking through a broker, but he didn't have any deals that I was right for and my lack of experience shined through.  I found this one on MLS actually.  It had issues, but they were things I understood (health department and septic) from prior property management.  I still look around Charlotte, but think I will focus at first in the outer cities (Cary, Wadesboro, etc.) as the deals have a higher capex and less capital up front.  I likely sit on this first one for at least a year to make sure I know what I am doing before I buy more multifamily.

My experience is limited but here is what it is:

• Owned a single rental condo ... sold it as I later realized it was safer than I wanted to be.  (read about 20 books and this site, podcast, etc.)
• Oversaw my Dad's portfolio for about 18 months.  Train wreck with about 50 residential units and a few commercial buildings.  The residential were 70% trailers with most units in WV, some in Ohio or PA.  He had dementia and I had to take over.  Found 5 heroin dealers, 2 sexual predators, 2 violent felons and some prostitutes in the units.  If someone needs help with nasty evictions ... I have that experience to offer unfortunately.  :(

More advice welcome ... really interesting stuff.  Thank you all!

Tim Puffer · Answer

Michael - This piece from Gino will be the best piece of advice you get - and it's not even close. Too many people are looking to take first. GIVE my man! Help others achieve their goals and you'll look up one day and see that you also achieved yours.

James E. · Answer

@Michael Hutchinson just to tag along to @Chris Tracy - who gave a great list of paid mentors - an often overlooked resource is SCORE. I'm sure Charlotte has a branch, and if you call them up and see if they have any counselors who have real estate experience, that can be a great (and free) resource for you.

Chris Tracy · Answer

@Michael Hutchinson - let me help you get a little more dialed-in with how you can potentially help one of the gurus/mentors (anyone that buys apartments for that matter).

Sounds like you have some good real world experience, but let me simplify things for you.

Here's the biggest needs & what most people are looking for generally speaking:

1) Deals

2) Private $

3) Sponsors/Key principals to go on a loan

4) Help underwriting

5) Help with research, making phone calls, administrative tasks, etc.

So that said- like @Todd Dexheimer mentioned, what is your skill set?

Are you a numbers guy or a people person?

What I do for my group, I help bring potential investors to the table because I get energy from people.  Crunching numbers feels like bamboo shoots being shoved under my fingernails, so underwriting is not a good role for me on a team. lol

Figure this out and offer it to someone on here.  That's what I did.

You can hear more about my story on a podcast episode I did with Joe Fairless that goes more into detail.

If you really want to go the extra mile with this concept, you can evaluate yourself with a free DISC assessment by Tony Robbins or some other personality assessment tool.

Good luck... Hope that helps!

Henri Meli · Answer

@Michael Hutchinson . Congrats on getting things done in Asheville. Any particular reason why you chose to invest in Asheville and not Mecklenburg county (Charlotte area)? And how did you find your deal ?

Just to emphasize @Gino Barbaro . Think about what you can offer in exchange for their advice/experience.

Michael Hutchinson · Answer

Great feedback all ... thank you.  I appreciate the comments so far.

Jeff Engstrom · Answer

Congrats and subbed. I'm also in Charlotte NC and have only done one residential rehab, I'd love to get into commercial one day.

How does one find mentors for Commercial?

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