Rental Property Investor · Hobart, IN · Member since 2020 · 7 posts · 1 vote
Hello everyone,
I am just getting started in real estate. Wholesaling, and eventually moving into flipping SFH, and rentals. I have a steady job now which I plan on leaving when my business takes up more of my time and brings in more money. That being said, one of the senior managers of the company has extensive real estate experience, and does flips and holds rental properties in addition to his normal job. We have chatted about this before but I never mentioned I was interested in it as well. Would it be wise to approach him as a mentor, which in turn would reveal to everyone that I don't plan to work there in the foreseeable future?
Real Estate Broker · Hyde Park Tampa, FL · Member since 2019 · 2k+ posts · 3k+ votes
6y
Here are my concerns:
A senior manager. He may feel that he's paying you to do a job for the company - not to help you in a side job.
Mentor. What's in it for him? He's got a "day job" already like you and a successful side business in real estate. You need him but does he need you? If the company found out, would they see this as a conflict of interest?
I recommend that you blaze your own trail outside of the company. You may be able to find a mentor through BP in your market. You could also find a realtor who works with investors in your market to help you not only find potential opportunities but who would also have all the vetted resources to get the job done. As a buyer, you pay no commissions so why not add the bench strength.
If I'm understanding you right the senior manager is doing real estate on the side. I don't know that they would feel threatened by you starting a real estate business on the side unless you specifically said that you were doing it in hopes of leaving the company in the future. As far as the mentorship maybe strike up a few casual conversations and see if something develops naturally.
Rental Property Investor · Upstate, NY · Member since 2012 · 3k+ posts · 3k+ votes
6y
Assuming the guy is in your immediate demographic his expertise may be worth probing. I'd tell him you're intrigued by the REI concept & then find out what his motivations are. Maybe he inherited the properties or maybe he is in hot pursuit of an early retirement, feel him out it may open a unique opportunity or be a dead end. It's amazing how quickly REI types click with 'soul mates' of a feather.
I'd already decide to bail early in my career so when the 'managers' in my JOB realm discovered my pursuit of 'run down slums' (their words) they sat me down & counseled me on the fact I would lose everything. I then heard how they tried it & lost money, some a lot of money. At the time interest rates on CD's were running double digits & that was their schtick to making safe impossible to hide TAXABLE passive income. One actually told me 'you know Pat what pisses me off, I spend all this time advising you & I know you totally ignore what I say'. He was dead right & also a lousy clueless operations manager & the epitome of nepotism.
When the new VP Eng came on the first thing he told me, when we sat down for our get to meet you one-on-one, was 'buy property'. After that we often talked about my endeavors & I discovered he was into commercial NNN. I never reported to any of the other managers again.
He then had me spend the next 3 years with the Japanese engineers documenting pre/post commissioning issues & then writing SOP's for a huge installation we worked on from the day we broke ground. I spent 3 days on site & the rest of the week at home (by the pool) writing it up for review. This gave me a lot of free time to rehab & was able to keep buying 'run down' properties.