Looking for mentors in FL

[Toula McGinley]

My Husband and I are new to real estate investing. We live in The Tampa Bay area (FL). We are trying to learn as much as possible. We started taking seminars with the Rich Dad company and we are currently attending one. I am 49 and he is 51 and we work full time jobs in "the helping industry" . I work with children who have special needs and he is a counselor. We are in good financial standing (not much debt) , we have good credit, we just lack the knowledge on how to start making deals. My husband feels  we don't have a lot of time and money to afford making a lot of mistakes. In the seminar, they are promoting "hiring" a mentor for several thousands of dollars so they can walk us through our first deals..

I found the BP website recently and attended Brandon's webinar. Can you please advice us whether it is a wise decision to pay for a mentor? Did any of you pay for mentors? or do you just network until you find someone who will do it for free? Are there any seasoned investors in the Tampa Bay area who would be willing to mentor us? 

[Glenn McCrorey]

I'm a big Rich Dad fan but I was super disappointed when I took one of their 3 day seminars in 2009.  It was basically an infomercial for spending tens of thousands on courses.  I didn't even go back the 3rd day.  I wouldn't pay for a mentor personally.  I'm sure there are local real estate investor meetings near you and you can learn a lot from BP, books, and podcasts.  I rent almost exclusively to non profits that provide housing for special needs individuals, maybe you could do something like that given your back ground.