Newbie from Naperville, Illinois

[Avis Durant]

Hi everyone, my name is Avis Durant from Naperville, IL. I am new to real estate and looking for as much knowledge as I can possibly soak up. So far BP has been an excellent resource for all things real estate related. I am excited by the possibilities available to me in this industry. I would love to find a mentor to help me find my way and so far the general consensus on finding mentorship is by attending local REI meetings. I am researching real estate companies that I could possibly work for to further my knowledge in the business. I also am getting ready to take the real estate broker's course and exam. I'm sure I'll have lots of questions and look forward to communicating with as many of you as I can. Thanks in advance for all the well-wishing and advice that you'll give me.

Best Wishes, 

Avis Durant

[Dale Stevens]

@Avis Durant - I would also suggest getting to local REI Clubs, however since we are in a large metro of Chicago, we have far more than 3 to check out. My lay of the land is that about a decade ago there were only a handful, now many have popped up.

Here is my advice on the clubs

1. Avoid anything by RENATUS - this includes the signs saying "Real Estate Investor Seeks apprentice" - shouldn't investors seek real estate??? Their meetings tend to be in Downers Grove area. They also are the backers of the Northern IL REIA group that meets in Crystal Lake.

2. Avoid (LIKE THE PLAGUE) Chicago Wealth Builders - this meeting is in Oak Brook. It was initially set up from a guy in Texas, but the two local heads have a history of bad dealings with others. I have met more people that they owe money too, FAR MORE, than have gotten anything positive from them. 

3. Chicago REI - This is one of the newest. It was set up initially by Andrew Holmes. He claims to run Chicago #1 Flipping team. But I can't verify that, as it seems no one can keep stats, to the claim is well, just that a claim. I am sure it will be his downfall as one person he burned (and there have been a few) will make a report to the AG in this state. There is a video of him on YouTube, where he actually brags he makes more selling his products than real estate, and he did it by screwing over a local Club in the CCIA. SO he started his own club. So I caution you on this group. So he hooked up with CCIA, and backstabbed them, then moved his meeting from their location to where the other longstanding local club meets, the WCRT.

Then there are groups that are decent and solid, but their business is to bring in "GURU" types that sell their product at the meetings. Newsflash, the hosting group gets a cut of the sales, usually 50%. I didn't initially know that, but why do we pay to enter if they sell us something?

This list includes the CCIA which has been around over 30 years. So there is some solid stuff here, with some longtime investors, but the meetings are indeed a sales pitch. I have met a few decent investors here, but getting people to networking proved difficult. Most attend the meeting, then quickly leave. 

CAREIA - I have gone twice, Small group, been around for years, and ever evolving. Pretty decent, but still (in my opinion) finding their identity as a group despite a long history.

That brings me to one that I was warned to stay way from by a few people on here. I happily ignored their advice as it seemed petty and snarky. So I ignored it and attended. Since then I have 6 properties because of attending that group. So this should tell you the value of online advice from people that hide behind the keyboard (same is true of dating websites :) ) Anyway, the group is the WCRT. The guy in charge can be a little gruff and opinionated, but aren't we all in our own way? The huge difference here is this... THEY have a strict NO GURU rule and no sales allowed by presenters. I can not tell you how refreshing that was. Then, it is obvious the guy running it is exactly who he says he is. Very open, maybe too open, but he sat with me after a meeting and answered every question I had. No other club did that. 

So there is my personal take. 

As to a mentor. I kept searching for one, finally I realized I was wanting someone to not only give me their knowledge they have learned over the years and their time to teach me. From that, they would be essentially creating a competitor in me. Why would they do that? So I agreed to pay someone for their time and information. From that relationship, I have 11 more properties, and have made far more than I paid. We pay for college and from that, we get a piece of paper and a pat on the back, whereas with this, I got real applicable information to invest and have easily made that money back. I call that "investing".