Approaching A Mentor

[Adam Michael]

The other night I had dinner with one of my biggest customers (W2 job) and it came up that him and his brother own 45 units. Topic came up because I'm moving into my 2nd property soon. I have a three family and am closing on a two-family shortly. We do a significant amount of business with his company and they've always been extremely welcoming, accommodating and open-minded while I've learned the business and about our industry (in the construction market - I work for a manufacturer and he's a contractor). We talked a bit about real estate and I know I can learn a ton from him. Him and his company have helped me learn about the industry I'm in, letting me visit job sites at will and getting to know all his foreman. I've been working with them for a few years now but they've doing business with my company for 40+ years. They're all great people and have helped me a tremendous amount. I started out in this industry 5 years ago right out of college with no experience, just turned 28. I'm going to write him a letter asking if he'd become a mentor and I could shadow him and his brother when they look at property, etc. I'm wondering if any of you out there have any advice on how to approach this. Needless to say, anything involved in our day to day business relationship will be excluded. Any feedback is much appreciated.