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Updated over 11 years ago, 08/19/2013
Mentoring programs
Hi, I'm considering joining a mentoring program run by a successful local wholesaler to help me develop a wholesaling business. In addition to counseling and reinforcement, the mentor would offer me contract forms, access to a wider network of contacts, and a legal and settlement team. But it's quite expensive: 4-14K up front (depending on level of access) for a year of mentoring, plus 50% of the first $100K of successful deals.
I have been learning a great deal on my own, but I think a good mentor could help me speed up the learning process. Speed is of the essence: I have no paying job at the moment. Cash is also scarce.
I'd like the feedback of the readers of this forum. How many of you have used a mentor, and how well did it work out for you? How much direct access did the program give you? Do you think it was it worth what you paid?
East Coaster
I'm fascinated to see this conversation reawaken, and believe I should comment again, now that I've had a few months under the tutelage of my mentor/coach/pathfinder/medicine man/whatever.
I think it's kinda splitting hairs to say one kind of helper, called a mentor, should not take a fee but another kind of helper, called a coach, should. I did pay my mentor, and I do not regret it. It was not painless, though the amount was far less than what guys who make their living in this line of work typically demand. Got an email last week from a rather famous one requiring prospective students to wire $25K up front.
My mentor is a very successful entrepreneur, and I know he doesn't need the money. On the other hand, I can understand that he needed to see that I had some skin in the game.
He takes his commitment to our relationship seriously. He is very busy every day, but whenever I have a question or need his support he somehow makes time for me, altering his schedule, for example, to check out a prospective property and help me form a strategy. He knows EVERYTHING. There is nothing he hasn't seen or done. He has accomplished a lot by being true to his instincts and making the most of his skills, and having that example in front of me has been quite liberating, I think.
I closed my first wholesaling deal last month, but under his guidance my perspective of what I can accomplish in real estate has widened considerably, and I'm not even sure my original goal of establishing a wholesaling business is the right focus for me. How long might it have taken me to sort that out, stumbling around in the dark by myself?
My thanks to everyone for their contributions to the discussion.
Why would someone mentor someone else in RE? If your not a relative or extremely close friend I just don't see why someone would do that. It's alot of work to teach someone this business, especially if they fold and all your work is for nothing. I don't believe in the global RE guru's but I do like local mentors as long as they don't want over $10K for SFH investing. No one in my area is willing to give out this info for free and I don't blame them. You would have to have more than $1500 invested in the game that's for sure.
Originally posted by Ben Hughes:
I can't speak for others, but I do it (when I have the extra time) because I like to help people. In my previous professional life, my mentors helped me to become very successful, and while I'm not in that industry anymore, I still feel an obligation to "pay it forward".
I don't know why anyone chooses to mentor. I can tell you that I met my mentor by attending an investor group he runs in the Baltimore-Washington region. After hearing him talk about negotiation one time I called him to ask if he knew of any courses or teachers that would help me gain better negotiating skills, as it's not instinctive to me (see earlier discussion).
We talked a little while, and to my surprise he offered to be a mentor to me. He has been a mentor to others in the past but was not involved with any students at that moment.
Why he mentors, I don't know. All I can think is that he gets something out of it. He doesn't have to run his groups either, for which he charges nothing (unlike most of the other group leaders). He is also involved in the community, speaks at schools, etc. Some people just like that kind of engagement.
Does anyone who has served as a mentor have anything to add to this?
Nancy I have two questions for you. How can you live without cash flow? If you are unemployed,what are you doing with all of your time? Are you reading any books about real estate? Are you listening to any audio programs? Do you go to the court house and read foreclosure files and probate files and divorce files. If you have a real estate license, why not generate some cash flow from that? If you called ten foreclosure victims a day, you would find a bargain pretty soon. If you called a few heirs every day it would not be long before you found one that wanted to sale. Offer them the four thousand as a down payment and ask them to hold a mortgage. You don't need a mentor to teach you how to do that. Don't waste your money at scam school. Just get out and talk to people that have property for sale. There is an old Zen saying " When the student is ready, the teacher will appear" Don't go looking for a teacher. When you are ready, the teacher will find you . In the meantime use all that time that you have and talk to some people that have property for sale.
Originally posted by Nancy Roth:
Does anyone who has served as a mentor have anything to add to this?
See my post directly above yours (we were posting at the same time)...
