Why You Need a Real Estate Mentor

There are mentors in many different industries, but real estate mentors are especially valuable. Real estate is an area that is fraught with potential pitfalls. The journey of investing in real estate is hard enough without having to go it alone. And while books and other resources are definitely helpful, nothing beats having a real live person to guide you along the path to real estate success. Here are all the reasons why you need a real estate mentor.

Reassurance

When you’re contemplating doing something that seems scary, such as taking out a loan or knocking on doors to collect rents from your tenants, your mentor will be there to reassure you that it will be okay. It can be nerve wracking to take steps that you’ve never taken before; borrowing hundreds of thousands of dollars to do a deal that you can’t be positive will work out, hiring contractors to do rehab work that you’re unfamiliar with – it’s all unfamiliar and worrisome. You’ll rest easier with reassurance from your real estate mentor.

Knowledge

Your mentor can offer the value of their knowledge about a whole host of things. They can teach you about things that you didn’t even know you should be asking and give you answers to questions you don’t know how to ask. There are so many aspects and nuances of real estate that it’s impossible for a newcomer to figure it all out alone. The added knowledge of a mentor can help.

Experience

Whatever you encounter as a new real estate investor, chances are your mentor has already had that same experience or something similar. Their experience can help you avoid mistakes as well as give you insight into how to handle just about any problem. First, since they’ve experienced it, you won’t feel like you’re in unchartered territory. Second, your mentor’s experience will help you to successfully navigate out of tricky situations.

Confidence

Having a mentor in your corner will give you the much needed confidence you’ll need to keep moving toward your goals. When you’re first starting out in real estate investing, there will be lots of times when you’ll second guess yourself. You’ll probably even consider giving up on the whole idea at least once or twice. On top of all that, there will be people around you—friends or family members—who will likely try to discourage you for whatever reason. Your mentor can give you the confidence to ignore the naysayers and keep pushing forward even in your weakest moments.

Support

Early on in your real estate investment career, you’ll need extra support. You may need someone to talk things through, teach you to analyze deals, someone to “hold your hand” before your first meeting with a bank manager, someone to introduce you to the power players at a networking event or even go in on a deal with you. Call them a sidekick, a right hand man or a partner; your mentor is all those things rolled into one.

A real estate mentor can make the difference between many sleepless nights and a sound sleep. They can get you through the tough spots and help you turn a bad situation into a profitable transaction. If you look into the bios of many successful real estate investors, you’ll find that most of them had a mentor in the early days. Before you get too far ahead in your new real estate investment career, it’s well worth your time to seek out someone who is willing to be your real estate mentor.

Where to Find a Real Estate Mentor

So now that you know that you need a real estate mentor, where do you find one? It’s not like you can just tap people on the shoulder and ask if they’ll mentor you. Besides, you want to be discretionary when choosing a real estate mentor. You want someone who actually knows what they’re doing, right? With that in mind, here are some ways to find a real estate mentor.

An Organic Development

One of the nicest ways to find a real estate mentor is to have the relationship develop into a mentoring relationship organically. How could this happen? Well, you might encounter someone at a networking event who is open and willing to offer their opinion on your ideas. Then you might end up asking them one or two questions about what to do in a particular circumstance. You find that their advice turned out well, you thank them, and they say, “Anytime you need advice, I’m here.” You can then approach them formally and say, “Would you like to be my mentor?” or you can continue to let the relationship develop naturally, where you both know it’s a mentorship but neither feels compelled to spell it out.

An Official Arrangement

You can find real estate mentors for hire, too. You might find them on places like the BiggerPockets site or through referrals. Mentors for hire are usually just regular real estate investors who have achieved such a high level of success that people began approaching them with offers to pay in exchange for mentorship. It’s kind of like they became real estate mentors through success and word of mouth. If you’re willing to pay for access to a quality mentor, it’s very much worth the money. Mentors like this wouldn’t be able to make money mentoring unless they proved their worth, so you’re almost guaranteed good results. Paid mentors might have hourly rates or monthly rates. Since money is involved, the relationship won’t be as personal as you’d have with an organic mentor relationship, but in the end it’s the results that matter.

If you’re just starting out in real estate investing, you should definitely seek out a mentor to help you navigate the territory. Even if you have to pay for a mentor, you’ll make it back in the money you save not making costly mistakes or not going forward on a bad investment. Having a mentor is like having the Cliff Notes to a lengthy book or learning the secret fishing spots on a lake. It’s not absolutely essential, but it will help you achieve your goals faster.