Real Estate Mentoring VS Real Estate Courses

So, if you’re even remotely interested in Real Estate today, undoubtedly you have probably looked online for education and seen a myriad of courses.  Whether you are seeking to be an agent, a better marketer, a better investor or just get mentoring, the number of options available to you today is dizzying at times.  In some ways this is good because it encourages healthy competition.  At the same time it can be a problem.   Why because many people have been labeled “gurus” and the term “guru” has definitely developed a bit of a negative stigma with a lot of people where a lot has been promised yet little delivery occurs.  This part of the equation actually works both ways as there are several gurus out there who do charge a pretty penny but if you really maximize what they tell you, you really should see some if not a lot of success.  At the same time, there are materials out in the internet that are questionable at best relying on outdated methods.  The question is how do you know who is who?  

These are the challenges you’ll have to go through as you decide on your real estate education.  While nothing beats firsthand experience, firsthand experience in Real Estate can be very expensive.  So, it’s usually best to avoid it whenever possible when you’re dealing transactions that have multiple zeroes at the end.  We recommend a couple of things.  One, decide on what it is specifically you want to do.  The focus theory applies. Focus is an acronym for Follow One Course Until Successful.  Let that sink in for a moment because this is usually the first place people go astray.  Focus = follow one course until successful.  How does this apply to real estate?  It’s very simple.  You pick one avenue in real estate and get really, really good at it.  The moment you start trying to do multiple things is usually when the problems begin.  You want to get to a point where you are very good at one thing.  So, if you’re going to be a real estate agent, a marketer, a wholesaler, a rehabber, a landlord, whatever the case, pick that method and get really good at it. Once you’ve made that commitment now you are at the point where you have to make a decision.  Do I just want to leverage online education?  Do I want to do a home study courses?  Do I want to get a mentor or do I want a combination? There is no right and wrong answer here. 

Getting a mentor usually will cost you the most but will probably get you to your success the quickest as they will help you along the way.  However, you are paying for time and knowledge so there is usually a bigger cost to get in as people’s time is valuable.  And one must always respect that.  Do not fall into the trap of trying to determine what someone’s time should be worth. That is not a decision that we can make for anyone and everyone is welcome to decide what their time is worth to them.  It simply up to you to decide if you are willing to pay for a particular persons help.  That being said, if you don’t want to put in the bucks for a mentor, you can just do a home study course. There’s a ton of good home study courses out there.  It is often said that if your home study course gets you just one deal that more than pays for the course, it was probably well worth it.  For the most part there’s a lot of truth to that.  As always there are exceptions.  But usually most home study courses provide a few golden nuggets that can get you to get a deal to where you’ll make more than you paid for the course.  With home study courses now going for anywhere from 30 to 1000 dollars, this is not unreasonable as most real estate transactions will make you well plenty more.  (If they don’t, then that’s a separate discussion on itself).  

Of course if you don’t do a home study course, you can always go with free content online. When you go this route you’re basically depending on blogs, facebook groups, websites and YouTube primarily.  While there’s a ton of value to learning how to do stuff on these sites, what I have found is usually you don’t get the complete picture.  This is because you’re getting things in a snippets.  Sometimes you get enough to put the entire deal together but sometimes you don’t.  I have seen people get burned going this route so caution is advised since they did not have the big picture for their transaction. So, again you just have to decide how hard you want to work at it.  The beauty of a home study course is if it’s a good one it will bridge those gaps for you.  The amount you pay is more than worth the time you’ll save to trying to scour the internet for every little post.  The phrase “don’t jump over dollars to save a few penny” definitely applies here. 

Eventually you will want a mentor.  With every successful person, there’s usually a mentor behind them.  We need the coaching and guidance of people that have paved the path before us and the time saved is huge.   So whatever path you choose, do plan on allocating some of the money you’re going to make for mentoring to continue growing yourself, not only as a person but for your business.  They ultimately help you reach your ultimate goals faster.  

With the internet we have tons of options available today so evaluate your choices well.  And remember, Real Estate is not a get rich quick business. Work hard and passionately and we look forward to seeing you on the other side.