Two Ways to Gain Direct Knowledge From Experienced Investors for FREE

Almost every investor stresses the importance of education. A common solution they offer is that you need to go out and hire a mentor. This can be costly, especially for newer, broke investors. Josiah Rosebury, who is a wholesaler that completed 2 deals a month in 2016, provides similar advice, but in our recent conversation, he explains how he discovered two approaches that allow you to learn from experienced pros without having to spend thousands of dollars for a mentor.

Strategy #1 – Be the Boots on the Ground

First, instead of just paying someone money, Josiah offered to be the boots on the ground for an experienced rehabber. “My exchange to him was I was able to go view properties that he may not be in the state or he may be out of town at the moment. When he found a property that he just couldn’t get to right away, he would call me and I would get there right away. I would take excellent pictures, excellent videos, everything to the T, and be able to send that back to him.” And what did Josiah get in exchange for his efforts? – “I not only got to go out there and start viewing more properties, doing walkthroughs, [but also, the experienced rehabber] was able to get on the phone with me at least once a week and tell me what I needed to do to improve my business.”

Strategy #2 – How to Get Paid to Learn

Josiah’s second strategy was not only free, but enabled him to make money while getting educated. After successfully wholesaling 2 deals a month for about a year, his company began financing some rehabs for other companies. “That slowly was our way of learning. We put a little bit of money in the deal with other companies that are rehabbing and they [allowed us] to get a return on [our] money. But on top of that, we get to be apart of the rehab.” Josiah is currently involved in a rehab deal that he is financing. “We put some money in that deal and they’re doing a full rehab. They’re actually tearing off the top of the roof and adding another 1,500 square feet. It’s been very interesting getting to learn from those folks.” Josiah is able to observe a complicated rehab first hand and attain all the knowledge that comes as a result. On top of that, since he has his own money in the deal, he gets an annualized return of 30%!

How to Find Experienced Investors

Both of these are highly proactive strategies that will take some effort on your part. It is likely that you will have to reach out to multiple rehabbers (or whoever it is that is experienced in your specific real estate niche) before you find someone that wants to show you the ropes and/or take your money. Josiah stated that “it’s up to you to find the right person that you can build rapport with and build a relationship with that wants to take their time and show you the steps 100% of the way.” Then once you do find this person, it is also up to you to determine “how much time do you want to be [on site]? How much time do you want to devote yourself to be around the construction and understand the process of what they’re having to go through.”

To find these investors, Josiah says, “I associate myself with any club that is around me. [It’s] honestly [about] networking and going to these clubs and making yourself a regular face there every single week and people will start to talk to you. They’re going to want to see how motivated you are and how dedicated you are to this business…There’s hundreds and hundreds of people who want to be apart of real estate but they don’t want to do the things necessary to stay in real estate.”

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Conclusion

Josiah implements two very unique knowledge acquisition strategies. First, he has a mentor, but instead of paying cash, it is an exchange of value. In return for advice and knowledge, Josiah performs walkthroughs for an experienced rehabber.

Josiah also has a strategy that is not only free, but actually pays him money. He does this buy investing money into experienced rehabber’s deals and then hangs around the construction site to absorb as much knowledge as possible.

These two strategies will require some proactive effort on your part, especially in terms of finding an experienced investor. Josiah recommends that you attend every real estate related club around you and commit to going every single week. Become a familiar face and build that credibility so that the club attendees know you are truly motivated and dedicated to this business.

Comment Below: What are some clever, inexpensive or free ways you’ve been able to gain knowledge from experienced investors in your given field?