Finding the right mentor for you.

Finding the right mentor for you.

Implied in this statement is a series of questions.The first question is, do you need a mentor?The honest answer is both yes and no.You can most assuredly learn to do any number of profitable real estate transactions on your own.A good mentor will make this process happen much faster than your own personal journey of trial and error. A bad mentor will cost you both time and money.There are plenty of bad mentors out there. Some of them are quite expensive. BP is a fantastic resource but it does have its limitations. Some time you need live interaction and expert opinion rather than the opinions of the crowd.

I was very lucky in the early part of my career, I was blessed with wonderful mentors who accelerated my learning curve in ways that I could not have imagined.A great mentor is someone who will teach you the things that you didn’t even consider.I was also very fortunate to avoid the bad mentors. I happen to know a couple that offers mentoring up to $25,000 and they don’t do real estate deals.They talk a darn good game but they don’t practice what the preach.They make their entire living by charging unsuspecting newbie students big dollars to teach from a text book that someone else wrote.I know that sounds like it should be illegal but it is only immoral.I have no idea how they sleep at night.

So how do you separate the frauds from the real deal?That is a rough one because some of the frauds have very good and flashy marketing that makes them sound like legendary investors.The first question you need to ask your potential mentor is how do you make your money.The frauds will tell you that they make their money as real estate investors but you need to look with a critical eye.If you are mentoring 1,000 students, you don’t really have a lot of time left to negotiate real estate deals. A good mentor will only accept a small amount of students, and will likely want to interview you to be sure that you are ready to learn.A real mentor cares that you are successful, he or she will not take students who are not ready to learn.

Don’t be fooled by fancy titles.I happen to know of a mentor who travels all over selling a course (actually several) but this mentor has a series of fancy titles that make him sound fantastic.I can give you a lot of examples here but I don’t feel like being sued.

I happen to be the President of the Pittsburgh REIA, Managing Director of the American Real Estate Investors Academy, a radio show host, author, I have taught at several local colleges, I have written for more than 100 periodicals, and I am an advisory board member for the National REIC.You might get the idea that I know something about real estate.I sure sound good on paper, but can I teach?

Once you get beyond the frauds who really aren’t real estate investors, then you need to look at one very important thing.Can your potential mentor teach?Not every successful investor can teach.Teaching is a skill set all to itself.Teaching requires a mixture of empathy and experience.

So how can you evaluate the teaching skill of your potential mentor?Interview them.Before you plunk down your hard earned cash on someone, make sure you ask some questions.Your mentor is not an employee, they are more of a consultant.You need to make sure that your mentor can add value to your real estate career.

Set some time aside to ask your mentor about their experience.If you are looking to be a buy and hold landlord, then it makes no sense to pay a house flipper to teach you.Conversely if you are interested in commercial property, you don’t want to engage the services of a note buyer.Make sure that you mentor is a fit for you both in a professional and a personal sense. I suggest that you seek out a mentor who is a generalist.You will want someone who knows how to do a variety of real estate strategies.The truth of real estate investing is that the more techniques you understand the more deals you can profit from.You want a mentor who know how to profit from a variety of situations.It doesn’t matter what you market for, you will trip across things that don’t fit neatly into your little bucket.Sometimes while going after short sales, you will find an opportunity to buy a note, or flip a house.The real estate world really is a box of chocolates.

Lastly, make sure that you and your mentor understand each other.There is nothing worse than an unmet expectation.Make sure that you understand what your mentor is offering.Some mentors are only available during a set period of time, say between 1:00 and 1:30 every Friday.If you miss your appointment then its tough doo-doo for you. A real mentor actually cares that you are successful.A real mentor will be available to you in one form or another, when you need them.

Take some time and choose wisely.

To your success

Josh