Football Player to Real Estate Investor: Stop Paying for Mentors Now!

About The Writer  

My name is Jamal Wilson and I am 23 years old. I currently reside in Compton, CA. I played Fullback and Defensive Tackle at two major Division I Universities located in the Northwest corner of the United States. I had a legitimate shot at playing in the National Football League, but I decided not to pursue those opportunities for reasons I will mention in my untitled blog (Coming Soon!). 

Upon graduating with a Bachelors of Arts Degree with emphasis on Public Law and a minor in Philosophy, I decided to join a non-profit organization that serves homeless youth in Boyle Heights, CA. I have been able to offer my services to this organization by way of the Americorps VISTA National Service Program. If you are not familiar with Americorps or Americorps VISTA, you can visit this website for more information. In addition, I work full-time as a VISTA and take overnight shifts as a security officer to supplement the modest living stipend Americorps provides. 

I started learning about real estate investing after I realized that the whole purpose of paying rent was to pay someone else's mortgage. From that point on I have wanted to join in the game. Recently, I have been doing all that I can to get my foot in the door. Heres a little bit abou how my education has been going.

Introduction

Ever since I was a little boy, I have fed off of the speculative words of family and close friends. They noticed something special in me and started calling me smart and quizzing me. Their words of encouragement have pushed me to continue growing my knowledge. Til this point in my life, my passion for learning has been one of my greatest strengths.

Playing Football taught me how to learn

When I was training as a football player, I relied on my desire for knowledge. I morphed my body until I became an immovable object.I studied the game and my playing style over the years. With this body type, I had the advantage in the most high-contact situations, the part I enjoyed the most.

I was always one of the hardest hitters on every team that I was a part of. I say one of because I have to pay respect players like Jacob Guzman and Zack Stewart in high school. Also, JP Kanongataa and Blake Renaud in college. I gained this strength on the field by studying what worked over time.

After much studying, I developed a ruthless technique. First, I would eye my opponents vulnerable points. Next, I would place the spot on my helmet located near my hairline directly under my opponent's face mask and or sternum. Perfect hat placement and velocity would force my opponent to raise their pad level. This then would allow me to bowl right over them.

Others considered me an effective fullback because they believed I played with reckless abandon. In reality, my play grew from strategy and commitment to mastering my craft. I watched mass amounts of film and studied myself often. I knew every and which way I could increase my advantage and expose my opponents weaknesses.

I loved linebackers who waited until the point of contact to lower their pad level. Meanwhile, I had been working on my pad level with my coach in practice. I worked on lowering my pad level well before I reached the hole. While also focusing on their vulnerable points of contact.

Should Mentors Charge a Fee?

Okay, enough about football. This post is about an opportunity that I've been considering recently. I'm currently working on growing my wealth and my future family's wealth. I'm also working to stop a generational struggle for financial prosperity and independence. I would like to achieve these goals by investing in real estate. Real Estate is a pretty consistent market with a lot of room for growth and diversity of income.

A Gracious Invitation

Thus, I joined BiggerPockets after learning about it in BrandonTurner's "The Book on Real Estate Investing'. BiggerPockets is an online community of like-minded investors. A group of guys from BiggerPockets asked me if I wanted to audit one of their "classes". Of course, I agreed to attend the class. I went to compare myself to some experienced investors and to identify potential mentorship opportunities. The leader of the group taught the class. He was smart, quick witted, dynamic, and his real-estate experience was self-evident. I left that class impressed and motivated. I found out that I had much more to learn.

I felt this way even after I learned that the full one year course would cost a whopping $3000. I only had a fraction of that in my bank account at the time. My teammates and I almost received that much money to live on for a whole semester in college. The next day I tried calling the guys who invited me but I got no answer nor a returned call. I told a few friends and family about the group and how it would be a great opportunity.

A Boy Becomes a Man

I continued reading, learning and looking for houses around town. I finally got back into contact with the guys from the class. We set an appointment to meet one on one and discuss some more of the features of the class in more detail. This time, I came prepared. I gained a whole wealth of knowledge from reading, watching, and listening to all things real estate. I was familiar with every single topic they covered. I had even developed some of my own personal strategies.

I asked plenty of questions and started realizing that I already knew more than I thought I did. I also thought that maybe I didn't need this class after all. I still left that day leaning towards joining the class. There were still a lot of benefits to joining the class. I would have access to their brand, network, expertise, and a whole team of mentors and investors.

If a Student Can Learn From a Teacher They Can Learn From a Book

The only time in my life I had paid for my education was in my first two years of college. I was a walk-on at Boise State University's football team. Most of it paid with federal loans and grants. I have just started to realize how much I got screwed with loans for those two years. With my growing knowledge, I have a plan to erase that debt without giving up my earning power for the future. I beg the question, Why would I start paying for my education now? In this case, I would be paying for friends and "mentors". I believe a true mentorship is natural and voluntary.

Even after feeling this way, I emailed to one of the guys from the class and agreed to join the next group of students. Why would I do this? I think it had something to do with feeling secure. I would rather pay somebody to teach me how to do things right the first few times. Which I thought was a better idea than learning from my mistakes or spend a longer time trying to get it right myself. I think traditional schooling and college has taught us bad habits.

We rely on those who've gone to college or earned certain certificates to teach us everything. No one person or group holds all the knowledge. If someone has not written about successful time travel, someone has offered potential solutions. If someone hasn't offered any solutions, I bet someone has defined the basics of it. And so on and so forth.

My Final Decision

In the end, I decided not to pay for friends or mentors because I know what I can bring to the table. These guys were offering something I had already. I just didn't know it yet. They promised to teach me how to find and get deals, raise capital, and manage projects. The goal was to find good deals and get them under contract. In return, they would supply a part of the funds and all split the profits down the middle on any deal we made.

After hearing this, I realized that I would be paying them to teach me how to make them more money. I could spend all that time working on my own business. I can develop my own relationships. I can learn how to raise my own capital and fund my own deals too. I don't need to pay for no stinking mentor and neither, should you! Not in school, not in business, not in sports, and not in life. A dutiful person will offer their services to you out of true kindness and philanthropy.

With that said, I would like to thank James Vermillion. James was a guest on the bigger pockets podcast I listened to the day after I left the meeting with those guys. James told listeners not to pay for "masters" because everything is already available. And he's right. All you need is the willpower and grit to get the job done.

Also, special thanks to my mother Janice Hudson who has always taught me to be a leader and to stick out. My father who has taught me to work for everything I get by making me clean his entire barbershop for $20 a week. Finally, thank you to all my friends and family who noticed something special in me at a young age. Your encouragement and support have been with me in every aspect of my life.