All Forum Posts by: Jason Anderson

 I have worked with Jeff Welgan at Blueprint multiple times and he's amongst the best. Professional communication and gets the deal done. I have worked with many many lenders over the years. I know when a buyer client has brought me a good one and when they do I save their number. Jeff is the kind of lender who's number I save:)

I agree with most commenters. Be leary of mentors/classes. I know several people who have paid tons of money to mentors with nothing to show for it. Really hard to sift through all the bad "mentors" to find a true one. 

That being said, I have been really lucky. I found a few local mentors who helped me get started (free of charge, just bought them coffee/lunch when I needed advice), and then found a mastermind. The investment into the mastermind was not cheap, but ended up being the best money I've ever spent. I am happy to connect you with the person who started my mastermind but know this: Any group like the one I joined is only as valuable as the time you're willing to invest in it. If you sign up and never attend any of the classes/discussions, then you won't gain value. You have to be prepared to really push yourself to extract the maximum potential value. 

@Jason Anderson: You list as being from Marysville. I'm from Seattle and left because of the anti-investing atmosphere.

Don't let your familiarity with Western Washington interfere with smart investing. I highly recommend finding a market that is landlord friendly, cash flowing, doesn't have regular catastrophic events, property taxes are low, insurance rates are under control and you like the area. Eventually the prices in Washington will correct and if they don't it's unlikely they will cash flow anytime soon. 

But, I'd for sure visit the area I invest in. A lot of Washingtonians are investing in places like Nevada, Arizona, Montana, Ohio, Indiana and the deep south.

Don’t borrow money to pay for a mentor or coach. If you don’t have the money to invest, what’s the point of the training?

Some people use their 401(k), IRA, Pension, TSP, RRSP to invest. Talk to your CPA first to see if the rewards outweigh the costs.

Most importantly. Take action.

Join a REIA (NationalREIA.org) ours runs about $20 a month. Ones that are thousands to join aren't real REIAs, they are more "training programs" than REIAs.

There wasn't a REIA that I'm aware of, when I started in Seattle 30 years ago. I could have avoided a lot of very expensive mistakes. Just having a coach or group that could have said some pretty simple things to help me avoid those investor mistakes, would have saved me from a year and a half lawsuit. And there are many other things I would have done differently as a result and benefits I'd have enjoyed.

"I'm late to the real estate game at my age."

I started investing at the age of 47. I have 33 rentals producing enough cash flow to support me the rest of my life, but I enjoy my work and continue working. It's never too late.

A mentor will accelerate your learning. A paid mentor? That depends. Some will suck your money right out of your wallet, while others will accelerate your learning and get you into deals faster. And they are usually referred to as coaches, not mentors.

Everyone is an expert, man. You have to be careful because there are so many "experts". Someone gets 10 deals under their belt and then they go out and try to sell courses. 

You don't need a mentor. There are so many things you can learn from on THE Youtube university. Podcasts and books will simply reiterate whatever a "guru" will tell you. You're going to make mistakes with or without a mentor. It's inevitable. 

The big question is, what is your goal? If you're just trying to do a traditional buy&hold or fix&flip, you absolutely do not need a mentor to do that. Everything you need is right here or easily accessible for free. Youtube literally holds your hand throughout the entire process. 

I know NOTHING about car motors. Just this weekend I hopped on Youtube for a half an hour, fixed everything on my own and now because of Youtube, I feel like a mechanic. Hahaha Not really but you get the point!