Just like in the oil field, when it comes to REI sometimes experience is the only teacher.

If a student fails, the teacher has failed.

Thank you Blake Dennis.I was a teacher for a few years left that to do something else and was laid off.

I am a high school teacher in Colorado and I am always looking to help young people get started in real estate investing or help in any way I can.

Like some of the school districts 90 miles away have random parent-teacher conferences on a random Thurs & Fri in October so schools are closed for a 4-day weekend and I need to have a 4-nt min stay when those happen bc demand is high but it's pretty manual to search through all the school calendars.

It's not sexy, but I had some school teacher clients who just bought their first investment property after short-term renting a spare bedroom for a year and saving up.Good luck!

After this step, I expected the teacher to show me how  structure the lease option contract so that when I actually met the seller, I'd be prepared to help them. 

And Tom, I guarantee you your "Mr Miaghi" was @Todd Toback, who I consider a friend :)My intro to REI was working with a 60 yr old broker investor with 40 years of experience for 2.5 years when I was 25, talking to thousands of sellers over those 2.5 years.There is no substitute for "baptism of fire" and getting feedback and correction from deeply experienced mentors and coaches and teachers.

Best of luck which ever path you choose, and remember that sometimes these experiences are the best teacher.

Too bad, because there were some great teachers in the 80's and 90's, forgetting the media and how distributed.