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Posted over 9 years ago

Guaranteed Way to Find a Mentor

Finding the right mentor can help guide you along your path, leading you safely to you destination. All of our journeys are different. Which means there is no clear way to travel. A Mentor can be your guide on that journey. 

Finding the right mentor is not easy. So here are some things that I have unknowingly used to find a mentor.

You must be doing. While living in Portland, Oregon I went to a local REIA only to be lost in the crowd. I later went to a class on multifamily investing were the teacher in the class told everyone there not to buy anything without him looking at it first. After scouring the MLS craigslist and other over saturated listing services I brought him a deal to evaluate. I don’t remember the deal but I do remember it wasn’t a great one. We looked at the deal and talked about it for a while and then I left. A week later I got a call from his assistant and got a job working for a friend of his who was an investor. After this I became well connected in Portland because I had close friends in the inner circle of the REIA. This all came from me doing. Just because I was someone who took action, others who were “doing” wanted me around.

Meet people. Yes, Real Estate is a people business. If you hate people this may not be the business for you. Go to your local REIA, be on Bigger Pockets, connect with other investors over coffee, share your knowledge with people who are less experienced than you. If you meet enough people you may meet your mentor or be pointed to one. At the very minimum you will meet a peer you can work with.

Be a person of value. If you look for how you can help other people instead of just trying get all you can out of people. You will have more people wanting to work with you than you know what to do with. Every mentor wants someone who makes their life easier and isn’t a drain. If you take the weight off their shoulders they will be more than willing to help you.

The Last and Best tip. Get Virtual Mentors. There is a new phrase being coined. “Virtual Mentorship. There are so many successful people out there doing what you want to do. You just need to tap into the resources that are out there like podcasts, book, blogs and videos. The most important thing I have found is how to qualify virtual mentors. Do they have the same business strategy? Do they have the same personality or temperament?

I have found virtual mentors that are doing exactly what I want to do. Not only that, they have the same temperament that I do. Here is a list of my virtual mentors even though they don’t know it.

Dan Miller

Danny Johnson

Aaron Mazzrillo

I follow their blogs, podcasts, books, etc. All these guys are pretty laid back and they have grown their business without employees because they don’t want to be a “Boss” or have the responsibility of employees. Two out of the three are wholesalers and the first is a career coach.

The reason I want a mentor is to have wisdom that I wouldn’t normally have or that I would have had to learn from the school of hard knocks. Having a virtual mentor allows you to sit and listen to their experience and gain from it. I realize I can’t talk back or ask questions but if I were in a room with any of them I would just be listening anyway. I have found if I have a question about a particular niche market or business strategy I can find the answer within 5 minutes using Google or a forum.

Now got out there and make your dream happen, you have the ability inside you. 


Comments (2)

  1. yes I find this very informative thank you so much Jon for posting I'm new to BP and the new ways real estate is networked. Great nugget!


  2. Thanks, Jon. I'm in the startup phase and these are inspirational words.