BiggerPockets

I get a mentor for everything. It's just the accountability I like and need. It has always been a big part in my success.

Brian Haskins

I think most of us had people we learned from or those that kickstarted out progress. They didn't have the fancy term mentor or the fees for mentoring when I started and I think it is overused today. It seems to have gained life with all the seminar folks trying to continue the rape and pillaging of your money...
Learn from many different ways, and duplicate what someone else has actually been successful at. IMO, most mentors are overpriced and "underknowledged". Very few have actually done it. You'll find a few of them on here, but you'll find lots more that give you concepts and have never really done much. Good luck on your endeavors. Rich

Anyone may use ANYTHING I post on here if they find it helpful. No ulterior motives . I'll lose e-mail access in 3 hours for awhile. $30 per day here in Egypt at a resort. It is really amazingly nice here on the Red Sea. Tons of tourists. Reminds me of Cancun 30 years ago, except Egypt is for the europeans and the Russian Mob money... Rich

Kind of like Hak's story. I had a mentor when I was in 6th grade. At the time all I knew was my dad was making me go to his construction projects and pick up trash, shovel gravel, etc.... Didn't realize the full impact till later of all I had learned.

When I got older and thought I was so much smarter, I paid for some mentoring from a Chicago real estate expert that was worth 8, 12, 22 and 25 million dollars depending on who you talked to and on what day. My dad met this guy and after 5 minutes of talking to him said he'd never do business with this guy. He had him nailed and it took me another year to come around and realize he was right.

In that time I did come across another guy (his name was Rich - different Rich) who owned ten 30 unit complexes in Chicago, starting as a fresh college grad with a humanities degree. He had a similar background to my dad who started with a music degree. It's important to find mentors who "get" where you're coming from. He gave me some simple mentoring and didn't charge me. It was simply a matter of me listening and not trying to be smarter than him. I also went back to learning from my dad and again, listening and not trying to be smarter than him.

The best mentors you don't pay for, and couldn't afford if you tried.

Hello guys,

Thank you so much for your wonderful responses. A follow up question to this one. How do you know the mentor is worth the cost he is asking for? For example, I was talking to a real estate expert and he said his mentoring charges are total of about $20,000 ($5,000 fee upfront and remainder $15,000 over next couple of years). That is a LOTTTTT of money IMO, but is that what a mentor would normally charge?

Another question, what sort of things I should expect from a mentor? If I am paying a mentor, should I expect him to go see every place with me? Or once I like the place, the mentor will just do the analysis for me?

Thanks!

Hang on Mark. I just saw you're in Chicago. I have a sneaking suspicion I know the "mentor" you're talking about. Send me a pm.

Tim, I think I know who he might be talking about also.

Heres my ".02 CENTS" on it, please make your own wise decision. I was one who always read the books and chatted on forums and got as much free help as possible, I started without a mentor and JUMPED in to rehabs knowing NOTHING AT ALL about construction and real estate. I took some huge risks and played with my future over a whim, now luckily I was saved by a great market and still sold them to make a profit. But yes maybe you should have a mentor, look into some local clubs.....NOW the main question is....should you have to pay for these "MENTOR SERVICES" is another thing.

There are some investors out there that will help you with stuff when you go to the meetings but others want to get paid for helping....Im not one for paying 20k for services like that nor would I pay 7k.....but thats just me.

Mentors are there to help and guide. And, to share with you their stories and mistakes they've made. In the beginning, it's very difficult with all the different methods and techniques out there - mentors bring experience to the table.

After working with a mentor for awhile, you'll be able to go off on your own and have your own style of doing things. Then, you'll have your own stories to share with others. Hope that helps!

I don't think you should have to pay your mentor. I've had two in my life and neither one ever asked to be compensated. They wanted to see me grow and succeed. I have a mentor now for real estate investing. I approached him a summit at my college and told him what I was doing and asked if he had any advice. Then he volunteered to be my mentor! He is a very succesful investor in the state of FL, only does million $+ deals (mostly commericial, hotels, th and condo communities) and he didn't ask for any money, just that I work hard. Maybe I got lucky...

Thank you guys for responding. My questions to you guys who have a mentor is how do you qualify a mentor? How do you know if the mentor is the one for you? How much is the max you would pay for someone to mentor you?