WARNING: TRAP NOT INCLUDED

Want more articles like this?

Create an account today to get BiggerPocket's best blog articles delivered to your inbox

Sign up for free

Do you need a mentor?

Well no, but it sure does help.

I’d wager to say that the vast majority of successful house flippers have had a mentor. There are just so many little things that come up when trying to flip a house that having someone experienced to help you make the right decisions is invaluable.

Yes, you can and should take baby steps and make some mistakes a long the way and become successful. But, it’s much easier and less risky to latch on to someone that has been through it already. And preferably not someone that flipped a house in Vegas several years ago that did nothing more than get lucky and ride the appreciation wave.

Not only does a mentor provide answers to your questions along the way, but they also can motivate you to work harder. People don’t want to let people down and when you have someone coaching you, you are more likely to work harder so that you don’t let them down.

Times get tough and it can be difficult to get the momentum that you need going. Having someone there telling you to keep your head up and that things will work out can be the difference in you giving up or pushing through and succeeding.

3 Steps To Finding and Getting a Mentor

Ok so I probably don’t need to convince you that a mentor is a good idea.

The real problem is how the heck do you find one and get one to work with you. The successful real estate investors are probably really busy and are sick and tired of newbies asking them to help them out.

That’s right.

But, I’m about to give you the 3 simple steps you need to get them to want to work with you.

You can set yourself apart from the crowd. You can make it so that they notice you and want to associate with you. You can do this without having to spend thousands of dollars to have someone mentor you.

Here’s how:

1. Get Educated

Please don’t go up to an experienced investor and beg them to be your mentor. That is the quickest way to watch their expression go from happy to shifty as they try furiously to find a way to leave the conversation and, quite possibly, the room.

You can’t expect someone to want to work with you if you haven’t taken the initiative to educate yourself at least on the basics. It’s best to have a decent understanding of how things work so that you can ask educated questions. Questions that they feel show that you have progressed further than most of the people that ask them basic questions all the time.

Related: The Ultimate Beginner’s Guide to Real Estate Investing

2. Hustle

What’s the quickest way to set yourself apart from other’s that beg for investors to coach and mentor them?

Take action.

Start taking baby steps and do some marketing to motivated sellers. That will be difficult for you as you get out of your comfort zone but I’m telling you, if you go up to an experienced local investor and tell them you got a call from an out-of-town owner that doesn’t owe anything and is super motivated, they will listen to you.

You could even talk with them about what they are doing to get deals and let them know that you are yourself doing some marketing. Let them know you have a burning desire and it’s not just talk. You’ve started taking action and are willing to do what it takes. You are showing that you don’t need someone to walk you through every little detail.

Nobody is going to want to do that. Ain’t nobody got time for that! 🙂

You have to be able to take a little risk and put yourself out there, even if it is with little baby steps.

If you immediately thought to yourself just now, “I don’t want to start marketing. What will I do if someone calls?”, and you left it at that, you’ve got work to do.

You should have thought, “Alright. I could do that. I just need to learn how to market to motivated sellers and figure out what I should ask sellers when they call.”

Then, learn those things (you don’t have to become an expert mind you) and then take action. Don’t learn them and then go off and figure out what else you have to learn just to avoid getting out of your comfort zone and doing the marketing.

That’s the ticket.

If you think making it as a successful house flipper can happen without hustling and getting out of your comfort zone, you’re horribly dillusional.

The television shows have a way of making people believe that lately.

3. Give Them What They Want

Hook them. Give them what they want.

Can’t just leave it at that can we? We’ve got to figure out what it is that successful investors want.

It’s not hard really. ALL successful house flippers want good deals.

Bring them those deals. Start off by wholesaling houses. This way you know what you need to learn and can start getting some deals that you can pass along to the successful investors in your area.

Finding these successful investors is what you will be doing as you are looking for buyers for your wholesale deals.

Most wholesalers have just a small group of investor buyers that buy 99% of their deals.

Once you find out who the real players are and who you like working with, you will be able to start sharing information with them about deals. These will be deals that you can wholesale to them. They will love you for sending them these deals without making them compete with 100’s of other investors to get them.

This is the best way to build relationships with the successful investors in town and to have them help you succeed. They will want you to succeed because it means more great deals for them.

They won’t mind so much helping you step-by-step because they know you are a hustler and will do what they tell you to make things happen.

Related: How Do I Find a Mentor?

Take Action

Spend a lot of time on the forums here on BiggerPockets and read some books. Understand the basics.

Start learning about birddogging and wholesaling. Get a good grasp on how you can use these strategies to control deals without having to actually come up with the money and close on any houses.

Look for the real house flipping players in your area. These are the ugly guys that are buying a lot of houses every year and are paying cash. Did I say that? I meant the handsome guys and gals buying lots of ugly houses. 🙂 Local real estate investor association meetings are a good place to start.

Don’t be afraid to take baby steps and take some action to start finding some deals. You don’t have to make commitments to buy anything just yet. But, the act of doing something will help you to understand what you need to learn next and take action on.

Just trying to learn everything and become an expert before you ever begin is a sure way to never begin.

Go for it.