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Real estate mentors are very powerful allies to have in your corner. They’re industry experts and wonderful teachers who can help guide you through the most challenging of problems and provide the most relevant guidance when we least expect it. Not only that, but mentors are valuable resources who can provide incredible insights into very specific areas of your personal life as well.

It seems like every would-be entrepreneur, whether in real estate or elsewhere, is looking for a mentor—and with good reason. On the other hand, mentors can be seen as advisors who will do a lot of hand-holding through all the possible challenges on the journey to success. That’s not quite the case.

In this article, we’ll talk about what a mentor really is and how you can find one.

What Is A Mentor?

“Mentor” is a broadly used term. They can be anything from coaches or bosses with whom you interact for eight to ten hours per day to a friend whose counsel you seek a few times per week to a successful person you meet with just a handful of times for specific advice.

As with any relationship, working with a real estate mentor requires a give and take from both sides. Sometimes that means being attentive and grateful. In other situations, it could mean a dedicated effort and long-term commitment to helping your mentor achieve their higher objectives.

A real estate mentor is not someone who you only contact when you need something. Don’t go to your mentors with small, trivial problems or to discuss a bad day. Mentors aren’t there to help with vague questions or directional life decisions (“What career should I choose?” or “Should I invest in real estate?”).

You will need to find out for yourself what kind of mentor you want and what kind of mentee you want to be. Ask these questions to yourself:

• Do you want someone to discuss personal issues with?
• Do you strictly want guidance on real estate and nothing else?
• Do you need close support or occasional advice?

Now that we’ve defined what a real estate mentor is and the kind of mentor-mentee relationship you want, here’s how you can find real estate mentors and what to do before reaching out to them.

How To Find A Mentor

There are several places where you could potentially find a real estate mentor. The easiest places to look are:

• Your network: Odds are, you may already have a potential mentor that you know. Even better, they know you! Crack open your list of contacts and start connecting!
• Social networks: It turns out that your potential mentors are also online. You can find them on social media, forums (like the BiggerPockets Forums), and YouTube.
• At work: Whether you work at an office or remotely, you’re more than likely connected with someone at work who can guide you as a mentor.
• Events: Conventions, meetups, and webinars can present plenty of opportunities for you to connect with possible mentors. Remember, they’re also doing their own learning, so you can easily be found in the same places!

What You Should Do Before Looking For A Mentor

1. Become a mentor yourself

Everyone can mentor others and help them achieve their goals. Everyone has a skill set that others need or want to develop—and you don’t have to be successful in real estate yet. It’s important to give back and not just take.

Think of the areas in your life where you could help someone pursue their goals. Some options include:

• Tutoring a high school student
• Volunteering during a financial crisis
• Teaching classes on basic personal finance
• Meeting with new real estate investors looking to buy their first property

Nothing is quite as rewarding as seeing a student or former mentee become successful. It’s amazing to watch a motivated personality achieve what they set out to do—and for them to attribute at least some of their success to you is an incredible feeling! Positive feedback from a mentee will more than make your day!

From being a mentor, you will also learn the types of behaviors mentors don’t appreciate. Mentors don’t like answering thoughtless questions twice. Mentors don’t like badgering. Most of all, mentors don’t like laziness.

2. Define and commit to your goals

It’s pretty hard for someone to help you if you’re unsure of what you want from them. Often, folks looking for good mentors have vague goals or switch goals week-to-week and month-to-month. Figure out where you want to get to before you go asking for directions.

3. Announce your intentions

Make your intentions clear on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, BiggerPockets, and everywhere else in between. Announcing your intentions loudly and repeatedly to everyone you come across can open several opportunities for you. You can meet incredible real estate mentors and connect with professionals who have the capacity to help you succeed.

Announce your intentions to the world and see who responds. Anytime you meet someone new, steer the conversation in that direction, and see if it sparks interest. Find those in your current network who might share the same objectives or interests.

4. Identify those who can and want to help you

Let’s say your goal was to get started investing in real estate. A great real estate mentor might be a small-time investor with a few properties or someone who had just recently purchased their first investment property. On the other hand, a poor choice might have been to seek the guidance of a billionaire real estate investor, who may be unable to tailor an investment strategy to you.

Find a mentor who aligns with your goals and has a successful track record in the area of your investment interest. Take their advice, and then do what they say.

5. Take action and express gratitude

Not every mentor will work out, and it is not in your best interest to follow all of the advice given by real estate professionals. But if you are looking for a mentor to regularly and repeatedly return to with challenges, you must take action based on their counsel and then express gratitude.

Here are a few ways you can express gratitude to your mentor:

• Buy them a cup of coffee
• Send them a thank you card or email
• Give them a shout-out on social media with a nice message
• Send them an edible arrangement, flowers, or chocolates

Additionally, you will want to verbally express your gratitude to them in person, of course.

6. Figure out why you need a real estate mentor

When you’re sick, you look for the best doctor around, and when your car breaks down, you go to the best mechanic in the region. You don’t watch YouTube videos or attend courses on how to do open-heart surgery or, for that matter, repair your car’s clutch.

The experts you go to are invaluable because they have a lot of knowledge and experience. And if you wanted to do your car repairs yourself, you would go out and learn from a mechanic or get someone to show you, not by just watching tutorials on YouTube.

In the same way, real estate is a very dynamic kind of business. So, getting a mentor to guide you through it all is like getting a mechanic to help you out. If you want your business to be successful, you have to go to those who are already where you want to end up professionally.

7. Identify the kind of real estate mentor you would like

Understanding why you need a mentor and getting a mentor that matches that need are two different things. When you set out to find a mentor you’d like to work with, start identifying the kind of mentor you’d like.

Choose people who know how real estate markets work and who have been there and done that. They should know the market and give you advice on what the right thing to do is. They should also help identify pitfalls.

Here are a few things to keep in mind:

• Geographical reach: Pick someone who is easily accessible and within the same geographical location as you. Your local real estate investment association may help you find a great real estate mentor.
• People you admire: Find someone with qualities that you’d like to have.
• Real-life lessons: Opt for mentors who won’t just put you in some classroom setting but will let you see what they do and how they do it.
• Be ready to rough it out: Be open to their criticism, and don’t expect your mentor to do the work for you.

Once you have found someone you admire in real estate, get to know them a bit better before approaching them.

8. Learn who your mentor is

When you are researching to get to know the real estate mentor you want to approach, you obviously want to keep an eye open for any red flags. Here are two ways you can gather information on your prospective mentor.

Online search

• Keep an eye open for any negativity or shady business about that person.
• Check out their work ethic and try to find out if there are elements you would rather not associate with.
• See who they’ve previously mentored and if they share similar goals to you.
• Look into their social media profiles to understand what kind of person they are and how they operate.
• Look up their reviews.

View their content

Once you’ve ruled out any red flags, view their content and look for any interviews or what they’ve posted online. The way an expert in real estate explains a topic will help you understand whether they are easy to follow and if you’ll be able to benefit from their mentoring or not.

Reach Out To Them

This isn’t always as easy as it sounds. In fact, when you find someone you’d like to learn from, asking them to teach you can be really tough. And then there’s the aspect of whether money will be involved. And if they do agree to mentor you for free, would it be a good match or not?

Here are a few things to keep in mind when looking for a mentor:

• Relationships: Treat your mentor like a best friend and trust them completely.
• Paid or unpaid: Most mentors don’t accept anything in return for their mentorship. However, you may want to confirm that before committing to them.
• Give and take: Mentoring is not just about taking from the mentor, but it should be a win-win situation for both of you. Make yourself meaningful and useful to your mentor as well.

While hard work and persistence can get you anywhere, mentors are experts who can take you to your goal quickly and with fewer pitfalls. They can provide insights that are rare and teach through example.

Conclusion

By now, you should know what a real estate mentor is, where you can find one, and what you should do before reaching out to them.

By following these processes, you can build an incredible mentor-mentee relationship and experience success in your real estate career. While hard work and persistence can get you anywhere, mentors are experts who can take you to your goal quickly and with fewer pitfalls. They can provide insights that are rare and teach through example.

Note By BiggerPockets: These are opinions written by the author and do not necessarily represent the opinions of BiggerPockets.