Starting out & Very overwhelmed

Member since 2021 · 23 posts · 9 votes

Hello all, my name is Kristi. I am a single mother looking to break into REI. I have wanted to do this for years, but always let fear get in the way. I am ready now. The problem is, is when I search for or make any inquiries about real estate investing, I get absolutely bombarded and overwhelmed with all these classes that people want you to take and pay for. There seems to be 1,000,001 different types of these. And most of them are very expensive. I believe wholeheartedly that I would benefit from a mentor. However, I am very leery of just paying someone or a company that I am not familiar with thousands of dollars to help me. I live in Michigan. In the metro Detroit area. I am mainly interested in flipping and maybe wholesaling. ANY advice would be helpful at this point! I need to know how to get started. Like I said I am ready! But, just don't want to start off wasting thousands of dollars to find help, only to be scammed. I'm sure this is happened to plenty of people out there. Like I said, any advice or anything anybody wants to tell me would be greatly appreciated! Thank you so much!!

Kristi

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Sherry Patterson

Real Estate Broker · Fort Worth, TX · Member since 2015 · 221 posts · 125 votes

@Kristi Tietz Hi Kristi, Congrats on the decision to get started. Obviously everyone's journey is their own and everyone learns differently. Let me start by saying that EDUCATION IS EXPENSIVE! You can chose to try and do it on your own without a mentor and will more than likely lose money your first couple of deals while you learn. Or you pay for a mentor and learn from them and their mistakes to be profitable quicker. Either way is expensive. You don't know what you don't know and therefore don't know to ask! My history: I found bigger pockets and spent months reading and learning. Then one day on one of the podcasts someone said the only way to do it is to just do it. So I went out the next day and found a house to buy and flip. At this time I could not find any REI groups around here. Everything I knew I had learned here on BP. I made a good and bad decision of buying a house that was built in 1890! Bad because it needed EVERYTHING! Good because it was a huge learning experience because it needed everything. I lost about $17k (I think because accounting is probably the main thing you need training on) on this first deal. Went and bought my second house, I only lost $12k on that one! BTW I had gone and met with a local mentor that wanted $20k and I thought he was crazy, I could do it on my own. In hind site that $20k could have not only saved me that $29k I lost (probably more) but could have made me a substantial profit on those houses plus gave me a much better education and saved me a ton of TIME! Can you really put a price tag on time? I started looking for people on BP in my area and asking if they wanted to get together. They did! First time we met there were 6 of us. We decided to meet monthly and it turned in to my own REI group which was great! I brought the people that were smarter and more experienced to me. We are starting our 8th year it is called IMPACT and pre covid I was doing 3 meetings a month in 3 cities with over 8k members. We started back in March live with one meeting and are building back up. I found sponsors to pay for the meetings and we provide free networking, dinner and always great education at each event. I don't allow guru sales but do have people come in an teach master classes that people can pay for. I said all of this to say, I WISH I WOULD HAVE FOUND A MENTOR FIRST! I have done it all and taught it all, wholesaling, flipping, BRRRR, multifamily, short term rentals, RV/MHP, to syndications. I strongly recommend what others have said and find a few local REI groups. Start attending and get to know them. Find someone that is either a mentor or willing to mentor. First and foremost make your goals: BHAG (big hairy audacious goal) and back out from there: 10y, 5y, 3y, 1y, monthly, weekly, daily goals to get you where you want to go and make sure you make choices to spend time on it EVERY DAY! Then look at your finances and talk to different types of lenders; hard money, conventional, private, and see what is realistic. (we investors can get very creative with financing) Maybe get a partner! With partners you can do more together with money and knowledge. Don't be greedy you had rather own a percentage of something than all of nothing. Hone in on what you want to do. Don't try to do multiple things in the beginning. If you are going to wholesale then do that, if you are going to flip then do that... become an expert in that and then move on to the next thing. I have so many ways to create income in "real estate" I have posted about them on the forums quite a bit. It doesn't have to be traditional, there are a lot of ways to make a lot more money with less risk as you build your business. (and a lot less competition) I would be more than happy to have a call with you if you are interested. I am in Fort Worth, TX so not trying to sell you anything. Just willing to help because I know how hard it was for me getting started and if I can help you over that hurdle just reach out! Happy Investing!

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Melissa S Vrobel
Investor · Orlando, FL · Member since 2021 · 79 posts · 36 votes
4y
@Kristi Tietz... Hi Hero. Kudos to you for bringing this issue to this forum. I personally think that you should not pay for a class unless you have more money than time (and too much money). Most make more in their "classes" or "mentorship" than in their real estate. I would love to help but I am in the hold and rent area. I would recommend looking for an area REI or look for someone on here that has already succeeded doing what you want to do and message them. I think that most of us are on here to freely share our knowledge.
4 Reply
Conner Olsen
Real Estate Agent · Austin, TX · Member since 2020 · 1k+ posts · 941 votes
4y
Hi Kristi, congrats on wanting to get started in real estate! Like Melissa said I don't think you need to pay for a course. I think you can get a lot of information from podcasts and books. When I started getting interested in real estate I refused to spend money on books until I knew for sure that I was going to stick with it so I ended up going to the library and reading 4 books over a few months and I was hooked. I know it's difficult finding time to read books with children but 15 minutes a day of an audiobook or podcast will definitely help you on your path! Another free tip is to completely alter your social media feed. I started following tons of people in the real estate space and training the algorithm to show me more real estate content. It felt like I was taking a mini course on real estate.
4 Reply
Don Gouge
Specialist · Johnson City, TN · Member since 2021 · 139 posts · 146 votes
4y
Your best source for mentorship is a local, in person mentor. The best way to find this mentor is thru a local real estate group. Either a mentor will be in this group or can recommend one they have personal knowledge of.
in my area I have successfully offered myself as a mentor/consultant and it has been a great experience both ways. You need someone that can evaluate the deal, evaluate the property and what improvements need to be made and can help with estimating costs and getting contractors as well as walking you thru the steps all the way to closing.
With my business, I can either offer my services for a percentage of the profit or as a fixed fee depending upon how much hand holding is needed. A good education is expensive no matter if you learn by trial and error, books and seminars, or thru mentorship. Seminars and books offer the lure of being easy. All you do is give them your credit card number and they will make you rich. Some seminars are good and there are some good books and they may be very well worth what you pay but some are just a gateway to suck more money out of you.
Bottom line find a local real estate group. You can often find them on Facebook or on meetup. Join their online groups and attend their meetings. You will eventually find a true mentor.
3 Reply
Kristi Tietz
OP
Member since 2021 · 23 posts · 9 votes
4y
Thank you so much! That is some excellent advice!! Are we allowed to try to find local people through these forums?
1 Reply
Kristi Tietz
OP
Member since 2021 · 23 posts · 9 votes
4y
Originally posted by @Conner Olsen:
Hi Kristi, congrats on wanting to get started in real estate! Like Melissa said I don't think you need to pay for a course. I think you can get a lot of information from podcasts and books. When I started getting interested in real estate I refused to spend money on books until I knew for sure that I was going to stick with it so I ended up going to the library and reading 4 books over a few months and I was hooked. I know it's difficult finding time to read books with children but 15 minutes a day of an audiobook or podcast will definitely help you on your path! Another free tip is to completely alter your social media feed. I started following tons of people in the real estate space and training the algorithm to show me more real estate content. It felt like I was taking a mini course on real estate.

Great idea!!👍🏼👍🏼
1 Reply
Kristi Tietz
OP
Member since 2021 · 23 posts · 9 votes
4y
Originally posted by @Don Gouge:
Your best source for mentorship is a local, in person mentor. The best way to find this mentor is thru a local real estate group. Either a mentor will be in this group or can recommend one they have personal knowledge of.
in my area I have successfully offered myself as a mentor/consultant and it has been a great experience both ways. You need someone that can evaluate the deal, evaluate the property and what improvements need to be made and can help with estimating costs and getting contractors as well as walking you thru the steps all the way to closing.
With my business, I can either offer my services for a percentage of the profit or as a fixed fee depending upon how much hand holding is needed. A good education is expensive no matter if you learn by trial and error, books and seminars, or thru mentorship. Seminars and books offer the lure of being easy. All you do is give them your credit card number and they will make you rich. Some seminars are good and there are some good books and they may be very well worth what you pay but some are just a gateway to suck more money out of you.
Bottom line find a local real estate group. You can often find them on Facebook or on meetup. Join their online groups and attend their meetings. You will eventually find a true mentor.

I couldn’t agree more!! I would ABSOLUTELY much prefer someone local and in person! The more I think about it, I think that’s really probably the only way to go!!👍🏼👍🏼
Any ideas to find someone great locally (other than FB)? Are we allowed to do that in these forums?
1 Reply
Kristi Tietz
OP
Member since 2021 · 23 posts · 9 votes
4y
Originally posted by @Melissa S Vrobel:
@Kristi Tietz... Hi Hero. Kudos to you for bringing this issue to this forum. I personally think that you should not pay for a class unless you have more money than time (and too much money). Most make more in their "classes" or "mentorship" than in their real estate. I would love to help but I am in the hold and rent area. I would recommend looking for an area REI or look for someone on here that has already succeeded doing what you want to do and message them. I think that most of us are on here to freely share our knowledge.

Thank you, Melissa!! Great advice and that is so wonderful to hear! I'm EXTREMELY PARANOID about getting scammed/ripped off! That would be such a terrible intro to REI!!😩😩
1 Reply
Don Gouge
Specialist · Johnson City, TN · Member since 2021 · 139 posts · 146 votes
4y
@Kristi Tietz Go to the top of this page and search "Detroit Real Estate Forum"
3 Reply
Edward Tamayo
Los Angeles, CA · Member since 2021 · 20 posts · 34 votes
4y
@Kristi Tietz
DONT, do classes, seminars, groups, coffee talk, or the other nonsense.
DO, research the market every day, get to know the prices, talk to real estate agents, talk to lenders, look for private money lenders in your area, find deals that are realistic for you, not pipe dream houses you can’t afford right now. Property is a move up game, you’re not gonna get the million dollar home on the first try, probably gonna take a few swings to get on base. In this market the properties choose you, you don’t choose it, just make the acquisition & make some cake out of …. Well u get the picture
3 Reply
Bud Gaffney
Rental Property Investor · Boston, MA · Member since 2019 · 2k+ posts · 1k+ votes
4y
@Kristi Tietz I think there’s enough free advice on here! I wouldn’t pay for a class. Say the word if you need any pointers.
1 Reply
Alecia LovelessPro Member
Member since 2019 · 3k+ posts · 2k+ votes
4y
@Kristi Tietz Hi Kristi, I have gotten most of my knowledge through the forums here and books, podcasts, and blogs. I am fortunate enough to have connected many years ago with a very skilled handyman who I get along great with that has made all the difference in the world in my growing real estate portfolio.
If I were you I’d listen to the advice to go to the real estate meet ups, meetings, hookups, gatherings, etc and network. You’ll meet so many good connections. My market is too small for that. I’ve got 1-2 big players with plenty of cash in my market that are buying large businesses, maybe 3-5 medium sized investors that have realtors who give them first pick, and some small fish like myself I’m competing with. It’s not a big market so there’s no call for a networking event.
2 Reply
Matt Groth
Contractor · Grand Marais, MN · Member since 2016 · 249 posts · 417 votes
4y
@Kristi Tietz my only question is if you are "extremely paranoid", will that also include your tenants? You certainly need to protect yourself, but if it is true paranoia, this probably isn't the area for you to invest in. I have had a few people over the years ask me questions about what we are doing, and those questions are usually about tenants or guests breaking stuff...those people are still on the sidelines.
1 Reply
Sherry Patterson
Real Estate Broker · Fort Worth, TX · Member since 2015 · 221 posts · 125 votes
4y
@Kristi Tietz Hi Kristi, Congrats on the decision to get started. Obviously everyone's journey is their own and everyone learns differently. Let me start by saying that EDUCATION IS EXPENSIVE! You can chose to try and do it on your own without a mentor and will more than likely lose money your first couple of deals while you learn. Or you pay for a mentor and learn from them and their mistakes to be profitable quicker. Either way is expensive. You don't know what you don't know and therefore don't know to ask! My history: I found bigger pockets and spent months reading and learning. Then one day on one of the podcasts someone said the only way to do it is to just do it. So I went out the next day and found a house to buy and flip. At this time I could not find any REI groups around here. Everything I knew I had learned here on BP. I made a good and bad decision of buying a house that was built in 1890! Bad because it needed EVERYTHING! Good because it was a huge learning experience because it needed everything. I lost about $17k (I think because accounting is probably the main thing you need training on) on this first deal. Went and bought my second house, I only lost $12k on that one! BTW I had gone and met with a local mentor that wanted $20k and I thought he was crazy, I could do it on my own. In hind site that $20k could have not only saved me that $29k I lost (probably more) but could have made me a substantial profit on those houses plus gave me a much better education and saved me a ton of TIME! Can you really put a price tag on time? I started looking for people on BP in my area and asking if they wanted to get together. They did! First time we met there were 6 of us. We decided to meet monthly and it turned in to my own REI group which was great! I brought the people that were smarter and more experienced to me. We are starting our 8th year it is called IMPACT and pre covid I was doing 3 meetings a month in 3 cities with over 8k members. We started back in March live with one meeting and are building back up. I found sponsors to pay for the meetings and we provide free networking, dinner and always great education at each event. I don't allow guru sales but do have people come in an teach master classes that people can pay for. I said all of this to say, I WISH I WOULD HAVE FOUND A MENTOR FIRST! I have done it all and taught it all, wholesaling, flipping, BRRRR, multifamily, short term rentals, RV/MHP, to syndications. I strongly recommend what others have said and find a few local REI groups. Start attending and get to know them. Find someone that is either a mentor or willing to mentor. First and foremost make your goals: BHAG (big hairy audacious goal) and back out from there: 10y, 5y, 3y, 1y, monthly, weekly, daily goals to get you where you want to go and make sure you make choices to spend time on it EVERY DAY! Then look at your finances and talk to different types of lenders; hard money, conventional, private, and see what is realistic. (we investors can get very creative with financing) Maybe get a partner! With partners you can do more together with money and knowledge. Don't be greedy you had rather own a percentage of something than all of nothing. Hone in on what you want to do. Don't try to do multiple things in the beginning. If you are going to wholesale then do that, if you are going to flip then do that... become an expert in that and then move on to the next thing. I have so many ways to create income in "real estate" I have posted about them on the forums quite a bit. It doesn't have to be traditional, there are a lot of ways to make a lot more money with less risk as you build your business. (and a lot less competition) I would be more than happy to have a call with you if you are interested. I am in Fort Worth, TX so not trying to sell you anything. Just willing to help because I know how hard it was for me getting started and if I can help you over that hurdle just reach out! Happy Investing!
6 Reply
Shiloh LundahlPro Member
Rental Property Investor · Gilbert, AZ · Member since 2016 · 3k+ posts · 4k+ votes
4y
@Kristi Tietz Unfortunately there has been more bad advice than good advice on this thread. But it is hard to know the difference until you have been immersed in the subject.

Let me qualify myself so that you can know where my advice and perspective comes from. I have been an investor for 11 years. I have several different real estate businesses and several partners and I own about 220 units consisting of about 80 single family homes, 6 mobile home parks, and about 20 units across 2 states. The advice that you received about not paying for classes or mentors or coaches is correct if you want to buy a rental property or two. You really don't need help to buy a rental property. All you need to do is get an agent and make an offer and use your money as a down payment to buy the property and then hopefully the property will cash flow after you rent it out. And then, after 30 years or so, you will own an asset that is hopefully worth tens of thousand or hundreds of thousands of dollars. You don't need a mentor or coach to do this.

But if you would like to become a real estate investor that makes money every time she buys properties then you may want to consider a real estate coach. Coaches are there to help people get better results than they can get on their own. But I wouldn't recommend a coach unless you are serious about becoming an investor and scaling a portfolio. Again, you do not need a coach to buy a property or two. And what @Melissa S Vrobel stated about real estate coaches making more money on coaching than on real estate investing is just not verifiable and is probably not true (unless you are talking about the highest level of coaches). Let me give you an example. Last year I coached 10 newer investors. Nine of them bought properties and their net worth went up an average of 20k -30k for each property they bought. One student purchased about 26 properties and his net worth went up by over a half of a million dollars while I was coaching him. I earned about 30k from coaching fees. My real estate portfolio increased in value over a million dollars during the same time. So this is an example of advice that you may get from beginning to intermediate investors that don't believe strongly in scaling or growth. Most of the investors that I know that perform at high levels all higher coaches and surround themselves with mentors. The key is finding mentors who are currently doing what you would like to do and that have a good track record.
As far as finding mentorship or a coach in your area, I think that can be great, but it is not necessary. And it can be limiting. Let me explain. There are principles to real estate investing that you can apply across the country. If you only think that you can do well at investing if you get a local mentor or coach then you are dependent on that person in order to invest well. I would say half of my coaching clients are local and the other half are not local. I have coached people out of state buy properties in a state where neither of us live. The way you do that is through learning real estate investing principles. That way you can invest wherever and you are not limited to just your own state.
So in summary, if you want the best advice for investing, go to people with the best results. The type of results that you want to get. Be careful of taking advice from random people that you don't know where you can't see their results. And if you want to invest in real estate as a hobby and you only want a property or two, then you don't need a coach or a mentor. Just get information from the forums, podcasts, YouTube, or books. But if you want to become a serious investor and create real wealth through the vehicle of real estate, then build a relationship with a mentor or hire a coach.

480-206-1209 Podcast Guest on Show #287
2 Reply
Bruce WoodruffPro Member
Contractor/Investor/Consultant · San Diego / Phoenix · Member since 2021 · 12k+ posts · 15k+ votes
4y
@Kristi Tietz I agree with the majority....you don't need no stinking classes. Just jump in and learn how to swim. I've known dozens and dozens of folks who have ventured into this great field of Real Estate and not one of them ever considered taking a 'class'. This is easy:
1) Save up some $$. Work on your credit. Borrow some more.
2) Do your research and comps (it's so easy nowadays with the internet - imagine it 30 years or more ago:-)
3) Buy something
4) Let it appreciate while at the same time it gives you some extra income!
5) Repeat as desired
There is an old saying from a famous general: "Never take counsel of your fears". Understand it. Remember it
3 Reply
Eric JansonBusiness Member
Real Estate Agent · Minneapolis, MN · Member since 2015 · 102 posts · 100 votes
4y
I hear you about being bombarded with many options all wanting your money. When I got started, I could have paid $25,000 to get a mentor from a big guru that was in town. Problem is, I wouldn't have learned from the Guru. I would have gotten someone less experienced who may or may not have been actually doing deals. What I did instead was I spent time on the internet researching what to do. I did a lot of free training on Youtube. I followed what they said and learned a lot. However, it wasn't until I went to a local REIA and met a local mentor, that I did my first deal. The mentorship was $5000, but this was a successful investor in the area who I could work with one on one.
I would suggest doing the same. Use Youtube, Spotify, and Biggerpockets to do trainings on topics that interest you and learn as much as possible. Start to implement what you learn to find some deals. Also, find a local REIA, signup, and attend. Look for a local mentor. If you don't want to have to spend a bunch of your money on this mentor. Ask them if they need any help. Offer to bird dog some deals or work as their assistant. They might say no at first, but if you are persistent and they see your level of desire, they may hire you. Then you can learn for free or get paid to learn. This doesn't always work, but I have seen others do it, so I know it happens for some. Anyway, good luck.
3 Reply
Kristi Tietz
OP
Member since 2021 · 23 posts · 9 votes
4y
Originally posted by @Bud Gaffney:
@Kristi Tietz I think there’s enough free advice on here! I wouldn’t pay for a class. Say the word if you need any pointers.

0 Reply
Kristi Tietz
OP
Member since 2021 · 23 posts · 9 votes
4y
Thank you so much, Bud!! I will take u up on that!!👍🏼👍🏼
0 Reply
Kristi Tietz
OP
Member since 2021 · 23 posts · 9 votes
4y
Originally posted by @Sherry Patterson:
@Kristi Tietz Hi Kristi, Congrats on the decision to get started. Obviously everyone's journey is their own and everyone learns differently. Let me start by saying that EDUCATION IS EXPENSIVE! You can chose to try and do it on your own without a mentor and will more than likely lose money your first couple of deals while you learn. Or you pay for a mentor and learn from them and their mistakes to be profitable quicker. Either way is expensive. You don't know what you don't know and therefore don't know to ask! My history: I found bigger pockets and spent months reading and learning. Then one day on one of the podcasts someone said the only way to do it is to just do it. So I went out the next day and found a house to buy and flip. At this time I could not find any REI groups around here. Everything I knew I had learned here on BP. I made a good and bad decision of buying a house that was built in 1890! Bad because it needed EVERYTHING! Good because it was a huge learning experience because it needed everything. I lost about $17k (I think because accounting is probably the main thing you need training on) on this first deal. Went and bought my second house, I only lost $12k on that one! BTW I had gone and met with a local mentor that wanted $20k and I thought he was crazy, I could do it on my own. In hind site that $20k could have not only saved me that $29k I lost (probably more) but could have made me a substantial profit on those houses plus gave me a much better education and saved me a ton of TIME! Can you really put a price tag on time? I started looking for people on BP in my area and asking if they wanted to get together. They did! First time we met there were 6 of us. We decided to meet monthly and it turned in to my own REI group which was great! I brought the people that were smarter and more experienced to me. We are starting our 8th year it is called IMPACT and pre covid I was doing 3 meetings a month in 3 cities with over 8k members. We started back in March live with one meeting and are building back up. I found sponsors to pay for the meetings and we provide free networking, dinner and always great education at each event. I don't allow guru sales but do have people come in an teach master classes that people can pay for. I said all of this to say, I WISH I WOULD HAVE FOUND A MENTOR FIRST! I have done it all and taught it all, wholesaling, flipping, BRRRR, multifamily, short term rentals, RV/MHP, to syndications. I strongly recommend what others have said and find a few local REI groups. Start attending and get to know them. Find someone that is either a mentor or willing to mentor. First and foremost make your goals: BHAG (big hairy audacious goal) and back out from there: 10y, 5y, 3y, 1y, monthly, weekly, daily goals to get you where you want to go and make sure you make choices to spend time on it EVERY DAY! Then look at your finances and talk to different types of lenders; hard money, conventional, private, and see what is realistic. (we investors can get very creative with financing) Maybe get a partner! With partners you can do more together with money and knowledge. Don't be greedy you had rather own a percentage of something than all of nothing. Hone in on what you want to do. Don't try to do multiple things in the beginning. If you are going to wholesale then do that, if you are going to flip then do that... become an expert in that and then move on to the next thing. I have so many ways to create income in "real estate" I have posted about them on the forums quite a bit. It doesn't have to be traditional, there are a lot of ways to make a lot more money with less risk as you build your business. (and a lot less competition) I would be more than happy to have a call with you if you are interested. I am in Fort Worth, TX so not trying to sell you anything. Just willing to help because I know how hard it was for me getting started and if I can help you over that hurdle just reach out! Happy Investing!

0 Reply
Kristi Tietz
OP
Member since 2021 · 23 posts · 9 votes
4y
Sherry….WOW!! I can’t thank you enough for your well thought out reply….. Really! I can’t imagine spending $20K for a mentor, but I most DEF see the value in the right one, and it is my intention to find one ASAP! Your offer to talk with me is amazing, and I would absolutely love to take you up on that! How do we go about doing that? Should I just click on the “connect” bar for you? I am really looking forward to talking with you soon!!! Thank you so much!! 👍🏼🙂
0 Reply
Kristi Tietz
OP
Member since 2021 · 23 posts · 9 votes
4y
Originally posted by @Shiloh Lundahl:
@Kristi Tietz Unfortunately there has been more bad advice than good advice on this thread. But it is hard to know the difference until you have been immersed in the subject.

Let me qualify myself so that you can know where my advice and perspective comes from. I have been an investor for 11 years. I have several different real estate businesses and several partners and I own about 220 units consisting of about 80 single family homes, 6 mobile home parks, and about 20 units across 2 states. The advice that you received about not paying for classes or mentors or coaches is correct if you want to buy a rental property or two. You really don't need help to buy a rental property. All you need to do is get an agent and make an offer and use your money as a down payment to buy the property and then hopefully the property will cash flow after you rent it out. And then, after 30 years or so, you will own an asset that is hopefully worth tens of thousand or hundreds of thousands of dollars. You don't need a mentor or coach to do this.

But if you would like to become a real estate investor that makes money every time she buys properties then you may want to consider a real estate coach. Coaches are there to help people get better results than they can get on their own. But I wouldn't recommend a coach unless you are serious about becoming an investor and scaling a portfolio. Again, you do not need a coach to buy a property or two. And what @Melissa S Vrobel stated about real estate coaches making more money on coaching than on real estate investing is just not verifiable and is probably not true (unless you are talking about the highest level of coaches). Let me give you an example. Last year I coached 10 newer investors. Nine of them bought properties and their net worth went up an average of 20k -30k for each property they bought. One student purchased about 26 properties and his net worth went up by over a half of a million dollars while I was coaching him. I earned about 30k from coaching fees. My real estate portfolio increased in value over a million dollars during the same time. So this is an example of advice that you may get from beginning to intermediate investors that don't believe strongly in scaling or growth. Most of the investors that I know that perform at high levels all higher coaches and surround themselves with mentors. The key is finding mentors who are currently doing what you would like to do and that have a good track record.
As far as finding mentorship or a coach in your area, I think that can be great, but it is not necessary. And it can be limiting. Let me explain. There are principles to real estate investing that you can apply across the country. If you only think that you can do well at investing if you get a local mentor or coach then you are dependent on that person in order to invest well. I would say half of my coaching clients are local and the other half are not local. I have coached people out of state buy properties in a state where neither of us live. The way you do that is through learning real estate investing principles. That way you can invest wherever and you are not limited to just your own state.
So in summary, if you want the best advice for investing, go to people with the best results. The type of results that you want to get. Be careful of taking advice from random people that you don't know where you can't see their results. And if you want to invest in real estate as a hobby and you only want a property or two, then you don't need a coach or a mentor. Just get information from the forums, podcasts, YouTube, or books. But if you want to become a serious investor and create real wealth through the vehicle of real estate, then build a relationship with a mentor or hire a coach.

0 Reply
Santiago MarquezPro Member
Rental Property Investor · Bronx, NY · Member since 2017 · 152 posts · 65 votes
4y
@Kristi Tietz Follow Ashley Hamilton BP guest podcast #331 she's from Detroit & is a Real Estate agent, lender & has an educational platform giving FREE knowledge to those who want to learn more about REI.
3 Reply
Kristi Tietz
OP
Member since 2021 · 23 posts · 9 votes
4y
Originally posted by @Shiloh Lundahl:
@Kristi Tietz Unfortunately there has been more bad advice than good advice on this thread. But it is hard to know the difference until you have been immersed in the subject.

Let me qualify myself so that you can know where my advice and perspective comes from. I have been an investor for 11 years. I have several different real estate businesses and several partners and I own about 220 units consisting of about 80 single family homes, 6 mobile home parks, and about 20 units across 2 states. The advice that you received about not paying for classes or mentors or coaches is correct if you want to buy a rental property or two. You really don't need help to buy a rental property. All you need to do is get an agent and make an offer and use your money as a down payment to buy the property and then hopefully the property will cash flow after you rent it out. And then, after 30 years or so, you will own an asset that is hopefully worth tens of thousand or hundreds of thousands of dollars. You don't need a mentor or coach to do this.

But if you would like to become a real estate investor that makes money every time she buys properties then you may want to consider a real estate coach. Coaches are there to help people get better results than they can get on their own. But I wouldn't recommend a coach unless you are serious about becoming an investor and scaling a portfolio. Again, you do not need a coach to buy a property or two. And what @Melissa S Vrobel stated about real estate coaches making more money on coaching than on real estate investing is just not verifiable and is probably not true (unless you are talking about the highest level of coaches). Let me give you an example. Last year I coached 10 newer investors. Nine of them bought properties and their net worth went up an average of 20k -30k for each property they bought. One student purchased about 26 properties and his net worth went up by over a half of a million dollars while I was coaching him. I earned about 30k from coaching fees. My real estate portfolio increased in value over a million dollars during the same time. So this is an example of advice that you may get from beginning to intermediate investors that don't believe strongly in scaling or growth. Most of the investors that I know that perform at high levels all higher coaches and surround themselves with mentors. The key is finding mentors who are currently doing what you would like to do and that have a good track record.
As far as finding mentorship or a coach in your area, I think that can be great, but it is not necessary. And it can be limiting. Let me explain. There are principles to real estate investing that you can apply across the country. If you only think that you can do well at investing if you get a local mentor or coach then you are dependent on that person in order to invest well. I would say half of my coaching clients are local and the other half are not local. I have coached people out of state buy properties in a state where neither of us live. The way you do that is through learning real estate investing principles. That way you can invest wherever and you are not limited to just your own state.
So in summary, if you want the best advice for investing, go to people with the best results. The type of results that you want to get. Be careful of taking advice from random people that you don't know where you can't see their results. And if you want to invest in real estate as a hobby and you only want a property or two, then you don't need a coach or a mentor. Just get information from the forums, podcasts, YouTube, or books. But if you want to become a serious investor and create real wealth through the vehicle of real estate, then build a relationship with a mentor or hire a coach.

Thank you Shiloh, that gives me a lot to think about! I am mainly interested in flipping to start out. I do intend to be a serious investor, but my main concern right now is just getting out the gate! I am hoping that a local mentor or coach will help me do that. Once I get some deals and experience under my belt, I intend to branch out to different markets.
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Kristi Tietz
OP
Member since 2021 · 23 posts · 9 votes
4y
Originally posted by @Santiago Marquez:
@Kristi Tietz Follow Ashley Hamilton BP guest podcast #331 she's from Detroit & is a Real Estate agent, lender & has an educational platform giving FREE knowledge to those who want to learn more about REI.

BEAUTIFUL!!! Thank you so much!!!👍🏼👍🏼😀 I will do just that!!
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Kristi Tietz
OP
Member since 2021 · 23 posts · 9 votes
4y
Originally posted by @Eric Janson:
I hear you about being bombarded with many options all wanting your money. When I got started, I could have paid $25,000 to get a mentor from a big guru that was in town. Problem is, I wouldn't have learned from the Guru. I would have gotten someone less experienced who may or may not have been actually doing deals. What I did instead was I spent time on the internet researching what to do. I did a lot of free training on Youtube. I followed what they said and learned a lot. However, it wasn't until I went to a local REIA and met a local mentor, that I did my first deal. The mentorship was $5000, but this was a successful investor in the area who I could work with one on one.
I would suggest doing the same. Use Youtube, Spotify, and Biggerpockets to do trainings on topics that interest you and learn as much as possible. Start to implement what you learn to find some deals. Also, find a local REIA, signup, and attend. Look for a local mentor. If you don't want to have to spend a bunch of your money on this mentor. Ask them if they need any help. Offer to bird dog some deals or work as their assistant. They might say no at first, but if you are persistent and they see your level of desire, they may hire you. Then you can learn for free or get paid to learn. This doesn't always work, but I have seen others do it, so I know it happens for some. Anyway, good luck.

Thank you very much, Eric! Great advice!!
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