Are You Looking For a Mentor? Are You Sure?
At least once a day these days, I'll get a PM, email or phone call from someone who starts the conversation with something like this:
I'm very interested in getting started in real estate investing and am looking for a mentor...
Typically, the next line is a request for me to mentor them.
To help all of the new investors who have done this (or are planning to do this), I thought I'd take a few minutes to clarify a few thoughts I have on this topic...especially given that I'm sure there are plenty of other BP contributors who deal with the same exact thing on a daily basis...
Let me jump right to the point:
The vast majority of people who ask me this question aren't really looking for a mentor...they're looking for a coach.
There's a big difference between a coach and a mentor:
- A coach is a teacher -- it is their job to provide the insight, education and skills necessary to take someone who is new and inexperienced at something to the point where they are proficient and successful.
- A mentor is a guide and strategic resource -- it is their job to help those who already have the basic skills/knowledge and who have already started to take action, but who need help getting "to the next level."
I've been both a real estate coach and a real estate mentor. As a coach, I've spent hundreds of hours taking new investors from square one (not knowing anything about investing) to doing their first deals. As a mentor, I've spent anywhere from 10 minutes to dozens of hours helping guide new or experienced investors to overcome roadblocks, create strategic plans, scale their business, etc.
Just to clarify, some of those I have mentored hadn't done a single deal when I started mentoring them; but that doesn't mean that they were looking for me to *teach* them the business. They had already taken it upon themselves to read books, talk to other successful investors, create a plan and -- hopefully -- start trying to find money and deals. They weren't looking to me to teach them the business; they have already done that and are now looking to me to help them when they encounter a problem.
When someone starts a conversation with, "I'm new to REI and I'm looking for a mentor," what they almost always mean is that they are looking for someone to teach them the business -- start to finish. This is not a mentor; this is a coach. While I'd love to coach everyone I meet who is interested in real estate, that's just not realistic. I don't charge for my time, and being a coach is tremendously time intensive and the responsibility is great -- a coach is generally responsible for his students being (or not being) successful.
If you're looking for someone to spend the time it takes to teach you the business and hold your hand throughout the process (i.e, a coach), expect to pay for it. While I don't believe coaches are absolutely necessary in this business, there are some good ones out there who charge reasonable fees and will give you the time you need.
This is not what a mentor does. A mentor will guide you, will help you get through a roadblock, will help you overcome a specific issue, will help you deal with a specific situation, etc. But, if you don't know anything about investing, haven't decided on a specific strategy, haven't figured out where your financing will come from and haven't figured out how you'll find deals, you're not ready for a mentor.
If you're a new investor, before asking someone to mentor you, ask yourself, "Am I really looking for a mentor? Or am I actually looking for a coach?"
And btw, if you really just need a bit of mentoring (i.e., have a specific situation that you need help with), feel free to shoot me questions via PM or email anytime. I'm even willing to schedule a phone call if that's absolutely necessary. But, if you're looking to to have someone hold your hand through the entire process -- beginning to end -- it's unlikely that I (or anyone else here) is going to have the time/energy to help you.
