Real Estate Investor · Atlanta, GA · Member since 2009 · 40 posts · 2 votes
Why is it so hard to find a R/E mentor ? I am a hard working, educated individual looking to learn from a professional real estate investor w/ experience. I am not allergic to hard work, but a i am allergic to being broke.. :D
The local real estate group(s) in your area is the best place to start. Get to know the key players in your area. Talk to them, get to know them and let them get to know you. One point about networking, you have to keep coming back - just like coming back here on Bigger Pockets. You can't just go once - it takes time to get to know people. Hope that helps!
The local real estate group(s) in your area is the best place to start. Get to know the key players in your area. Talk to them, get to know them and let them get to know you. One point about networking, you have to keep coming back - just like coming back here on Bigger Pockets. You can't just go once - it takes time to get to know people. Hope that helps!
Absolutely. I've signed up to volunteer at my local REIA and it's a great way to get a feel for how real estate investment works for people who are actually doing it instead of just selling courses about it.
(I'm not knocking seminars, or even gurus, that hard. I think they do have their place, but there are loads of ways to skin the proverbial cat, despite what some would have you believe.)
I would have a couple of suggestions. First, as someone else suggested, get out and talk to sellers. Learn about the neighborhoods in the area you want to invest in. Talking to sellers is the best education there is. RE is relatively simple using basic math. But it is still work. The trouble people have is getting out there and taking action. They are too afraid to look stupid to others. Get over it and talk to sellers.
As far as finding a mentor, being in a large area like Atlanta is a good thing. I would take your paper and call every investor ad and volunteer to do their dirty work, research, etc. Take them to lunch. Find out their specialties. At worst you have some investor contacts. At best they may let you help them out. Pick your area of interest. Show them you will hustle for them and that you are not just another new fish who will talk to 10 people and get discouraged a deal didn’t fall in their lap. Or worse, are afraid to talk to a stranger but want to be real estate investors. The harder you work to help them in their business, the more they will help you.
Of course, the real reason you want a mentor is to show yourself that RE investing really works. You will pay for your lack of faith by being someone’s slave for a while until you convince yourself that you can do it too (if you have the resolve to get that far). Then eventually you will be right back where you started but with some faith in yourself and your own ability to do this. Don’t get me wrong mentors can be very beneficial. They can certainly help you avoid some pitfalls. But now you are right back where you started: Ready to talk to sellers on your own. Remember, no mentor is going to do the work for you to be successful and hold your hand all along the way. Ahh, the circle of life of a new RE investor.
Take action. As others have said, if you are not self-motivated, your chances of success are greatly diminished. Because at the first sign of trouble or once you realize this is work, you will move on to something else.
What have you done to prepare yourself for RE investing? If you haven't read at least dozen books, know what strategies you want to focus on, and done your own due diligence then an experienced investor probably will not want to mentor you.
ok to clarify, for me a mentor is having a person that, when I hit something I don't understand or feel like something isn't right, I can present the details of a deal to and ask for a wise/experienced opinion.
so, maybe they can suggest to me an alternate option I had not even considered when I feel like I have no way to help a seller (serve their needs, to make a deal work)
or, maybe I'm in the middle of a deal and I feel like the investor is trying to screw me over ie cut me out of the equation, I can ask the mentor if it sounds like that is what's going on or if I'm being paranoid.
I am not looking for someone to hold my hand and train me for free by any means; that's madness.