Real Estate Agent · Baltimore Maryland · Member since 2019 · 98 posts · 74 votes
Hey everyone! So I'm just starting out in REI (and by just starting out, I mean I'm looking for my first deal). I'm focusing on buy and hold multifamily investing. I've heard great things about getting a mentor to really excel in investing. I have a mentor in mind who does a lot of business in my local market (Baltimore MD); the person mainly focuses on buy and hold and multifamily investing and has had great success. Should I start out with a mentor? Or should I do a few deals on my own before I hire a mentor? What should I look for in a mentor? Anyone have any experience with mentors, good or bad? Any feedback, success or non-success stories, and suggestions are greatly appreciated!
Plymouth, MI · Member since 2013 · 13k+ posts · 19k+ votes
5y
If you have an opportunity to learn from a successful person, versus, learning from doing it on your own and making mistakes, take the successful person every time. Either way you're paying for that knowledge. The difference is, when you learn from making mistakes, the only knowledge you gain is how "not to do it". When you learn from a successful person, you add how "to do it" to your knowledge as well...and I bet it will cost you less too.
Rental Property Investor · 114 Main St, Anaconda Montana · Member since 2015 · 5 posts · 4 votes
5y
If you have a chance to learn from a mentor, then grab ahold of that and learn! Not sure how much you would be paying but if within reason I would definitely go for it! I would never for example pay $10,000 for someone to show me how to buy my first house as its just honestly not that hard and wouldn't be worth the money as some people spend to much time and money trying to learn and never actually doing. I would be more interested in paying to learn how to raise capital and deals.
Bottom line: Hiring a mentor is your first choice as a new business owner. Is the education they offer worth it? That's what you have to ask yourself. Congrats on making your first decision and good luck!
P.S. - I really like J.Massy and have taken many of his classes and appreciate his knowledge. I'm not sure if he is still offering classes as it looks like he is switching to 100% Short term rentals currently and updating site but its worth a contact, he has a multi family class on raising private capital that are very informative and affordable. https://cashflowdiary.com/
I would absolutely NOT hire a mentor. For me, it's a mindset thing. Everything you need to know for the basics of building a buy and hold portfolio are in free reasources like biggerpokcets that can be easily accessed. Even some ebooks you can find for free or like $2 online. If you expect a mentor to hold your hand and make sure that nothing bad happens, you're going to be in for a rude awakening. Just because there's plenty of free resources out there doesn't mean you're expected to know everything. Thats part of what building a team is for. Start off with a well trusted agent in your area that works with investors, attend meetups and I promise your team will form themself. Once you show that you have done the leg work in educating yourself, if you have a specific question on an issue, you will find plenty of investors that are happy to answer a question or provide a referral.
What about a seasoned investor in your area investor telegram group that tell you he can help you find your first deal but it will cost me? Should i contact other investor for free help?
Thanks for the shout out. It is my mission to create a like minded community of investors. Most people just focus on the education which is super important, but the networking and the ability to tap into our vendors and experience is paramount
Rental Property Investor · USA / NZ · Member since 2016 · 1k+ posts · 812 votes
5y
@Sandy Sawyer . There are no cones unless you choose the wrong Mentor!
A good mentor would shorten your timeline to success.
The key is to remember that a teacher can open the door, but the student needs to walk through it! If you are not going to be prepared to make it happen, it won't happen.
I also think that having a coaching program that has an accountability aspect and networking component is crucial.
New to Real Estate · Morristown, NJ · Member since 2020 · 17 posts · 26 votes
5y
Don't pay for a mentor. Find someone who is doing what you want to do and try and convince them to let you shadow them. You do this by bringing a lot of value to them. For example find out what their criteria is for a good deal and bring that deal to them and see if they will partner with you on it. You don't have to make a lot of money on it if at all. Just try and learn alot so you can then do it for yourself.
Don't pay for a mentor. Find someone who is doing what you want to do and try and convince them to let you shadow them. You do this by bringing a lot of value to them. For example find out what their criteria is for a good deal and bring that deal to them and see if they will partner with you on it. You don't have to make a lot of money on it if at all. Just try and learn alot so you can then do it for yourself.
OK.
1 - Try to convince them,
2 - What value exactly are you bringing to someone that has enough knowledge to have taught you what you need to know?
3 - You seriously think that a seasoned investor, is going to partner with a brand new investor, that lacks knowledge, and everything else that a partner would normally bring into a partnership? Why would a seasoned investor partner with the newbie? What does the newbie bring to the partnership of enough value to justify being a partner?
4 - If the newbie is looking to learn, how are they going to find properties that fit the REI's criteria? Where would they start looking? How do they analyze them to see if the properties match the REI's criteria?
5 - You don't have to make a lot of money on it? So now, with no knowledge, you think you will somehow get paid to gain that knowledge? Am I to understand then, you think it is fine for you to learn by having the experienced REI to pay to teach you, instead of you paying the experienced REI to teach you?