What mentorship changed your life?
Real Estate Agent · Puyallup, WA · Member since 2022 · 551 posts · 378 votes
What up BP?!
I have been investing for about a year now and I am starting to experience some growing pains. I have been going strong with Youtube university, but I think I am ready for a little more hands on/over the shoulder learning. So, I have been looking into mentorship type programs and it feels like wherever I look there is some new "guru" charging $5k+ for their course because they have done a few transactions. In other words, I just do not want to drop a decent amount of coin and be underwhelmed.
There are so many programs, courses and mentors out there right now it is almost overwhelming.
So my question is for the people who have taken courses or learned from mentors, personally. How and why did you choose the course/program that you did and how did you justify that it was a better fit for you than the hundreds of others that are out there?
Forget about the paid memberships. You should be focused on:
1. Networking with EVERYBODY in your local community. Other investors, lenders, contractors, real estate agents, title companies, designers, and architects.
2. Underwriting more deals. You should be looking at a couple deals a day.
3. Doing more deals.
Forget about the paid memberships. You should be focused on:
1. Networking with EVERYBODY in your local community. Other investors, lenders, contractors, real estate agents, title companies, designers, and architects.
2. Underwriting more deals. You should be looking at a couple deals a day.
3. Doing more deals.
I definitely look at more than a couple deals a day. The problem is once I have found the deal, not having the correct forms, not completely confident in MY knowledge of the paperwork and process that is needed to complete a Subto, wholesale, Novation, etc. contract.
The reason you're experiencing these challenges and "growing pains" that you mentioned in your original post is because you're focused on the wrong thing.
Nobody is building a successful, consistently profitable, and sustainable real estate business by focused on what you are focused on (subto, wholesale, novation, etc).
I believe if you shift your focus to more practical strategies you will find more success.
I am all ears my man. Which strategies are you talking about?
It seems funny when I type it out because it's so simple, but there are really only 2 tried and true strategies that have worked in this business since the beginning of time..
1. Fix & Flip
2. Buy & Hold
Of course there are a ton of nuances within those strategies, but that's it.
If you need to build up some capital - Buy a property under market value, fix it up, sell it for a profit. This can be applied to single family, multifamily, land, office, retail, medical, industrial, etc.
If you need cash flow and are looking to build wealth over time - Buy properties in good locations and rent them out. This also can be applied to single family, multifamily, office, retail, medical, industrial, etc. (this also works if you are looking to do a "house hack")
Or if you want both capital and cash flow - You can apply a mix of both of these strategies and do a BRRRR.
All of those strategies that you listed in your prior post are fairytale strategies that gurus promote to make money selling courses.
When you start connecting with real local investors in real life you'll realize that the way most guys and gals have made their fortunes in real estate is by the 2 simple strategies I listed above.
I agree. Are you doing flips right now? I buy and hold right now, just slowly running out of capital for downpayments that is why I have been turning my head towards the more creative ideas to get me doors at the moment. I have done a flip before but to be honest, this volatile market scares me at the moment with flips. That is why I have been looking into trying to learn wholesaling so that I can build up capital without having to risk the flip.
Really just looking for more ways to get into a buy&hold without using a bank with 20-25% down and 9% interest. That is why I mentioned Subto, but in all honesty, I like the idea of gaining more doors through seller financing because to me, that feels wayyyyyyy safer than a Subto.
Yes I'm doing flips. I agree with you, it's a bit scarier and riskier to do flips in this market. Just need to be extra particular about what deals you get into.
Wholesaling is a full time job. I don't know any wholesalers who have succeeded just dabbling in wholesaling to make a few extra bucks. I have wholesaled a few properties over the time I've been doing this but I would never rely on it as as real source of income unless I was willing to dedicate 40+ hours per week and thousands of dollars per month on marketing.
Subto on the other hand is not even a full time job... this is the fairytale strategy I was referring to earlier. I'd be willing to bet that no matter how hard you try, and no matter how much you spend on subto education, that you will never end up doing a subto deal in your lifetime. I'm not saying this because I don't believe in you. It's because that is how much I don't believe in the strategy.
Subto does terrify me as well to be honest. Was just more trying to learn more information on it to add another tool to my toolbelt for if and or when the opportunity ever arose.
I learned a ton by working with 2 great buyer’s agents who were seasoned investors themselves on my first several deals (before I was an agent myself obviously). I’m a big fan of learning by doing, I don’t really retain knowledge unless I apply it repeatedly. There was a famous yoga master who said yoga should be 99% practice and 1% theory. Stop talking, stop over-thinking, find a good agent who has been there and done it, and start looking at deals and doing deals with them would be my advice. So many scammers in the coaching and mentoring space these days.
Got to be careful with gurus. If you go that route seriously research the rep and evaluate who has benefited from their wisdom. Back in my day I almost got caught by one in Prince Georges County. Dude had only one deal under his belt but was a gifted speaker. Had dozens of people running their credit cards for 10k, promising how they will fire their boss. It ran its course after awhile and the same thing was being offered for 1,900. For me, the thing that benefited the most was getting into a master mind group, then investing in a project of one the members. Being in the group put me around a lot of heavy hitters deep in the game, doing stuff I wanted to learn. Then, I invested in a condo conversion project. I was able to look over the shoulder of the experienced investor and took on multiple tasks myself. I was running major portions of her project, learning while i was earning. Now, whenever I have a project, I raise money by people investing in mine so they can earn while they learn from me.
Got to be careful with gurus. If you go that route seriously research the rep and evaluate who has benefited from their wisdom. Back in my day I almost got caught by one in Prince Georges County. Dude had only one deal under his belt but was a gifted speaker. Had dozens of people running their credit cards for 10k, promising how they will fire their boss. It ran its course after awhile and the same thing was being offered for 1,900. For me, the thing that benefited the most was getting into a master mind group, then investing in a project of one the members. Being in the group put me around a lot of heavy hitters deep in the game, doing stuff I wanted to learn. Then, I invested in a condo conversion project. I was able to look over the shoulder of the experienced investor and took on multiple tasks myself. I was running major portions of her project, learning while i was earning. Now, whenever I have a project, I raise money by people investing in mine so they can earn while they learn from me.
Thank you for the reply. This is exactly why I made this post. I am very wary of all of these gurus out there right now. It seems like they are everywhere right now and I don't want to just put money into a "guru" that has just as much experience as me, or the course sucks and I could have got the same information from Youtube.
My real estate mentor is my previous landlord, so I would recommend talking to people and add value to those where you can. He was able to sell his units and accumulate wealth after holding those units for about 5 years. And he also started his courses this year. The information that he has provided me throughout the years was easy to understand. There are a couple of videos from other investors I watch just broaden my horizon, but I stick with his stuff. I would recommend finding someone that you're comfortable with and has a sincere desire to help other people.
Like many people on this site, I was a DIY guy who mostly read books and networked to learn more throughout my career. If I were starting all over again, knowing how long that route would take I probably would do things differently by linking up with more experts early on.
That said, I think in 35+ years, I only actually bought one or two courses (one was on a strategy I ultimately didn't employ and the other was on asset protection). But in both cases I bought them with 2 other people and split the cost between the three of us. So that's one way to limit the capital required! ...though likely won't work for a more hands on mentor.
I have been in a mentorship program as a business owner which I would say changed my life and business dramatically. Now this is a higher ticket service that even involved quite a bit of travel. That came about through a recommendation from my business coach and the mentor's reputation spoke for itself, so little due diligence was needed imo vs. buying a program online. Plus, they vetted you to join based on your revenue. So that actually helped validate it for me, the fact that they wouldn't just take anyone. So just some food for thought. Best of luck!
If you want a real mentor, you're probably gonna have to do some work to find him/her. Those promoting their paid memberships are likely better at marketing and promotion than real estate investing.
I'd suggest pulling tax records on multifamily properties in your area to find the owner. If you stumble upon a guy that owns a dozen, reach out, explain your situation, and ask if you can get together or chat on the phone. I'd want to track down the unassuming guy that drives an old truck and buys his clothes at Costco but happens to own a pile of properties. I'd even bet some or all of them paid off and he doesn't give a $h!+ about cash on cash return or return on equity calculations.
If you want a real mentor, you're probably gonna have to do some work to find him/her. Those promoting their paid memberships are likely better at marketing and promotion than real estate investing.
I'd suggest pulling tax records on multifamily properties in your area to find the owner. If you stumble upon a guy that owns a dozen, reach out, explain your situation, and ask if you can get together or chat on the phone. I'd want to track down the unassuming guy that drives an old truck and buys his clothes at Costco but happens to own a pile of properties. I'd even bet some or all of them paid off and he doesn't give a $h!+ about cash on cash return or return on equity calculations.
This is exactly my thought process.
"Those promoting their paid memberships are likely better at marketing and promotion than real estate investing" I think this hits the nail on the head.
I have actually started pulling local landlords in my area from Propstream over the last month. I have had some great conversations, some lasting an hour +. The weird thing that I have learned is that the ones who have these 100, 200, 300 doors are people you would never expect, they keep their money quiet.
I guess the book, The Millionaire Next Door is spot on for the majority of self made millionaires. Not every investor out there is as flashy as a Grant Cardone, but that doesn't mean that they don't have money.
Thank you for the reply!
What up BP?!
I have been investing for about a year now and I am starting to experience some growing pains. I have been going strong with Youtube university, but I think I am ready for a little more hands on/over the shoulder learning. So, I have been looking into mentorship type programs and it feels like wherever I look there is some new "guru" charging $5k+ for their course because they have done a few transactions. In other words, I just do not want to drop a decent amount of coin and be underwhelmed.
There are so many programs, courses and mentors out there right now it is almost overwhelming.
So my question is for the people who have taken courses or learned from mentors, personally. How and why did you choose the course/program that you did and how did you justify that it was a better fit for you than the hundreds of others that are out there?
Go to every meetup possible and talk to as my people. Eventually, you'll have the contacts with the knowledge to learn from them.