All Forum Posts by: Sylvester Hardison

My opinion on this subject is admittedly biased, as I started investing without anyone’s help (not counting the buyer’s agent,) and am professionally suspicious of real estate gurus selling “education,” to begin with. But I started at a different time in the market cycle, and attribute my success to date to luck and caution, mostly to luck. I do not envy anyone starting out at this time. (I now know that I was too cautious, especially in the beginning. But that’s only through the benefit of hindsight.)

I wasn’t aware of Zillow or BP, or even whether YouTube may have already had some good content. If useful podcasts were around, I also wasn’t aware of them. I hadn’t even read “Rich Dad.” I advertised my first vacancy on Craigslist, which is also where I may have (memory on this is rusty) found my second property, ~two months after buying my first.

It took me a few years after starting to invest locally (as a landlord) to meet someone who had been doing that for longer and in multiple markets. We had dinner, where I got all the info to feel comfortable to start investing in other markets. The cost of this ~two-hour mentorship was the price of a nice sushi meal (which the unexpected mentor offered to split.) Within the next week, I had a plan to expand out of state. Again, market conditions were (still) different - good deals were oh so easy to get.

In the following year, I finally learned about BP, and decided to become a real “real estate investor,” which (I thought) “required” me to expand beyond just doing buy-and-hold. I got so cocky that I decided to do a flip - I was only a landlord up to that point, but now in multiple states, and still self-managing some of those far away units. But at least I brought in a partner for the flip who had done those locally, in CA, and was also a financial/accounting professional - experience and skills I lacked. We invested in Indianapolis, using a (recommended) licensed broker for the whole project, who ended up being full of hot air - which we only learned too late…. We lost money. But I got better educated for that money, not to mention humbled.

I never partnered with anyone again, and realized that my lane was LTR landlording, whether personally or through PMs (mostly PMs now.) I did not need to try other things in real estate, including STRs. I even tried syndications (as a LP,) and learned that I can do better on my own - at least without breaking promises/making myself a victim of fraud, the latter I warned others about on a deal I was being pitched (and time proved me right.) (I may also be stuck for many more years in a syndication that was supposed to exit in 2017. I may never see most of that money again. But that one wasn’t exactly fraud.)

Along the way, I attended a number of free seminars that hit my area (and more recently webinars,) to see what information I may be missing out on. Unfortunately, I have not come across any seminar that wouldn’t attempt to get me to sign up for hundreds/thousands of dollars’ “worth” of a workshop, where I’d subsequently likely be pitched tens of thousands of dollars “worth” of additional “education” and alleged mentorship. So, while I haven’t paid a dime for those, I have met some people who have - who still have nothing to show for the investment, not one I know personally. The (few) gurus I have come across at these seminars, all kind of remind me of that syndicator I had a suspicion was lying (which he was.) But I have not met all the gurus out there.

That’s my bias on the subject, in a nutshell. Where does that leave your question?

You are already on the right track: You have purchased an investment property - what a great way to learn by being hands-on! And you are certainly aware of BP. And I presume that you can find good podcasts, YouTube channels, etc. - for as narrow or as wide of a net you may want to throw out for your own “real estate investing.”

But if you should still have an inclination to trust some guru with a paid mentorship, I’d suggest to go above and beyond their standard contract, which will likely stipulate what you owe them in far better terms for themselves than what they owe you in return for your money: I’d ask them to stipulate - in writing - what “mentorship” your money (at each level of a “workshop”/“education” they expect you to pay for) will actually get you, and for how long. And incorporate that written promise into the contact as an addendum/exhibit. (And look out for any language in the original contract that may say something along the lines of “no promises made outside of this document may be enforceable.”)

I have nothing to sell you. Perhaps someone else here will share their success story from a paid mentorship. You’d have to verify their claims, as you are - wisely - saying you would.

Good luck.