I’m new to the real estate investing. This weekend I have been going to the Fortune Builders seminar. Does anyone have any feedback on their Mastery program? They want $25k for their coaching and mentoring. Seems kind of high! Anybody have any other suggestions as to how to go about finding a good coach/mentor? Thanks!
I think the general consensus you’ll find is that pretty much to only people who think stuff like that is worth 25k are the people trying to sell it to you. You’re not really going to find many regular posting people on here claiming seminars are worth tens of thousands of dollars. If you want to do something, find someone doing that aspect of REI and see what you can learn from them. Try to arrange some time to pick their brain about things. Follow them around. Buy them lunch. Remember, the people at that seminar are sales people.
$25K!?!?! :shocked For that kind of money they damn well better be including your first property in the package. Run fast, run far.
I always love to read about the young kids getting in to real estate that depend on the hype of the television guru or the the snake oil salesman selling theses books. Hire you a mentor and pay attention of the teacher.
Andrew Massaro, Cris Chico, Alex Joungblood, and Sean Terry are prolific and successful wholesalers who offer coaching programs that are MUCH CHEAPER than $25K.
The best advice I can give is to read the real estate investing section of your local book store. Also find other people who took courses and see if you can borrow their material. Maybe find it on ebay or something.
satarnag I see you are new here. No books will give you what you need. Only a mentor can hold your hand and help you.
Name: satarnag
Posts: 55 (0.026 per day)
Position: Member
Date Registered: June 08, 2006, 04:38:39 PM
Last Active: April 15, 2012, 11:43:41 PM
Maybe not a regular poster, but certainly not new here. I don’t think mentors are an absolute necessity. I’ve never had to pay for instruction on REI or follow someone around to learn how to do it. Usually the people on here pushing paid mentorship are the ones with mentorship to sell… There are better ways besides putting up several thousand dollars to listen to someone talk.
Let’s see, satarnag has been here since 2006 and Real Estate Seller has been here since October 2011…so, who’s REALLY ‘new’ here?
I’m with Justin…mentors are NOT an absolute necessity, neither will a mentor be a guarantee of success…
Keith
And books are not a guarantee of success. All I am saying a lot of new comers want to start out the cheap way and it wound up costing them more. Books are cheap but will a book answer your question if you have obne?
That’s what is great about being on REIclub. If someone has a question, there’s probably someone on here who knows the answer and has the requisite experience to give an educated answer. Nothing is a guarantee of success. People have to have drive to do something besides clock in and out of work. Otherwise, that life is all they’ll ever know.
Books are good, real estate clubs are good and mentors are good. It just depends on what kind of learner you are. Some people can read a book and do it. Some people are audio and need to have someone tell them how to understand and some just need a kick in the ass to make things happen, one that will hold them accountable. So I think all are good. A beginner just needs to know which will do them the most good and go for it. It all boils down to “ACT” without acting nothing happens. You can read 100 books on how do and do nothing and the knowledge does nothing but you can have no knowledge and act and really screw things up alittle of both good. I personally like to listen and see how its done then I can run with it. I’ve never been much of a book worm and my mind wonders to much when I read but I can set and listen to someone and act on what they taught.
Thats just my 2 cents.
What I have seen in the pass couple of years is everyone think you can get in the real estate business with no money because the books tell them that. Like the old saying it take money to make money.
REI has been beaten down so much over the past few years as values dropped and dropped and dropped. The “experts” said oh no, not now…but now with interest rates extremely low and prices at pretty much the bottom, we’re starting to get some interest again. I agree w/ the saying that it takes money to make money (in most cases). Seems the most common way to do REI with virtually no money is bird dogging/wholesaling, but it still requires money to get around, money for marketing, etc. There’s no silver bullet and those gurus throwing out the no money down stuff or buy houses from tax sales for $300 total are marketing to people staying up at 3am…most of them unemployed.
I am also just starting out (5 months, 1 wholesale deal). I am learning about REI through internet research and forums like this. I would love to pay for mentoring, but I have limited funds and I would prefer to spend it marketing for sellers for wholesale deals.
Would having a mentor make things easier? I am sure it would. But not being able to afford a mentor is just not sufficient justification for inaction, at least not for me. Maybe I am making some simple mistakes that a mentor could help avoid. I know that I have avoided many mistakes by throughly researching online and making sure I have a clear picture of what I am trying to do and how to go about doing it. Plus there are plenty of “10 Mistakes New Investors Make” articles online. Find them and read them.
If you can afford both a mentor and the cost of operating your business, do both. (I would ask around my local REI club for recommendations.) For me, I had to choose, and I chose to start my business. There is a lot of free education out there. Take advantage of it. Not having a mentor does mean a lot of extra work in terms of research. I have to chase down the meaning of every unfamiliar term that I read in a RE article. And I do a lot of follow up research on concepts that a RE article mentions but does not give details for. However, this has allowed me to get started in wholesaling and even make some money.
Snake oil books only give you just enough to get you interested in real estate. All the late night snake oil salesmen want is for you to buy their course and make a million dollars.
kallen, thanks for the kind words regarding my wholesale coaching program (I’m Andrew…)! I sincerely appreciate it.
With that being said, I honestly believe that “investing” into a mentor is the smartest way to start. When I started in this biz, the first thing I thought to myself was, “I need someone to teach me how to do this.” And, before I did anything, I hired a mentor.
I used the term “invest” because that is exactly what it is. It’s not a cost. Your phone bill is a cost. Coaching is an investment because it provides a return. And, in most cases, if you follow the advice of your coach, it provides a huge return. A ton of my students attempted to go it alone. The reason is that they thought the money they put into coaching could be better invested into their business. But, in reality, they are really wasting that money because they have no idea what to do. It’s all trial-and-error, where a coach can tell you exactly what works.
A good mentor/coach will cut your learning curve immensely. Without coaching, IMO, you’re in a non-stop, perpetual learning curve. But, with one, you are on a fast track. There is no book, course, video or software program that can prepare you for success in this business. Those things need to be in addition to your coaching… not instead of.
Any good mentor recommendations then? I know someone said some before, but I would like some more confirmation on their prowess.
So if you were just starting out with limited funds, you would spend it on a mentor instead of on actually trying to make some money? Don’t get me wrong, I think having a mentor is a huge plus, but is it really a requirement for success? There is so much free advice, that a dilligent invidual can put together enough information to at least start generating an income.
I remember my first REI club meeting I went to, I spoke with another newbie (1 year, 3 deals) who told me I could not get started in investing without taking a course. So I asked what was the most important or relevant thing he had learned from his courses. He could not tell me and got upset when I pressed the issue. It seemed the most important thing he had learned in his course was that you had to take a course. Now I am not knocking education, courses, mentors or any of those things, more the idea that without them, you can’t possibly succeed. Having a mentor makes things easier but not having one should not be a reason to sit on the sidelines and wait. You might never get enough money saved to pay for a mentor and pay for running your business. Unless mentors are willing to start giving student loans.
Nothing is an absolute must. However, I just think it’s smart. Coaching is on-the-job training. It’s not some course or DVD where you have no one to go to with questions. My program is designed to be a structured progression. Where, for the first 4 weeks, you’re learning, and growing, and experiencing and progressing. Until, we get to a point where all the student is doing is submitting leads for review, and also questions. In addition, coaching is flexible to the student and their market. Books and courses are not.
What good does it do to invest $300 in 100 bandit signs, if you have no idea what to put on your bandit signs so they convert, or what to do if someone actually calls you? That’s wasted money! What good does it do to have leads if you have no idea how to qualify them? What good does it do to qualify leads if you don’t know what to offer? What about using the right contracts and legal documents? What about negotiating? Marketing? Outsourcing marketing and leads?
Going it alone = the slow, trial and error and frustrating track to your goal :banghead
Hiring a mentor = the fast track to your goal :beer