Hello Everyone,
I am in the prcoess of getting started in REI and was wondering what your thoughts were about having a mentor?
There are so many out there, how do you know who is legitimate?
Thanks for your feedback!
Search the forums here and you’ll find varying opinions. Mentors who charge a fee will of course think that their services are the best way for you to learn REI. Others don’t think it’s necessary. The forums here provide many great topics and real world situations. I won’t say I haven’t talked some to different people along the way since I’ve been investing, but I’ve never hired anyone to teach me. I sought out the information myself. I’ve made some minor mistakes along the way, but nothing earth shattering.
I suggest you soak in as much as you can from here and ask questions about what specifically you’re looking to get into.
Justin,
Thanks for your reply! Personally, for me, I think I would like to have a mentor, in addition to learning on my own, to help speed up my learning curve, reduce initial mistakes and assist me in getting to my goal faster.
I was all set up to get started last year and at the last second couldn’t pull the trigger because I felt I had so many questions and was uncertain about so many aspects. Looking back, I think it was fear.
Thanks again for your reply!
I had a mentor and I suggest you have one. I would qualify him though. Don’t be concerned with hurting his feelings. What you want to know is if he is qualified to be your mentor. Ask him how many people he has made rich. This is not a trick question. It is a number. If he can’t answer that question then he has not and therefore is not qualified to be your mentor. If he comes back with some results may vary bull crap he is not for you. But if you are going to pay him he needs to guarantee that you are going to get rich. Then find out if he made them rich doing exactly what you want to do where you want to do it. For example the same thing that works in New Jersey does not necessarily work in California and what works in California probably does not work in Florida. He has to have local knowledge and has done it or made people rich where you are doing what you want to do. For example if you want to have a 100 unit apartment complex in Houston but this guy has only had 100 single family houses in Houston, that is a mismatch.
What I suggest you do is what I did. I found somebody that had what I wanted and asked them how they did it. He happened to be in real estate. If he was in tanning studios I would have a chain of tanning studios. I did exactly what he did. I didn’t reinvent the wheel. You see I am not in real estate because I like real estate, I am in real estate because it makes me money.
I’d say that this forum is a great mentor. You just have to sift through the noise and listen to the advice posted by the people who you feel can guide you. Then when you have specific questions, you learn how to build a conversation or question aimed at a couple of people on the forums to get the answers you want. I guarentee to you that any question you could ask has been asked before. Its just circumstances that change the answer.
As people have said, you can be successful with or without a mentor. If you narrow down which type of investing you want to do, that will help us figure out what to tell you. Fear has killed many people’s dreams. That and lack of money are probably the two biggest barriers to getting started. All it takes is a step to start. You don’t have to run a full marathon to start but you do have to step over the starting line if you want to get anywhere.
Bluemoon06, Ashon, Justin - Thank you for your insightful replies!
I was thinking of starting with wholesaling nice homes/ sub2. I was also hoping to attend my local REIA tomorrow in an attempt to meet and network with some local investors.
What would you suggest be an average fee for mentoring? I have seen such a wide discrepancy.
Again, thank you very much and I appreciate your feedback! :beer
I didn’t pay for mine. I just found somebody that was doing what I wanted to do and asked them what they did.
I just talked to my Realtor about rentals for a little while. He was my agent in the purchase of our apts so he was getting paid. Other than that it has just been a matter of reading and absorbing what I can. You just have to figure out what mentoring is worth to you. I couldn’t help you with wholesaling because that’s not what I do. People have paid literally tens of thousands for mentoring only to never do a deal. Don’t fall into that trap and only pay what it’s worth to you. If you want accountability start a thread on here telling us what you’re doing and what questions or issues you have.