I’m a newbie from Buffalo New York and have been reading into real estate investing for about a year and a half. The problem is i’m having trouble finding a mentor to learn from. It’s pretty suprising because i’ve been working as a title abstractor for the county foreclosure auctions and other title companies for about 5 years and even co-workers there don’t seem to know where to point me. I’ve tried every avenue from the investment clubs to the $2000+ guru programs(too expensive for a college student) and can’t seem to locate investors to “trade” work for experience. If anyone has had this problem starting out any advice on where to look is appreciated.
I found that a good solution was to place an ad in my local paper asking other investors to be my mentor-that way those investors that are becoming to busy to handle all of the deals that they are working come and find you because they need to pick up someone to help handle the work load.
Example: Looking to be a Real Estate Investors Protege.
Am willing to learn, coachable, and I have a burning desire to succeed. Call Now…
Try joining your local real estate investors group. They should meet at least once a month and that will allow you to network with hundreds of investors. One of them might mentor you or point you to someone who would for a fee or part of the profit. The upside of investor groups is that they give free training events for members and such.
I’ve given a try to the investors clubs (our city only has 1 that i’ve been able to find) and continue to go to them for information and as a resource. thanks everyone for the info, i think i’ll give the classifieds a try. Any ideas on how to distinguish a “real mentor” from someone who just wants to take advantage of people?
Ask them to provide proof of deals they’ve done.
If they’re legitimate, chances are they will do it with a smile (ego factor at work here). 
If they hem-n-haw, chances are they’re either REI wannabe’s and/or are looking for an unsuspecting newbie to prey on.
You can also ask the host/moderator of the REI club for referals and/or give input on a person wanting to mentor you.
Some of my mentor’s students are now mentors. That’s success. If the mentor’s students are successful you have a good chance yourself. Mine works with people all over the country.
Now what is your real goal? I’m guessing you’re attracted by the significant amount of money that can be made in real estate. Now if it’s just money you’re after there are many more ways to do that. For example Donald Trump, Robert Kiyosaki, and Warren Buffet like network marketing. Buffet didn’t exactly say so but he did spend 1.5 bill to buy a network marketing company last year. I’ve got the best of both worlds because I’m in one that does real estate AND network marketing.
You’ll find that successful people look for opportunity in more than one form. Just don’t try it all at once.
Roger
Thoward,
Awesome post. I have had the same problem. I guess I have been looking to my realtors for mentorship, I have learned that is the wrong thing to do. I am not lucky enough to have an investors club close by so any other suggestions besides placing an ad in classifieds would be helpful!!
PS. I am in central Iowa and also tried to post for others in my area but not anyone close by. Maybe that would also help you if you did a post to see if someone close by from REIclub website might be willing to mentor you. Good LucK!!! Graciez
i appreciate the info from the posts. to be honest my interest isn’t so much in making the money its in the houses. i’ve been working with real estate in many different capacities for the past 5 years and grew up around realtors so its just comfortable. i’ve actually taken everyone’s advice and went and contacted the “moderators” of the locl investment clubs. i emailed them asking for information and gave a quick rundown of my backround. i followed it up with “i look forward to seeing you at your next event” and will attend the next meeting to follow up in person. the classified ad is the next step! i’ve read into alot of theposts and see that with or without a mentor it basically comes down to your education in the subject. I think one of the best and eye opening ways to get that is through a business plan. i started mine 2 weeks ago and it showed me i needed to rethink my whole plan and maintain a focus point and “speciality” along with using the various tools. the trick now is just to find that starting point. thanks again!!
How well do you know your local real estate market? The answer to that question will have a lot to do with whether real estate investing provides a lucrative future for you and your family or rueful memories of what might have been.
By knowing your local real estate investing market, you’re able to keep your finger on the pulse of your local community and to stay abreast of changes in trends, sales prices and rental rates. Knowing immediately about these changes is critical to your investing future. Here’s how each of these three areas will affect your future:
• Trends – National media outlets report gloom & doom outlooks for real estate, but even in the most depressed real estate market there are isolated pockets and neighborhoods with property values that are increasing. If you don’t know your local real estate market, you’re simply taking a wild guess as to value. When negotiating with a homeowner, it’s imperative that you know what the property is worth. Otherwise, you run the risk of overpaying or offering too little, which could offend the property owner and get you kicked to the curb with your hat in your hand.
Another reason you want to know your local real estate market is because certain areas within a given community make better investments than others. If you invest your hard-earned dollars in an area that is declining, property values could fall and some or all of your investment could be at risk. By keeping an eye on trends within your local real estate market, you can more readily take advantage of opportunities to get in on the ground floor of an investment and ride the wave of property appreciation, which will have a positive impact on your bank account.
• Sales prices – How much is property worth in your local real estate market? Do you have a clue? You need to be cognizant of local sales prices – especially now – because property values can change very rapidly. In today’s volatile investing environment, it’s not unusual for the value of a property to fluctuate by $10,000-$15,000 in a given month. If you have a property that you’re considering selling, you can gain or lose a tremendous amount of money in no time.
• Rental rates – Current knowledge of your local investing climate is imperative when determining what rental rates are in a particular neighborhood. If you do a cash flow analysis on a property and you assume that it will rent for $1,500 per month and in reality it will only generate $1,100, you could have a problem, especially if you were anticipating a positive monthly cash flow of $200. If the rent a property can command is $400 less than you anticipated, you would have a monthly loss of $200. Negative cash flow sets the stage for a constant drain on your financial resources, and could eventually cause you to rethink your commitment to real estate investing.
Today’s real estate investing climate makes accurate and timely information critical to your success. If you don’t know your local real estate market, you could be in serious trouble. An excellent way of developing a proper and accurate knowledge of your local market is by trailing an experienced mentor who knows what he or she is doing. In addition to teaching you how to analyze current market conditions, you’ll also be able to better understand what to look for in your local real estate market.
Real estate investing is a great way to expand your financial opportunity, but a failure to know and understand all of the variables within your local market can very quickly erode opportunity. Learn your local real estate market and make this your best year ever!
Thoward,
There is way too much thinking going on! Here’s what you do to get into real estate:
- Buy a house.
- Fix it.
- Rent it or sell it.
- Repeat.
If your area is too expensive for that plan, then:
- Go to real estate school at night.
- Keep your day job.
- Get your real estate license.
- Sell real estate evenings and weekends.
Then,
!. Buy a house.
etc. etc. etc.
Sorry if this seems harsh. I have been mentoring several people on doing furnished rentals, which is the kind of real estate that I do. A couple of them have had vacant, furnished houses for months! Months!
I would have been dying after 1 month! I would have been placing more ads, raking leaves, wiping the dust off the lawn furniture! Printing rental flyers, shopping it on the internet, reducing the rent, putting up signs! Planting flowers, cleaning the windows, putting up a dog fence!
I asked one of my “students” what she is doing this week about her vacancy. “I am praying about it,” she said.
Aaargh.
Furnishedowner