Is real estate mentoring a good fit for you?
If you are looking to get into real estate or get involved in a new aspect of real estate, it is important to consider how much you know and if you are experienced enough to go about doing it on your own. You don’t even need to know much about real estate to invest in it, through trust deed investing, but if you do make the decision to become a direct investor, then here are a few reasons as to why you might want to get a mentor and how you would go about picking one.
Some of us have possibly have read books on real estate or feel we have a basic understanding of the processes of foreclosures, short sales, or long term investing. That being so, there are still a lot of other things to keep in mind when going to into new investments, that can be easily overlooked and necessary to think about when investing our hard earned cash. Whether a novice or an advanced investor a lot of us can appreciate a mentor to help us through our ventures.
When picking a mentor it is important to pick one who specializes in teaching whatever it is you want to learn, and to make sure they are actively involved in the field you are getting into and who can teach you exactly what it is that you want to learn. For instance, do you want to learn how to be an active investor who is busy full time, or invest passively? Do you want to learn how to manage properties? Do you want to learn how the market works? Do you want to learn how to negotiate deals? Would you like the contracts necessary to perform these deals? Pick a mentor that aligns with your needs. A mentor who is an active investor is important to find because they know the current real estate market and its laws.
Here are a few things you should expect from a good mentor, and reasons as to why it’s extremely helpful to have one. Good mentors hold you accountable in every aspect of the deal. They schedule your calendar with tasks that need to be completed, which helps you build successful habits. They help you understand the process in depth and give you an analysis of what is to happen so you don’t make any irrational decisions.
Expect them to show you multiple ways of approaching offers, and structuring contracts. A good mentor should show you how to market your real estate and bring in offers. Also, they should show you how to close deals and set an exit strategy with alternatives in place to reduce risk. It is also noteworthy to realize that you will, or should, be getting access to their contacts including title, lenders, brokers, and any relevant paperwork.
You want a mentor who is successful, someone who has proven themselves with 15 years of experience, and a well-managed portfolio. That way, you know they have been through the cycles of the real estate markets, and know how to position themselves for the ups or downs. They will also make you a more cost-effective investor because of all that experience and show you how to manage your time and work smart, not hard.
When qualifying a mentor you want to see how many projects they have recently completed in the last few years up until the last few months and check and verify a few of those properties. You should also ask for references so you can speak with other students that mentor has, and see what kind of an experience they had with that mentor.
Find out what their guarantees are! Do they promise to do a deal within a year or six months? Do you get your money back if not? Search many different mentors in your local area or the market that you want to invest in and see who suits your needs. You can expect to spend between $5,000 to $25,000 dollars on a mentor so it is important to find someone who you can structure the payments with in a way that works with you.
Check the website and forum I pointed out in the resources** REIclub, which I regularly look at to learn more about real estate, and mentoring.
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