Real Estate Advice

Should you get a real estate mentor, or should you learn it all on your own? If you choose to learn and experience on your own, you’re in for a long road of learning lessons the hard (and expensive) way. This article is going to tell you whether or not you getting a real estate investing mentor is the right path for you or not. The short answer is that sometimes it does, and sometimes it does not. But for the most part, you’ll absolutely want to have a real estate investing mentors. In short, there are approximately three types of investing mentors. There are also three types of investing mentors that specifically search for a student to teach.

The three types of real estate investors are:

investors that became investors by accident
investors inspired by reality house flipping shows
investors who are looking for freedom from their financial woes

So, what exactly differentiates these three mentors? Below is a description of each, so that you can be armed with information when choosing a mentor, if you decide to do so (and you should).

investors that became investors by accident
These investors are people who purchased a primary home some number of years ago, and made the choice to move into a new one later on. What happened was, they found themselves unable to get rid of the other property and were forced to either become landlords, or sit on a vacant property, paying two mortgages on one income. They are were struggling, so they never actually meant to become an investor, it just happened.

investors inspired by reality house flipping shows
These investors are simply interested in flipping one specific house. Yes, perhaps it may turn into an abundance of deals later based on how the current one turns out. But, for the most part, they aren’t searching for a lifetime career in house flipping. Many people decide to flip a house because of what they’ve seen on television. They’ve got the money, and wanted to perform an experiment to see how it’d turn out. Video: are house flipping tv shows useful to watch for investors?

investors who are looking for freedom from their financial woes
These investors are simply looking for financial freedom in real estate. They’ve seen what it can do for others, and are looking to make a career out of it. Their goal is to make money solely through real estate investing.

Looking for a motivated seller

Finding great amazing real estate deals is tricky. In order to find a good one, you’ve got to find a seller in the market who is motivated enough for you to form a good deal. Most investors simply aren’t that motivated. You’ve got to find the one who is, which can be tough.

You’ll need to learn how to attract one: Once you’ve found a motivated seller, you’re got to reel him in to get him to want to do the deal. Finding a motivated seller doesn’t mean you’re going to get the deal. You’ve got to put yourself in a light in a specific way that makes him want to work with you, rather than walk in a different direction.

You’ve got to get him to want to work with you: Now, we aren’t talking about harassment. If someone says that they don’t want to work with you, know when to be persistent, and know when to say “Alright, thank you for your time.” If they don’t want to work with you, find out why. Sometimes they won’t tell you why, they just say “No.” But often, they’ll be open about why they are hesitant about it. Even if they still don’t want to work with you, at least you have an explanation, and you can evaluate whether or not there is merit to it.

Consider their feedback

If you can’t change their mind, at least take into consideration what they’ve said, and what you can do about it from here on out. Criticism is always good. It helps you grow. Even if the criticism has no merit, it will help you get thicker skin which you’ll need if you want to be successful in real estate investing. Always be sure that the said motivated seller who claims they are willing to work with you is actually serious about it. In order to make it official, you’ve got to get the seller to actually sign the contract. This means you’ve got to present yourself in the best light possible.

You’re not done yet: If you don’t have the right strategy or tools, you aren’t going to be able to land him. A real estate deal under contract does not equal a done deal. You’ve got to get the deal to closing. It’s very common for beginner real estate investors to lose a deal at the last moment. Actually, around sixty-percent of real estate contracts never make it to closing.

How do investors make their money?

Other investors might have some background in investing, and are self-taught. They have learned from reading about real estate online about how to find deals. The problem here, is that usually real estate information and statistics are outdated. The market changes quickly, and rapidly. By the time you read an article, it is likely outdated when it comes to real estate statistics. The information also might be only relevant to a certain season of the year, and many other specific data.

Also, investors make their money when someone purchases. Even though they may honestly want to help out, they also want to get rid of properties they have that have been laying stagnant on the market. Rather than helping you get the best possible one of their deals, they’re likely to try to shove off on you one of the lesser ones. Another point is that these people usually become involved in investing simply for the thrill. They enjoy the challenge. Whether or not they succeed in it doesn’t really matter much to them. Sometimes you’ll be fortunate enough to find a serious investor. These are the ones that haven’t had to learn the hard way. They’ve learned a lot, and thus have become skilled at bypassing bad or time-wasting situations.

Which type of investor really does need a mentor, and who doesn’t? 

The investors by accident: This category of an investor does not necessarily need a real estate mentor. They likely aren’t planning to be around in the real estate game for long, especially once they sell the rental property.

The investors whom were inspired by reality house flipping shows: These investors are only going to be doing one real estate deal. Learning the ins and outs of the business isn’t important to them. They’ll find a good realtor, a great contractor, a mortgage broker, a closing company, and a real estate attorney for that deal. That’s all they need. They just need to get through the one or two deals they’ve got. They’ll probably make a little money, and that will be that. They wanted to try it once for the fun, then they’re off to the next thing.

The investors who are looking for freedom from their financial woes: These investors absolutely need a mentor. Finding a great mentor is the fastest, most easiest way to gain financial freedom solely through real estate investing. Many have tried to forego paying the money for a decent mentor and most regret it. Why? Read below.

Mentors can prove to be a huge motivator

If you try to teach yourself on your own, when you end up in a bind, you’ll have no one to help you figure out where you went wrong, and how to remedy it. You’ll be stuck with asking Jeeves. Likewise, if you hire a realtor to help you find a property, when you buy it, they’re the ones that will make money. They don’t care if the investment makes you a profit or not. For example, the plumber makers money when he finishes the job. The A/C guy makes money when he finishes the job. None of these people have to wait for the property to sell, or care whether or not it turns a profit. The professionals you have to pay in any real estate deal all get paid when you either sell or buy…not when you get a profit.

When you have the right mentor, they actually care about your results because they get paid based on your results. Therefore, their motivation based upon how well you do in the end, not what you do along the way. If your goal is to do lots of real estate deals and make a nice living off of it, you need a mentor motivated to not just help you with, or get deals, but to profit from them.

Real estate mentors give you a great advantage that mentor-less investors don’t have 

One of the trickiest parts of real estate is that what worked yesterday might not work today. There are so many changes going on in the market at any and all times. Just because you made one huge deal, doesn’t mean more are to come. Oftentimes, someone might simply just experience good luck. The conditions aren’t likely to be the same tomorrow. That’s actually one of the negative things, but it’s also one of the best things! Real estate is fun. If you don’t enjoy the ups and downs, you should consider another profession. People who do real estate really enjoy the thrill of it, and have the mental capacity and backbone to deal with crappy people and crappy situations. That’s not to say that they have fun during the bad times, but they’ve got a positive outlook, so they can handle whatever comes their way by looking at it as an opportunity.

However, a successful mentor has experienced enough deals that they can pretty much bet on success just about every time. This is why you need a successful mentor if you want to do well in real estate. They have the advantage. When you hire them, you get some of that advantage. Being around a successful real estate investor day in and day out, you can’t not soak in their knowledge and tactics. Seeing how they do deals is going to rub off on you, and it’ll become your second nature too. Keep in mind that paying for, and having a great investing mentor is a waste of time if you aren’t going to practice what they preach. You might as well not bother.

Finally, should you get a mentor or not?

Well, if you don’t plan to be in real estate investing for very long, don’t waste your money or time on finding and hiring a mentor. On the other hand, if you want financial freedom from a long real estate career, you’ll need to find a real estate investing mentor. You almost can’t succeed as much as you could if you had one. Perhaps you can, but it’s going to take a long time learning lessons the hard way when this really can be avoided by getting a mentor. You’ll be glad you did. If you find the right one, you’ll thank the stars that you did it.

Real estate is a tough business as it is; why not do it when you know it can truly advance your career far faster, and you’ll lose a lot less time, heartache, and money? We’re really not sure. The answer is…get a real estate mentor! Just make sure that he has the right motivation for teaching you, and that you don’t pay him upfront. That never works out well. People have no incentive to help you if they’ve already been paid. They might still help you (maybe), but you’ll get the bare minimum effort out of them. Everyone is friendly and helpful before they get paid. Afterward, not so much.