3 Dos & Don’ts for Anyone Looking for a Real Estate Mentor
- Don’t ask someone to be your mentor.
If you explicitly ask someone to be your mentor, you run the risk of making them feel awkward. Believe it or not, a lot of investors feel imposter syndrome and will be less likely to share their story with you if they feel like you’ve elevated them on a pedestal. A better approach is to ask their advice on a specific question and then just keep the conversation going. Additionally, if you find someone you really want to learn more from, you could offer to help them with their business by finding a vendor, searching for specific types of properties, or advertising vacancies they’re trying to fill. There are tons of ways to offer value in exchange for a chance to shadow and learn from them.
- Don’t accept if someone offers to be your mentor.
Proceed with caution to anyone who approaches you and offers to be your mentor. While there are people out there with good intentions, someone who’s going to be guiding you in any way should be someone you’ve chosen.
- Don’t pay for a mentor.
As mentioned in point one there are tons of ways to bring value to a mentor but things get dicey when your exchanging money for knowledge. Don't get me wrong- there are some great training programs that you can pay for out there. However, anytime payment is involved, you run the risk of getting stuck with a mentor who you don't vibe with and who doesn’t really care about you individually. Focus on ways to organically offer value to lots of different investors from whom you want to learn.
- DO figure out your goals.
If you’re looking for a mentor, you should be really clear on why: what next step are you trying to get? If you’re not even sure what your goals are and you need help crafting them, most investors aren’t going to be of much help to you. You might need a business coach or even a counselor. If you’re just looking for accountability, a peer group will fit your needs better than a mentor would.
- DO network.
Go to meetups and meet experienced investors. Ask to buy lunch for somebody you met and ask them about their story. Show up to meetings on time and show up consistently. If you’re excellent in the small things, it will show that you can take on bigger things. There are ways to show your character even if you haven’t made your first real estate deal.
- DO work with an investor-friendly brokerage.
The type of real estate deals a specific brokerage is used to doing really makes a difference. If you can find an investor-friendly brokerage to work for, you’ll be able to get coaching from your broker as well as more experienced real estate agents.
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