INDUSTRY VOICES
REAL ESTATE MENTORING
WHERE TO FIND A REAL ESTATE MENTOR
• 85 PERCENT of executives rate “engagement” as a top priority for their business and rely on mentor- ing to achieve that. • About 2.5 MILLION adults mentor someone in their field of expertise each year, and most tend to have “vastly different backgrounds” than their mentees, according to research published in the American Journal of Community Psychology. Not only is mentoring clearly of importance to a lot of big companies with the financial wherewithal to do a lot of research and analysis on its impact, but it is also something many people aspire to do. Your odds are already much better than you thought! Often, real estate investors try to “go it alone” when they get started in real estate. They may say that they plan to literally pay for their mistakes by learning in the field or dedicate massive amounts of money to self-education. Both strategies have historically proven fairly effective for a driven investor, but both are far more effective with the added support of a qualified real estate mentor. A real estate mentor who has been truly active and successful in the industry can offer the following: • Firsthand insight into what might work (and fail) in your investing strategy before you implement based on your specific market. • Market insights based on years of experience. • Warnings and tips about pitfalls most new inves- tors, even the most extensively prepared, tend to encounter. • Motivation and impetus to take effective action. This is why most successful real estate investors with more than a few deals under their belts will nearly always tell you that they have a real estate mentor. In fact, very few veterans in the industry have just one! Before you write off the idea of being mentored to maximize your real estate investing returns, think carefully. The benefits of asking for a little help and insight (or even paying for it) might be far greater than you expect. •
There are dozens of places that you might find the perfect real estate mentor. In fact, you probably have an individual in mind that is your “dream mentor” already. Whether your dream can truly become a mentoring reality or not, consid- er looking for a mentor in these locations: PROFESSIONAL TRADE GROUPS Real estate investing mentors tend to participate actively in local trade groups, and while not every investor consid- ers themselves an official mentor, many are happy to help new investors avoid pitfalls and traps they encountered earlier in their careers. Real estate investors associations, online real estate forums, and local meetups are great places to find a mentor. Just remember: Vet your mentor before diving in! Just because advice is free does not mean it is good advice. Coworking, or shared-office spaces, are a great place to meet other entrepreneurs who are interested in networking and education. Likewise, many small business development centers are dedicated to bringing industry professionals together and offering resources to entrepreneurs, including education and, in some cases, mentoring and training. INDUSTRY EVENTS Attending an industry event is a great way to meet expe- rienced professionals interested not just in selling services but also educating others. Many of these individuals will be open to mentoring or at least “bending an ear” to your questions from time to time. Don’t be afraid to walk up, in- troduce yourself, and establish a path toward future contact and interaction. Many successful investors would not have ever gotten their real estate businesses off the ground with- out the support of good education and networking found at solidly education-based real estate conferences. COWORKING AREAS AND SMALL BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT SPACES highly skeptical of one of the most tried-and-true strategies for success in this business: finding a real estate mentor. Before you write off the idea of having a real estate invest- ing mentor as something that is simply out of reach or not worth the trouble, consider these statistics: • According to Deloitte, young business professionals are MORE THAN TWICE AS LIKELY to remain successfully in place with an employer for more than five years if they have a mentor.
Assessing theValue of a Real Estate Mentor ROI ON MENTORING IS EASIER TO PREDICT AND ACHIEVE THAN YOU MIGHT THINK.
by Carole VanSickle Ellis
R
eal estate investors are probably some of the earli- est adopters of the now-trendy concept of business mentoring. Since long before the internet made “information marketing” and “online education” bywords in our industry and nearly every other as well, investors were congregating in groups to share strategies, network, and seek advice from the local seasoned professionals.
Unfortunately, with the advent of the internet, the term “real estate mentor” has developed something of a negative connota- tion for many investors, thanks to highly successful marketers who leveraged their sales skills rather than actual investing expertise in the early days of online real estate. In this case, the disservice those very few irresponsible individuals did to the industry has been far-reaching and leaves many new investors
Carole VanSickle Ellis is the editor of Think Realty Magazine. She can be reached at cellis@thinkrealty.com.
94 | think realty magazine :: april 2018
thinkrealty . com | 95
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