Sailing into real estate investment waters? Congratulations on your bold career move! Investments are tricky in general, and the housing market can be a minefield.
To get you started, you will need a business mentor. You can also find a pretty good guide through the essentials of real estate investing in this comprehensive article, so give that a read as well. Then, before you sign on with a mentor, stop to consider these few things.
What goals are you aiming for as an investor?
Before you can start learning anything from anyone, you have to know what it is that you want to know. So, sit down with yourself and do a little auto-analysis. Figure out your own ambitions in term of real estate investing. It helps to write down your goals and ideas.
Are you looking for a career in wholesale? Maybe you are a home flipper in the making. Maybe you would prefer to focus on rentals and generate passive income? This is your best filter for other people.
You need a mentor who is experienced in the things you want to achieve. Sure, you can learn the ropes from anyone, but you will learn a whole lot more from someone who shares the same general outlook.
How much are you willing to risk?
Going into this business is risky in its own right. Any good and legitimate real estate mentor will tell you so right off the bat. Making a living and a career as an investor directly depends on the level of risk you are willing to take. Different strategies carry different risks, for example, wholesale is considered safer than most while flipping is considered riskier than most.
Whatever strategy you decide on, it is of crucial importance that you get a mentor who shares in that approach. Also, keep in mind that the idea of risky business is a really relative thing. After all, there is such a thing as risk mitigation. The more skillful you are at pulling through shaky situations, the more profit you will turn and the more successful you will become.
Are you okay with your potential mentor’s level of success?
Just like “risky” that we mentioned above, “successful” is also an extremely relative thing. Someone may be positively elated at achieving a thing that their colleague considers an insignificant errand. But even saying that, you do not want to become a student under someone who is not successful, right? So, you have to figure out what “success” means to you. What would be an acceptably accomplished mentor figure for your own personal investment journey?
You can gauge this by a few pointers from their career. How successful have their previous projects been? How many complaints have been made about them? Have they lost any clients in the past year? Have they already accomplished some or all of the things that you are aiming to accomplish?
Even if this is not your standard classroom, you are still picking out a teacher, i.e. someone to look up to and professionally emulate. If you were in this person’s shoes, would you be satisfied with the current achievements, earnings, etc.? Your potential new mentor’s success is like a basic bar for you to reach. Always remember that a good student will eventually overcome their teacher. Check out a neat guide on building a good relationship with your mentors at this link: https://www.businessnewsdaily.com/3989-mentor-relationship-tips.html
Is this a person with whom you can have mutual respect?
This should be a given, but sometimes people overlook it. Never settle for less than honest respect between your mentor and yourself. This is teacher-student relationship; that respect has to go both ways. Appreciating your teacher is all well and good, but they have to actively reciprocate.
If you do not respect your mentor, you will waste your time questioning every single thing or disregarding various content, instead of learning what you can from them. Likewise, a mentor who lacks respect for their mentee will not be fully dedicated and may even withhold some essential information and advice from you. Do some serious soul-searching before you come under anybody’s tutelage.
The Yucatan Times
Real Estate
