How to Find a Real Estate Investing Mentor

Where do most people find most things nowadays? Begin your search for a real estate investing mentor online.

More specifically, a common place to find your person will be through real estate investing mentor directories.

Active mentors create profiles and get listed on these directories to make it easy for mentees to connect with them.

Reaching out to potential real estate investing mentors on an active directory like HouseCashin, carries the least amount of friction because they want to hear from you.

Before jumping onto these directories with guns blazing, it’s helpful to determine what type of real estate investing you want to focus on.

In some cases, often when you are no longer a complete newbie, you might want to seek an advice from experienced real estate investment consultant rather than a mentor.

However, if you are just starting out, finding a mentor with a specific expertise that you are interested in mastering, will be your best bet.

Each mentor you’ll find on the directories will have a different background and expertise.

If you’re interested in learning about one of many real estate investment strategies such as subject to deal home buying, real estate wholesaling, or even house hacking, find a mentor who is doing exactly that.

Alex Capozzolo of SD House Guys, a homebuyer based in San Diego, believes in getting as creative as possible when implementing house hacking.

He said, “Of course, you can purchase a home, live in one room, and rent out the others to execute a traditional house hack.

“In San Diego, where prices are expensive compared to other markets, investors will do that real estate investment exit strategy, in addition to building both an ADU and Junior ADU in the backyard of the property, which they also rent out.”

Leveraging rental income from different parts of the property can help you offset housing costs and make your first real estate purchase attainable, even in an expensive market.

By finding a real estate investor mentor that can offer experience that is aligned with your interests, you’ll put yourself in a better position to reach your goals.

Don’t sleep on the power of Facebook groups for real estate.

More specifically, if you can find a private Facebook group that is extremely active, it can be an absolute game changer for your real estate business.

Active groups that come from a mindset of abundance oftentimes share their strategies with more depth and don’t hold as much information back.

Even if some would view them as competition, they believe that there is enough of the real estate pie to go around.

Facebook groups like this can feel more like a collective mastermind versus a random group of strangers.

Getting your questions answered is one of the greatest benefits of joining a private real estate Facebook group.

Don’t be shy when asking questions. However, it’s important to read through some of the existing threads in case your question was already posted within the group.

Naturally, over time, investors will come out of the woodwork and start answering your questions.

Start to network within the group. A simple thread can lead to a life-changing mentorship if you are open enough to it.

Forums are another great place to find real estate investing mentors. Active forums (key word, active) offer very similar benefits to private Facebook groups when network within the real estate industry.

On such forums, newbie and experienced investors discuss all sorts of related topics: from how to buy your first rental property to investing in commercial real estate syndications.

When beginning your initial search for a mentor, it’s important to hit both social media groups as well as industry forums. Why? Not all real estate investors are on social media.

Your ideal real estate investing mentor could be out there but on a different website than you. Leave no stone unturned when hunting for your mentor.

Forums offer slightly different perspectives on questions that you may have, which can be beneficial when first starting out.

The reason is that the sole purpose of a forum is to ask and answer questions. Additionally, you can find large public forums that are very active.

You can get answers to your questions from people all around the country depending on the forum.

Shaun Martin of WeBuyHousesInDenver.org, one of the experienced real estate cash buyers in Colorado, advocates for the use of industry forums.

He stated, “I would leisurely scroll through certain real estate forums online when I was bored.

“After answering several questions that a particular user had, we directly messaged each other and eventually formed a partnership, even though we were in different states.”

Forums bridge the gap of distance between newbie real estate investors and potential mentors.

Real estate investment clubs are great places to connect with people directly in your market, including potential mentors.

Meeting people in person happens less nowadays, but still carries tons of weight in business.

Many potential mentors that have had decades of success in real estate may not be lurking on forums or social media.

When on the lookout for your mentor, it’s important to take action and go to in-person investment clubs as well as attend real estate investing events.

Oftentimes, you’ll gain a ton of experience and knowledge from the meetings. A cherry on top would be finding your ideal mentor.

Bring your questions to these clubs, network with others, and add value where you can. By approaching successful people in the real estate world with value, you can more likely convince them to mentor you.

Question #1: What Is Your Business Missing?

Go directly for the value-add by asking a potential mentor what their business is missing. Based on their answer, see if you can come up with a creative solution to their problem.

If you can add direct value to their business, usually by saving them time, money, or stress, mentors will be more open to working with you.

Question #2: What Are Your Goals?

Try to identify what your investor mentor’s goals are. When asking this, make sure your question has the right tone.

The more real you sound, the more real and honest of an answer you will receive.

Once you figure out their goals, you can propose ideas on how you can help your potential future mentor reach them.

You don’t always need money to help get to their goals. Oftentimes, offering your time and effort is enough.

Question #3: What is Your Primary Investing Strategy?

It’s important to make sure that your investing goals are aligned with the mentor that you select.

Ask them what type of real estate investing they do. It can range from land development, to single-family house flips, to mobile home park investing.

These strategies all vary from one another. The more similar interests that you share with your mentor, the more likely you are to work well together.