Real estate mentoring for those who want a real estate license:
To get any type of real estate license you need to have hundreds of hours of classroom study, and thousands of hours of experience. The best way to get this experience is through real estate mentoring. Many real estate companies will hire on beginners to do a lot of the work that agents don’t want to do themselves.
Real estate mentoring for those who don’t want a license, but want to invest in real estate:
There are plenty of individuals and companies out there who offer real estate mentoring—for a price. The mentoring process can cost upwards of $1000. For this you may receive a one hour lesson each week from someone who knows about investing in real estate. During these discussions the instructor will teach you a process, which you will do during the week, and report on the following week. After your lessons are over, the instructor will remain available to answer questions for a certain period of time, or he or she will give you a number other than their own that you can call if you have questions. The problem with this process is that you only have one hour, or in some cases less time, to learn. That doesn’t give the instructor a lot of time to go in depth. Another problem is that the one hour per week lesson is usually over the phone. So you are frantically taking notes on one end, and maybe missing some important information. And, later in the week when you are trying to decipher your own notes, well—good luck! A third problem with this type of mentoring is that a lot of the real estate information is available in other sources. If you do decide to use this type of mentoring, do it when you will have time to do everything the instructor asks of you. It is by doing this, and asking questions, that you are able to learn what they know. If you aren’t ready to invest in real estate, then wait until you are before you find one of these mentors.
Others who have made it in the real estate industry, and want to show that way to others, will often market a mentoring program that uses videotape, audiotape, books, and manuals. This has some benefits that a weekly phone call doesn’t. This type of mentoring is usually cheaper than a live mentor. It also gives you the information in a form that you can go back and look as many times as you need to. The problem with this type of mentoring is that you can’t ask anyone questions if you have them.
Real estate markets are different all over the country. If you find a mentor, it will be best to find one that works in your area, or is at least familiar with it. No matter which way you choose mentoring will do you no good if you are not willing to take what you have learned and work to get the results.
By Clint Hunter