Bonus: Investing In Real Estate – Building the Right Team: Mentors & Education

Ask any successful real estate investor and they’ll be sure to admit that they haven’t invented the wheel. They have taken ideas and concepts from other landlords and incorporated them into their investing business. The learning curve is much easier when you aren’t starting at square one.

Why do I need a mentor?

One of the best ways to learn the tricks of the trade is to find a mentor who is a successful real estate investor.  It's often that successful landlords enjoy talking real estate and will be happy to share some info. Pick their brain. Even if you take a few concepts, or learn to avoid a few mistakes over time, they can make you money or save you big money long term.

How do I find a mentor?

The best way to find a mentor, or like minded real estate investor, is to network. Look to see if there is some sort of real estate investment club in your local area. Talk to your realtor or other professionals on your team to see if they know of anyone they can refer you to. Networking is key in any business and having successful contacts can very much help you investing business.

What else should I know about staying educated?

Besides having a mentor, it is important to keep investing in yourself as a real estate investor. Continual learning will improve your understanding of the business and keep you sharp. There are numerous books on the subject, online classes, in-person seminars, and of course, blogs (like this one ☺) that have lots of information to keep you up-to-date on what is happening and what you need to know in your market.

Don’t be lazy. Aim to improve yourself continually and your investment business will thrive. Readers, do you have a mentor? What do you do to keep continuing your real estate education?

Investing In Real Estate – Building The Right Team: Series Recap

As a real estate investor, you have a lot at stake. It's important to remember to treat your investing as a business. As the CEO of your investing business, it's important to run your business properly to ensure its success.

As any good CEO will do, you need to surround yourself with the right help. It's hard to do it properly all on your own. Focus on your strengths and outsource the rest to the proper professionals.   You might not need every one of the team members we discussed in our series, but they should all be considerations for the future.

Make sure to value your time as an investor. Why spend your time mowing the lawn of your property when it could be spent analyzing your next deal? If you're busy with your career or family life and don’t have the time to take care of everything yourself, it doesn’t mean you don’t have time for investing in real estate, it just means you need to outsource.

One of the main reasons people hold back from investing in real estate is the horror stories they have heard about problem tenants or problems with the property (ie. flooded basement). One of the great benefits of outsourcing to professionals is that it minimizes your mistakes and potential liability as an investor. You don’t have to learn the hard way.

Remember, the path to real estate investing success and future wealth is a marathon, not a sprint.  Surrounding yourself with the right people will help you keep a steady pace on your journey and not stumble along the way. Now get moving!

This wraps up our series on building the right team as a real estate investor. Hopefully it was insightful and made you think differently about your chances of becoming a real estate investor.  We’d love to hear from you!