Do you need a property mentor to be successful?

Swimming with the sharks

For many people starting out in property, the idea of finding a property mentor, someone who’s been where they want to go and who can help them get there, is appealing. There’s definitely benefit in working with talented investors and gaining from their experience. However, there are also lots of sharks out there who would happily take your cash and provide little back. In this post, we’re going to look at the different types of relationship you could enter into with a potential mentor. We’ll also look at when it makes sense to pay for coaching. Finally, we’ll finish off by looking at some of the keys to success in choosing a property mentor.

Three types of property mentor

Before we get into the detail , it’s worth checking that you do need a mentor and not something else instead. Have a look at the following questions.

Are you searching for property information or for general motivation?
Do you want a companion to share in your property journey?
Are you looking for a way to “go public” to hold yourself accountable?

If the answer to any of these questions is yes, you could consider meeting these needs in other ways. To put it another way, you might not necessarily need a property mentor.

For example, you can get lots of property information and motivation from reading books and blogs. If you prefer learning directly from others, you could consider joining a property forum or listening to podcasts instead. Getting facetime with other investors at networking events can be a great way to meet like-minded people. It can also be a great place to partner up with someone for accountability. However, with all of that said, the are circumstances where a property mentor can be helpful.

Let’s look at three different types of property mentor you could develop to help you fast-track your property progress.

Property mentor #1 – The trusted advisor

If you’ve assembled a great property team around you, you’ll likely already be getting mentoring for free. The professional advisors you have in your property team will have all kinds of knowledge and expertise you can make use of everyday. They’ll also be happy to share it. The best advisors love to talk about what they do, and they’ll be keen to give you advice. You just have to pick great people to work with.

The annual one-hour review meeting I have with my own property accountant is one of the most valuable hours of my year. This session is principally to run through my accounting figures and reporting. However, it always turns into a much wider conversation about my strategy and my next steps. Being an investor himself, his advice is excellent. More than once he’s challenged my logic and helped me to make better decisions.

Property mentor #2 – The informal mentor

Property is one of those walks of life where people love to share their knowledge. If you’ve ever been to a property networking event, one of the good ones anyway, then you’ve probably been surprised and overwhelmed by the number of people that are happy to share what they do and help newcomers to the field. Yes, you’ll meet some unscrupulous types who are just looking to sell something. However, you’ll also meet a whole host of great people that you can build long-term relationships with. You’ll be able to leverage these relationships to help you progress.

This kind of informal mentoring tends to work best when it happens naturally. For example, say you meet someone who’s doing what you want to do, be that buy-to-lets or flips. They’re a little bit further along in their journey, so why not ask them to swap contact details. Once you’ve gotten to know them, you can ask if they’d be open to a property chat every so often. If you ask them to be your mentor or make things too formal, you might scare them off. So, try to keep things casual, and don’t use them just for their knowledge. Try to build a genuine connection and think long-term.

Property mentor #3 – The property coach

In general, my advice is to stay clear of anyone calling themselves a property coach. That applies equally to anyone who’s selling a coaching service. That’s not the same thing as saying you should never pay for a coach. I’m simply saying that you’re unlikely to get value from someone who’s putting themselves out there as one. In my experience, the best coaches get most of their work through referrals. So ,the way to find a good coach is through a recommendation from a fellow investor.

Paying for a coach to help you achieve better or faster results is a perfectly reasonable thing to do. However, you need to make sure you’re getting value for money. If a paid mentor can give you access to systems and experience that accelerates your progress and pays you back through better returns, or if having their opinion on potential deals prevents you making expensive mistakes, then it might be worth paying for a coach. But don’t rush in. See what you can get for free, and only pay for what you have to.

Keys to success

If you’re going to make use of a property mentor, whether that be an informal mentor or a paid coach, there are some important things you should do to make sure the relationship works and that you get the advice you need.

Pick someone who’s done what you want to do

Mentoring works best when you want to learn something specific, like how to run a successful HMO. Pick someone who’s exactly where you want to be, not just successful in general.

Get in the goldilocks zone

If the gap in experience is too big, you’re likely to find the advice too high-level or out-of-date. If the person is only a little bit ahead of you in their own journey, they might have less to offer.

Avoid authority figures and property gurus

It goes without saying, but you should avoid gurus or anyone marketing themselves as an authority. Also, avoid full-time property coaches – the best mentors are active in their field.

Avoid expensive coaching and upfront payments

If you’re going to pay for coaching, make sure it’s not too expensive and arrange it so that you pay for each session as you go. That way, you can cancel if it’s not working out.

Go with your gut feel

Listen to your subconscious and go with your gut feel. If your spidey-senses are tingling and telling you something’s wrong or if you don’t think the relationship will be a good fit, then just politely decline.

Finally, the main test I use when deciding who I want to work with is the listening test. In short, you should try to work with someone who listens to you and wants to understand what you’re trying to achieve. You can gauge this by the quality of the questions they ask or by whether they ask any questions at all. If they’re just trying to sell you something, it won’t be long before they turn the conversation around to themselves and what they have to offer you.