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When I decided that I had had enough of living from paycheck-to-paycheck, working for the US Government, commuting 1 hour each way everyday to Washington DC – I decided to make significant a change in my life. I always had a love for all thi
ngs real estate (I really don’t know why), and I decided to explore that love. At the time, there certainly wasn’t the deluge of real estate investing schools, mentors and programs that there are now. So my search for an education was brief.
When it came down to evaluating real estate investing programs, I basically had two choices:
1. Buy a course from a late night infomercial – like those you’ve seen from Carleton Sheets
2. Find a local mentor.
The real estate mentor idea was one that most intrigued me, so I looked into a local school here in Baltimore called Investors United, while at the same time checking out a local guy by the name of Steve Cook who just happened to live in Maryland as well.
What I found was, Steve was BUSY!!! Busy because he was doing MANY deals himself. And the guys at Investors United were busy too – but for a vastly different reason. They were busy building the business of being Gurus. Am I suggesting that they were doing no deals themselves? Nope. I’m sure they were, but what I discovered was many of the deals they were doing were brought to them by students. Doesn’t that seem odd to you? To be clear, I’m not suggesting shenanigans here, just recounting what I witnessed.
Steve on the other hand was partnering with students. He had a super-simple, very unique, and sound philosophy. Simply stated, each student gave Steve some money up front, essentially as a form of insurance that they would actually do something and not waste Steve’s precious time. They also put up their own money for the deal. With that, Steve jumped in with both feet by lending his time, considerable knowledge and precious resources to insure that each student successfully made it through two rehabs (start to finish). Once the rehabs were completed and sold, Steve split the profits with his students 50/50 – less the insurance money. That’s right! The students actually got there insurance money back!
The knowledge the students gained was invaluable. It was truly, “on the job immersion training” at its best. I mean seriously – do you think you can learn real estate investing sitting in a classroom, or by watching a DVD?
There is another group in my area called Real Estate Riches. I must admit, I do not know a lot about this outfit, but what I do know is that they promise you a local real estate mentor to help you for 90 days. Sounds great, right? Well what happens on day 91? What happens if it takes you 80 days to find a deal? Does that mean you only have 10 days of coaching to get the deal done? What happens if your rehab goes longer than 90 days? Who teaches you how to get out of the deal successfully?
Are you looking for a real estate coach. If so, you won’t have to look far. Seems lately that there are more coaches than students. What kind of real estate coach are you looking for? Do you want to be a glorified bird-dog who basically finds deals that your coach will take and profit from? I should hope not? Or do you want to learn by doing? Do you want to learn along side of someone who will truly hold your hand throughout the entire process – not for just 90 days.
Evaluate wisely. Invest your education dollars wisely. Real estate investing is a big-stakes game to be played by adults who truly understand the rewards and the consequences. There are a lot of gurus out there who are more interested in getting your money than they are in teaching you how to be successful. Be sure that you don’t fall into the trap of letting your dreams get in the way of your good judgment.
Finally, if you are intersted in talking about any of the local real estate investing mentoring programs in Maryland, please do not hesitate to comment below.
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