There seems to be a post going around on Facebook about a high-dollar coaching program. It was not what the student expected. Perhaps it was the coach or the program. Or maybe the student?
We don’t know if the coaching program in question is good or bad because we are not a part of the program. We can give you insight into coaching and mentoring programs based on others we have taken part in. Give you some food for thought so you can make your own, well-informed decision.
Do you need a Mentoring or Coaching Program
There are the Mentors that you are going to find in your local community that are ready, willing and able to take on some of your questions and help you build your business in real estate or whatever it is that you want to do. They are not going to take you by the hand and walk you through the entire process, but if you get stuck, they will be there over coffee, at a MAREI Meeting or other event to take on a few of your questions. For the most part, these people will not be out there wanting you to pay them, they are there giving back because someone helped them along the way.
But when it comes time to learn, and get step-by-step instructions, you are going to be told by the gurus pitching them that the only answer is to spend the big money for their Coaching or Mentoring Program.
And much of the time you don’t need Mentoring or even Coaching. What you need is basic training.
Four Ways to Learn as a Real Estate Entrepreneur
Every real estate entrepreneur should start out by getting a basic real estate investor education.
Basic Real Estate Education
Most start online with free videos, webinars and discussion boards. They see all the glitzy info, get interested and hopefully find their way to their local real estate investor meeting. Here in Kansas City, that will be Mid-America Association of Real Estate Investors. (Several other groups in the metro fit this niche as well).
Here you are going to get exposed to a lot of free and super cheap education in the form of webinars, monthly meetings, and weekend workshops. Plus from time to time the speakers and educators will have a training course that walks you through a particular niche from A to Z. These training courses range in price from a few $100 to a few $1000.
Before you pay for any coaching or mentoring, buy a course on what it is you want to do. Take off your blinders and do what the course tells you to do.
Keep in mind that no matter how good or bad the course might be, the effort you put into doing what it says will predict the outcome and your success.
I myself purchased a home study course on wholesaling. I did a really bad job of implementing and I got really bad results. I gave up after 2 months. Six months later, I dusted the course off, did exactly what it said, and I made $12,000 in about 45 days.
If you have not done a deal and have no idea what to do – START at your Local REIA and some of their basic educational opportunities. Here at MAREI, we have monthly meetings and 1 to 2 workshops EVERY month. Plus, we have a lot of our members who host events where you can connect and learn. Check out the Calendar to see what’s coming and our replay page to catch up on what you missed. (Members Only Replays)
Cost to join MAREI – $25 a month or $149 a year
Coaching Programs
This is where things start getting a bit more expensive.
This coaching program will include some sort of basic training course as we have already mentioned that covers the basics. Then they add in a once-a-month virtual coaching call where you and all the other students get together virtually with your coach to learn a key concept that they are discussing that month and to ask your questions. Sometimes but not always there might be an opportunity to send in specific deal questions on demand.
The more access to questions and answers in a faster format. The more that the coaching program is going to cost. Group Coaching will be way less costly than one-on-one coaching
Here at MAREI we have a Group Coaching Program called Express Success. It starts with a website where you can log in for over 100 hours of basic skill videos on a very wide range of real estate investing topics. They are well rounded topics and cover everything the new investor needs to know to succeed plus a good overview of the most common ways new investors will decide to invest. It also includes all the weekend workshops we offer here at MAREI. Plus 12 coaching calls on various niches and advanced topics.
Note that several other coaching programs are in the tens of thousands to teach you everything you would ever need to know about real estate investing. Not that you need to know every single way to invest in real estate. Others focus just on one narrow niche.
Cost from $10,000 to $75,000 or more.
Mentoring Program
If we read the article “Do you really need a mentor by Vena Jones-Cox” you will learn that “Mentors are people who are WAY out ahead of you in their business building and wealth creation. Not 10 deals out, not 5 years out, but DECADES of experience out. And they don’t just answer your questions; they really get into your life and understand the whole picture of what’s going on with you.”
Your mentor’s JOB is not to teach you how to invest in real estate. They are not there to be a sounding board for every deal. That’s what Basic Education and Coaching is for.
What your Mentor is going to do is observe and interact with you and challenge them to use the resources available and help guide the person into making their own decisions. They are going to get “all up in your beeswax” as Vena’s article tells us and help you pick apart your life, your business, everything. And hopefully direct you down the right path and tell you where you are taking the incorrect options.
Trial and Error
I am listing this as a way to learn because it is what so many people do. Guess what, it does work for some. It’s how much of my own business was put together. I started with some basic real estate investor education so I had a basic understanding. Once I finally got smart, I invested in a few home study courses and did what they told me to do. Things went well, I added new niches and strategies and I have a lot of training on a wide range of topics. I added a few new ideas a year over the past 20 years or so.
Are You Ready for a High-Priced Program
Before spending tens of thousands of dollars on any coaching or mentoring program you need to take a few steps to ensure you get the most out of your money.
Get a Basic Education
Take the time to go through some basic training on real estate investing in general. Find the niche you think will be your start in this industry and buy a training course. Implement the course and test it out. Make sure it is the method you want to utilize.
Then and only then would I consider coaching. And if you are just getting started that is what you are going to want – Coaching.
Probably Group Coaching. Perhaps a more expensive one-on-one Coaching.
Research Your Coach
Now that you know what it is that you want to do in real estate and have a basic grasp of what needs to be done, you might be ready for a coach.
So, who out there offers coaching on your given niche. Ask around. Are there people that come recommended by the local REIA, other local respected members of the community?
Once you find one or two, interview them. Talk to them and learn more about their program and how it will work and make sure it is what you are looking for.
How Long Have They Been Doing X
You want to find a coach who not only knows how to do your chosen way of investing in today’s market. You want to make sure they have done it in up markets, down markets, and everything in between.
Keep in mind that a lot of coaches out there flipped 100 houses for a year or two and that is their claim to fame. Where did they find those 100 houses a year? Were their flip properties successful? How profitable are their buy-and-hold rentals? What was the market like when they did all these deals? Is it the same as today’s market?
You want to find someone that not only knows what they teach, but still DOES what they teach. And that they have been doing so successfully in several different types of real estate markets.
How Often Do You Meet:
For the most part, the coaching programs I have participated in offer a group coaching event once a week virtually. There was usually about 20 minutes on a specific topic and then another 30 to 45 minutes of Q & A time where students brought questions, and the coach brought the answers.
And generally, there is a once a month opportunity to meet one-on-one over the phone for about 30 minutes with the coach.
One on One Q & A
If you have questions or a specific deal to walk through, that needs an answer outside of scheduled time, how do you get those answered? Is the coach available by phone or email or do they have an online forum?
We often see that for on-demand questions there is a forum where you can post questions and the coach, their staff and other students help answer the questions.
Resources
Quite often when you are buying into a coaching program you are doing so for access to their list of resources on service providers, deal sources, and funding. So, find out exactly what they are offering, how you access these resources, and what if any extra qualifications might be needed.
We invested in a coaching program once because they promised a specific type of lead. However, we expected a lead that had been spoken with who was ready to sell their house. What we got instead was a name and contact of a person who had ask for help in their area of motivation through some other website and we still had to market to the lead, get them to call us, and then build rapport. What we were promised was not what was provided.
Who Does the Coaching?
Is it all provided by the coach? Do they have coaching staff and how much do they know? What qualifies the staff to help with coaching? And are YOU ok with staff teaching you or does it have to be the person behind the program?
Do You Like Them?
You are going to be spending a lot of time talking with and listening to this person, so make sure you actually like them.
Other Students
Who are their past and current students? Can you speak with them and get their input? Post a few questions out on some general forums for real estate and ask. There are a lot of real estate investing Facebook Groups and Bigger Pockets is a great place to ask.
Google Them
You can find out a lot about a coach or mentor by turning to Google to see what you can find. As a REIA leader, we do this with many of our speakers, especially those who have something to sell. We generally find a lot of great reviews and a few not-so-great reviews. It’s rare that we find an educator that everyone loves.
But if you find no discussion of them online in any form, hold off and ask more questions.
Generally, if there is no discussion of the mentor or coach they are either too new to have anyone talking about them. They spend a lot of money to keep it hidden. Or they have, as we found once, started using a fake name.
Be very cautious if all the discussion about a coach is all on their provided media – their website, their Instagram Feed, their Facebook Group.
What if Things Go Bad?
What are the guarantees? Do they offer money back for any reason?
Take a Good Look at YOURSELF
Yes, there are bad coaching and mentoring programs.
Sadly, however, quite often the failure happens not with the coach. They provide everything that they agreed on, yet the student does not find success. Why is that.
Students Lack Basic Education
They have not taken the time to learn the basics. Please before you spend the big bucks take the time to learn the basics:
- How to value of a property
- How to come up with a repair estimate
- How to find and talk to sellers
- The formula and how to apply it to come up with an offer.
- How the basics of your chosen niche actually works.
If you can’t do these 5 things, go out and find a training course and learn.
You Are Not All In
If you are not ready to invest the time needed and yes, more money on top of the coaching or mentoring, then you are not ready. You need to be fully committed and ready to take massive action. If you are not, save your money.
You Can’t Afford It
While you can put a coaching or mentoring program on a credit card and pay it off over time, you probably should not. If you have to get a 2nd mortgage on your house, borrow the money from a family member, or otherwise go into huge debt that you really can’t afford, don’t do it.
Even if you have the basic education and you are all in, life happens, and things change, and what if you suddenly can’t focus on real estate any longer and you still have this $1000 a month payment or more hanging over your head for 2 or 3 more years?
Plus, if you are spending every last dime you have on coaching and mentoring, where is the money going to come from to run your business? You will need some money, even if you are doing no-money-down deals or have all the funding lined up. There is marketing, overhead, gas to get there, etc.
You Won’t Do It
If you are not ready to take off your blinders and listen to your coach or mentor. If you are not ready to do what they say. If you are the type of person who says that might work for you, but it won’t for me. If you are the type of person who has to pick apart everything to find a better way of doing things. Then this is not for you.
If you have tried other coaching and mentoring several times and they didn’t work, this new one is not going to work either. Promise – it’s not them, it’s YOU.
So is Coaching or Mentoring for You?
Only you can decide if you should write that big check or wire the money. Or sign on to a payment program. We hope that our little article here gives you a bit more to think about before you spend the money or decide not to spend the money.
At the same time, we know people that went into hock to pay for a program that they could not afford right from square one with no knowledge and they became super successful in a short time. We also know people that went out and talked to people and through trial and error became very successful. What we found that both of these people had in common was their ability to go out and do what they set their mind to do. The training, mentoring or coaching that they had sure helped, but they would have been successful anyway.
