How to Find a Real Estate Mentor (And Why It’s the Fastest Path to Financial Freedom)

If you’re reading this, you’re probably wondering whether you need a real estate mentor to succeed in this business. Maybe you’ve been consuming podcasts, watching YouTube videos, reading books, and attending webinars—but you still feel stuck. You know what you should do, but something’s holding you back from actually doing it.

I get it. I’ve been there.

Here’s the truth that nobody talks about: information alone won’t build your portfolio. You can have all the knowledge in the world about real estate investing, but without someone who’s already walked the path guiding you through the landmines, you’re going to make expensive mistakes. Or worse—you’ll stay paralyzed by fear and never take action at all.

That’s exactly what happened to me.

My 6-Month Flip That Should Have Been a Home Run

When I first got into real estate investing, I was determined to figure it out myself. I had consumed every piece of content I could find. I thought I was ready.

I wasn’t.

One of my early deals was a flip. On paper, it looked decent. But I made a critical mistake: I let an experienced investor pressure me into accepting a purchase price that didn’t have enough meat on the bone. Being green at the time, I didn’t know better. I didn’t have anyone in my corner telling me to stick to my guns on the offer.

The result? After six months of doing the rehab work myself, I walked away with just $16,000.

Six months. Of my time. My sweat. My weekends. For $16,000.

That deal should have been a home run. If I’d had a mentor—someone who’d been through negotiations like that before—they would have told me to hold firm on my number or walk away. They would have recognized that the “experienced investor” on the other side was using my inexperience against me.

Instead, I learned that lesson the hard way.

That experience taught me something I’ll never forget: in this business, what you don’t know absolutely will cost you. Either in money, in time, or in deals that should have been wins but turned into lessons.

Shortly after that, I invested $5,000 in a group coaching program with Matt Theriault at Epic Real Estate. At the time, it was literally all my money. Every last dollar I had went into that program.

And you know what? It gave me a foundation to work from. I followed his teachings to the letter—his 3-option letter approach (one cash offer, one seller-financed with interest, one with equal monthly payments), his daily action calculator, his yellow letter format for direct mail. I ended up closing a few wholesale deals from what I learned.

But here’s the thing: it was group coaching. I didn’t have one-on-one guidance. When I hit obstacles specific to my situation, I didn’t have someone to call who understood my exact circumstances. And because it was focused on single-family properties, I didn’t have guidance when I wanted to scale into commercial real estate.

The result? I had too much fear of losing what little I had to actually dive deep and get real results. If I’d had a real estate mentor working with me one-on-one, I would have had the confidence to move faster and bigger.

That experience taught me something valuable: the right mentor doesn’t just give you information—they give you confidence. And confidence is what separates the investors who build portfolios from the ones who stay stuck on the sidelines.

Why Most Real Estate Investors Fail (And What Mentorship Has to Do With It)

The statistics in real estate are brutal.

According to data analyzed from the NAR’s 2025 Member Profile, agents with 2 years or less experience earned a median income of just $8,100 in 2024. Compare that to agents with 16+ years of experience who earned $78,900. New agents closed a median of 3 transactions compared to 10-11 for experienced professionals.

The numbers for investors aren’t much better. Research from Relitix found that about 49% of agents who had their first closing in 2022 failed to replicate that success the following year. When you factor in both year-one and year-two dropouts, the total failure rate climbs above 50% for those who started in 2021—and potentially as high as 65% for the 2022 cohort.

Why does this happen?

It’s not because these people weren’t smart enough or didn’t work hard enough. It’s because they didn’t have proper guidance and support when they needed it most.

The Relitix research specifically calls this out: “The success of any real estate agent, especially those who are newly licensed, hinges significantly on the guidance and mentorship they receive.”

Here’s what I’ve observed after interviewing over 600 investors on The Real Estate Investing Club podcast: the investors who make it almost always had someone guiding them early on. The ones who quit often tried to go it alone.

A real estate mentor compresses decades of trial-and-error into months of guided growth. Instead of learning through painful (and expensive) mistakes, you learn from someone who already made those mistakes for you.

What Is a Real Estate Mentor, Really?

Let me be clear about what I mean when I say “real estate mentor.”

A real estate mentor is an experienced investor who helps you create a strategy for success in the real estate investment industry. They share advice, guidance, and insights based on their own experience to help you navigate property acquisition, financing, management, and overall portfolio growth.

But here’s what makes a mentor different from a course, a book, or a YouTube video:

A mentor knows YOUR situation. They understand your specific financial position, your market, your goals, and your constraints. They can give you advice that’s tailored to where you actually are—not generic strategies that may or may not apply to your circumstances.

A mentor provides accountability. It’s easy to watch a video and feel motivated for a day, then slip back into inaction. A mentor checks in on your progress. They notice when you’re procrastinating. They push you when you need pushing and pull you back when you’re about to make a dumb decision.

A mentor offers real-time problem solving. When you’re in the middle of a deal and something unexpected comes up (and something ALWAYS comes up), you can’t pause and go take another course. You need someone you can call who’s dealt with that exact situation before.

According to research cited by Newbie Real Estate Investing, 97% of people with a mentor say that they are valuable. That’s not a coincidence—it’s because mentorship works in ways that self-study simply cannot replicate.

The Two Things That Make a Great Real Estate Mentor

After years of learning from mentors, interviewing hundreds of successful investors, and now coaching investors myself, I’ve boiled down what makes a great real estate mentor to two essential qualities:

1. They’ve Achieved What You Want to Achieve

This sounds obvious, but you’d be surprised how many people try to learn from mentors who haven’t actually done what they’re teaching.

Your mentor doesn’t need to be a billionaire real estate mogul. They don’t need to own 10,000 units. But they DO need to be at least a few steps ahead of you on the journey you want to take.

If you want to get into multifamily investing, find a mentor who owns multifamily properties—not someone who’s only done single-family flips. If you want to build a portfolio of self-storage facilities or mobile home parks, find someone who’s actually operating those asset classes.

The ideal mentor is relatable and accessible—someone who closed 30 deals last year and remembers every mistake clearly, not necessarily the celebrity investor closing 500 deals who’s too busy to give you real attention.

As Listing Leads notes, “The ideal mentor isn’t the celebrity agent closing 500 deals; it’s the practitioner who closed 30 deals last year, added their first investment properties, and remembers every mistake clearly.”

2. They Actually Care About Your Results

This is the one most people overlook—and it’s arguably more important than credentials.

Your mentor needs to be genuinely invested in your success. Not just in collecting your coaching fee, but in seeing you win.

How do you know if a mentor cares? Look for these signs:

• They ask more questions than they give answers (at least initially). A mentor who cares wants to understand your specific situation before prescribing solutions.
• They celebrate your wins AND call out your excuses. Real mentors don’t just tell you what you want to hear. They push back when you’re making excuses or avoiding the hard work.
• They’re accessible when you need them. Not 24/7, but when you’re in the middle of a deal and need guidance, they respond in a reasonable timeframe.
• They have skin in the game. The best mentors often have some form of alignment with your success—whether that’s through partnership opportunities, referral relationships, or simply their reputation being tied to your results.

If a mentor has both of these qualities—they’ve achieved what you want AND they genuinely care about your success—you should jump in head first. Don’t overthink it. The cost of inaction is almost always higher than the cost of mentorship.

Types of Real Estate Mentorship

Not all mentorship is created equal. Here’s a breakdown of the different types you’ll encounter:

One-on-One Coaching

This is the gold standard. You work directly with a mentor who knows your situation, your goals, and your challenges. You get personalized guidance and direct access when problems arise.

The downside? It’s typically the most expensive option because you’re paying for someone’s undivided attention and expertise.

But here’s the thing: the ROI on one-on-one coaching is usually the highest. One good decision—or one avoided mistake—can pay for the entire investment many times over.

This is exactly what I offer through my real estate investing coaching program. I work with investors one-on-one to help them build and scale their portfolios, drawing from my own experience with self-storage, mobile home parks, RV parks, and the lessons I’ve learned from interviewing hundreds of successful investors.

Group Coaching Programs

Group coaching gives you access to a mentor’s guidance at a lower price point than one-on-one. You learn alongside other investors at similar stages, which creates a built-in community and accountability network.

The trade-off is that you’re sharing the mentor’s time with others, so you may not get as much personalized attention. Group programs work well for people who are motivated and can apply general principles to their specific situations.

My experience with Matt Theriault’s program was group coaching. It gave me a solid foundation and helped me close my first wholesale deals. But I hit a ceiling when I needed guidance specific to my situation that the group format couldn’t provide.

Mastermind Groups

Masterminds are peer-based groups where investors at similar (or various) levels meet regularly to share challenges, wins, and strategies. Often there’s a facilitator or leader, but much of the value comes from learning alongside other members.

The Real Estate Investing Club community on Skool operates similarly—it’s a space where investors collaborate, share deals, and support each other’s growth. You get access to me and other professional investors, plus the systems, documents, and tools I use in my own deals.

Apprenticeships

Some investors offer apprenticeship arrangements where you work alongside them—helping with lead generation, property tours, tenant screening, or deal analysis—in exchange for learning the business firsthand.

This can be incredibly valuable because you’re learning by doing, not just by watching. The downside is it requires a significant time commitment and you’re essentially trading labor for education.

Free Mentorship

Yes, free mentorship exists. Some experienced investors are willing to share guidance without charging—often because they remember what it was like to be starting out, or because they see potential in you that they want to nurture.

But be realistic: free mentorships tend to be low-commitment on both sides. Don’t expect deep, consistent support from someone who isn’t getting paid and doesn’t have skin in the game.

How to Find a Real Estate Mentor

Now that you understand what to look for, here’s how to actually find the right mentor for your situation:

1. Get Clear on Your Goals First

Before you start looking for a mentor, you need to know what you’re trying to achieve. What type of real estate investing interests you? Single-family? Multifamily? Wholesaling? Commercial? Self-storage? Mobile home parks?

What does success look like for you in 1 year? 5 years? 10 years?

The clearer you are on your goals, the easier it is to identify mentors who’ve achieved what you’re after.

2. Tap Your Network

Let your friends, family, and professional contacts know that you’re starting to invest and looking to connect with experienced investors. Referrals can lead to powerful mentorship opportunities, especially if someone vouches for you.

You might be surprised who in your existing network knows successful real estate investors. That random conversation at a barbecue could lead to your most important mentor relationship.

3. Attend Local Real Estate Meetups and Events

Most cities have real estate investing meetups, REIA (Real Estate Investors Association) chapters, or networking events. These are goldmines for meeting experienced investors who might be open to mentoring.

Show up consistently. Don’t just attend once—become a regular. People mentor those they know and trust, and that takes time to build.

4. Listen to Podcasts and Reach Out

Here’s a strategy that works better than most people realize: listen to real estate investing podcasts, identify guests who’ve achieved what you want to achieve, and reach out to them directly.

Most podcast guests include their contact information or social media handles. Send a thoughtful message that shows you’ve actually listened to their episode and have a specific question or reason for reaching out.

I’ve had listeners of The Real Estate Investing Club reach out to me this way, and many of them are now in my coaching program or Skool community.

5. Join Online Communities

Platforms like Skool, BiggerPockets forums, and various Facebook groups are filled with investors at all levels. Engage genuinely—answer questions, share your own experiences, celebrate others’ wins—and you’ll naturally connect with potential mentors.

The key is providing value first, not just asking for things. The investors most likely to mentor you are the ones who see that you’re serious and willing to put in the work.

6. Offer Value in Exchange for Guidance

One approach that works surprisingly well: offer to help a successful investor with something they need in exchange for the chance to learn from them.

Maybe they need help with lead generation, property research, or administrative tasks. You provide value in exchange for education and mentorship. This only works if you’re willing to put in real effort—but for the right opportunity, it’s worth it.

7. Invest in Paid Mentorship

Sometimes the fastest path is simply paying for expertise. Yes, quality mentorship can cost thousands of dollars. But when you compare that to the cost of making expensive mistakes—like my six-month flip that barely paid out because I didn’t have someone telling me to hold firm—the math usually works out in favor of mentorship.

If you’re serious about building a real estate portfolio and achieving financial freedom, explore my coaching program. I’ve helped investors go from their first deal to building portfolios of cash-flowing properties, and I share everything I’ve learned from both my own experience and interviewing 600+ successful investors.

Red Flags to Watch Out For

Not every mentor is worth your time and money. Here are warning signs to avoid:

Guaranteed Results

Run from anyone who promises guaranteed returns or success. Real estate involves risk, and any mentor who claims otherwise is either lying or doesn’t understand the business.

Legitimate mentors focus on teaching you the skills, strategies, and mindset to succeed—not promising specific outcomes.

All Hype, No Proof

If someone’s main pitch is how much money you can make, but they can’t show proof of their own deals or student success stories, be very skeptical.

Real mentors have real results. They can show you properties they’ve acquired, deals they’ve closed, and students who’ve succeeded under their guidance.

Pressure Tactics

Quality mentors don’t need high-pressure sales tactics. If someone is pushing you to sign up immediately, offering “today only” discounts, or making you feel bad for wanting time to think, that’s a red flag.

A good mentor is confident in the value they provide and gives you space to make an informed decision.

One-Size-Fits-All Approach

Be wary of mentors who apply the exact same strategy to every student regardless of their situation. Your mentor should be asking questions about your goals, financial position, and constraints before prescribing a path forward.

No Ongoing Support

Some programs charge thousands of dollars for a course or weekend bootcamp, then disappear. Real mentorship involves ongoing support—someone you can reach out to when you hit obstacles or need guidance on a specific deal.

The Cost of NOT Having a Mentor

Here’s something I want you to really consider: while you’re debating whether mentorship is “worth it,” you’re paying a different kind of cost.

The cost of inaction. Every month you spend researching instead of doing, consuming content instead of closing deals, is a month of lost income and delayed financial freedom.

The cost of mistakes. Without guidance, you WILL make expensive mistakes. Maybe it’s overpaying for a property. Maybe it’s underestimating renovation costs. Maybe it’s choosing the wrong financing structure. These mistakes add up fast.

The cost of slow progress. Even if you eventually figure things out on your own, you’ll take years to learn what a mentor could teach you in months. Time is your most valuable asset—why waste it reinventing the wheel?

According to research from Luxury Presence, agents who lean into mentorship and strategy consistently outperform the rest. In 2024, Luxury Presence clients averaged nearly 25 transactions annually—more than double the industry norm of 10 per year according to the National Association of Realtors.

That’s not a coincidence. That’s the power of guidance and support from people who’ve already figured out what works.

How to Get the Most Out of Your Mentorship

Once you find a mentor, here’s how to maximize the relationship:

Come Prepared

Don’t waste your mentor’s time with vague questions you could have Googled. Come to each session with specific questions, specific deals you’re analyzing, or specific obstacles you’re facing.

The more focused your questions, the more valuable the answers you’ll receive.

Take Action Between Sessions

The worst thing you can do is have a great coaching call, feel motivated for a day, then do nothing until the next call. Your mentor can’t build your portfolio for you—they can only guide you. YOU have to do the work.

Between sessions, implement what you learned. Try the strategies they suggested. Analyze the deals they recommended you look at. Then come to the next session with results (or questions based on what you encountered).

Be Coachable

This means being open to feedback, even when it’s uncomfortable. Sometimes your mentor will tell you things you don’t want to hear—that your analysis is flawed, that you’re making excuses, that you need to change your approach.

The investors who succeed are the ones who can hear that feedback without getting defensive and actually make adjustments.

Communicate Honestly

Don’t hide your mistakes or pretend things are going better than they are. Your mentor can only help you if they know what’s actually happening. If you screwed something up, tell them. That’s how you learn and avoid making the same mistake again.

Respect Their Time

Your mentor’s time is valuable. Be punctual for calls. Be concise in your communications. Don’t expect them to be available 24/7. And when they give you advice, actually follow it—nothing is more frustrating for a mentor than a student who asks for guidance and then ignores it.

Taking the Next Step

If you’ve read this far, you’re clearly serious about real estate investing and you understand the value of mentorship.

Here’s what I want you to do:

Stop consuming, start acting.

All the podcasts, books, and articles in the world won’t build your portfolio. At some point, you need to get in the game with someone guiding you through the process.

If you’re ready to take that step, I’d love to help.

Check out my real estate investing coaching program where I work directly with investors to help them build cash-flowing portfolios. I’ve done wholesale deals, flips, and acquisitions across self-storage, mobile home parks, and RV parks. I draw from everything I’ve learned through my own journey—including those expensive early mistakes—and from interviewing over 600 successful investors on The Real Estate Investing Club podcast.

Or, if you want to start by learning alongside other investors and accessing the tools, documents, and systems I use in my own deals, join our community on Skool. It’s a space where investors at all levels collaborate, share deals, and support each other’s growth.

Either way, the most important thing is that you take action. Don’t let another month go by where you’re stuck on the sidelines. Find a mentor—whether it’s me or someone else—who’s achieved what you want to achieve and who genuinely cares about your results.

Then jump in head first.

Your future self will thank you.

Frequently Asked Questions About Real Estate Mentors

How much does a real estate mentor cost?

Real estate mentorship costs vary widely depending on the type and level of access. Group coaching programs typically range from $2,000-$10,000, while one-on-one mentorship can cost $5,000-$50,000 or more depending on the mentor’s track record and the intensity of the program. Some investors find free mentorship through networking, though these arrangements tend to be less structured and consistent.

Can I succeed in real estate without a mentor?

Yes, it’s possible to succeed without a mentor—but it typically takes much longer and involves more expensive mistakes along the way. Research consistently shows that investors and agents with mentorship outperform those without. The question isn’t whether you CAN succeed alone, but whether you want to spend years figuring out what a mentor could teach you in months.

What should I look for in a real estate mentor?

The two most important qualities are: (1) they’ve achieved what you want to achieve (or are at least several steps ahead of you on the same path), and (2) they genuinely care about your results, not just collecting your payment. Look for mentors who ask questions about your situation, have documented track records, and offer ongoing support rather than just one-time training.

How do I know if I’m ready for a real estate mentor?

You’re ready for a mentor if you’re serious about building a real estate portfolio but feel stuck, overwhelmed, or unsure of your next steps. You don’t need to have closed deals already—many mentors specialize in helping beginners. What matters is your commitment to taking action and being coachable.

What’s the difference between a real estate mentor and a real estate coach?

The terms are often used interchangeably, but traditionally, a mentor is an experienced practitioner who guides based on their own experience, while a coach may focus more on accountability and mindset without necessarily having the same level of hands-on experience. The best real estate mentors combine both elements—they’ve done what you want to do AND they know how to help you develop the skills and habits to succeed.

How long should I work with a real estate mentor?

This depends on your goals and how quickly you progress. Some investors work with mentors for 6-12 months to get their first deals done and build momentum. Others maintain ongoing mentorship relationships for years as they scale into larger deals and new asset classes. The right answer depends on your specific situation and what you’re trying to accomplish.

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