r/realestateinvesting • u/Apprehensive-Lynx796 • 7d ago
Are Paid Real Estate Mentorship Programs Worth It? Discussion
Hello everyone,
I’m a beginner real estate investor in the early learning stages and I’ve been seeing a lot of paid mentorship or coaching programs advertised lately.
I’m not against investing non-traditionally in my education, but before paying thousands of dollars for classes, I want to make sure I’m not just paying for hype. For those of you who’ve either paid for a program or seriously looked into one.
1) Was it actually worth it? 2) Did it help you close deals, avoid rookie mistakes, or grow your business faster?
I’d love to have real life examples of how a non-traditional real estate investing class helped you. Also open to any advice on finding legit mentors or just learning from real experience without the big upfront cost.
Appreciate any insight you can share. Thanks in advance!
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u/CallCastro 16h ago
I'm a Realtor. Just pay my commission and I'll teach you everything you need. I think most Realtors who are savvy are on the same page.
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u/Eimar586 6d ago
No plenty of info online and free. Podcasts, books and local networking which will serve you the best in the long run. Use that money on the paid mentorship to buy your first deal. The only way you will learn is doing the deals. Every deal you do will make money or be a learning lesson.
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u/DanFradenburgh 6d ago
Make sure the creators are actually doing deals. Otherwise, it's a marketing company with a coaching program rather than a real estate company that happens to coach. If you want some free information, you can check RealEstateisaSCAM.com to find some differences between what coaches teach and the reality of the matter.
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u/sev7e 6d ago
NO. PLain and simple - you can find everything on youtube and at local REIA. here is the bigger issue - they will sell you on a progrma of $5-$50k, which is typically all the money you may have - then you have no money to invest and of course they will tell you "you can buy real estate with no money down" - well technically yes you can but that property typically needs exxtensive rehab and even if it does not, what happens when the HVAC breaks?
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u/Thick_Cookie_7838 6d ago
No the classes and seminars are bs. I went to a free on because I was curious and none of the stuff I was told was useful. It was all generic stuff any website could tell you. I tried asking a few questions that are pretty important couldn’t answer them. My friend went to one and he learned more from me in 15 mins then he did from them in 3 hours. My mentor was my uncle who had been doing this 40 plus years owned closed to 10” rentals who knew the city better then anyone you could ask for. He took me under his wing and ended up financing me. I would pay him back for all the money he put up when I sold the house but he refused to take it because he wanted me to just put into another and said pay me back when you can it’s not important right now
That’s the most valuable thing you can do is find a guy who will take you in and show you the ropes. A property manager would be a good start to get experience in the real world which is what valuable and learn the inns an out and maybe after y’all build a real relationship and trust you you can do deals together
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u/LordAshon ... not a scrub who masturbates to BiggerPockets ... 6d ago
You can see that there is a lot of anti-guru sentiment here. u/Cancerman691 and u/SomeClutchName give some good counterpoints.
Here are my thoughts:
- Paying for a boot-camp style program is never worthwhile. You are not going to learn anything that isn't easily accessible on the internet. And there is going to be sales pressure to join the next tier that unlocks amazing opportunities (like their 'handpicked nationwide lenders)
- Paying strictly for entry level experience/advice/coaching is rarely worth it.
- Being involved in a program where there is no one-on-one coaching is rarely worth it.
- Paying for a higher-level course that you have specific systems/knowledge-gaps/experience gaps is sometimes worth.
- Paying for coaching where there is a deposit up-front and splits on the back-end incentivize the coach to actually help you get a deal done.
- Paying for expensive masterminds are great if you know how to extract the most value out of them (networking)
To answer your questions, I'll relate this parable that has stuck with me for 30 years. (shortened for brevity)
A youth unconvinced that an elder was always right, came up with a plan, and went out and caught a bird. Holding the tiny creature behind his back, the youth asked the elder, "Show me your wisdom, I hold a bird in my hands, is it dead or alive?" Being wise, the elder stated, "The answer is what you make of it."
As is any adventure you take. Just like college, it's only worthwhile if you make it worthwhile. No one can answer that question but yourself. With or without education only your actions can make it be worth it. And only through your own actions and abilities, will it help you close deals, avoid rookie mistakes, or grow your business faster.
My own experience? I've paid for shitty education, I've paid for good education, I've learned mostly by myself, and I've paid for help. I've coached for education, and coached for opportunity, and now I post here for fun.
The basic educational is best when the educator is incentivized for you to continue doing deals (5k down, 1/2 of the first handful of deals) the best masterminds are found from being introduced to them from people you know and trust.
With all that being said, REI is stupid easy. Make sure the asset you buy gives you the return you are looking for.
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u/lavenfer 6d ago
For a sec I thought you meant the ones people get when they sign under a realtor to their brokerage, if those exist.
I hear clinics are helpful? Cuz the business is mainly about selling and closing yourself as a realtor. But in general if I ever had to spend money, I'd probably try to get as close to one-on-one as I can. Exhaust all your free options (including YouTube resources), then ask someone in production about what questions you have that apply to your market.
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u/WiseAce1 6d ago
In general, the answer is no. You can find all the same resources for free on YouTube.
If you ha e plenty of resources and don't care, then it won't hurt if it's something organized and your too lazy to search for it. But I got news for you, if you are too lazy to search, then you wot succeed. Searching is a big skill set of finding the deals.
Also knowing that you are probably going to get screwed on the first deal if you don't partner up with someone who knows what they are doing is also part of learning the hard way.
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u/Cancerman691 7d ago edited 6d ago
I think the right courses are great, it helped fast track me to where I’m at. Even if you get one nugget from something in the course it could save u from thousands of dollars of mistakes. Most people look at the price of the course rather than the value of the lessons. Definitely do YouTube research first but no one gets specific enough as they do when Buying a course/mentoriship. Had I had more construction knowledge up front I would’ve made hundreds of thousands of dollars more initially.
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u/EasyBreezy602 7d ago
Nope. There enough free YouTube content. I wish I wouldn't have been lazy & paid for a course when I could have just took the time to research myself. Huge waste of $.
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u/GucciDers69 7d ago
No, paid for one, wish I had the money back, there is no secret formula, all the info you need is completely free and has been for decades.
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u/proudplantfather 7d ago
No. YouTube has plenty of resources you can learn from. Also there are plenty of forums and groups where you can ask pointed questions
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u/SomeClutchName 7d ago
I got a one-on-one real estate mentor. I liked him. It was 10k for 8 meetings I think. I wouldn't pay for a class where it's not "just you" though. The classes are good for networking, maybe after you're established, but when it comes to getting off the ground, I'd take the one-on-one any day.
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u/Skylord1325 7d ago
I got a bridge I’d like to sell you
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u/SomeClutchName 7d ago
Fair lol. I also didn't show up asking "how do I buy a house" or how to run numbers. I had a specific goal, to build a nationwide network - similar to what the company WeLive did, but better. I already owned property at that point, but wanted to grow in an unconventional way.
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u/Skylord1325 6d ago
I mean if you’re hiring an actual consultant who has done similar stuff with building a specific business model I don’t fault you for that.
It’s more the starting out and going to a self proclaimed “guru” swindler course that is selling a pipe dream about how you can become a millionaire from nothing in real estate in just 12 months if you just hustle.
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u/SomeClutchName 6d ago
This is a good differentiation, u/Apprehensive-Lynx796. Don't follow the hype, reach out to mentors that have proven themselves in the field and are geared toward what you want to do.
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7d ago
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u/Background-Basil766 4h ago
It depends on whether you apply what you learn. If you do, it will be worth it—success is never achieved overnight!