The simple answer to the seemingly complex question of “Who needs a real estate coach?” is everyone investing in real estate. That’s right, the institutionalized investing company to the one-person show need coaches and advisors.
The CEO of a public investing company has mentors/coaches as well as a board of directors to turn to. They often don’t have a choice of who their coaches are, but real estate investors do. Unfortunately, with this choice of a coach comes another choice that is often made instead. That choice is to not get any help at all.
Not getting any help at all is very often the cause of failure statistics we hear so much about. Real estate investors will often claim that they don’t have the time or money for a coach. Think about that comment. How can you not have the money to get help from someone that can potentially save or make you more money since you obviously are not getting it done on your own? Or how about that time you are lacking? Maybe if that investor sat down for an hour with a coach, they would be able to see why they don’t have time and do something about it with the help of someone who has already been in those shoes.
A coach gives to real estate investors something most of them don’t have; a sounding board and a board of directors to turn to for advice. These are two great resources to use when trying to avoid trial and error decisions and processes.
I’m not knocking trial and error as the way to learn things. I’ve personally used that method and did well in many cases. But that is a case-by-case basis, not for on-going daily concerns. Don’t forget that this method is also very costly and time consuming. Why not ask someone who has probably already faced the problem?
What many real estate investors do not realize is that they rarely go through any trials and tribulations that someone else has never dealt with.
Small local real estate investors wear a lot of hats. Many of those hats take time away from the things the investors actually needs to make a priority to see their company succeed. Things they should be doing that they don’t have time to get to or things they are taking care of that they have no experience in doing. These situations take away from them doing what they do best. That’s a problem.
The question now is how to find a coach. There are many types of coaches out there. Some are purely coaches and others are true developers and implementers that will roll up their sleeves with you when asked to. It’s up to you to pick the type of person you want or need. Here are a few things to think about:
- Do they click with your personality? There are many good coaches out there but if they don’t click with you as an investor friend, don’t bother with them because you will end up fighting them even when you agree on the
- Have they or are they actually investing in real estate? Gray hair, fancy websites or empty dreams do not equal investing knowledge. I promise you that someone teaching theory knows very little about investing in real estate. These are two significantly different
Once you made the very intelligent decision of getting help with real estate investing, keep a few things in mind. You should really commit to working with your coach for a good 6 months. Nothing gets fixed overnight. Also, since you are paying for it, please do yourself a favor and be open to suggestions, bring important things to your coach for help in deciding and make the use of your time with the coach a priority. Don’t forget that a coach should never decide for you. It’s your company, they are there to make suggestions and guide you.
Working with a coach can be a very enlightening experience. You will start to see the forest from the trees and not feel like you are the only person on the planet going through tough times as a business owner.
All real estate investors eventually need help. The successful ones put their pride and desire aside and get help. Do yourself and your investments a favor and be one of the truly successful real estate investors. Get a coach and get all you can out of them. If your coach loves what he/she does for a living as such as you love what you do, you can’t go wrong.