It seems like everywhere you turn, there is someone who says they can teach you how to be successful investing in multifamily real estate. They have a mastermind, a program, a course, you name it. Give them money and they can be your multifamily real estate mentor or coach! Well, how do you sort through the pack and figure out who you should trust to teach you what you need to know so you too can make a ton of money investing in multifamily real estate?
I developed these five rules to help you choose a multifamily real estate or coach. If you follow these rules, you will probably make the right decision.
1. THEY MUST HAVE EXPERIENCE (THE RIGHT EXPERIENCE)
This is obvious, but by far the rule that is broken the most. Insist that the mentor or coach has actually done what you are trying to do, successfully. Ask these important questions:
- How long have they been in the multifamily business?
- How many deals have they done?
- What size deals have they done (dollar amount and unit count)?
- What role did they play in their deals?
- Were they a general partner or a limited partner (passive investor)?
- If they have been part of a general partner group, what role did they play?
- Did they play a meaningful role or an ancillary role?
- How many “full-cycle” deals have they done (bought, operated, sold, made money)?
- Did they make money?
- Have they lost money on any deals? If so, what happened?
- Have they raised money for deals?
- What format have they used to raise equity for their deals?
- Have they done a syndication or blind pool fund?
2. THEY MUST TEACH THE DETAILS
They must be willing to teach the details and the “why” behind the details. This is extremely important because you need to understand the “why” behind everything so you can use that information to make good decisions going forward. Ask these questions:
- Is their program comprehensive?
- Does their program start from the very beginning and take you through the entire journey, all the way to close, or just part of it?
- Do they understand the details?
- Do they deal with the details? If they aren’t detail oriented, they will have difficulty teaching you the details.
- Are their programs designed to teach you what you need when you need it or is it just a lot of information?
- Is their program organized to follow a typical deal cycle?
3. THEY HAVE TO BE RELATABLE
They must be able to relate to and understand the problems you will face getting into multifamily real estate. Sometimes people forget what it was like when they started. Maybe they started from a completely different point than you are today. Ask these critical questions:
- Have they ever coached anyone before?
- Have they done single-family, smaller multifamily deals, or just big deals?
- Were they wealthy when they started or did they start out with nothing?
- Did they start from a similar place that you are starting from?
- Do you like their style of communication?
- Do they clearly explain complex concepts and make them easy to understand or do they use lots of industry jargon?
4. THEY MUST MAKE THEMSELVES AVAILABLE TO YOU
They must be available to answer your questions. No course or book can cover everything you will face in real life. The real multifamily real estate world is different than it is in a course. They must be available to answer your questions and connect the real world to the course material. More questions to ask:
- Are they available to answer your questions?
- Are they available only through a Facebook Group or WhatsApp type chat or are they available to talk live and on a regular basis?
- How often are they available?
- Are you handed off to a lesser experienced coach to answer your questions or are you getting it right from the person with all the experience? Remember, experience matters a lot. Getting advice and coaching from someone who isn’t really qualified to give it isn’t helpful to you.
5. THE COST HAS TO MAKE SENSE
Remember, you usually get what you pay for. Although important, cost should NOT be the number one factor driving your decision. In fact, it should be the last. Now, I am not saying that because we offer programs that teach people how to be successful creating wealth through multifamily real estate. I am saying that because every time I have personally shopped for something and selected the cheapest option, I never got what I needed, and it ended up being a complete waste of my time and money.
Remember, one successful multifamily real estate deal can literally make you a million dollars. There are no guarantees, but I will guarantee you, the more you learn, the more confident you will be. The more confident you are, the more likely you will be to pull the trigger and do a good deal.
Please choose the best program you can find. It will be well worth it! Here are some cost related questions you should ask:
- How does their program pricing compare?
- Are they the lowest cost program?
- If they are, is the program really comprehensive or is it just an intro. program designed to lead you to their next program?
- Are they the highest cost program?
- If they are, make sure you are getting everything you need to be successful, and it isn’t just a money grab.
If you are interested in learning more about how you can create significant wealth through multifamily real estate either by doing your own deals or by passively investing, please reach out to us at (216) 290-1710 or email us at realestate@kripartners.com. You can also visit us on the web at https://www.kripartners.com/education. We look forward to helping you reach your financial goals through multifamily real estate.