About nine months ago I decided to have an informal real estate knowledge sharing presentation with a bunch of my immediate and extended family. It was an informal potluck dinner at my sisters house and the family that came were mostly the young professional members of the family with a few older members as well. All I wanted to do was share some multifamily real estate knowledge so they can be aware and maybe look into it further. It was a pretty good night with a lot of questions and the usual family joking around.
As a result, these family members now view me as a thought leader on real estate. Now, I am far from a guru and am still trying to become successful in real estate. And from the eyes of more experienced real estate professionals my credibility is pretty low. Two of my family members are slowly trying to figure out their way in real estate and they’ve approached me a few times for advice after this event.
Fast forward to last week, these same family members asked if they could come over for dinner to discuss real estate and pick my brain. We had a good 2-3 hour conversation and spewed out my opinions & answers to their questions and tried to change their scarcity mentality to an abundance or think bigger mentality. I advised them the first step is the hardest but it is also the tiniest and you can skip that tiny step. From this I realized that in their eyes I was slowly becoming their mentor, albeit inadvertently.
I told them about a small opportunity so they chew on and the expectations that I expect after they reviewed it. Let’s see where this goes but I bet they will be asking a lot more questions directed towards me. I believe in sharing knowledge and information, so when you share it with others and there is going to be an expectation of follow up you are inadvertently becoming a mentor.
Has this happened to anyone else? Was it good or bad?
I do believe in finding a mentor or even paying for mentor-ship because the value in that is immeasurable. It can lead you to the right path and opportunity. Or without it could end your real estate goals quickly.