Is Property Mentorship Right for You?The HMO Roadmap

Back in 2016, I joined a mastermind program where I met some really interesting people and ultimately, John Paul, who then became my mentor for seven years. Working with him ended up being one of the most valuable decisions that I ever made!

I wish I knew about property mentorship earlier on in my career. I began investing back in 2009, and if I had been working with JP since then, I would have doubled what I have achieved by now, no question.

Even today, I still have mentors and guides – people who help and advise me. I’m always trying to take my investment to that next level. But I also understand that if you’re just getting started, people selling mentorships can be a bit in your face… The property space is a tricky business to master, and there’s a lot that can help you. BUT there’s also a lot that can hinder you too.

So, let’s dig into what property mentorship is and find out if it’s right for you. Read below or listen to the full episode on The HMO Podcast to get more insight into what mentorship is all about!

What Is Property Mentorship?

Let’s start with defining what mentorship is… Property mentorship involves finding someone who is more experienced than you and can guide and advise you through the industry, helping you make decisions and ultimately allowing you to achieve your goals much more quickly.

The point of working with a mentor is to find someone who has the knowledge and skills that they can transfer to you, has a network to tap into and can help you set appropriate goals for your overarching aims.

Benefits of Working With a Mentor

1. Accelerated Learning

If you can find a mentor with the right experience and knowledge, you could learn loads from them in months that otherwise might take you years to figure out on your own! They hopefully can share insider tips and strategies and what has and hasn’t worked for them, and they may be able to point you to the right content and resources.

So, working with the right mentor can streamline your learning process, allowing you to devour a lot more information and skill yourself up so much faster. But it’s not just about the transference of knowledge… It’s about then implementing that knowledge, and a mentor can really help you do that.

2. Avoiding Costly Mistakes

A good mentor can help you avoid mistakes that cost you time and money. For example, they could help advise you against buying something that’ll lose you money or make you aware where there might be hidden losses. Sometimes these cost savings can end up being more than the cost of the mentorship itself!

When you’re considering mentorship, it shouldn’t just be about how much additional value you can get from it through more profitable deals… It’s also about the things that aren’t as obvious to see. How many mistakes might they help you avoid making? How much money might they actually be able to save you through their knowledge and expertise?

3. Personalised Guidance

Mentorship should be about you, your specific objectives, where you are now and working with the challenges, limitations and advantages that you have. This shouldn’t be a group exercise!

My mentorship programme is fully bespoke. It’s not a scripted training program – it’s all about you as an individual. We can build a plan completely unique to get you from where you are now to where you want to be. This will be really different for everyone, whether you’re a new investor or looking to scale, systemise or streamline your business.

4. Accountability

Accountability is so important, because a lot of us are busy. And there are so many moving parts when it comes to building a property business. We have to find and stack deals, go to viewings, plan refurbs, go through conveyancing and work on financing. There’s so much to do, and then we’ve got to manage our properties and build systems and operations!

A mentor can keep you accountable to your goals, setting realistic timelines and helping you stay on track and constantly moving forward. A good mentor should be able to walk you through your plan, help you implement and take action and then hold you to account when things need to be done.

5. Focus

I think this is perhaps the single most important thing… Mentors can help you focus on the most important tasks and strategies and can help you avoid the distractions that can derail your progress.

Over the years, I’ve learned that the best results come from focusing my efforts and mastering something before moving on. When you’re just getting started or when you’re not sure about how to take the next steps, it’s easy to get distracted by the next big idea or what other investors are doing, but we need to stay focused.

6. Encouragement & Motivation

Investing in property is tough and slow. Banks and tenants can drive you mad, and you can have issues with suppliers and utility companies – everything and everyone might be frustrating you. And you may feel like you’re making no progress!

But sometimes all you need is a good chat with someone who lifts your spirits, encourages you, motivates you and reminds you that this is what it’s all about, and that can be your mentor telling you that and encouraging you to get up and do it all again.

7. Benefits of Association

When I worked with JP as my mentor, I was totally confident he was the right mentor for me. On a personal level, we really clicked, and there was a lot of mutual respect. But also, I wanted to be associated with working alongside JP. He had a lot of contacts and respect in the industry.

At the time, I didn’t quite understand how important that might be. People ended up telling me they invested in my investment and management agency because I worked with JP. Even years on, our relationship has rubbed off on other people towards me.

8. Network Expansion

When people join my mentorship program, I open up my book of most valued contacts in the industry to them to help you do what you need to do. It can save so much time and give you a lot of confidence.

Without the right contacts, you might go through dozens of people, spend thousands of pounds and waste years trying to find the right people! So, investing in a mentor can give you access to a load of contacts that you can then take advantage of.

Things to Consider

Reputation

When choosing who you’re going to work with, consider their reputation. Are they the right person to be associated with it? Do they have the right reputation and respect in the industry? Do they have the results to back it up? What do their peers say about them? What kind of credentials do they have? Have they won any awards?

There are some unscrupulous people out there who have lost people’s money and damaged their reputations and credibility. Don’t get fooled by lots of followers on social media and not do enough due diligence!

Mentorship Costs

It’s important to think about whether you can physically afford mentorship. Can you take money from somewhere in your business for this? If you can’t, it’s definitely not the right time. The second thing is can you justify the cost? How much money would your mentor need to help you save or create to make up for what you spent on the mentorship programme?

Unless you’re an absolute expert in refurbishments, negotiation or how to stack deals, I could probably save you many times over my mentorship costs in just one deal. This is not a guarantee and it’s not the case for everyone. If you think you’re already getting the very best results, then it’ll probably be difficult to justify investing in mentorship.

Time Commitment

Effective mentorship requires a significant time commitment from you and a certain amount from your mentor as well. You need to commit to your mentor by attending sessions and putting the work in outside of them. If you don’t, you won’t be able to implement the advice and guidance that you’re given, and you won’t get the results.

A mentor can point things out, give you more confidence and save you costs, but a mentor can’t do the work for you – you have to do that! So, you need to be prepared whenever you decide to commit to a mentorship that the time is right for you.

Picking the Right Mentor

Deciding on a mentor is a big decision. It’s really important on a personal level. You need to feel like you click with them and trust them implicitly. And you also need to make sure they have the right knowledge and experience! Ask yourself these questions when picking a mentor:

Have you heard enough about them?
Have you digested any of their free or paid content?
Do you have a good idea of how they operate and deliver information? Do you know how the mentorship experience will be?
Do you understand what they’ve achieved? Have they built portfolios? Are they actively doing projects? Have they won awards?

Understanding all of this and making sure that an individual is the right fit for you is really crucial. Please don’t pick a mentor because they have the most followers on social media… That’s how to get this wrong!

Do Your Due Diligence

If you need more information about a mentor and their mentorship programme, ask the right questions and take the time to do your due diligence. Look for verification that they’re the right person, they’re capable and they’ve done what they’ve said they’ve done.

How much experience do they have in the property market? Are they doing deals?
Are they working with other mentees? Can you get references and speak to them?
What sort of a reputation do they have in the industry? Do people respect them?
Can you see their results? Are they transparent?
Do they have a good track record of performance with other people? Have their mentees won awards?

These are important questions that you need to ask. It’s really key that whoever you work with is able to apply a broad range of experience from a number of areas to help you with your personal circumstances and objectives. There’s a lot of people who will take your money and give you very little for it, so do your due diligence and take all of these things into consideration!

Is the Timing Right for You?

Above all, the timing has to be right! You need to have the money and time to invest in property mentorship. If you’re not ready for the cost or time commitment or you’re not sure if you want to do this yet, the timing may not be right for you…

You could instead take advantage of alternatives to traditional mentorship, like books, online resources, podcasts and e-learning platforms like The HMO Roadmap, which is a huge vault of information with bite-sized video lessons and downloadable resources.

You can then work through this in your own time, and it’s a fraction of the cost of mentorship. So, it’s great for people who aren’t ready for mentorship yet but want to start getting their foundational knowledge in place.

HMO Mentorship Programme

Mentorship can be an incredible tool to accelerate the process of getting better results and achieving more in less time. It can make the whole process much more enjoyable and can save you hundreds of thousands of pounds!

If you’re looking to unlock the full potential of your property business, check out my 1-2-1 HMO mentorship programme. But keep in mind it isn’t for everyone… I like to work with people who are incredibly committed and are able to get going very quickly. I also only work with a small number of investors at any given time, so I can give all of my mentees the attention they need.

If you want to level things up but maybe you’re not ready for mentorship just yet, sign up for The HMO Roadmap to gain access to more than 400 resources to help you start, scale and systemise your HMO business! And if you’re looking to join a supportive and inspiring community of investors, join us over in our free Facebook Group The HMO Community.

About the Author:

Andy Graham is the founder and the lead trainer at The HMO Roadmap! He is also the co-founder of The HMO Mastermind. He writes as a regular columnist in different magazines about a variety of HMO topics and is the host of The HMO Podcast! Follow Andy on Instagram!