How to Find a Mentor

By
Real Estate Broker/Owner with MBA Broker Consultants CalBRE Broker #00983670


Who is a good mentor?


A mentor is a person who’s willing to make a commitment to coach a less experienced apprentice at no charge or cost.  There’s a commitment required on the mentor’s part because they do have to go the process.

Following are the characteristics of a good mentor:

  • They have to be willing and available.
  • A mentor is somebody who is ready to get back to others and wants to help contribute to another person’s growth.
  • Somebody who wants to help fellow colleagues or real estate agents to be more professional, do a better job, earn more money, and make a positive impact on our American economy.
  • And it’s also somebody, I would say, who has a high bar of professional standard and wants to raise those professional standards for everybody across our industry.
  • Overall, a mentor is somebody who wants to bring our industry up.  Somebody concerned about our future world and somebody who wants to make a difference.

Determine a good mentor, who is a good fit for you.  When seeking a mentor, evaluate their compatibility with the following criteria:

  • Real Estate Sales Experience -- The first thing is you want a mentor who has a real estate sales experience in the areas that you’re looking to approve in for example, short sales or REOs or first time buyers or whatever area that you’re looking for.
  • Location (must be nearby) -- A mentor should be somebody physically located nearby you because you’re going to be with them going to open houses, caravans, buyer appointments, seller appointments, and things like that.
  • Age or gender -- A mentor might be helpful if somebody with the same age and gender; but then again, it may not be a factor at all. It’s up to you and who you feel comfortable with.  In fact, it’s probably best to learn from a person who is older and wiser than you.
  • Language fluency– It is great if you have a certain language that you’re good at besides English and you want to pick a mentor who’s also fluent in that language that might be a good connection.  But again, this won’t be the sole deciding factor if somebody isn’t fluent in that language.
  • College/Education -- In real estate, formal education is generally viewed as not one of the most important factors so if that’s important to you, fine.  But definitely you will not rule out those who don’t have a college degree or the same type of education as you do.
  • Cultural background -- This may or may not be important to you.  I definitely would not rule out a mentor just because they have a different cultural background than me.  As a matter of fact, it might be a good opportunity to learn from that person about other cultures besides my own.
  • Spiritual belief and religious backgrounds -- This may or may not be important to you.  For me, it’s important that I would look for a mentor who holds the same Christian values that I do and it could be important in the decision making process.  But again, I probably wouldn’t rule out anybody who’s not the same spiritual belief.
  • The life mission and philosophy -- Somebody’s life mission and their philosophy in life is paramount to who I’m going to select to associate myself with.
  • Future plans and goals -- A mentor would definitely influence you in a positive way with their goals and their plans in their life and philosophy.
  • Role model by example -- Would she be a good role model for me?  Somebody that I can rely on when I’m in a tight situation and doing a negotiation.  If you know somebody that you can relate to that’s a good role model, it will help you think through your situations a little bit to figure out what would that person do or maybe even call that person.

If you want to be a top producer, affiliate yourself with the right people.  Select a good mentor!

 

Refer to related articles:

 

 

 

 

Posted by

Regina P. Brown
Broker, Realtor®, M.B.A., e-Pro, GREEN
California DRE # 00983670
www.CalCoastCountry.com

                

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Comments (5)

Lottie Kendall
Compass - San Francisco, CA
Helping make your real estate dreams a reality

Good thoughts about mentoring, Regina.

Jun 23, 2012 10:22 PM
Regina P. Brown
MBA Broker Consultants - Carlsbad, CA
M.B.A., Broker, Instructor

Thank you Lottie for reading my blog and leaving a comment.  Have a great one!

Jun 23, 2012 10:25 PM
JOSH EVANS *JoshEvansHomes 516-655-5000
Village Properties of Mineola, LLC - Mineola, NY
Great blog and great job. Keep up the good work and good luck to you this year. Thanks.
Jun 23, 2012 10:29 PM
Wayne Zuhl
Remax First Realty II - Cranford, NJ
The Last Name You'll Ever Need in Real Estate

Good morning Regina - Great post. Lucky is the agent who can find a mentor like you described!

Jun 23, 2012 11:04 PM
Regina P. Brown
MBA Broker Consultants - Carlsbad, CA
M.B.A., Broker, Instructor

Josh, thank you for dropping by.  I appreciate your comments.

Wayne and Jean Marie, yes and I still believe there are lot of good mentors in our business.  Thank you for sharing your thoughts!

 

Jun 23, 2012 11:29 PM