When you launch your real estate career, a mentor can be an invaluable resource. Working with an experienced mentor can mean avoiding many of the most common mistakes and learning from their experiences.

Around 80% of new agents reportedly quit within the first year. That shows that it’s not just about knowing the industry—you must also understand what you can’t learn in a course.

You need to figure out how to be proactive, provide high levels of customer service, and be good at marketing and sales. You can’t wait for leads to come to you, which can all quickly become overwhelming for new agents.

Mentors can help you understand what it actually takes in the real world to be successful in real estate. They can also connect you with resources, give you advice and become your accountability partner. They help you learn strong business habits so that they become engrained in everything you do.

Plus, you can bounce ideas off your mentor.

Mentorship can also mean having a sense of moral support, and when you’re trying to build a new career in a challenging and competitive field, that makes a huge difference. You won’t feel as alone, which can mean you’re setting yourself up for a better chance of long-term success, even when things are tough.

Another benefit of working with a mentor is that they can help you gain a deep understanding of the local market. This is an important part of being an excellent real estate agent, and it can take years to gain this expertise, but working with a mentor can help you speed up that process. You can learn new insights and perspectives that, otherwise, working independently would be difficult to understand.

Building relationships with other agents and developing a network is critical as a real estate professional. Mentors might also have a network they’ve already created that you can tap into.

For the person providing a mentorship, there are benefits as well. First, your mentor is also building a valuable new relationship with you. They might also be able to get help on certain projects, or they could find that your perspective is just as valuable to them as vice versa.

There are different ways to find a real estate mentor.

One is to join a real estate brokerage with a mentorship program. This is fairly common, especially in bigger brokerages.

If you don’t work at a brokerage where there’s a program already, you will have to work to find a mentor proactively. Reach out to people after doing research. Try to find people in a position where you see yourself being. Look for people you admire in the industry.

You should also think about the skills you specifically want to improve on or build and try to find a mentor who does these things well. Focusing on a mentor with excellent lead generation skills can be optimal for new agents, for example.

Don’t just look at success when reaching out to potential mentors—look for things that will most help you in the long term. You want someone whose skillset is compatible with your long-term goals and your strengths and weaknesses.

Finally, when you reach out to someone, don’t jump right in and ask them to be your mentor. These long-term relationships require both parties to put in substantial time and effort. It’s a good idea to test things out first and see if the mentorship relationship would benefit both of you to invest in. If you immediately approach a seasoned agent and ask them to mentor you, the chances of being turned down are high.

Source: Should New Real Estate Agents Get a Mentor? Realty Times (March 21, 2023) Ashley Sutphin