How to vet a real estate mentor
Anyone can call themselves a mentor. These are the seven questions that tell you whether you are talking to an operator or a salesperson, and the answers that should end the call.
By Josh Galindo · broker, investor, ~1,300 flips · updated 2026-08-03
1. When did you last buy a property with your own money?
The single most useful question, and the one most likely to produce a vague answer. You are listening for a date and a property, not a philosophy. Bad answer: "I'm mostly focused on teaching now." That is fine and honest, but understand you are buying history, not a current read on the market.
2. How many deals have you actually closed, and can you show me?
Numbers are easy to say. Closings are public record. A real operator can point you at addresses, or an LLC, or a brokerage. Bad answer: a number with no way to check it, or "I can't share that for privacy reasons." Sold properties are not private.
3. Do you make more from investing or from teaching?
Blunt, and revealing. There is nothing wrong with earning from teaching. But someone whose income is overwhelmingly from selling education has a different incentive than someone whose income is overwhelmingly from deals. You want to know which one you are dealing with.
4. What happens when I bring you a bad deal?
The answer you want is that they tell you it is bad and why. A surprising number of programs are structured to keep you enthusiastic, because enthusiasm renews. The most valuable thing a mentor ever says is walk away from this one, and it is worth more than every piece of encouragement combined.
5. Who else is in the room?
"Small group" means different things. Ask for a number. Eight people in a cohort and eight hundred in a Facebook group are both technically communities. One of them means you get talked to.
6. What do you actually give me access to?
Specifically: your lenders? Your contractors? Your title people? Deals you are not taking? Those are the things that took years to build and are the real product at the higher price points. If the answer is content and calls, it is a course, and it should be priced like one.
7. What are you not good at?
The tell. Somebody who has genuinely done a lot of deals has lost money on some of them and will tell you about it without much prompting. Someone who cannot name a weakness or a loss is either inexperienced or selling.
Three answers that should end the conversation
- A guaranteed return. Nobody can guarantee what a property will do. This is the clearest signal there is.
- Pressure to decide today. Real programs are capped and have waiting lists. They do not need you to sign before midnight.
- Vagueness about their own deals. An operator talks about deals constantly and unprompted, because it is what they do all day.
One more thing worth checking
Ask to speak to somebody who finished the program a year ago, not somebody who is currently in it. Current students are still in the enthusiasm phase. Somebody a year out will tell you what it was actually worth.
Straight answers
How do I know if a real estate mentor is legitimate?
Ask when they last bought a property with their own money, how many deals they have closed and whether you can verify them, and whether they earn more from investing or teaching. Closings are public record, so a real operator can point you at addresses or an LLC.
What questions should I ask a real estate coach before paying?
Ask when they last bought property, how many deals they have closed and can prove, whether they earn more from investing or teaching, what happens when you bring them a bad deal, how many people are in the group, exactly what access you get to their lenders and contractors, and what they are not good at.
What are red flags in real estate coaching?
Any guaranteed return, pressure to decide immediately, and vagueness about their own recent deals. A guarantee is the clearest signal, because nobody can know what a property will do.
Should I ask for references from a real estate coaching program?
Yes, and specifically ask to speak with someone who finished a year ago rather than a current student. Current students are still in the enthusiasm phase; someone a year out can tell you what it was actually worth.
Run your next deal through my sheet.
Two max-offer numbers, every real cost priced in — points, interest, carry, Clark County transfer tax — and a stress test that shows what the deal does when the ARV comes in 10% under and the rehab runs 20% over. Which is not a worst case. That is a Tuesday.
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