The real estate market is constantly changing, making it necessary to implement new or modified strategies of investing. This is one reason that new, inexperienced real estate investors should be very cautious. A real estate partnership or mentoring program is a great way to learn the ropes while making a profit. Joining a real estate investing association is a good way to meet people who are already successful in the field. Begin your real estate investing career with education; find a good mentor who offers real estate partnership programs.

Finding and choosing a real estate partner and mentor

Meet as many people as you can; network with and learn from others who have been successful in real estate investing. As you get to know people, you will find someone who you will be able to work well with. Look for someone who shares your goals and interests, for example, if you're very conservative, then you will not want to try working with someone who takes great risks. Remember, you are looking for a mentor as well as a partner. A lot of experienced real estate investors like to work with partners; many are looking for new investors to mentor.

Trust is always important with a partnership; be sure to choose someone who you feel will be honest with you and provide good advice and training. It's easy to find real estate investors, partners and mentors, but you also must know the many people who service the investors. You will need the services of a mortgage lender, title company, insurance agent, and possibly a real estate attorney or accountant, among many others. Successful real estate investors have relationships with all the key people necessary to conduct their business.

A good real estate partner to work with is one who has had experience at handling a variety of transactions in our constantly changing market. He will have several different exit strategies he likes to use and he will know which one works best for each transaction. He should be able to show you some examples of deals he's made in the past that show profit. A good real estate partner is one who has a wealth of experience; a good mentor is one who will share their knowledge with you.

What do you want from the real estate partnership?

Once you find your mentor, you discuss the real estate partnership. So, what are you looking for in the partnership? How much do you want to be involved in different areas, like financial investment, management responsibilities, and other requirements? Do you want to be a silent partner or a very active partner? Are you looking to invest in commercial or residential real estate? Do you want to hold real estate for cash value; buy, fix and sell; or is there another niche in today's real estate market to go into?

Once you worked out the financial and work responsibilities, discuss the profit split and how and when you will be paid. When will you begin to see profit? How much do you invest now? What are the risks?

Another issue is liability exposure. You will want to be sure your personal assets are protected. How will you set up your partnership? These are important issues to address when forming your real estate partnership.

A good mentor will go over all the important issues so that you understand the real estate partnership, your financial and personal responsibilities, liability risk, financial risk and potential profit.

To the average person, real estate is a shaky market and one should think twice about investing in property now. The experienced real estate investor sees things in a much more positive light. There is a very high supply of bank-owned real estate, known as REO property, foreclosed homes, pre-foreclosed homes, motivated sellers and much more. The demand for these homes is relatively very low; therefore, real estate values are down and houses can be bought cheap. According to simple economics, the laws of supply and demand, this is a great time to begin investing in real estate.

Join a real estate investors association and meet real estate investors and property managers. See what everyone is doing and if it is working for them. Decide what you think will work for you and meet the people who have been successful doing it. If you do what the successful people are doing and begin working with a mentor, you will be on your way to financial success in real estate investing.