Two of my old college buddies went into real estate investing at roughly the same time. One of them, Todd, began earning a nice living for himself and his family within a couple of years. The other had a hard time getting started and quickly gave up to go the corporate route—the same route I took after finishing college. In considering their different paths, it occurred to me that their initial real estate investing training seemed to make all the difference in terms of whether they experienced success.

So, I decided to quit the corporate world, and instead, I became my own boss in an independently owned and operated real estate investing franchise. When I left the corporate world, I knew I wanted to fast-track my business and duplicate Todd’s success. Before I found my way to HomeVestors®, I examined the different options for real estate investing coaching programs.

How to Compare Real Estate Investing Coaching Programs

There are so many coaching programs out there—it can make your head spin. They all make some sort of claim about their programs’ ability to make you a successful real estate investor. But are they really worthwhile? With some of these programs charging tens out thousands of dollars, I didn’t want to gamble my time and money away on something that may not actually work. That’s what inspired me to perform some deep research, ultimately compiling these four questions that you should ask about any real estate investing coaching program that you’re considering.

Ready? Here they are:

Is it legitimate?

It was immediately apparent that I would need to avoid the many scams and “get rich quick” schemes that exist in this niche. But that awareness didn’t make it any easier to determine a program’s legitimacy. The strong media presence and polished online reputation of many coaches and programs can be manufactured with relative ease by a powerful PR firm. This can skew your perspective. Stronger indicators of a program’s legitimacy and quality include how long a coaching program has successfully been in existence, and whether a significant number of former students actually become active real estate investors. A little bit of research in this area goes a long way before you get too excited and jump in head first.

How much does it cost?

Ask yourself not only whether the coaching is affordable, but whether the coach’s real-life real estate experience, level of investing expertise, and degree of accessibility justify the cost. Will you walk away from your coaching sessions confidently armed with actionable knowledge? Or, will you feel as though you’ve attended something akin to a motivational seminar, where you’re left all pumped up with nowhere to go? A side-by-side comparison of real estate courses, seminars, and coaches is the most effective option.

What is the value?

Looking at both the short-term and long-term value of a coaching program is key to ensuring that you don’t waste your time or money. In the short term, a legitimate program should strengthen your real estate investing know-how and position you to confidently pull the trigger on a deal when the opportunity arises. Spending upwards of $15,000 or more on a program that doesn’t help you hit the target of buying an investment house just isn’t worth it.

For the long-term, the coaching program should benefit your business well beyond startup status. Your initial training should help you find and track leads, evaluate and strategize costs, even build a brand for your real estate investing business so you’ll be positioned for long-term success. Coaches who have already reached the goals you’ve set, and who are available after the initial training is completed to advise you in accomplishing those goals, are invaluable.

Will I see results?

In the end, whether or not you’ve received the best real estate investment training is what’s going to matter most. Building a strong real estate investment business takes time and hard work. It also takes the right coaching program to ensure you start, and stay, on track. If a significant number of other trainees from the program have seen the payoff, chances are greater that you could see the same.

When I started my research, I found the answers were frequently discouraging. Some coaches only offer sessions after you complete a lengthy entry-level course. Others offer different coaching packages for honing different skills—such as improving productivity or tracking sales—that can take months to get through. Still, others may only provide 10-minute sessions once each month. Few offered one-on-one mentor relationships or ongoing on-call support. (When they do, it is often very expensive!)

Choosing the Right Real Estate Investing Coaching Program

After wading through the different options, I finally decided to ask Todd how he’d chosen a real estate investing coaching program. It turned out that he’d been a HomeVestors® franchisee from the beginning. He explained that with an independently owned and operated HomeVestors® franchise, he had access to real estate investment training, a well-recognized national brand, We Buy Ugly Houses®, one-on-one mentoring, and ongoing support—all at a fraction of the cost of paying for coaching programs alone. Now, as a Development Agent, he mentors new franchisees on buying, rehabbing, and selling houses every step of the way and generally as often as needed. That was just the answer I was looking for, and I’ve never looked back.

Ready to invest in yourself by investing in the right real estate coaching program? If the answer is “Yes!,” then contact HomeVestors® about becoming a franchisee today!

Each franchise office is independently owned and operated.