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Commercial Real Estate
Investing Q&A: Mentorship
Based on a WomenforWealth.com Q&A Session with Kelly Fabros
by Kirsten Lee
Commercial real estate investment magnifies profits for the savvy
investor. Always seeking to increase the information available to our
community, the Women for Wealth held a live Q&A session with former LADP
officer turned super-successful commercial real estate investor, Kelly
Fabros. Our listeners were encouraged to bring their toughest questions to
the table. This series of articles highlights Kelly's responses.
Q: You've mentioned using the same people, such as your lender or
your mentor, on your commercial real estate team several times. Why is this
particularly important?
Kelly: A lot of people shop different commercial real estate
lenders and they never use the same person twice. I have used my
lender on both deals this year and he recently told me, 'Kelly, you're my
best client.' Well, how can I be your best client with two deals?
He said, 'you've closed over $13 million worth of deals with me in less than
a year.' The benefit to that is I can ask him for things that are not
normal, for example, getting two years interest only on a commercial real
estate loan. And he goes to bat for me and actually gets it. I
established that relationship so he knows who I am and that I'm a buyer and
a player in the commercial real estate investment arena.
Q: You stress the importance of mentorship in commercial real
estate investing. Do you compensate the mentor in any way or do you
pay a fee?
Kelly: Some people starting in commercial real estate investment
are fortunate to find someone who takes them under their wing as a mentor.
If you find someone like that that's great. I actually did pay my mentor. He
was a flat fee for six months but we've also created such a great
relationship I can call him anytime now and he'll help me out. And I can ask
him questions and we're also growing into more of a friendship and not a
mentorship where he can call me, too, and ask questions.
Q: What kind of other intangibles do you offer your commercial
real estate mentor?
Kelly: I think the key, from what they've told me, is I always got
them what they needed right away, instead of them having to keep coming to
me. Maybe that's part of it.
Q: How much time do you spend talking on the phone with your
commercial real estate investment mentor?
Kelly: Well, I just met my commercial real estate investment
physically mentor for the first time two weeks ago and he's been my mentor
for over a year and half now. Everything has been over the phone up
until now. When you're talking with about someone's fears and he's
walking you through your limiting beliefs, you get close with them, even
over the phone. My lender knew I was a beginner and he took the time
to evaluate the numbers with me. He would spend an hour on the phone with me
just going over the numbers teaching me how to evaluate.
Want to learn more about Kelly's experience
investing in her first few deals? Check out our interview with Kelly
Fabros on CD and MP3: Profit
from Apartments to learn more.
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