Real estate mentor: what it is and how mentoring works

1

A mentor from outside the business

Engaging a mentor is a step some people take when they want guidance on where to make changes, a 2015 business mentoring report noted. Bringing a mentor in, the report said, could save or develop a business. It spoke to owners who had done so, among them the managing director of a property services business who met his mentor at a workshop on tendering that the mentor was running.

The two went on to meet once a month at a coffee shop. The mentor would suggest things to look at and talk through ideas, and the owner said he tried to act on whatever the two agreed. External advice, in his account, helped him turn an unprofitable business into one that later employed another full-time manager. A mentor, he said, is someone who knows the job and looks in from outside, bringing experience and common sense, seeing weaknesses and offering suggestions.

He likened it to sport: a player caught up in the game does not see the big picture from above. As much as anything, he said, a mentor gives an owner someone to talk to who understands what they are talking about.

2

Choosing the right fit

Not every mentoring relationship works, the same report noted. A photographer from 12 Exposures Photography and Design sought two mentors at different points in her career and got very different results. The first, a former employer, reassured her that she was on the right path and helped her sharpen her sales skills, telling her to stay positive and to value her work. The second, a business mentor who helped people with sales, did not suit her: she said she felt uncomfortable, and that it was all about selling rather than the person or meeting the customer.

The report also set out tips for using a mentor. It said to choose someone the owner feels comfortable with, since important business information gets shared with them, and someone whose opinion the owner will value. It said to act on the suggestions, or the meetings just kill a few hours. Free mentoring may bring slower responses, so paying a little might keep a mentor on hand. It said both sides needed an honest and open discussion about what the mentoring is meant to achieve, and that a sound understanding of the business helps the mentor avoid unsuitable advice that wastes time and money.

3

A digital mentor for agents

In 2025 an industry report described an Australian auctioneer and coach who launched a virtual version of himself as a mentor for agents. The assistant was built to mirror his coaching style and works by voice: an agent speaks a question and gets an answer straight away, with no typing and no waiting.

The report said the model behind it was trained only on the auctioneer's own material, drawing on scripts and seminars he had given, recorded webinars, and transcripts from coaching sessions, rather than on open data or general training sets. It covers what an agent might raise with a coach, from prospecting and handling objections to mindset and business planning, and agents have access to it at any hour.

The report placed the launch against a wider shift: access to coaching had been limited by geography, time or cost, and agents early in their careers might not have the budget for personal mentorship. It asked what digitised expertise means for the traditional model of mentorship in the industry. The auctioneer's answer was that his tool reinforces that model rather than replacing it, and the report noted that whether agents take to it widely remains to be seen.