Is a Property Mentor Worth It? How to Decide

The short answer: a property mentor can be worth it if you're ready to act and want an experienced person to check your thinking on real deals, answer questions as they come up and introduce you to people you'd otherwise have to find yourself. It's often not worth it if you haven't yet decided to invest, if you're hoping someone will hand you profits, or if the fee would come out of the money you need for a deposit and a contingency.

I'm Louis Lattuca. I've been in property for 17 years and buying since 2009, and I offer mentoring myself, so I'm not neutral. I've tried to write this so it's useful whether you end up working with me, with someone else or with no one at all.

What does a property mentor actually do?

A property mentor is someone with hands-on experience who helps you make decisions about your own investing. In practice that usually means talking through the deals you're looking at, sense-checking your figures, pointing out risks you might have missed and helping you find the people you need: solicitors, lenders and brokers, builders and insurers.

It isn't a qualification. General property mentoring also isn't regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), and that matters in two ways. A mentor can share experience, but regulated mortgage or investment advice should come from someone authorised to give it. And if something goes wrong, you shouldn't assume the Financial Ombudsman Service or the Financial Services Compensation Scheme would cover a mentoring fee.

When is a property mentor worth the money?

In my experience, mentoring tends to earn its keep when a few of these are true:

• You're ready to buy, or you already own a property or two and want help with the next decision.
• Your deposit and costs are in place, or you have a clear plan for them, and the fee won't eat into that money.
• You've done some reading, or a course, and the gap now is applying it to real houses.
• You're short on time and want straight answers on your own situation rather than hours of content.
• You'd value contacts, such as lenders, specialist brokers, builders and insurance, rather than starting from scratch.

A mentor can't make a deal profitable. What a second pair of experienced eyes may do is help you spot a problem in a survey, a refurbishment budget or a rent estimate before you commit. Whether that's worth a monthly fee depends on how many decisions you're making and how much is riding on each one.

When is it probably not worth it?

Be honest with yourself about these:

• You haven't decided whether property is right for you. Free material, such as GOV.WALES guidance, Rent Smart Wales, books and podcasts, can help you get to that decision first.
• The fee would come out of your deposit, survey or contingency budget.
• You want someone to find and manage everything for you. That's a different service. If you'd rather have a house found and refurbished for you, look at property sourcing in South Wales instead. With us there's no upfront sourcing fee; you pay only once your purchase completes.
• The person selling the mentoring talks about returns, income or how quickly you'll be able to give up work. No one can promise those.

What should a property mentor cost?

Prices vary a lot. Some programmes charge a large one-off fee, sometimes bundled with a course, while others charge monthly. Mentoring with me is £599 a month.

Rather than comparing headline prices, compare what you get for the money: how often you'll speak, whether they'll look at your actual deals, what support there is between calls and what happens if you want to stop. If you're weighing mentoring against a course, I've written a separate comparison of a property mentor and a property course.

What should you check before paying a property mentor?

These questions sort out a lot of offers quickly:

• Are they still investing now? Ask what they've bought or worked on recently and whether you can see it. We run a free tour day from our Cwm office and live project sites for exactly this reason.
• Will they review the deals you're looking at, or only talk in general terms?
• What's the full cost, and is it paid upfront or monthly?
• Do they earn money from properties or services they recommend to you? Ask how, and get the answer in writing.
• Do they talk about returns, yields or timescales as if they're certain? If so, walk away.
• Is the mentoring a route into selling you a more expensive programme?
• If they talk about mortgages or finance, are they authorised by the FCA? You can check any firm on the FCA Register.
• If they also source property for you, do they belong to a property redress scheme and have anti-money laundering supervision? Businesses doing estate agency work, which can include sourcing, usually need both.

Does it matter if you're investing in Wales?

Yes. A mentor helping you buy in Wales should know where the Welsh rules differ from England's:

• Tax when you buy. Wales has Land Transaction Tax (LTT), collected by the Welsh Revenue Authority, instead of Stamp Duty Land Tax. If you already own a home, higher residential rates usually apply when you buy another property for £40,000 or more.
• Landlord registration and licensing. Every landlord with a rented home in Wales must register with Rent Smart Wales. If you let or manage it yourself, you also need a licence and approved training; if you don't, you must use a licensed agent.
• Tenancies. Under the Renting Homes (Wales) Act 2016, which came into force on 1 December 2022, tenancies became occupation contracts, with their own rules on written statements and notice.

Rules change, so check the current position on GOV.WALES and Rent Smart Wales, and get advice from a solicitor or tax adviser on your own purchase.

Where mentoring with Louis fits

Mentoring with me is £599 a month and is open to investors across the UK, not just in Wales. It includes support from me and my partners, help reviewing deals you find yourself, introductions to lenders and specialist brokers when needed, guidance on insurance and finding builders, monthly calls and WhatsApp support on working days. You can also come on a free tour day from our Cwm office and live project sites.

For context, the business has completed 900+ projects, we have 50+ staff and we're rated 4.8 on Google. I was never course-trained. I grew up in a single-parent household on a council estate with no funding, so I know what it's like to start without a safety net.

It's guidance based on experience, not regulated financial, legal or tax advice, and it can't promise any result. What it gives you is someone experienced to talk your decisions through with. Read what's included in property investment mentoring with Louis, or apply for mentoring if you'd like to talk.