Wondering if you have ever heard about or know about Coach Pat Martin.I have ordered his program but have yet to receive. Also Kenny Rushing just had a ton of hype out from all the other Gurus all of whom where also promoting his product from their sites. It has become overwhelming the number of “pitchathons” each week with each guru having another guru to interview then selling their course on an affiliate program. I guess there is nothing wrong with affiliate programs, but for someone new to the business you just are left not knowing who to believe and if you order this week, will something better show up the next.

I have spent thousands of dollars and I think some of the best information that I have gotten has been from your website for free. I recently purchased Azam Meo’s $95.00 course, and I thought it was great. It is a forerunner to a $10,000 mentor program. I was a part of Nouveau Riche, went to 3 of their colleges, split the $18,000 tutition with my daughter. Not bad information, but really general. Not specific enough. The biggest waste of money was with Robert Allen’s program, Millionaire Maker, or something to that nature, 4000, for more phone calls from other gurus wanting me to spend more money with them. Although I bought our first home using his Nothing Down book, in 1987. The million dollar question I keep kicking myself with, is why didn’t I just keep going way back then. The thing I have found out, after spending a lot of money is that no one can take away the fear that keeps you from just going out and doing it. There are no magic bullets or secret steps, you just have to keep on doing it until it gets done. Pour over leads, find the owners, and talk to them. If you are persistent, it will happen.
By the way, I count myself as a success. We control 26 units that cash flow, and we’re working our way towards more. We have been living on our RE investing for 3 years. We work very hard and we are not rich. Currently the plan is to improve the cash flow with wholesaling, and get out of the hands-on landlord business.

Bryan- I’d like to see reviews on Lou Brown, Larry Goins, John Burley & Russ Whitney. Their products, coaching, & overall programs.

Please Review Preston Ely. And in general who has the best wholesaling home study course out there. Someone or a course who has a good system for not only wholesaling pre - foreclosures but bank owned REO’s.

Hi there,
This is my first post but I have been reading your blog for over six months. I want to let you know and that I enjoy your straight forward, no nonsense approach to real estate investing on this blog and would like to thank you for becoming one of the very few guys out there who really tries to educate someone instead of attaching a procuct line to every bit of advice you give.
Since I have decided on a niche of wholesale investing I love products from Steve Cook and Vena Jones-Cox. They seem to have the same attitude on investing as you and I do by being honest, upfront, and straight to the point. I can’t stand a bunch of fluff.
I invested in both of their wholesaling courses and I have found out a great wealth of information from the both of them. both of these gurus have given you most of the step by plan to go out and start your first deal. I am new to the wholesaling business so to speak since I have just started being active, but I have been learning about real estate investments for about five years now. As always I enjoy any constructive criticisms that you may have, as well as any insights to whether you have dealt with these gurus before.
Thank you,
Greg

“True sucess starts when you stop worrying about selfishness and social status and start learning how to serve others”

Marko Rubel - Automate Real Estate Investing
Preston Ely - Wholesaling
Jeff Adams - Autopilot

Hey Brian,
I would like to find out about Sean Fannigan Luckbuysyucky houses.
I also would like to let it be known that I joined Trump U when I first started in Real Estate Investing and this was a waste of my time 10,000.00 and nothing to show for it. Bill Bronchick has some really good information though I have listened to alot of his stuff and he seems to know what he is talking about. I had signed up for a trial with Tim Mai and all I got were foreclosure listings not alot of motivated sellers though and some seemed like he pulled them from public records although he has some interesting topics I would not suggest signing up for that one I since canceled.Jeff Adams has some good stuff I would not suggest getting his website though I have a close friend who has spent alot of money and is still working on it.Thanks
trish

I bought Preston Ely (wholesaling) e-book for about $50. It stunk. I got my money back with no problems. He doesn’t provide any real details for calculating market value, performing a profit analysis, protecting your investment from poachers (he says just don’t do business poachers again — yikes!), then he rambles on and on about his relationship with God. When I buy a business book, just teach me about the business, don’t try to convert me to your religious faith. I already know where to go for religion.

Tom Butler (Short Sale Magic) introductory book is just as worthless. You find an owner in pre-foreclosure with 80% 1st loan and 20% 2nd loan (hopefully they total just a bit less than the current market value). Then you negotiate a short sale on the 2nd for 10% or less of what’s owed, and take title subject to the 1st loan. Then flip the property on a lease-option (stupid idea) to a retail buyer with repairable credit. His math is wrong for calculating short sale offers. He upsells expensive coaching. Forget about it.

Tim Mai is just another “me too” website of stale foreclosure listings. You will do better by going to your local title company and getting on their free e-mail list for the weekly “notice of default” publication. I get a free weekly Microsoft Excel spreadsheet of all of the foreclosure notices for my entire state of Colorado. I can easily pump that data into Microsoft Word form letters (”mail merge”) and mail it out. Also ask your favorite Realtor to program nightly searches into the Magical Listing Service (MLS) database and send e-mails to you each night of new pre-foreclosure and REO listings.

Mark Walters is just an online marketer, who hails from a family of real estate investors. The information he sells is outdated and he is an affiliate marketer for other “guru” whom he never checks (or doesn’t care about) the accuracy and efficacy of their products.

Bill Bronchick is a Colorado attorney (part time). His main source of income is online marketing and his seminars. I’ve attended some of his paid seminars, like his foreclosure seminar. There was way too little detail and mostly “rah rah” motivational, and of course his upsell for conference call coaching. I’ve purchased and kept a few of his home study courses, because they were mostly accurate in what they presented although they clearly lacked “the whole picture” that I had to learn elsewhere.

The Trump University and Rich Dad (Robert Kiyosaki) University are total nonsense. Those companies aren’t even owned by their namesakes. They only license the use of their names. The $500 3-day training from Rich Dad University is simply an upsell for their $77,000 coaching program (you can buy separately-priced “modules” or buy several at a volume discount). Trump University is just as bad with outdated information.

Lou Vucus (and a variety of alternate spellings) sells an outdated e-book “Real Estate Uncovered”. His plan is to buy a fixer-upper using hard money (at 65% loan to value including repairs and carrying costs), then sell with seller financing to a credit-challenged retail buyer and simultaneously sell that note at the closing to a note buyer for cash to pay off the hard money loan and you get your profit. Institutional note buyers have fallen off the planet with the recent mortgage meltdown; good luck finding anyone that will do a simultaneous close.

Alex Gurevich markets his “Get Rich Lazy” investing program, including his “Million Dollar Idea” e-book for making money on pre-foreclosures. He should’ve titled the book “How To Be A Predatory Lender”. It’s about finding a vulnerable owner in pre-foreclosure (ideally the property is free and clear except for delinquent taxes), make a usurious loan to the owner for twice what’s owed to pay the taxes, take the other half as your “fee”, then wait for the owner to default on the loan and take over the house for about 10% of its value. I got an immediate refund of my $40.

Wow Jeffrey. I appreciate your reviews. But its overwhelmingly negative. Have you had only bad experiences with your real estate education? — Bryan Ellis

Bryan~
I agree with wanting to hear about Jeff Adams and Preston Ely, and also the Big Cheese guru Robert Kiyosaki. We’re going to “Rich U” this weekend and have completed the 3 day seminar earlier. Although they did pitch the MUCH more expensive classes, I feel like I received some good information as well. The books I’m not so sure about as they seem kind of “fluffy” and I look at them mostly as staying motivated but not a lot of “how to” information. I also realize that when people become gurus, they’re subject to a lot criticism.

YOU are fantastic however!:-)

YA BRYAN,I ALSO WOULD LOVE TO HEAR MORE OF THE POSITIVE EXPERIENCES FROM THE FORUM. SURELY THEY DON’T WANT TO JUST KEEP IT ALL A SECRET.

I would like to know about Kim and Charles Petty. I am in the middle of a very bad situation with them. I still have not received my virtual wholesaling system from them (I ordered it on June 9th for $1016.95). I cannot find a direct phone number for them. I cannot get my questions answered by email, submitting a ticket with them, or leaving a voice mail. Their sales pitch is to purchase the program and they will work with you on deals, etc. I don’t understand how they can work with anyone if you can’t get a hold of them.

I would like to know if others are having this same problem with them.

What do you think of Ron LeGrand and Scott Scheel?

As for “positive” reviews, there are several authors that provide good information for very reasonable cost. I haven’t found any guru mentor/coaches that are worth their price.

Here are some book authors that provide good information at a fair price:

Jorge Pérez: “Powerhouse Principles”

Ken McElroy: “The ABC’s of Real Estate Investing”, “An Advanced Guide to Real Estate Investing”, “The ABC’s of Property Management”.

Jack Cummings: “Real Estate Finance & Investment Manual”.

Thomas J. Lucier: “The Pre-Foreclosure Property Investor’s Kit”, “How to Make Money With Real Estate Options”, “The No-Nonsense Real Estate Investor’s Kit”.

Steve Berges: “The Complete Guide to Real Estate Finance for Investment Properties”, “The Complete Guide to Buying and Selling Apartment Buildings”.

Gary Keller: “The Millionaire Real Estate Investor”.

Most of the Robery Kiyosaki “Rich Dad Advisor” series books have very good information, but remember they are not connected to the “Rich Dad University” or “Rich Dad Academy”. Stay away from the rich dad university/academy coaching.

Many of the authors have websites with free or low-cost downloadable forms that you can edit and use in your business.

Some of the best live education that I’ve received is from my real estate attorney and my local Realtor board that hosts continuing education classes. For example, I paid $75 (non-brokers pay a slightly higher price) for an 8-hour class on real estate law and creative financing taught by my real estate attorney. A real guru wouldn’t charged a couple thousand for that same information. Local Realtor boards are the best kept secret in real estate education.

Hope this helps.

Let me try this again: I will post several times in case I goof up the Captcha again:
Just got back from a gurus bootcamp. Unfortunately, he has sunken to the disease of the decade: promoting other systems during the bootcamp. It interrupts the flow of the content, distracts from the message and causes too many people to overcharge their credit cards. All the promoters are using the same tired formula: rags-to-riches; teaser info; too many testimonials; and “today-only” pricing. I’ve heard several of them at other bootcamps, or teleseminars and the “specials” are the same. It also almost guarantees most of the attendees are going to fail. We are encouraged to go in too many directions at once. If we could just concentrate on one program at a time, maybe more of us would be successful, thus boosting the guru’s success rate and credibility.
I’d much prefer a recommendation by the guru, websites to check. This would shorten most bootcamps by one day: one less day of hotel room cost,meals, airport parking, etc.

Kudos to you for taking the bull by the horns and attempting to compare the gurus. We had discussed “wish we could compare everyone” type of conversations at the dinner table while at the bootcamp. How Timely!

Gary Keller advised against deal w/Rich Dan university/academy. They are connected with WIA. What problems have you had with them and were they resolved?

Over the past year I decided to try and make it big in real estate. Unfortunately, I’m in the same position I was when I started. But here’s a few of my reviews.

I started on Preston Ely’s e-book, which was wholesaling information you could find anywhere. But at least it was cheap. I enrolled in his mentorship for 5000, but was greeted with one or two word answers to my questions. He’s got kind of an arrogant style as you can see in his youtube videos and such. Not a good teacher in my opinion. I’ve seen emails come across like “what’s wrong with you people!..” Granted there are students who never take initiative, but I didn’t like his teaching style and the informationa or gameplan was weak.

DON’T get involved with Charles Petty and his Ultimate Turnkey system or whatever it is. This fool, promised that he and his company were finding deals and making a one stop shop with loans, repair bill, contractors and rental management. I paid close to 4000 dollars for a downpayment and earnest money. I had a valid purchase agreement on a house in Georgia and next thing you know, I never hear from them again. Their numbers get disconnected, faxes never make it, emails don’t get returned. I threatened to sue, and they could care less. Since i’m out of state, i just let it go after 6 months of trying to resolve.

I’ve just ordered the Cash for Keys system by Pat Martin. I haven
t received it yet and since then I’ve been reading that short-sales aren’t easy to get, yada, yada. Who knows.

I think out of everyone that I have ordered, I would trust Charissa Cawley and Lance Edwards. They’re the real deal and their mentorships would be the way to go. But unfortunately its out of my expense range and you will need cash or credit to make things happen.

And I’ve tried lots of subscriptions to Tim Mai’s systems and just other random things I come across. But everything is regurgitated and using old data.

My only real success in even actually getting a real contract on property was to visit the local Real Estate investing group and go on a rehab bus tour. I got to meet real contractors, real people, and real situations. I stood to make 60,000 on a rehab n flip deal and then the whole subprime meltdown took me out as the HardMoney loan people changed their guidelines in midstride.

I think I’m just gonna jump to multifamily. With Lance Edwards program it looks like you’ll get the training you need, but you need Private investors or a lot of cash for that downpayment. That’s why I’m interested to know if anyone has used Anthony Minutos no money down apartment buying. (Oh yeah, Lindahl and Rister I don’t recommend to learn by)

Requesting Anthony Minutos apartment course review.

I also very much like Monica Main for Apartment House investing.

Just like Azam - “go out and do it”

All SOLID No B.S. content. Both at very reasonable prices.

It all still comes down to you and getting off your arse and doing it. Don’t fuss. We learn best by DOING. They give you all you need - enough to ge DOING

Do you know anything about Ron Mead and his probate system?

I trained in the past with Russ Whitney, I agree that it was good introductory information but then you are pretty much on your own. They gave a lot of general business advice but it is pretty outdated. I am currently mentored by Richard Pamplin who has been mentoring investors in Texas for over 17 years and just expanded his program via webucation. So far, my experience with his program has been amazing. He conducts weekly ongoing mentorship support with personal phone calls and has a real hand-holding mentorship program. He will even partner with you for a profit split and provide as much support as you need.

I bought Charissa Cawley’s REI Conferences Ten Step Fool-Proof Wealth Building System for about $800. A little later I bought in on one of her buying tours, where she goes to a city she’s researched, and takes you on a tour of houses, multi-family units, and apartment buildings. She hooks you up with her team of realtors, hard money lenders, mortgage brokers, contractors, inspectors, attorneys, insurance people, etc. The buying tour is $9000, but you get the cost of the training program deducted, so the net costs was $8200, which includes the tour, hotel, and meals. After the tour, you get a discounted price on future tours (as I understand it), and you get continued access to the team she’s put together. My tour was in St. Louis, but she is also working in North Carolina, South Carolina, Texas, and Mississippi. As a result of that tour, I put in offers on 8 properties, am closing in a couple weeks on one, and am still in negotiations on 2 others. I am still working with the team and am making additional offers.

She also goes over strategies for the various properties. You get a spreadsheet that helps evaluate deals as rental or lease/option properties. I have found Charissa and her husband Jeff to be very stand-up people, very helpful, and I’m glad I invested the money to get my RE investing career kicked off.

I’ve been to some of JT Foxx’s events. They’re a little short on details of the mechanics of a deal, but he has very good information on networking, building a team, partnering with others, treating real estate investing as a business and building the business. I also think that JT is a stand-up guy, though he rubs some people the wrong way and can come off as arrogant. One of his events ended up being a pitchfest, the other didn’t.

I went to the Rich Dad Education $500-3 Day workshop. As the others have stated, there is some good information, but it is largely a pitch for the $9K to $77K advanced workshops and mentoring training. I was considering taking a couple of the advanced trainings, until I looked them up on the BBB website, and there were literally hundreds of complaints against them. Kiyosake has aligned himself with Russ Whitney, who apparently has something of a sketchy history. Caveat emptor.

Why spend so many thousand when there are millionaires who are willing to mentor for next to nothing? I just came back from a meeting that a millionaire real estate mentor conducts for $10, no upsales, no gimmicks, just giving back so that people can become successful investors. It took a while for me to find him but it’s been well worth the wait.

I just started attending local meetups and connecting with like-minded people. I also use my blog to connect with people so we can continue to support each other. Pretty soon, I started attracting people who are in the same mindset as myself and we can continue to support each other.

I would like to see reviews about Dave Lindahl, Steve Cook, Pete Youngs, Mike Collins, Preston Ely, Colin Andrews Egbert, Vena Jones-Cox, John Schaub, Jay P DeCima, Jeffrey Taylor and Leigh Robinson. Thanks.

any info on Kris Kirschner, he is from your neck of the woods.

thanks

Matt

Everyone, check out your community college non-credit course catalog. Usually for less than $100.00 you can get more in depth, longer, personal, less than 20 people in a room, RE education. You pay far less for more content and quality. Plus it near by. I attend Prairie State College in Chicago Heights, Ill. and the have a foreclosure class for $79.

Hi Bryan,

What an extremely generous offer on your part. If possible, I would like to see reviews on a lady from Michigan who recently moved to Orlando Florida - Kimberlee Frank; and a gentleman out of Oregon who teaches probate - Ron Mead.

Thank you for being the caring person you have decided to be.

Sincerely,

Kevin

I am preparing to spend about $850 on Ron LaGrand’s Ugly House program which is to teach one how to become a wholesaler. Do you have an opion on whether this is course would be worth the while. Or should I look for a more effective program. I am interested in changing my financial picture now.

Carl

Carl - I have paid money to LeGrand in the past, and I’ve learned some good things from him. I have nothing negative to say. But keep in mind if you go to a live event of his, you will get pitched to purchase other products. Not really a criticism per se, just something you should be aware of. — Bryan Ellis

Thanks Bryan:
I am glad to see the responses to all the services that are out there. I have seen and been a part of several. Not all promise what they deliver. Bryan you do a great job of keeping us informed. In a way you seem to know what is on our minds. I am a member to a service that does deliver more than they promise. It took me several weeks to comfirm this. Out of my respect for him, I will not call him a guru but a person that loves his work and is more concerned about his members than his pocket book.

I went to so many guru’s most of who are already listed. I made a lot of money with subject to’s and I learned it from a guy that no one hears about. We put our first seminar on a charge card and got all our money back and then some. The day I went to Vegas to see CHIEF DENNY changed my life. Since then all the rest I went to STINK….. for the price. The all time RIP OFF was going to Mike ******* office and having Russ ********** mentor me.. The guy totally ripped us off. SAVE ANYONE GOING TO GET MENTORED BY THIS CON ARTIST………
Another one was Carrissa ******, she takes folks on tour (pricey) in St. Louis, MO to buy REO’s and then refi and cash out. Well it was going fine until the lending changed and I lost a lot of money and had to dump properties. I believe she still teaches it, and would warn you to make sure your exit strategy is in place and you can do what you are told. Also her team of contractors were rip offs and took 5 months to finish a 900 SF house.

Bryan, Thank you for all the great work you are doing, I don’t know where to statrt, There are so many out there every one of them claiming themselves to be the “GURU” I have been listening to and attending free seminars for long time, I did fairly good in residential real estate single family, duplexes, Quads, I am looking to invest in small commercial properties, such as offices buildings, or retail and office combination, Recently I attended free seminar with ( ICRE) Institute of commercial Realestate. They sound pricy, Have you ever heard about them.? appreciate for your help.

Best Regards,

Yasin

I would like more info on Jason Rodriquez he is from Orlando, Florida he is dealing in high end homes

I would like to here more on neauvo riech here in phx I have beento a few of their meetings and it seems the are just telling you to sell thier education and use the money to invest in rentals to become rich but they never seem to give any real nuts and bolts I feel I have learned more from reading your post and free webinars how come it has to be so hard to find a mentor that isnt tring to take all your cash before you can do a deal with them or someone that is assiocated which education really works in todays market

I have tried them all, no success, only hype and lots of bs. To Kalimah, I must say you are lucky. The worst I believe is Josh Cantrell. Each and every single day I receive emails and phone message from him, no respect whatever!! Good luck to all.