When it comes to flamboyance, I’m not sure if anyone can match Donald Trump.
Trump’s persona is unique and he’s done a great job of positioning himself as an expert real estate guy. He’s parlayed his public persona into multiple businesses including real estate, casinos, beauty pageants, publishing, vodka (!) and, of course, information marketing.
There are actually two different real estate training companies that run under the Trump name: Trump University and Trump Institute. I have some pretty direct knowledge of both companies, though my knowledge may be incomplete.
As I understand it, Trump University is partly owned by Trump, Michael Sexton (President of Trump University) and maybe some others as well. The original approach of Trump University was to have an “online school” staffed by real estate teachers who had significant formal training (Ph.D.’s) in the real estate and finance world.
Because Trump University wasn’t extensively involved in in-person live trainings, Trump University licensed the Trump name to Mike and Irene Milin, two notorious characters in the real estate business. The Milins, who also run National Grants Conferences and are long-time promoters of “pitchfest” real estate events, paid a hefty sum to be able to use the name “Trump Institute” and began doing “road shows”, “pitch fests” and multi-day live seminars.
Trump University realized that there was a lot of money to be made in live events, and so they began to do live trainings as well. So what you have now is Trump University and Trump Institute competing for the same customers. The end result is that a lot of people become very confused.
I have a lot of very direct knowledge about both of these organizations, including the very questionable characters Mike and Irene Milin who run Trump Institute. I have a much higher degree of confidence in Trump University which is run by Michael Sexton.
However, I have never been involved in any of the paid training programs that either of these companies offer. That’s why I’d love to hear your comments about your experiences with Trump University or Trump Institute. If you’ve got a bone to pick with “the Donald”, or if you’d like to give him some kudos, now’s the time!
Thanks for reading FreeRealEstateTraining.com!
I attended one of the 2-hour presentations offered by Trump University and I bought the $1500 program.
The $1500 3-day program was good, not great. But it wasn’t what they said it would be in the sales meeting. I learned some things, but not what I was told I’d learn.
I bought the first course from trump U and it had several speakers giving 30 minute presentations. The real estate portion was by Dolf DeRoos, who had lots of good information. I enjoyed the presentations, so I purchased the next course, and found that it was an hour long presentation, by the same people. So… I had to listen to the first 30 minutes over again, to get the next 30 minutes. I have alot of respect for “the donald” and have several of his and Robert Kiyosoki’s books, but I think I will pass on the Trump U courses.
Terry, you didn’t mention the continuous up-sell for mentoring/coaching costing big bucks. Both Trump University and Rich Dad Academy/University have heavy up-sells for mentoring and coaching. Rich Dad wants $77,000 for the full blown mentoring to teach several topics that you can learn for way less money by buying the right books. Trump University is very similar with their mentoring/coaching; I haven’t yet plucked up the courage to call them and ask their pricing (I’m still recovering from gagging on the $77K price tag for Rich Dad).
One interesting thing about Trump University is they have brought on Dolf DeRoos, a well-known real estate guru from Australia (or there abouts). He claims to have never had a job, but now he has a job with Trump University. Dolf is rebranding his “Real Estate Riches” book under the Rich Dad Advisor series. Hmmm… looks like the private teaching business is more profitable than real estate?
Please understand that Trump University has very little to do with what Donald Trump does in his real estate investing empire.
Hi all,
I have paid for and attended two, live, Trump University (not Institute) seminars, the first titled “Fast Track to Foreclosure Investing” and the second, “Perfect Storm to Profit” workshop. The latter was actually free for me, as an existing member, but supposedly costs $3000.00 (I don’t think they actually charge anyone for it). I also received an audio CD course called “Catch the Wave” by Trump and one of his ‘hand-picked’ gurus, unfortunately my dog ate it before I got to the ‘workbook CD’. After attending the first, I am now also Trump Premium member, which means I have access to the weekly teleseminar/webinars and news letters, etc… for a year and lastly, I’m familiar with several of his books, “The Art of Negotiating” (correct title?) & “Think Big and Kick Ass” come to mind.
Here’s my 2 cents:
The live seminar is a great experience; the most important aspect is the instructors, who I found to be top notch in terms of experience, knowledge, willingness to help you out, and attitude, but there is also the opportunity of meeting with tons of local real estate professionals in your area for networking. Came with a book that followed the seminar; all for the nifty price of $1500. Was I dissapointed? No. Would I pay $1500 again, probably not.
As for the books, also good value for the $29 price tag. I have never felt ripped off if any way by them.
If I had to register a complaint though, it would be their aggressive marketing. The live seminars are really ways to weed through potential customers and see whose willing to pay $35,000 for the mentorship program, which in my eyes, is probably worth every penny, but if you have $35,000 cash on hand, you must not be doing too much wrong. I always felt their program would have been better at a much, much lower price, like say $2-5K, and then a guarantee that they get a percentage of every deal they help you with until they get the full $35k. If they are so confident about making you a successful real estate investor, then the class should literally pay for itself. In summary, you get what you pay for. If your considering them, my recommendation is this: persistence and determination will yield you the same information/knowledge base to get you going. There’s tons of terrific free sources like this site, you just need to do the leg work (or click work) to find it. Build momentum and get those first deals done to put cash in your pocket; then, when your ready to start learning more advanced techniques from a one-on-one coach or about tax strategies/entrepreneurial skills, do some research and see if Trump is right for you.
-Eric
Maryland
Bryan,
Now I have something to talk about, I personally signed up for Trump U about 5 months ago, It cost me 9,500.00 This is when I first got started in Real Estate. After getting talked into the contract, and signed on I realized that there were other programs out there with one on one mentoring that were better. I tried to get out through arbitration and was unable to. I gave them my undivided attention had a once a week training sessions with a coach who basically only taught me the basics of wholesaling because I was told them that I could do this with no money and wholesaling would be where to concentrate. Although they were right that wholesaling is a good place to start that is all I learned for 9,500.00 granted my coaching sessions lasted 6 months and I have unlimited resouce calls if i need them for 1 yr. this clearly was not what I signed up for. All the contracts and paperwork that i recieved were basic and I was told to see a attorney to make sure they were okay for Md. This did not seem comfortable to me, they sent me to join realestate meetings which was a good idea and I still attend them but after researching all I could on different ways of doing realestate I explained to them that I did not feel what I recieved was 9,500.00 worthy. Still no help. I also attended a foreclosure event hosted by Trump U even had all his billboards and everything which turned out to be a prelude to the 3 day seminar that is talked about above, when I asked them if there was a discount because I was a university member It was stated that oh we are not affilliated with Trump U. This whole thing sent me strorming out and calling them to tell them still nothing done. So I guess what I have to say is for those new investors out there searching for information, do your due dilligence before signing on the line because not all is what it seems. I have learned more on my own then with Trump U and still have to pay the debt.
thanks for listening
I registered for Trump U (I think) and found it to be a bunch of hype, upsale, etc.
Just like with every other “guru” nothing works unless you put it into practice. I have attended the free 2-hour seminar and the 3 day course and had the follow-up course for a couple thousand but I found that without a team of people supporting me, I was still on my own. Currently, I work with a training company that has 7000 investor nationwide and we a tight-knit group that supports each other to succeed. My current experience has been such a blessing and I can only appreciate it because I have gotten the package from the other “gurus”. So I agree with Patricia that you should do some research before you spend more than you can afford because there are real estate mentorship programs that are a LOT more affordable.
I took some of the Trump U online courses and found them to be very valuable and full of good content. They were not just speakers going over basic information, but were real classes where you learned about figuring NOI, ROI, evaluating deals, etc. The homework assignments required you to really think about the course and apply what you had learned. I’m not saying they are the cheapest or the best thing available, but I did feel like they were worthwhile and gave a good foundation for the real estate investor who doesn’t have a financial or RE background. My only real criticism of the online course was that the “personal feedback” appears to be a cookie-cutter response and not the individual evaluation of assignments that was promised.
As a Trump U member I went to a free 3-day seminar which also had lots of good speakers and information, although they did do the hard-sell for the coaching program at the end as well as for some other products. It was a positive experience but I’m glad I resisted the pressure to enroll in the coaching program as I think a local mentor (which I later found) is a lot more helpful … and lots less expensive.
Summary … I think Trump U has good information and Trump Institute has some good basic information too, but the high pressure sales tactics are annoying and the “mentoring” is probably not worth the investment.
No, caitlin, it’s not nouveau riche…
My remark about Dolf DeRoos and Australia was not to imply that Dolf is an Australian. He is a New Zealander (similar english dialect to Australian) with extensive investments in Australia, New Zealand and many other countries. He is currently based in Phoenix Arizona. I have no affiliation with him. I am sure Dolf adds an interesting twist to commercial investing education at Trump University.