Another newbie here. I attended the Real Estate and Wealth Expo hosted by the Learning Annex in Chicago on November 2, 2007. I didn’t know about this website before I attended. I enjoyed the expo, it was fun, the speakers were good, but as many of you have pointed out, their programs are overpriced.
I purchased J. Scott Scheel’s Commercial Real Estate Home Study Program and 1 day boot camp. I just got back from the 1 day boot camp. The information was good, but it wasn’t anything that I hadn’t already read in other far less costly books. The real kicker was that at the end of the day he was trying to sell his 4 day seminar at the low cost of $3,000. :shocked , I didn’t sign up, but many people did.
Ok, the rest of the story. Now the Learning Annex is calling me wanting me to join their Mentoring Program. The cost is between $3,000 and $10,000. I’m not sure what the different programs entail. They have called me twice so far and are supposed to call again tomorrow. Has anyone else that attended the Wealth Expo been contacted? Has anyone signed up for their mentoring program? What do you all think about this? ( actually I think I know the answer to that last one). :flush
I am not someone who is anti-mentor but I do feel that it is often best to choose a personal mentor who is in your same location. This gives you the advantage of meeting with the person personally as well as having the opportunity to tag along on your mentor’s appointments and/or meetings so you can see how conversations and negotiations take place in real life…just my two cents.
$3000? Thats nothin. The “gurus” around here charge $9500, and there is no “4 day bootcamp”. You get their phone numbers and their materials, and thats about it.
I cant comment on the expo that you went to because I never heard of it around my area.
M situation was somewhat like yours…I was new and technically I still am, though I know a hell of a lot more info than when I started. I really wanted to spend the money for the course that I mentioned earlier but I didnt. It all depends on what you want. Like right now, I am still learning things that I know I would have already learned in the course that I was gonna take. If you have the time, you can learn about investing on your own, but it takes a lot longer, and it requires much more patience.
People talk about finding a local mentor and tell him that you will send a few deals their way for helping you or pay them, etc, but I found out how hard that is to do, at least for me. Any person that I have talked to was absolutely not interested in mentoring me, no matter what. Of course, this is just what I have found out, and may not be the case for you. Good luck!
If you join your local REIA and make friends with the SUCCESSFUL investors in your area, one of your new friends will be happy to mentor you and they will know your local area. Most of the “mentors” that are in these big programs are just someone who will be reading you a script. NO THANKS!
Well, the guy from the Learning Annex called me tonight so he could interview me a little more before he actually let me talk to my “Mentor”. When I wouldn’t give him any of my credit card information he quickly ended our conversion. :shocked
So…I guess its all up to me now and what I can learn from this forum and the local REI club. More books, DVD’s and CD’s. Then get out there and work it.
Hey, is this up for bid? I’ll do it for 10% less than they will.
MissJen, if you really want mentoring from someone local, you have to be giving back to them and not just expecting to be taught.
Make sure there is a lot in it for them. Offer to carry their paperwork, crawl under houses, fetch coffee, deliver documents to escrow, make phone calls, stand in line (for hours) at the building permits department.
If you offered to throw a couple of deals my way after you were successful, if only I would teach you everything I know, I’d laugh you out of the coffee shop, condsidering you to be just another taker, offering to trade empty promises for my work.
What you want to offer is to work for them for free if they will allow you to watch and see what they are doing.
Normally, a mentor chooses a student and offers to help them. It’s not the way it is normally done to go after someone and ask them to mentor you. But if you are going to ask them, at least offer something of value in exchange.
Mentors can be an awesome thing whether they are local or long distances away. One of the most valuable aspects of having a mentor is not the actual hand-hand learning, it’s having someone who you are accountable to. Alber Einstein said it best when he said “you can’t solve a problem with the same mind that caused it”.
Up until this point in your life you are exactly where you want to be, there is no two ways about it. You have done “Your best” and your present life circumstances are a result of “your best”, so if you have never achieved a high level of success on your own, a mentor can be a very valuable tool to take you to the next level. Sure you can do anything on your own, but have you?
I have seen some very bad mentor programs that would give me a sour taste as well, but if you can find the right person, a mentor could be one of the keys to success.
If you look at most of the top players in any field, many of them have mentors, if you look at most of the people who are highly unsuccessful, many of them don’t have mentors, I think that says something. Usually the peoplle who need it most are the people who don’t do it.
From my experience the people who don’t buy courses, get mentors, buy books are always looking to blame someone else for their past failures, all of their failures up until this point, only have one thing in common and that one thing is them.
I disagree with the quote. I think that the mind is more experienced after a failure or a mess, and more apt to be able to correct it or not make the mistake again.
Anyhow, having a real life mentor, would be great experience.
there is so much free information on the internet now days - I buy RE books from time to time and have bought a couple courses. I normally read a lot of books that are indirectly related.
before spending thousands on bootcamps I would lurk around in some forums and ask questions.
I have learned a ton by just going to my local REI Club meetings. A brand new person starting out, can be sitting right next to a millionaire and they look the same until they introduce themselves and start chatting. That was me, the beginner, and I made a great contact and got some questions answered.
In addition to meeting and becoming friends with people at your local REI club…it also really helps to meet with local experts in your area.
Example:
This morning I met with a mortgage expert in my area. Part of my plan is to resell to homebuyers in a certain price range. By listening intently to him it instructs me that much more about what I have to do to bring a product to market, (SFH), that beats the competition.
But…if economy really tanks…reselling ain’t the best of options.
Knowing and working with successful landlords that hold assets is another avenue I pursue aggressively:
This weekend I’ll probably have a nice little bonfire with some decrepit
kitchen cabinets I yanked out of duplex for a landlord that calls me on occassion. He’s my local buy and hold mentor.