With all respect, as a newbie, with a 1 acre commercial property used as a ground lease, on the whole, In general, are any of the “courses” worth the money and time? (names need not be given as per discussion group etiquette) Have been to quite a few general real estate seminars that are relatively inexpensive to get into then they want to sell you the big ticket item…fine if it works…but if the techniques are so foolproof why are they spending valuable time conducting seminars? I do understand the large dollar amounts that can be made by these individuals, just want other opinions.
Also has anyone had good luck, I guess you would call it “bird dogging”, where you find the deal as a newbie and partner with some company who holds your hand through the process and takes their cut. All respect to REI Club as I have gleaned much information from this website…Thank you for your time and opinions…
They are selling seminars because they make more money with seminars than with their “SECRET” real estate techniques. The truth is that real estate is a relatively simple business and that the “GURUS” don’t have any “secrets” to teach you!
I am a primarily residential Realtor form PA and wanted to get a better understanding of commercial real estate. I took a course offered by CCIM called commercial real estate investing analysis and it was well worth the cost of the course. You can check them out on the web at www.ccim.com
It took me awhile to figure it out, but I finally realized that to be successful in this business you have to treat it as if it were a business. That means that you have to constantly be promoting yourself AND your business. One of the best ways to accomplish that is by packaging and presenting what you have learned so that the other people that you’ll need to reach and eventually work with can also be successful.
If you ever get a chance, listen to speech by Earl Nightengale titled “The Strangest Secret”. In it he mentions one fact that I think most people would agree with, that people don’t place much value on anything that is free, even though the things that are free are worth the most. That being the case, if a I or you, Mike were to freely give away all of the lessons that you have learned over the past few years in this business, how many folks do you think would come out to listen to it or even use it? Not many, so you have to sell it.
Back to my main point, no one is going to get rich or gain financial freedom from dealing solely with a couple of single family houses; it just takes too long and the profits and income needed just aren’t there. To reach your goals of financial freedom, you’ll eventually need to expand the base of clients and partners that you deal with; the best way to do it is to consistently present yourself as a seasoned investor with a real purpose and destination via speaking and selling products. The benefit of selling products is that it effectively demonstrates that you know what you are talking about, especially if other folks are able to duplicate your success.
I started doing just that earlier this year and have had some good results. I speak 2-3 times per month at the REIAs and business groups in the SE USA, with the goal of introducing myself and my company to the people out there (plus their contacts) that that I’ll need to work with and that will need to work with me and my contacts for the larger projects that I have begun to tackle.
As for ARK’s question, a good place to start is with your local real estate investors association. They should have a sub group for commercial real estate where you should be able to find some more experienced investors to learn from and work with either as a property locator, bird dog or partner. Try to avoid the urge of investing your cash or credit with them until you have had a chance to investigate their background, see the results of their work and have learned how the business really works.
As for courses, the only one that I have listened to has been Scott Scheel’s. While I found it to be a decent starting point for learning the language of commercial real estate, I mostly found it to be entertaining (and expensive), so I wouldn’t use it as the basis of a business. If you can find away to get a copy of his course on ebay on the cheap, you should get it and listen to it before you approach a more experienced investor (at least you’ll be able to hold a basic conversation with them).
no one is going to get rich or gain financial freedom from dealing solely with a couple of single family houses; it just takes too long and the profits and income needed just aren't there. To reach your goals of financial freedom, you'll eventually need to expand the base of clients and partners that you deal with; the best way to do it is to consistently present yourself as a seasoned investor with a real purpose and destination via speaking and selling products. The benefit of selling products is that it effectively demonstrates that you know what you are talking about, especially if other folks are able to duplicate your success.
I think you made my point. The “gurus” don’t make their money with real estate, because they believe that “it takes too long and the profits and income needed just aren’t there”. In other words, they talk the talk, but don’t walk the walk.
I agree with you that you can’t gain financial freedom “dealing solely with a couple of single family houses”. However, it is possible to gain financial freedom by running a BUSINESS with 50, 100, or 200 rental units. It’s true that this isn’t a get-rich-quick scheme and will require hard work, but that’s the difference between being a real estate business owner and a get-rich-quick guru!!!
BTW, I predict that you’ll be seeing a bunch of the “gurus” disappear in the next few years. The real estate fad is over and the guru’s business is drying up.
“I think you made my point,” is a total understatement, Mike.
That’s some of the biggest pile of stuff that I’ve seen generated in a while on these boards, hassansr (no offense intended).
Why in the world would you believe that in order for you to “appear” successful, you have to speak and sell products? Why do you believe that doing that creates any more credibility than actually doing real estate?
In the short time that you’ve been on this board, it’s plainly obvious that you primary goal is to get people here to “believe” in you and visit your site. That’s why you have went through the old threads to make reply posts. Not only does it appear that you’ve been around for awhile (on the surface), but that you have “seen it all.”
In my eyes, if you truly want to be seen as a professional seller and actually knowledgable on the subject of REI, then you’d be replying to current posts dealing with the market conditions of today, not in 2003 when, quite frankly, practically anybody could sell a property.
I’ve met several of the “gurus” (noted as such) in my time, even spent some time with a few. The honest ones told me the simple truth (that most know, but won’t admit), it’s alot more profitable to sell the “secret” than it is to do it.
Of course, I, too, believe that many of the gurus will die out quickly in the current economic climate as their “formulas for success” were based around a booming economy and an rising housing market. Many of those formulas simply won’t work anymore.
Why in the world would you believe that in order for you to "appear" successful, you have to speak and sell products?
Raj,
Of course, you are absolutely correct. Moreover, if a person is actually successful, there is absolutely no reason to need to “appear” to be successful. It’s all nonsense!
If hassansr is attempting to get in the guru business, he’s out of sinc with reality.
In the short time that you've been on this board, it's plainly obvious that you primary goal is to get people here to "believe" in you and visit your site. That's why you have went through the old threads to make reply posts. Not only does it appear that you've been around for awhile (on the surface), but that you have "seen it all."
It may “ouch” Mark, but it wasn’t intended as a flame, just a statement of fact.
I wish hassansr all the luck in his career as a circuit speaker of REI. I just feel that coming on this site and answering questions that are four and five years old is not going to produce the results that he intends.
ARK,
I agree with KeithR–A real estate commercial course offered by the commercial Realtor’s group or your local college would be well worth the fee. Analyzing commercial real estate is not something you can learn by being out on the street. You need a formal course, but not necessarily an expensive guru course.
Thank you to all who have taken valuable time to comment on this thread. Great luck to everyone, and hoping for a profitable 2009 in real estate when most are running for the hills to survive.
I truly believe that there are several real estate courses that hold tremendous value. I have been a coach for a couple of these, not to name any specifics, and have found them valuable to those that actually apply what they learn.
I have also found some REIA’s to be valuable, but many are just large marketing centers with no true value. Make sure you attend meetings for a few before deciding on one to join.