I am considering buying the Foreclosures.com CD training program, as a prelude to their attending their “masters” seminar. Has anyone had experience with them and would they recommend following that path. I am not a complete newbie in Real Estate and I am not looking for a get rich scheme. I have a few rentals already and considerable buying and selling experience and would like to augment my portfolio and learn about the forclosure market. Any help or comments would be appreciated.
Marq
i have one clue for you: the Wall Street Journal had an article about www.foreclosures.com (and it was a positive one) Also; all the Real Estate columnist i have seen reference this company only…
I have never heard a bad word about their service offered.
Yes I saw the article and was very encouraged by it. I see that you are also in Ca. Please share you experiences in the foreclosure market. If you would like to send me a private email please do.
Thanx ''Marq
I bought the cd’s and took the three day class. The organization is extremely professional and very caring. Alexis is a great teacher who has a fantastic system and a contagious enthusiasm. The only caveat I have is that dont bother if you dont like cold calls. The whole system is based on dialing for dollars. The lab is just that, a hands-on version of the cds. So, my advice is to order the cds and practice making phone calls, lost of calls. If after 500 calls, you like what you are doing or feel you need some more guidance, sign up for the lab. Also, most of the calling needs to be done in the evening, so consider 4 nights a week consumed with calling. I haven’t spoken to anyone else from my lab class since, but it seems few have continued to pursue foreclosures with as much passion as they brought to the lab.
When I think of making cold calls every day, I cant help but think of it as a job, rather than a business. You cant make money on a beach in Hawaii, if you have to make 20 calls that night. Then again, why not just pay someone to make the calls for you?
Good luck, feel free to send me a private message if you need more info,
-Joel
It seems quite a few were interestedin knowing more about ForeclosureS.com, so let me see if I can answer some of the questions for you all:
As I mentioned before, the system is a great system if you don’t mind making cold calls. Cold calling is the basis for the whole system and so if you like cold calls and door knocking, then this system is top-notch. If you’ve read most of the articles on the Foreclosure.com site, then you’ve read Alexis’ opening line for calls and door knocks. My suggestion is to read every Brian Tracy, Jeffrey Gitomer, Zig Ziglar book you can find and take Alexis’ opening line and start making calls. Make 500 calls and if you are still interested in foreclosures then by all means take the lab. The lab is a hands on experience of the cd’s. You are simply implementing each step of the cd’s, with Alexis’ help by your side. So, the more experience you have prior, the more/better questions you’ll have.
As part of the lab, you tour a home that would be very much like a foreclosure property you would buy and then tour comps to see what rehab the purchased property needs. I personally got a lot out of the tour because Alexis showed us the bare minimum that needed repair/rehab to obtain top dollar. I had been spending too much money on my previous projects. Alexis has a handy spread sheet that she passes out to lab grads that calculates purchase, money, holding and rehab costs for each deal. If you have any knowledge of Excel, you can make this yourself, it will just take some time to get all the fields in there. I have a mortgage broker who had a very similar sheet that calculated all the purhcase, holding and money costs, but not the rehab. For the rehab estimates, you can get a cd from Home Depot that does the same thing.
I expected more of a community to be formed after graduation. I don’t talk to any of my fellow lab members and don’t know how their investing is going. Alexis doesn’t seem to be much for the community side of investing, not sure why as it could be a nice source of additional income for her if done properly.
My experience has led me to one deal, with about $40K in profit and no rehab work. I don’t like making phone calls, so I gave that up and have since started mailing letters. I personally believe her system needs a bit of tweaking. Also, be aware that the calls need to be made in the evening, the same time your family is home and most folks are looking to relax for the evening. For instance, she claims whether over the phone or in person, it doesn’t matter so long as you are making contact. I disagree. The more face-time you can get with a client, the better. So, don’t sell over the phone, sell in person.
Foreclosure investing is a sales job. For all you re-habbers who are handy with tools, let me be the one to break the news to you. This is 80%-90% sales and 20%-10% investing.
Like all “systems”, the system wont work without an input of some sort. this system requires the input of phone calls (and the time to make the calls). Other systems require the input of money; this one has very little over-head for a beginner. But, unless you are a trained salesperson, your success rate will be fairly low in the beginning. I fear the low success rate causes discouragement among many and they abandon this system for another or nothing at all. Out of the 13-14 lab graduates, I would expect less than half have continued with this approach.
I hope this helps get a more clear idea as to what the system is and how it works.
-Joel
thanks for your honest replies, guys. It’s nice to hear the opinions of some people who have gone through their program.
I was looking at it myself but @ $9500 it’s one of the most expensive mentorship programs I’ve found yet…
Wow, that is pretty pricey. When I went through, they hadn’t yet rolled out the mentorship program so that just became an option for me. I knew it would be expensive, but didn’t realize it would be that much.
What do you get from the mentor?
sorry, what I meant was their 3-day lab…
I don’t know what the pricing of the mentor is…
where is the cold calling? or is that what you are referring to knocking on doors? The course I took required knocking on doors as a means of being successful. Scarey cause to me that doesn’t seem very safe these days.
I looked into it. I even called and talked to someone who had taken that 3 day lab about 4 months ago. She had not made a deal yet. That person is a loan officer and told me she had been pretty busy.
I think $9,500 is a bit too much. I didn’t know about the CD, but now that I do, I’ll order that instead, as long as it’s worth a reasonable amount.
to me, cold-calling and knocking on doors is the same thing in terms of technique. In all the door knocking I’ve done, I have never once felt scared for my safety. People are in general fairly nice, they may not pour out their heart to you, but will at least listen to your opening pitch and give you a shot.
The general rule of thumb is that if you dont want to get out of the car, well then you probably shouldn’t be looking to buy the house, 'cause who’s gonna wanna live there?
I recall when I took the class, I paid about $6,000. What a deal in comparison to the $9500 folks are talking about now.
I’ve heard the “I’ve been busy” excuse from several folks who have taken the class. Part of me wants to ask how they found 3-4 days to take the class and the other part says, that’s the problem with the class. This is not an auto-pilot system, it requires constant attention and fueling.
Joel,
my question, since you’ve already taken the lab, and I know the list you get from them, does not contain numbers; how do you get the homeowner’s phone number. I know of some sites like anywho.com etc… but most of these sites are not really effective. Which source do they teach you to find the homeowner’s phone numbers, since they preach cold calling. thx.
That’s a good question. What they actually teach is to not try and get the homeowners # first, but to get the neighbors #, then if that doesn’t work go to the homeowner.
Neighbors spill the dirt fairly easily and you can generally get them to leave a note at the homeowners door for you. I’ve noticed this doesn’t work as well in the winter when it gets dark earlier, but in the summer neighbors dont seem to have a problem helping you out.
If all else fails, zabasearch.com is the recommended website.
-Joel