I am very new to the idea of real estate. A free workshop is being offered by Jim Canale and James Toner called real estate riches. Has anyone heard of them? Let me know if you have any thoughts. Thanks :help
Leave your check book at home. And if you go? Tell them you have no money with you. Nothing, no cards, no check book. See how much time they spend with you.
Thanks. The wallet will be left at home. Have you heard of them?
Haven’t heard of either, but what does it matter? Whoever they are, they will most assuredly follow the same pattern as all the other gurus who have proceeded them.
Hold a seminar for little or nothing to attend, then upsell the heck out of the audience. $14 seminar fee, $14,000 program. :bs
You are probably right. They say leave the check book at home. I am going Wed. night. I will let you know how it goes.
They are going to attempt to sell a $5000 weekend progam (you can bring a guest for free). They will teach you “safe, sound, investing” by buying properties(mostly city) that need rehabbed at a total cost less than 70% ARV (titled in an LLC) then finish the rehab, cash out refinance and rent for a positive cash flow. Somewhat basic stuff, but seems to work for many of their students as I have many as clients.
There are various flavors, but basically same recipe. A weekend program would actually not be as bad as others. The ones I really cringe :twisted at are the ones that try to sell you a suitcase full of audio cassettes or CD’s (some have actually improved to DVD’s now, thank God!). With the bundle you also get all their forms in a book and/or CD “free of charge”, a $595 value FREE during this event only. The thing I hate about all these (and I’ve seen my fair share) is that they all use psychology to get you to think that their product is definitively going to change your life and then they want to rush you into buying into their products or programs. They want you to buy while you are right there because they still have that spell over you. They know that if they let you go home and talk to your spouse or friends about it, they will instill some sense into you… I know my wife would definitively slap some sense into me :bash They will start telling you that their whole system is valued at $20,000 and that other people have actually paid that without remorse, since they made way more than that in their first deal/week/month/year (choose whichever one you want), but it is available now through a special offer with the seminar sponsor at ONLY $5,995. They may also tell you there “might” not be enough for everyone here tonight, so you better hurry.
I do think some of these programs (weekend and coaching programs, NOT the audio programs) may actually be of some benefit to the people taking them who are willing to put in the work. I have a saying “Everything worth having in life requires work and sacrifice.” A lot of these “gurus” will try to sell you the idea that all you have to do to “live the life of your dreams” is to buy their product or coaching or whatever. Well, you are in for a really ugly surprise if you believe this fairy tale! You have to be willing to put in the work, to put in the time and the sacrifices and to be PATIENT! You have to be willing to come home from your day job and be willing to put in another 2-3 hours of work, whether it be research on your computer, driving around familiarizing yourself with neighborhoods, looking for deals, talking to potential sellers and buyers. It WILL NOT HAPPEN overnight! Some people have more success than others. And most of those successful ones were willing to put in the work their less-successful counterparts were not. And another thing you need, if you are married or have a significant other, THEY have to be supportive of your decission as well, because it will mean less time with them. Yes, we all want more time with our families, but while you are getting started and until the profits and the benefits of your hard work start showing, you WILL have less time in your life.
I do believe the advice given above about leaving your wallet and your checkbook at home is the best one. Also, tell your spouse or a friend to “NOT LET YOU BUY ANYTHING”!
Here’s one final thought. Whether you are new or experience, there ARE indeed a few things you can learn and pick up in these seminars. Some of them are not all sales pitch. So, what I do and I recommend doing is listen to everything they are talking about and if something sounds interesting, write it down, ask questions about it if you can, and then come home and research it on your own. You can even buy a book on the subject if you want. I buy a lot of books in real estate investing. They are a great way for me to learn. Now you may not feel the same way, but my suggestion is that if you hear about a particular investing method that interests you, go to your nearest bookstore and get a book or two in the subject. Most books out today are good enough to give you a broad understanding on a subject. After that, you then decide what your next step is.
Good luck and hopefully you will learn a lot in the seminar and get excited enough to start your carreer in Real Estate Investing.
As a final thought, after you attend the seminar, please come back here and post about your experience in the seminar for everyone to learn about what these characters have to offer our community.
Thanks for the information. I will let you know how it goes. I am not 100% sure that I want to put out $5000 for the program. :banghead
Just in addition to what other contributors have said. Nothing is free, the reason for the free seminar is to sell you a $3000 weekend boot camp training. I have had my own fair share. During my last visit to one those seminars, the guy did everything in the book to persuade us to attend his 3 day boot camp for $3000, when he could not get enough people to sign up, he said couples or 2 friends can pay $3000, later he said $1000 and if you dont have your credit card with you, they will make arrangement for financing. He was disapointed in us and called us losers.
They are interested in your pocket. The best way to learn real estate is to find a mentor (doing real estate) not a salesman (selling tapes and books) to work with. Remember, real estate is a win / win business, dont expect a mentor to just download everything he knows for you for free, you have to come up with doing something for him in return like being a birddog (deal finder) for him or if he helps you with a deal you will share the profit with him.
I hope this helps a bit.