There are many of these “Get Rich in Real Estate” gurus.
Than Merrill, for example, is coming to Canada soon. You can here register for sessions in the Victoria and Vancouver, B.C. to be held from January 19 – 30 2016. A “undercover” look at the Merrill seminars is found on the “Frugal Vagabond” site – http://frugalvagabond.com/2015/10/26/undercover-than-merrills-fortune-builders/
Here’s a quote from the Frugal Vagabond article:
“My primary complaint with Fortune Builders is that they are structured as a series of increasingly-expensive “seminars” which present no actionable information until the highest tier, which often costs tens of thousands of dollars. While it is possible to take the scraps of provided information in the free or paid courses and use the internet or a library to determine a plan of action, most of the people targeted by the program have limited cash, time, and education. There’s nothing illegal about repackaging freely-available information for a profit. There’s not even necessarily anything unethical about it, within reason. It becomes unconscionable when the price is so outsized that it represents literally years of disposable income for the student.”
The description of the hotel free seminar the writer attended is very much like the experience of attending one of Marco Kozlowski’s At Will Events / At Will Education / Turnkey Trainings / US Property Network / US Property Success programs.
And, of course, like many of the other past (Trump University) and present traveling road shows.
Another “Frugal Vagabond” blog post : “Real Estate Gurus Are Sociopaths” says it clearly:
“The most important thing I can teach you about real estate gurus is this: They don’t make their riches from real estate. They make their riches from convincing the vulnerable to buy free information for tens of thousands of dollars.”
The “Real Estate Gurus Are Sociopaths” post is well worth reading in full before attending any of these programs. Here is an excerpt from that well written article:
“The big problem is that real estate gurus are trying to sell the fantasy of quick and easy wealth to a group of people who are financially troubled, and desperate for a way to change their circumstances. It makes me intensely angry to see good, broke people bilked out of tens of thousands of dollars for information that is readily available for free.
Every last one of these gurus works in the exact same way: You are invited to an “exclusive” event that is “sure to fill up” (so you’d better call fast). From the very beginning, the pitch suggests a false scarcity. In reality, these events are often sparsely attended, and it’s unheard of for anyone who calls to RSVP being turned away.
When you arrive at the free initial seminar, the guru is generally not even present. Instead, whether you know it or not, you have arrived at an extremely aggressive sales pitch. You will be treated to a seminar devoid of any usable real estate knowledge, and a “system” will be outlined to you.
This is the first thing you need to know: There is nothing special or unique to any guru’s “system.” I’ll explain the basic elements of a real estate transaction later, but here’s what to expect at this initial seminar: the “guru” (his salespeople, actually) will be attempting to sell you a series of increasingly expensive seminars, classes, and programs.
At the conclusion of the initial meeting, or perhaps at some point during, you will be offered the first level of training. More often than not, the guru’s company will quote a “regular” price two or three times higher than it will be offered to you. They’ll tell you that for a very limited time, they will offer you training at a deeply discounted rate. Again, the guru is trying to build the illusion of scarcity. The reality is that this price is offered to everyone, and were you to attend the same seminar the next weekend, you would have the exact same “opportunity” to purchase the next level of classes.
As an aside, it’s important to remember that many of the people at the seminar who are performing sales duties were once in your seat. They are tens of thousands of dollars in the hole after having succumbed to this very same sales pitch. At some point, they were invited to join the sales team. Though the pitch is highly unethical, remember that many of the salespeople are victims themselves, and they may honestly still think there is a major payoff for them somewhere down the road.
One of two things is likely to happen next. You will be given an “assignment” to call all of your credit card companies and “negotiate” to increase your credit limits, or the guru staff may offer to help you make the call. As you probably already guessed, this is not for your benefit. The goal is to free up enough credit to place the training on your credit cards. If this tactic fails, you will usually be asked if there is a family member or friend you can borrow from to afford the program. You’ll be aggressively pushed to get on the phone and arrange to get the money, somehow, so that you don’t miss out on this very special,limited, offer.
Let’s assume for a moment that you paid for the next level of classes. If you thought that you had seen how bad these gurus behave, you’re mistaken– we’re just getting started. At the next level of classes, which may cover some very basic real estate theory, you will be deluged with sales pitches for the “advanced” classes (which may go by another name, such as “mentoring,” or “Pro level,” or whatever). In fact, most of the gurus have no less than three levels of training, and the highest levels can cost over $50,000!
In the interest of full disclosure, most of these programs do cover at least basic real estate concepts. Given how widely available this information is, these gurus have no business charging such scandalous amounts of money for what can be gleaned on the internet, or in a few evenings at your local library.
Most of the gurus offer a “money-back guarantee” to make it seem like there is no risk involved. In fact, the gurus have specific language in their contract (or only make promises about refunds verbally) to make getting your money back a near impossibility.”
I don’t know who the “Frugal Vagabond” is, but he or she has very skillfully outlined the true nature of these programs. Congratulations Mr. or Ms. Frugal!
Marco Kozlowski - way too good to be true 