If you are reading this then you have already shown you have the thinking skills to become a successful real estate investor because you are asking the most important question and doing research. The problem, of course, lies in determining the answer, since all the "gurus" (with one exception) promote themselves heavily and utilize professional salespersons to hawk their programs. So, the answer is not to be found in a "free" seminar or a free digital presentation (often offered under the pretext that suggests it will teach you investing).
Let's take the three most popular real estate investing programs (by actual sales) as examples of what you might expect from them.
Like most of the late night "infomercial gurus", Armando Montelongo and Than Merrill (FortuneBuilders) rely on free seminars to lure prospects in. These seminars are purposely and professionally designed by expert marketers to provide just enough information to whet your appetite, but not enough to help you get started. To be perfectly clear, Forbes said it best when they wrote, "Seminars are not for teaching - they are for selling." In fact, the entire selling process is patterned after the old "medicine shows" of the wild west, where they first entertain you with a dancing girl or trick shooting, then they tell some wild tale of finding the ingredients for their "cure-all elixer" in the remote jungles of Borneo. And then comes the hard sell. Today's real estate seminars have upgraded the medicine show to a powerful, modern sales pitch. NOTE: Both these programs teach less than 5 methods.
The entire premise of free seminars is to up-sell prospects into the next level, usually a "boot camp" or some weekend program at an average cost of $1500 or so. And in that weekend you will learn more - but still not enough to go out and succeed as an investor. So - you guessed it - the core of the weekend is devoted to up-selling to the highest level, given a cool name like the "Mastery Program". Brace yourself - such top level training will often cost upward of $35,000. And even then there is no guarantee the training will lead to success.
So, what do you do? You may note it was mentioned there were three programs to compare. The third has sold more programs than any other, with the possible exception being Carleton Sheets' "No Money Down" program which has been marketed for nearly 50 years and did not cost all that much back in the day.
The third program was created by Bill Vaughn, a veteran investor with over 50 years experience, who developed the real estate investing guide, "The Simple Man's Guide to Real Estate" and teaches all 24 legitimate methods of real estate investing. You likely have not heard of Bill, because he does use paid advertising - he doesn't have to. With nearly 320,000 copies sold since 1989, this program sells itself simply by being the most effective, which results in "word of mouth" advertising. In fact, it is the only real estate investing program that has no need of infomercials, radio sales, pay-per-click or any other paid advertising - all sales are via a static website. No pressure, no up-selling - and no high cost! Unlike any other real estate program, Bill Vaughn's is offered on a non-profit basis and is sold at its actual cost to produce and ship - under $100.
Furthermore, "The Simple Man's Guide to Real Estate" includes everything needed to succeed, including patented agreement software that easily creates the necessary purchase and sales contracts specifically designed by investors, for investors, and also includes unlimited, lifetime mentoring at no additional cost - the mentoring is provided freely by professional investors who volunteer to help others succeed.
Without the cost of advertising (millions), the cost of "free" seminars (millions more) and the cost of paid mentors (still more millions), it is easy to see how Bill Vaughn's program can be offered for under $100.
But is his program effective? Here are just two examples of thousands, posted on their website:
- Homero, who received a certified check for $10,000 from a wholesale transaction he pulled off in just two weeks
- Russell, who pocketed $16,900 on his first attempt
In other testimonials, some clients made MUCH more. So yes, it works as it should. But only if the client puts in the effort.
If you are seriously looking into learning how to invest in real estate, any of these programs CAN get you there, but only one is affordable and includes a guarantee: if you do not succeed, there is a double money back guarantee. That program is "The Simple Man's Guide to Real Estate" and it is worth looking over.
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