BiggerPockets

Oh wow, just found this thread:

http://www.biggerpockets.com/forums/79/topics/26246-lifestyles-unlimited-by-del-walmsley

Hmm...maybe Mr. Ingersoll is the way to go? I am waiting to hear back from him about his fees and general information. He seems very professional and successful.

Will keep everyone updated. Please share your thoughts on what I originally asked though!

@Brian Stone There are a couple of things you need to consider before making this decision.

First, you always want to pay for coaching. If it's free, that means you are low, low priority.

Second, a coach should be able to provide you with the contact information of current and former students for you to contact and speak with about the program.

Third, the coaching terms should be clearly defined; days and times he is available, in what way the coaching takes place (email, phone, in-person), and your overall access to him. In addition, he should clearly define what you can expect to learn and receive in the program, including any and all contracts, resources and information.

And lastly, if the coach also has a very active investing business of his own, he will be dividing his time between it and you. And, when push comes to shove, he will choose his business over yours every time, pushing you to the back-burner.

It is not necessary for your coach to be local. If that's important to you, great. Go with it. But, it certainly isn't necessary for you to succeed.

Hope this helps.

Originally posted by Andrew Massaro:

First, you always want to pay for coaching. If it's free, that means you are low, low priority.

I'm going to disagree with this to an extent...

There are plenty of successful investors out there who will help a new investor without looking for cash in return. The two most common scenarios are:

1. Someone with whom you have a relationship and who is willing to mentor you given the relationship;

2. An investor who will trade coaching for volunteer work or something else of value.

An example of #2 is a wholesaler who wants to get into rehabbing. If you're a successful wholesaler and want to learn about rehabbing, find a successful rehabber and offer to bring him a few deals in return for teaching you how to rehab.

I've done #1 above for several new investors, and would always consider doing #2 if someone who could provide some value in return.

That said, there's absolutely nothing wrong with paying for coaching under the right circumstances (the coach is knowledgeable, has real-world experience and is reasonable in his fees) -- but don't assume that you *have* to pay to learn this business from someone successful.

And certainly don't assume that "expensive = good" when it comes to coaching! I have 100% success rate with my free coaching/mentoring that I've done...I'm pretty sure that's better than the average for paid coaches... :)

Brian,

I'm not a big buy-your-mentor person but do believe that having a step-by-step system is very helpful for keeping on track. I love studying here on BP but the challenge is to have all the pieces in one place.

I highly recommend Sean Terry. He gives away TONS of info on his podcast and has a great coaching program---much less than $500 mo.
Plus his students aren't locked into a long term contract.

Best of success to you.

Like anything else, there are good and bad sides of all choices. That said, you definitely don't need to spend money to find a good mentor and spending money doesn't mean you're getting a good mentor.

I've heard from plenty of people who have paid for mentoring (I'm talking in general -- not specifically about the people/companies you mention) from so and so and got far less access to that person -- in fact, in many cases, these folks are stuck getting coached by some underling with little to know experience. It

Do your diligence, and don't judge a book by its fancy or tattered cover -- it is what is inside the book that matters.

That said, you've got a network of thousands of coaches here on BP who are willing to answer any question you've got at any time of the day for free . . . don't hesitate to let the community be there to coach you.

I've heard from plenty of people who have paid for mentoring (I'm talking in general -- not specifically about the people/companies you mention) from so and so and got far less access to that person -- in fact, in many cases, these folks are stuck getting coached by some underling with little to know experience.

That's why I said to make sure the terms and conditions - including access, how you are to be coached (and by whom) and what you can expect to learn and receive - are clearly defined from the beginning.

But, overall I agree with Josh. Just because you pay, doesn't mean you're getting good service. I've had a number of disgruntled former Rich Dad Coaching students come to me after plunking down $25k for that program. So, do your research and then go with your gut.

I very rarely take the time to post negative reviews about products/services. But in this case, I feel obliged to do so in order to warn others before they put down $10,000 of their hard-earned money.

I have been a "Preferred Investor Group"(PIG) member in San Antonio for a little bit over a year or so and have purchased 2 houses thru Lifestyles.

I choose to post with a psedo identity as it is not pragmatic to criticize a organization after paying a hefty sum in advance (which effectively precludes you from using services from other organizations).

I disagree with some of you who may claim that some of the below points are trivial. When you are being charged $10,000 a year, the service/product provided has to be top notch. I have paid less than $10k a year to other
organizations (not RE orgs) and have received far superior services/customer service.

- Reponses via email or phone from the realtors at LS is not of top notch quality. I have had to email/phone/leave voicemails repeatedly to get traction on deals that i have been interested in.
There have been numerous occasions when even a courtesy response was not provided to let me know that another member was already working on a house or the house was already under contract(and no, the Quest tool still indicated that the house was available for members).
It seems like the organization does not feel the need to send even a courtesy response if a property is no longer available for LS members . The exception to this experience has been Dennis M. He has been prompt and courteous and
goes the extra mile.

- Properties on the MLS are "tagged" by the realtors within LS. And a property can be tagged by only one realtor. And once a property has been tagged, you HAVE to work with the realtor who tagged it and not with any other realtor
within LS. This shifts incentive for the realtors within LS from providing good service and bagging repeat business to just be agressive in tagging properties.
This is in stark contrast to the vendors who are not allowed to tag properties and thus always have an incentive to provide good service and gain repeat business.Remember you have already paid $10k, so you are going to work with the realtors within LS rather than external realtors.

- LS uses a catch phrase "Real Estate is Easy, People are difficult" implying that RE is easy, you just need to be able to deal with various temperaments of various people involved in the sealing of a deal. Yet the San Antonio office has only 1 Single Family Mentor, Jim V. If for any reason, you and him are not on the same wavelenth, you can be rest assured, you will have to really really go the extra mile to ensure all the i's are dotted and t's are crossed during the various phases of a deal. He does not have any incentive to proactively ensure your deal is succesfull. $10k/year definitely should earn you multiple mentors(with a reasonable level of proactiveness to return phone calls/emails and ensure that you are not forgetting to dot the i's and cross the t's that you are unaware of) to work with.