Should Newbies Have Access to Calculators?

[Ben Leybovich]

OK, y'all.  Are you new?  If so - pay attention...

I got a PM today from a very nice guy.  Very well-spoken, seemingly intelligent, and well educated.

He introduced himself, and congratulated me with a job well-done on Cardone's show. And then he proceeded to tell me about a multiplex he was considering.  He said that the price was too high, and he knew it.  But, he was going to be able to achieve very favorable owner-financing terms, with low down-payment, 30-year am, and low interest rate.

He then invited me to view a link, which turned out to be a PDF of Brandon Turner's BP Calculator, and asked for my opinion...

You should know - I answer each and every message, email, and telephone call; specifically when approached with due consideration, as in this case.  I proceeded to open the PDF, and was impressed!

I've never actually used the calculator before.  I've heard Brandon sell it as "sexy" on webinars before, but I'm old and got no energy for "sexy"...  So - I was impressed with all of the color and nice graphics...

And then I looked at the top line numbers:

Income: $7,975
Expenses: $7,560

Cash Flow: $414

This is a 10+ unit, by the way.  The proposed cost was north of $650k.  Required down-payment was around $30,000...

WOW - anyone else see a problem with this?  

I've often said that it's about as difficult to buy RE as it is to fall out of a tree.  Well - this dude just fell out of a flippin tree...haha  At least he was smart enough to allow a tree branch (me) smack him over the top of his head.  Perhaps now he'll begin to look at things a bit differently..

But, there is another interesting piece to be noted here.  How can someone look at those numbers inside a colorful sexy PDF and see absolutely nothing?  And - should someone have access to a tool such as this prior to attaining a level of fluency to be able to interpret what he is seeing?

This type of use of calculators demotes them to a stat gimmick.  The tool is no use until and unless the user knows enough to be able to use it.

So - should newbies have access to calculators?  Is it really a benefit.  Or, would it be better, if we really want to teach them how to do this math, to sit them down in front of a spreadsheet and really teach them how this works...perhaps even in a webinar?

Thoughts?