Real Estate Guru Speak - some thoughts

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Real Estate Guru Speak - some thoughts

Ken Latchers
Hatfield, PA · Member since 2012 · 1k+ posts · 629 votes

Although I started in real estate some 20 years ago, I have been watching a wide variety of webinars recently, seeing if there are truly useful ideas out there

So far, these are some thoughts I have:

- Value - many many thousands, but you will sell it to us for a limited time only for just $995!!!
- Bonuses! Bonuses! Bonuses!
- Only we have this great new trick to yada yada...
- Only $995. Uh, why is your set of CDs worth more than a $40 book from Amazon?
- If you have sold $175 million in buildings so far and are so well known and respected, why are you trolling for my few miserable dollars?
- So the main reason you have this webinar is to build your prospect/buyers/investors list? (they never mention this)
- Um, who are you exactly?
- If you are so profitable, why are you spamming on social media instead of advertising/marketing like a successful company?
- They always seem to have the maximum the webinars allow (250). How do I verify this and there are not really only 6 people watching?
- Why are the webinars "scheduled for 9pm tomorrow!" when it is obvious they are prerecorded?
- Our printer accidentally sent us 200 copies more than we requested and for a limited time, we are selling them for only...
- They never seem to have testimonials from anyone who thought their course sucked.
- We can never verify any of the glowing testimonials. Everything needs to be taken on faith.
- Why do all their multipage templates look like a $10 purchase off Ebay?
- Why is this information something the experts don't want us to know? And why do only the amateurs get to know it?
- Make $10,000 a month next week and quit your day job next month!
- How come it is so easy to flip, short sale, get private investors on these webinars, but everyone on BP seems to feel the opposite?
- As Pontius Pilate said "What is Truth?"

What are your experiences or thoughts?

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Aaron Mazzrillo
Investor · Riverside, CA · Member since 2011 · 2k+ posts · 3k+ votes
14y

I have been to more seminars than most people I know. Everything from 100% pitch fests on one end of the spectrum to 100% content on the other. Some free, others I have paid thousands to get in. Some of the free have been great, but mostly an up sell in there somewhere. Some of the expensive ones have been great and some have been total rip offs. Point is, before I started attending events, I wasn't doing much business. After seeing Ron LeGrand in Long Beach and going through his foreclosure materials, the first foreclosure deal I did was to purchase a preforeclosure property with $25,000 cash down, subject to the existing $700K loan. All I could think about after escrow closed was Ron up there saying, "write a big check, take a big loss!" When I did that deal, I had his manual open on the kitchen table and was following along filling out the paperwork step-by-step right in front of the seller.

Sold the house after nine grueling months (because I didn't know anything about marketing and trusted a very bad real estate agent) for $1.25M. Would you say Ron LeGrand ripped me off or do you think I got my money's worth? I'm sure there are plenty of people out there 5 figures deep into his courses who have nothing nice to say and not a deal under their belt to show for it. If I got my money's worth, why not everyone else? Same materials. Same CDs & books. I didn't get special editions...

It is easy to sit back and knock the guru. "Ah, the guru! He just takes your money and doesn't teach you anything!!!" OR, do the majority of the people who buy at the back of the room expect the box to contain not CDS you actually have to listen to, but magical beans that will produce a line of motivated sellers with equity knocking on the front door and a line of buyers with cash knocking on the back door while you run back and forth between doors collecting checks? Even if they sold you on the idea you could do that, I think we are all familiar with "a fool and his money are soon parted."

I have found that I can always pick up some bit of information that will help me in my business even if it is from the person sitting next to me in the audience. The last two weekends I attended a 1 day event that cost $499 and a 3 day event that was $1,999.

I spent most of my time in the hall talking to other investors at one of the events and the other event gave me a new understanding of an asset class I have been interested in. And only one of the events had absolutely nothing else for sale.

While it may seem like I am defending gurus, I do know there are plenty of charlatans out there. However, I think you get out what you put in. If we are going to say gurus are out just to take your money, we could say the same thing about colleges & universities and those cost a whole lot more than a 3 day boot camp, and you're almost guaranteed not to learn a darn thing you can go out and use the day after graduation to make you any serious money. I know I wish I could get a refund on my diploma!

Also, I love that saying, "those who can't teach." Well, I'm glad we have educators who teach how to deliver a baby! And what about pilot teachers! Sure would suck having to drive everywhere. Let me not forget Mrs. O'Brian who taught me how to type without looking at the keys my freshman year of high school. So glad she was there.

For the record, I run a monthly REIA (no pitches allowed) and a room for 60 people for 4 hours costs me about $1,000, A/V guy included. Hotels charge $40/gallon just for coffee. Next time you're at an event, enjoy the coffee because it is probably the most expensive cup you've ever had!

Sorry for the long post.

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  • Ken Latchers
    OP
    Hatfield, PA · Member since 2012 · 1k+ posts · 629 votes
    14y

    @Chris

    The problem isn't whether gurus might have some things of value. The problem is (as I started this thread), that most gurus sugarcoat, hype and simplify with their marketing, advertising and other freebie webinars. They get defensive, but they really have little reason to defend themselves.

    As someone said, it comes across as a lie, wrapped in deception, anchored in misrepresentation. What you get here in BP, is people actually giving mostly honest and experienced answers, and I go much more with the anti-guru crowd.

    1Reply
  • Robert GuilfoylePro Member
    Mount Laurel, NJ · Member since 2012 · 125 posts · 36 votes
    14y

    I am a newbie to RE Investing and have learned so much from read the BP forums and joining a local real estate investment club in my area - South Jersey. I have gained access to rehab and offer templates etc where a guru wants you to take a two day class for $5k+ to gain access to the templates and their system which i have already learned here on BP. UGH!!!

    1Reply
  • Chris ClothierBusiness Member
    Rental Property Investor · memphis, TN · Member since 2009 · 2k+ posts · 3k+ votes
    14y

    Ken Latchers - I don't disagree with you on the marketing hyperbole and you did say most not all. You are on point and I agree that it is a shame that marketing works so well and so many people are susceptible to marketing techniques that help them down the road to parting with their money and not necessarily making more of it.

    I also agree with all the points on here about finding great value when chatting with the participants on the BP forums. You just have to know when all the chatter stops and you have to actually start doing. Thanks for the thread Ken - good back and forth as usual.

    Podcast Guest on Show #224
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    0Reply
  • Stephanie J.
    Real Estate Investor · Spring, TX · Member since 2012 · 3 posts · 1 vote
    14y

    Another newbie here .
    I just attended a 3 day 9 hour seminar which cost me $200.00. I feel like I learned a lot . The part that turned me off was the main speaker crying on stage after sharing personal information about his childhood. Yes his story was sad but I felt like this had nothing to do with real estate and he was just trying to play on peoples emotions. Who does that?? To me his tears were forced.Looking around the seminar a few women were crying. I later realized this is part of the sales pitch.

    We were told to contact our credit card company to request an increase in the credit line.

    They made it sound like their program was very exclusive and not everyone is admitted. Well I applied and was admitted to their mastery program but decided not to max out my Credit card by charging
    $24, 999.00.

    Thanks for this thread!!

    0Reply
  • Ken Latchers
    OP
    Hatfield, PA · Member since 2012 · 1k+ posts · 629 votes
    14y

    We went to some hotel seminars, including Rich Dad, Trump and others. The thing that bothered us the most, was the "yes men." The marketers plant employees in the crowd, to say" yes" boldly at key parts of the pitch, to goad audience members to get into it and to sign up. Very dishonest...

    0Reply
  • Michael Lauther
    Investor · Hampton Bays, NY · Member since 2009 · 907 posts · 258 votes
    14y

    Nothing gets BP members rolling like a good Guru conversation. 30 posts and counting in record time.

    I grew up in sales, life insurance, stocks , mutual funds, and understand the resentment expressed by many. Non of us likes to be sold and yet as I have said on other posts , I have spent a good part of may career hireing and training salesman and sales managers, I am in awe at the level of salesmanship exhibited as some of these seminars.

    The inforamtion to be gained and the motivation that the confidence gained elicits (even false confidence) is a call to action for many.

    There are many Gurus whos material is worth the $97, some may be usefull at $997 and there are many tralented trainers and mentors. But come on... when someone is charging thousands $25,000 and more to a new investor and getting them to increase their credit card limit, this boarders on criminal.

    0Reply
  • David Krulac
    Mechanicsburg, PA · Member since 2013 · 3k+ posts · 2k+ votes
    13y

    Aaron Mazzrillo

    I've probably seen over 100 "gurus" including William Nickerson, Albert Lowry, Robert Allen, Ron LeGrand and many others.

    Current gurus that I've meet and like a lot include John Hyre, Ray Alcorn, Leigh Robinson (he wrote the best selling book on Landlording selling over 300,000 copies), and others. I've seen Frank McKinney a couple of times and he is inspirational, but I'm not sure I'd call him a guru. I like Andy Heller, also and have talked to him a few times. The gurusthat I've like the most are ones than do deals and have done what they say they've done.

    I'd like to think that there is some kernel of wisdom in all the pitches/presentations that I've sat through, but in some cases its very difficult to discern that kernel.

    I've gotten a lot from various real estate books and am still an avid current reader. So far I've read about 15 books this year and have about 3 others that I have started

    0Reply
  • Sean Kremer
    Real Estate Investor · Milford, NE · Member since 2011 · 201 posts · 140 votes
    13y

    It seems that years ago I bought any course available... I buy everything off of e bay. I can tell you this for certain....Carlton Sheets started me off with motivation, and I'll swear that Ron Legrand courses...(and I've bought them all, even though I have never attended a Meeting of any kind.) have saved me thousands in time savers and little tricks that i picked up listening to his stuff in my truck over and over until I could darn near recite it from heart. As long as you stay grounded and don't in any way fall for the Kool-aid, these courses have been more than a good investment for me, and like houses, i wait to get them for pennies on the dollar. There is no less information available after one or two people have already gone through them before me, in fact if you luck out, the previous owner may have highlighted the "important" stuff.

    Sean K

    0Reply
  • David Doyle
    Investor · Monrovia, CA · Member since 2012 · 219 posts · 79 votes
    11y

    "Absorb what is useful"

    Bruce Lee

    0Reply
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