{"id":77870,"date":"2016-04-23T11:00:00","date_gmt":"2016-04-23T17:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.biggerpockets.com\/renewsblog\/?p=77870"},"modified":"2021-03-16T11:56:42","modified_gmt":"2021-03-16T17:56:42","slug":"2016-04-23-real-estate-courses-dont-work","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.biggerpockets.com\/blog\/2016-04-23-real-estate-courses-dont-work","title":{"rendered":"Why Real Estate Courses Are Usually a Waste of Money (& What to Do Instead!)"},"content":{"rendered":"

Real estate courses don\u2019t work. So what should you do instead?<\/p>\n

Not only do real estate courses not work, some can lure aspiring investors into wasting tens of\u00a0thousands of dollars, and some may even set them up for disaster with outdated and now illegal\u00a0practices. But there is another reason why they fail, and here\u2019s how I found the best solution.<\/p>\n

Think Twice Before Taking Courses<\/h2>\n

When it comes to real estate courses, often<\/span>\u00a0very little of what is taught will be applied in the field.\u00a0This seems to apply to real estate investor courses, seminars, and books. There’s lots of\u00a0exciting information to get you pumped up to head out there, only for you to realize you still don\u2019t know how\u00a0to do anything!<\/p>\n

I believe these courses don\u2019t work simply because I feel the best way to learn is by doing and taking action.\u00a0Contrast the above types of “training” with an apprenticeship with a chef or your dad teaching\u00a0you how to ride a bike. You\u2019ll be shoulder to shoulder with that chef as they help you master\u00a0each step. And they wouldn\u2019t dare allow you to serve a final dish that wasn\u2019t an amazing\u00a0success (at least I hope not). While you might have fallen off your bike once or twice, chances are one of your\u00a0parents first sat you on your new set of wheels\u00a0and ran along next to you holding you up, or even fitted you out with some training wheels so that you couldn\u2019t fall.<\/p>\n

\"learn_12_years_landlord\"<\/p>\n

Related:<\/strong> 7 Reasons That Real Estate Course is a Complete Sham (& How You Should Actually Learn!)<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

How I Learned This the Hard Way<\/h2>\n

I got my start in real estate the same way many new investors are trying to today. I attended\u00a0seminars, read online advice, and a lot more. The problem is that there are so many unforeseen\u00a0experiences that you will face in the field that will not be covered in the course. And in fairness — there are too many potential variables to be covered in any one book, weekend, or forum\u00a0thread.<\/p>\n

Even after starting in the industry and going through courses on buy and hold investing<\/a>, wholesaling<\/a> and\u00a0other strategies, I still made mistakes. BIG ONES! But I learned from them, and it made it easier\u00a0the next time. You can check out some of the ways I completely wrecked a few deals in my\u00a0BiggerPockets post <\/span>here<\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

Fortunately, I managed to get through it, and I haven\u2019t been chased out of town by sellers with pitchforks and <\/span>brooms. I never would have gotten to the level of success I am experiencing today unless I\u00a0got out there and started taking action.<\/p>\n

\"small-actions-success\"<\/p>\n

Time to Learn\u00a0to Do<\/em> Something<\/h2>\n

\u201cMy best successes came on the heels of failures.\u201d — Barbara Corcoran<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Real estate mogul and Shark Tank investor Barbara Corcoran says that the number one trait of\u00a0entrepreneurs who end up\u00a0successful is their willingness to try new things and fail.<\/p>\n

Related:<\/strong> The One Piece of Advice That Changed the Course of My Real Estate Career<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

By all means, you should invest in knowledge and practice. There will always be more to learn <\/span>and new things to test in real estate. There is wisdom in reading real estate books, getting a\u00a0coach or mentor, and constantly striving to learn new things. And yes, there are even great real estate advisors out there as well.<\/p>\n

But spending $40,000 on coaching to come out on the other end with no experience probably <\/span>isn\u2019t the best ROI for most aspiring investors. There\u2019s TONS of free information here on BiggerPockets alone, and the veterans you\u2019ll meet here will normally tell you this is the way to go starting out.<\/p>\n

Do get some basic knowledge. Then get out there and do it. Keep learning while you go. If that\u00a0sounds scary, look out for my follow up article. It\u2019s on one of my favorite ways to earn and learn\u00a0safely with real estate partnerships and teaming up to get through those first few deals.<\/p>\n

Investors: Do you believe in taking courses or do you think they’re a waste of time and money? Why?<\/em><\/p>\n

Let me know with a comment!<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Being a successful investor is all about continuously learning — but BEFORE you sign up for that pricey real estate course, read this!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12140,"featured_media":77880,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5524],"tags":[5746,5744,820,5745],"class_list":["post-77870","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-real-estate-investing-for-beginners","tag-license-for-real-estate","tag-real-estate-courses","tag-real-estate-license","tag-realtor-license"],"acf":[],"comment_count":0,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biggerpockets.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/77870","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biggerpockets.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biggerpockets.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biggerpockets.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/12140"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biggerpockets.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=77870"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.biggerpockets.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/77870\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biggerpockets.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/77880"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biggerpockets.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=77870"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biggerpockets.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=77870"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biggerpockets.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=77870"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}