Are REIAs a scam?

Dallas, TX · Member since 2015 · 20 posts · 14 votes

Dear BP,

I'm attending my first REIA event today and it seems like a scam. I'm a bit skeptical when they are throwing stories of $$$ left and right. Any thoughts?

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Michaela G.

Investor · Atlanta, GA · Member since 2013 · 3k+ posts · 3k+ votes

10y

It's all what you make of it.

99% of wanna-be investors, who go to seminars, will never buy their first property. They all blame it on the various gurus not teaching enough, lying about things etc. , when it's really more convenient for them to not go outside their comfortzone.

The other 1% will learn and take kernels of knowledge from everyone they meet, gurus and other investors, and will forge forward.

Heck, I got into real estate investing after a late-night commercial by Dave Del Dotto. Yes, I absolutely credit my inspiration to a guru, that was blasted as scammer. I'm forever grateful to him.

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Christina CareyPro Member
Real Estate Broker · Dayton, OH · Member since 2010 · 245 posts · 186 votes
10y
Originally posted by @Bill Gulley:
Tell you what, I'll write a check for $25,000.00 to anyone who can show me a guru course that actually teaches the fundamentals, requirements and basic concepts of real estate that was published prior to this post! Don't waste your time looking, there isn't such a program. Conventional real estate schools and universities are not guru programs!
Actually, I can name one, and she's in Cincinnati, OH. Her name is Vena Jones-Cox.
[email protected]937-709-3355
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Chris Carmichael
West Harrison , IN · Member since 2012 · 12 posts · 5 votes
10y
Originally posted by @Stone Teran:
Originally posted by @Jarred Sleeth:

I have yet to attend any local REIA that didn't have some sort of pitch involved. It's a pretty big turnoff.
I agree. I've attended Cincinnati REIA twice and it's a little content and a lot of hype and a lot of newbies drinking the koolaide and paying the high membership fees. No thanks.
I was a member of Cincinnati REIA for a year. It was about 50/50. Sometimes there was a pitch sometimes not. They do offer a early meeting and a main meeting. The early meeting is mostly for us new guys and the main meeting was a pitch sometimes, other times it was very informative. There is a time between meetings called " buy, sell, trade" where you could do just that. There were also sub groups like landlords, Westside, flippers. Lots of time to network. They have a vendor night were local vendors (100 or so) give discounts to memders.
Sure they try to sell some programs or have a guru come in and pitch something but it was a great place to network and learn. Cost me something like $200 for 12 months. All in all a good experience. I may join again at sometime. For me it was worth it.
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Christina CareyPro Member
Real Estate Broker · Dayton, OH · Member since 2010 · 245 posts · 186 votes
10y
@Chris Carmichael - glad you found your overall time spent at the Cincinnati REIA aka (REIAGC) to be worthwhile. I can honestly say that I would not be where I am today without having become a member 7 years ago. I served on the Board of Directors for 2 years a few years back. As mentioned in a previous comment, REIAGC a non-profit, and everything is primarily run by volunteers (including the Board of Directors), and has been so for over 20 years.
@John Shipley You pretty much nailed it. There are 2 general meetings each month (except December, because of the holidays). Also, one is the Vendor Trade Show - by the way, those vendors give discounts to members year-round, not just at the trade show. ; ) There are 8 subgroups that each meet once a month (all content and networking). In total, that's 119 different opportunities to network with like-minded people throughout the year. Anyone who believes $200 a year is too much to pay for that many networking opportunities might try looking at it from John's perspective.
Incidentally, @Stone Teran Cincinnati REIA only has 4 selling speakers each year, and it's never the entire meeting. Like John Shipley said, "If you attend one of the main semi-monthly meetings when one of the national speakers comes through, that portion of the meeting does have some sales with it. So what? Learn what you can for free and ignore the rest." Or step outside to the lobby and network - you never know when an opportunity will present itself.
As for most of the other REIA groups around the country, I cannot attest to how they operate (except for Dayton OH, Seattle WA, and Columbus OH). I can tell you that not all of them operate as non-profits, and unfortunately, many of the for-profit groups are like the one the OP referred to, in that they are overpriced and exist purely to serve interests of the so-called leadership (though I wouldn't define many of those as leaders).
@Lisa Marie As others have mentioned already, checkout meetup.com, and look for other REIAs in the area - many cities have more than one. Seems like @Tim Macy knows of a couple good ones near you. Don't be discouraged by the one you just attended, which doesn't sound like a REIA at all.
[email protected]937-709-3355
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John Shipley
Investor · Batavia, OH · Member since 2014 · 6 posts · 3 votes
10y
Originally posted by @Christina Carey:

Originally posted by @Bill Gulley:

Tell you what, I'll write a check for $25,000.00 to anyone who can show me a guru course that actually teaches the fundamentals, requirements and basic concepts of real estate that was published prior to this post! Don't waste your time looking, there isn't such a program. Conventional real estate schools and universities are not guru programs!
Actually, I can name one, and she's in Cincinnati, OH. Her name is Vena Jones-Cox.
Well, I think @Christina Carey beat me to the $25,000 check but I'll confirm that Vena Jones-Cox offers a course titled "The Very Unsexy but Oh-so-Critical Fundamentals of Making money in Real Estate". It covers the basic skills that an investor needs to know no matter what investing strategy they use. Not making a sales pitch for Vena or the course, though all of her educational courses are top notch. If @Christina Carey doesn't collect on her $25,000 PM me for my address to send me the check :-).
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Christina CareyPro Member
Real Estate Broker · Dayton, OH · Member since 2010 · 245 posts · 186 votes
10y
@Bill Gulley - no worries; I'll settle for dinner and an adult beverage or two, should you find yourself in SW Ohio .... or we find ourselves in Springfield, MO. ; )
[email protected]937-709-3355
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Michaela G.
Investor · Atlanta, GA · Member since 2013 · 3k+ posts · 3k+ votes
10y
@John Shipley , looks like Bill did not write that he would offer this to the first person, but to ANYONE.
I would like to throw my head in the ring for a $ 25K check for Louis Brown's 'The whole enchilada' , which really has everything. He has a great attorney (You don't ever want to do biz with Louis and be on the other side ;-) ) and all of his forms are top notch
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Brian Gibbons
Investor · Sherman Oaks, CA · Member since 2008 · 6k+ posts · 3k+ votes
10y
I love Louis Brown I love William Bronchick JD
I've got about $5000 in their courses
Vena Jones Cox has awesome videos on illegal wholesaling in OH and how to do it legally
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Simon Shih
Investor · Houston, TX · Member since 2012 · 354 posts · 186 votes
10y
My two cents are this. Why buy into a system when you have a wealth of information here and access to many experienced investors who are willing to share their knowledge and experiences?
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Ned CareyPro Member
Moderator
Investor · Baltimore, MD · Member since 2008 · 17k+ posts · 13k+ votes
10y
@Lisa Marie and others, Some REIAs are good and some make you feel like you need to shower to wash the sleaze off. But you can get value out of all of them if you work them right.
The reality is, for profit or non-profit, all REIAs have costs to cover just to operate. Those costs are a lot higher than you might expect. One way to make money is taking a cut of the Gurus sales that come to town. I agree that some groups take the money making aspect to far and are simply taking advantage of enthusiastic newbies.
The two groups I spend most of my time at now are not REIAs, The BWI Meetup and a group of landlords that get together for a casual lunch once a week. I bet there are some smaller groups, like Meetup groups, in your area.
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Bill Gulley
Investor, Entrepreneur, Educator · Springfield, MO · Member since 2009 · 21k+ posts · 12k+ votes
10y
Originally posted by @Christina Carey:

@Bill Gulley - no worries; I'll settle for dinner and an adult beverage or two, should you find yourself in SW Ohio .... or we find ourselves in Springfield, MO. ; )
LOL, the changes of me being cloned are more than a million to one, if she actually cuts the mustard, I'll buy you dinner and hers and her program, but I really doubt she teaches all that goes with the basics of real estate for investors, I've never head of such a course, much less seen one. :)
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Chris Carmichael
West Harrison , IN · Member since 2012 · 12 posts · 5 votes
10y
Vena has a podcast if your interested. I think it is called real life real estate.
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Logan AllecBusiness Member
Accountant · Los Angeles, CA · Member since 2014 · 1k+ posts · 980 votes
10y
@Lisa Marie, sounds like you went to the wrong type of REIA. Keep looking. Find one that has a LOT of people every month with whom to network (like 100+) and where products and services are not pitched from the organizers.
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Brian Gibbons
Investor · Sherman Oaks, CA · Member since 2008 · 6k+ posts · 3k+ votes
10y
I love Louis Brown, I love William Bronchick JD
I've got about $5000 in their courses
Vena Jones Cox has awesome videos on illegal wholesaling in Ohio
Educators, good ones, that have done 100s of deals are worth coaching fees, if they give you support over a 10 mo period, and do not do deal splits, just a fee for training and ongoing support
@Dev Horn
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Jay HinrichsBusiness Member
Real Estate Consultant · Summerlin, NV · Member since 2014 · 45k+ posts · 66k+ votes
10y
@Michaela G. I held a BP meet up I am a reverse RIA presenter I paid for all the pizza and drinks for 50 people plus I held It at my office. LOL
Never again... BP folks are nice enough.. but I have no interest in the meet up scene.
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Andrew SyriosPro Member
Moderator
Residential Real Estate Investor · Kansas City, MO · Member since 2014 · 10k+ posts · 5k+ votes
10y
I certainly don't think they're a scam, but there are few guru-ish type people that show up there and some big talkers. But that's tough to stop. The one's I've attended are good in regards to information, networking and the like.
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Mark Ferguson
Flipper/Rehabber · Greeley, CO · Member since 2013 · 2k+ posts · 1k+ votes
10y
Okay, so someone takes the time to organize a meeting, set up a time and place to have it, schedules a speaker and you are surprised when they try to sell something? Like it was previously said. These things take time and money to put together. If you can't sit through a sales pitch to netowor and meet people you probably aren't cut out for this business.
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Bill Gulley
Investor, Entrepreneur, Educator · Springfield, MO · Member since 2009 · 21k+ posts · 12k+ votes
10y
Originally posted by @Christina Carey:

Originally posted by @Bill Gulley:

Tell you what, I'll write a check for $25,000.00 to anyone who can show me a guru course that actually teaches the fundamentals, requirements and basic concepts of real estate that was published prior to this post! Don't waste your time looking, there isn't such a program. Conventional real estate schools and universities are not guru programs!
Actually, I can name one, and she's in Cincinnati, OH. Her name is Vena Jones-Cox.
I'm being polite, I'm LMAO! $1,297 wholesaling ethically? Assigns sale contracts! I guess sex sells in the guru game as well. Sorry, no teddy bear, try again. This Goddess is mythical! :)
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Bill Gulley
Investor, Entrepreneur, Educator · Springfield, MO · Member since 2009 · 21k+ posts · 12k+ votes
10y
You know, it only takes a phone call to reserve a large meeting room, holds about 250, if you clean up after yourself, it's totally free in a new facility, it called the Library.
So long as there are no sales, no charges, not some income producing ploy at your meeting, you can use it.
I would think most cities have such a facility, there may be a small charge for clean up but it doesn't have to be at some hotel convention center at $500 or $1,000 a pop!
A good local real estate attorney, is just a phone call away too. They may be willing to speak about real estate to 50 or so folks, it's great advertising even without a pitch.
Yo can get a title examiner or closing agent to talk about what goes on locally and what they can and can't do. Again, free, it advances the title company.
Another freebie professional would be a CPA, another phone call, they are willing to meet groups with potential clients.
Another, call an insurance broker who provides property, liability and professional liability insurance, they are motivated just as the CPA and attorney.
Find an owner of a real estate school for agents! They should be happy to speak to a group about educational points and obtaining a license.
If you give a reputable contractor the opportunity to talk about what rehabs they have done, to a group of investors, I'm sure they would jump at the chance.
It does not have to cost you to have a meeting! There are always plenty of guest speakers available to speak at no charge.
You can also find reliable, more than worthy, creative, legal and ethical basic as well as advanced real estate courses on line! Someone has to have a 60" or larger TV they would be willing to move once a month!
A 2 hour meeting can go by quickly, with a classroom environment and it can all be totally free!!!
You don't really need to come up with guru materials, all one needs to do is have an outline of topics, some phone calls and volunteer a couple hours a month. Boom, Done!
If anyone has their hand out for money at the door, it's to make money! Take your own coffee and snacks!
I just happen to know where you can find an outline for meetings for your educational meetings, just contact me and I'll try to contribute to your cause!
I use to give estate planning seminars with an attorney and stock broker, so I know it's not that big of a deal. All it takes is a little effort!
That effort can payoff big if you are known as the go to guy/gal, you're an organizer, you will know the who's and what's, you'll be seen as a contributor, not a taker, a leader and I guarantee that if you hold a decent meeting, every investor in there will be talking to you!
Don't like the library? You can always find meeting rooms at the food trough places, sports bars or eatery. :)
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Jennifer Glover
Wylie, TX · Member since 2016 · 4 posts · 0 votes
10y
Originally posted by @Lisa Marie:

Dear BP,
I'm attending my first REIA event today and it seems like a scam. I'm a bit skeptical when they are throwing stories of $$$ left and right. Any thoughts?
I've just started learning about real estate investing and was thinking about going to the Dallas REIA meeting on the 26th. Their ads sounded like it was an education session with a meet and greet -- no sales pitches. Maybe someone on BP can tell us what they're all about.
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David Krulac
Mechanicsburg, PA · Member since 2013 · 3k+ posts · 2k+ votes
10y
@Lisa Marie
Depends on the REIA. Some are non-profit and are affiliated with National REIA. Others are owned by private individuals and are for profit ventures, often affiliated with their other business ventures. Not all REIAs are the same, there are plenty of choices. I personally go to 4 different REIAs and sit on the Board of a REIA that is non-profit and National REIA chapter.
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Michael Fortier
IT Director/Service Manager · Lubbock, TX · Member since 2015 · 87 posts · 24 votes
10y
I am about to attend my first REIA meeting in Lubbock. I am looking forward to it. I dont see how it can be a scam if all you have to lose is a couple of hours time. But that couple of hours could transition into a great deal more. The meeting I am attending states up front if products will be sold at it or not, so it makes me think at least they are up front and honest about things. I dont have a problem with that. Someone has to pay for the event right?
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Wilson Churchill
Madison Heights, MI · Member since 2014 · 471 posts · 132 votes
10y
There are free groups. You may be able to find one on meetup.com
0 Reply
Christian Sifuentes
Flipper/Rehabber · Fair Lawn NJ · Member since 2016 · 382 posts · 87 votes
10y
Can someone explain REI?
0 Reply
Christian Sifuentes
Flipper/Rehabber · Fair Lawn NJ · Member since 2016 · 382 posts · 87 votes
10y
Sorry REIA?
0 Reply
Account Closed
Investor · Canton, GA · Member since 2015 · 88 posts · 63 votes
10y
Originally posted by @Lisa Marie:

Dear BP,
I'm attending my first REIA event today and it seems like a scam. I'm a bit skeptical when they are throwing stories of $$$ left and right. Any thoughts?
It depends on which REIA you go to. My local REIA has sub groups / meetups that I argue are more valuable than the general meetings where yes there is someone there to make a sales pitch. I find the REIAs are valuable though in finding vendors, networking with other legit investors who might be able to do a JV, or offer free advice for a deal you're working on. Again REIA's aren't really a scam. It just depends on the leadership of each one and who they invite to come speak at the general meetings that plays a big a part in how they market their group.
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