I understand building a strong network is essential when it comes to real estate investing. If you don’t have your first deal working with those that do almost seems like a waist of their time from recent experience. On another note being marketed to join a community of like minded real estate investors seems to just end up in a sales call to hand over my credit card for $5000 to $20000. Is this normal? There has to be another way where sweat equity can buy your way into a community of investors right?

6 figures is excessive. I've seen many in the 4 to 5 figure range, as high as $50k.

Some groups offer a lot of value while others are be a waste of money.

Regardless, you do not have to join one to be successful. We flipped over 50 properties before ever joining a mastermind.

Sometimes smaller boothcamps for less than $500 can be helpful to get a quick start. Just know that there is often a high pressure upsell for "next level" course that is much more expensive. 

For the most part i've found that groups of already well established people do tend to cost a lot just because they are trying to bring you up and would therefore be reaching down so they try to make sure you are serious normally by making you pay a lot. depending on your market i'm sure you can find a group on meetup or a facebook group that is free. I would suggest instead of looking for the top dog it might be better to look for someone who is just a step or two above you so that they won't feel such a drop off from where you are to where they are and will probably be much more willing to help for less hope that helps and wish you luck

You better be all in if you are dumping over $5000 into a group. Do research on the groups and see what they provide. A lot of info you can learn on your own. You can network locally. You don't need to do that off the bat. $5000+ can be used as a down payment so don't blow it. 

There are plenty of free groups and BP is full of free information. Keep doing your research. Just remember, free information is usually worth what you pay for it. When looking for someone to share information of value, you should be prepared to provide something of value in return. You can offer services evaluating properties, driving for dollars, marketing, sweeping floors at a construction site, hauling materials, answering the phone, compiling reports, etc. Make a list of your skill sets and then offer work in exchange for mentoring, partnership, or whatever.

These programs make their money training people. I always ask the question, if the guru is so successful at real estate then why are they spending their time educating instead of scaling their real estate business?

They try to convince you that spending all this money is necessary. They mays say, It is not what you spend but what you get out of it. The implication is spending more money means you are getting more. That is not necessarily true. You may learn more from a $20 book than a $20,000 session. They will tell you that by spending more money you will take the program more seriously. In reality, you will just feel worse when the program doesn't deliver results because you spent all that money. They may even say that charging more money means only serious investors will take the program. This is an attempt to make you feel part of an elite group. The truth is any sucker willing to pass over their credit card can join, so you are not special.

In my opinion you are better off using that money to fund your investments. BiggerPockets is a great source of free information. You can also buy books and subscribe to a PRO membership to watch hundreds of old training webinars. In other words, you can spend $0 to $500 and get a great education. Save the other thousands for investment. 

I am not against paid training or paying for educational materials. I have just found so many of these programs are overpriced, so I am automatically suspicious. I am also not in favor of credit card debt. Don't spend money you can't afford to lose, so only do a program like this if you have cash to cover the expense.

Welcome to BP!

Everything you need to know you can learn from the thousands of books - many available in paperback for less than $20 - that have been published on the subject of real estate investing.  Anyone demanding you pay $20,000 for a club membership is introducing you to the equivalent of a multi-level marketing scheme.  Those at the top collect a lot of money - those at the bottom of the pyramid, pay a lot of money. Of course, relationships matter.  There is no magic sauce to building these.  Use your money to make actual investments and the relationships will come.  

@Chad Chalmers I’d stick with BiggerPockets and the pro membership for the content on it. The bookstore is great, the calculators will help you analyze all sorts of deals, there’s free webinars once a week, and the podcasts and the forums are great as you’ve discovered. For me $5,000-20,000 is a down payment or the start of one. I wouldn’t waste it on a guru.

In my market you can get a work horse property, nothing glamorous, that will rent for about $950 a month for $85,000 if you wait for it to come on the market. You may have to put some sweat equity into it initially like painting the interior or some yard sprucing up, but it will cash flow $150-200 after the mortgage, taxes, and expenses are paid each month which isn’t bad. So with that $20,000 instead of a guru you can put down 20% on your first deal and pay for closing costs too.

In other markets you can find ok deals for $50,000-60,000. Particularly in the Midwest. There is a book on Out Of State Investing in the BiggerPockets bookstore if you go that route. The best time to buy your first property was yesterday. The next best time is today. Learn first, but save your money to buy with.

The last four people are right.  Don't waste thousands of dollars joining a group.  You can find local groups where there might be a small fee ($20) that they pay to rent a space to meet once a month.

@Joe Splitrock thank you for your input. I really appreciate it. 👍🏾

@Darius Ogloza thank you!