Hey South FL folks,

I have an extra ticket for a 3-day Than Merrill's seminar for this weekend (3/26 - 3/28). The person going with me had to change plans and I would hate for it to go to waste. 

If anyone is interested in attending please let me know asap.

The cost of the entire thing was $197 for two persons, so it won't hurt me to split it, though it is not a requisite. It is already paid anyways.

Let me know how the seminar was.  Doesn't sound like much $$ to lose, but I have heard that they spend the majority of the time "up-selling" you on the next big event or other "stuff." Just be careful.  I hope that you can get a least a few slices of knowledge that you didn't have before you went. If I were closer, I would go just to check it out :-) 

Ok, here I am. After a day and a quarter I decided to walk out. I just stayed until noon on Saturday cause I made the mistake of sitting right at the center of the huge room and felt that walking on the guy with backpack and all was a disrespect. (Though I believe they had disrespected me more by then)

First day was a very  general overview of subject-to, wholesaling, sales pitch for their master program, marketing,   system automation (hook for their master program, again). Might be of some value to ignite the spark in someone who hasn't read anything about RE techniques. There are wedges here and there pitching the master program.

Second day, from hour 0 is pricing those who "took action" and completed the application the night before. From there on, until 1:30 pm, he spent the entire morning showing off their software platform "realeflow" and their template system for rehabing. Guess what, only those who sign up for the mastery, get them (though, in the 2h pre-seminar they make you think  you get them). At that point I decided to walk out and make a better use of my time. 

I won't say it was a total loss of my 197.00 since I picked a few tips here and there but definitely not worth the time and/or money. 

My 2 cents.

@Rick Santasiere , @Joel Rodriguez you did not miss much :)

Glad you shared this.  It's amazing how much support and knowledge you get here for nothing.  I am actually excited to "share my experience" with other,simply on the premise that I have learned valuable things out here. This was Josh's whole idea, and his vision has helped so many.  Funny how you use "My 2 cents:)"  I use "My $.02" quite often :-)

Originally posted by @Rick Santasiere :

Let me know how the seminar was.  Doesn't sound like much $$ to lose, but I have heard that they spend the majority of the time "up-selling" you on the next big event or other "stuff."

A lot of these courses are like that. You have to remember that it's a business, with employees and people to pay. So there's always something else to buy. Just keep in mind that not everyone needs everything and you should be fine. Figure out what works for you. You, yourself, may not even need the program. But someone else might. My advice to anyone considering any program like this is to walk in with realistic expectations, no matter the fluff, and to know what you, personally, need.

 Hasn't steered me wrong in anything, whether it be real estate or car repairs (specifically Jiffy Lube trying to charge me $60 for $20 worth of filters I can get on Amazon and replace myself).

EDIT: That said, $197 really isn't a lot.

I don't know a lot about their operation or their pricing but I have worked with a very good fix and flip investor that was one of their speakers, I've used some of their deal analysis tools and I attended a day of one of their seminars as the realtor who opened doors on the tour bus.

The info they shared prior to our tour was good info, especially to someone that was new.  The seminar environment was a little "peppy" for me personally but I'm a pretty low key guy.

On the tour, the speaker gave out good advice, handled common objections you'd expect from new investors and was respectful of my time and local knowledge.

I left after the tour so I can't say what went on afterwards but I got some value out of my time there.

1. I had a chance to meet quite a few hopeful investors.

2. It was interesting to watch how the speaker dealt with people struggling with their own self limiting mindsets and fear.  I generally work with more experienced investors and I sometimes forget how scary the process can be for those that are new.  

Overall, for me it was worth my time and I'd do it again for that group.

Hiring a "guru" isn't for me but I can see how it could be valuable to some folks just getting started in the business. 

There are many ways to pick up experience and education and they all have their costs.  Even BP which is awesome, costs time to sort through all the info.  Finding a partner or mentor can cost money on your first few deals, hiring a guru costs money out of pocket.  I know 2 of the 3 investments pay off down the road but I don't know if the Guru route pays the same dividends?

I got more reading BiggerPockets my first three days than my buddy got from the Than Merrill three day seminar.  That was my experience, yours may be different.