Armando Montelongo Flipping Houses review
In Febuary 2014 I will be attending a 3 day class to learn how to flip houses using Armando Montelongo's system. Does anyone have any experience with this system?
@Carlos Ayuso ... I totally agree with you and that is what I am doing..
Wasn't that the guy that took the old carpet out of his apartment and crudely "installed" it in one of his flips?
It's hard to tell if Armando is just making tv or if he really is a genuine sleaze, but either way I'd take my $750 and spend it on pretty much anything else...
BP is already making you money by saving you money! Well worth the price you paid.
Run! Don't walk!!!!
I am going to the next level with the Armondo program because of my evaluations. I went to the three day and learned so much that I had no idea to even think about. It was a revelation that if I didn't know to look for the topics I wouldn't think to click on those topics. Also I paid a Jesuit college thousands of dollars for a BA and have never been able to make more than $30K a year with that degree. I was looking at a Masters degree and talked to a few people who said don't do it unless you have a job waiting for you. A masters of 18 - 24 months would cost nearly the same as the Armondo course. But, no college professor actually gives you real world knowledge and always the college educational information is at least 10 years old. I tried getting locals to help me learn and found they were trying to rip me off as well. I think it doesn't really matter what the cost if there is any amount of nuggets I can glean in 3 days instead of 18-24 months I can deal with that. Also, many people who pay for such courses never use the information then get angry that the info they purchased was a waste of time.
Many of the poor reviews on the Internet also lead you to the bottom of the page where there is a link or buy now because their program is so much better.
BBB ratings are misleading and full of BS http://www.consumeraffairs.com/online/bbb.html there are many complaints about the methods and to be accredited or get good ratings from BBB just be willing to pay for it.
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I think all of these course basically will have the same information,, the reason being there is really no new information... its the same information .. Real Estate is pretty vanilla when it comes to flipping homes... its buy a junker fix it the best you can and try to sell it for more.
But there are little nuances that we all learn over the years... so you can learn it through trial and error or have someone teach it to you... If your a real self starter then the free BP method works.. If you like to network and need someone to teach it to you in a class room setting then any of the Guru's will work..What they charge is a matter of opinion some may think it excessive to the extreme others may not... I have been to the California one... as a guest I did not pay.. so I did not sit through each module but it is somewhat like a fire hose.. you start at 8 am and go to mid night each day.. there is one speaker after the other teaching you all sorts of different things.. much of it very detailed Like what a square of roofing should costs etc.
But if it jumps starts you then its worth every penny... If your going into debt to the extent it could ruin your credit and set you back years financially only you can decide.. Just remember maybe 1 out 20 or so that you see will ever do anything with the information.
But I know many guru grads around the country that have gone on to make big bucks..
Good luck with it.. Plus there is a good amount of Rah rah so be prepared for that.
Well due to the struggle I have had with my after college life that debt has nearly ruined my credit and if I do not do something it will be the only thing my son inherits from me.
Originally posted by @Cecelia Redmond:
Well due to the struggle I have had with my after college life that debt has nearly ruined my credit and if I do not do something it will be the only thing my son inherits from me.
What do you feel that you could learn from that program that you could not learn elsewhere?
I have the same question come to mind as @Dawn Anastasi.
If you want to flip houses, rather than spend thousands on some slickly promoted guru class, why not find a successful flipper in your area and approach her/him with an offer to put money into their next project with the condition that you get to apprentice during the process. You will receive far more *real life* experience than a course with one of Armando's talking heads and should also come out the other end with more money than you brought to the table. Roll your money back over into another project and repeat this a few times until you are ready to leave the nest and run your own.
Originally posted by @Roy N.:
I have the same question come to mind as @Dawn Anastasi.
If you want to flip houses, rather than spend thousands on some slickly promoted guru class, why not find a successful flipper in your area and approach her/him with an offer to put money into their next project with the condition that you get to apprentice during the process. You will receive far more *real life* experience than a course with one of Armando's talking heads and should also come out the other end with more money than you brought to the table. Roll your money back over into another project and repeat this a few times until you are ready to leave the nest and run your own.
THIS is a fabulous idea. Do you know how many flippers would love to have extra capital? In exchange they get to show off their passion and explain why they do the things they do.
It isn't so much what, as the time. Education is always expensive, it is either expensive in time and opportunity lost, it is expensive through making mistakes for lack of basic knowledge or it is expensive by paying for it up front. Just from what I learned already I figure it would have taken me a very long time to learn, if at all, because if you don't know what to ask and when to ask it you will never ask and if you use the Internet or other methods you might never find the question or relate, and not know to ask the question and a single mentor would either not think to tell you or assume you already know.
It is the same as with my Merchant Marine license I had to have minimum of 1440 days underway with 720 days on vessels before I could take the test but even though I had been at sea I would not have passed the test without paying Houston Marine for the test prep which cost $$$
All of these endorsements from the United States Coast Guard are required and after paying for the courses the USCG costs for the actual endorsements at $165 min each. 1600 ton Master $9,500 STCW $1,900.00 Able Bodies Seaman $799 Advanced Firefighting $799 RADAR $799 Proficiency in Rescue/Lifeboat $999 So to get my license I had to spend $14,796.00 and I lost sea time to automatically renew, after 10 years of sailing, when my parents were sick and died in 2007. To get my license reinstated I would have to start over to work on a Merchant Marine vessel it would cost me that much again. A 1600 ton vessel:
Don't know "MANY" flippers. Don't know any!
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that's a good idea,, not sure how practical it is though... flippers that are looking for money from a newbie are probably newbies themselves.. so it would be the newbie trying to learn from the newbie :) and both could lose money and not really learn anything.
Very experienced flippers that would take the time to allow someone to bring in 10 to 20k for a project then go into teaching mode.. I think you would have a pretty hard time lining that up.. and really depends on where she lives' big market maybe.. I could just as easily see here losing all her money in that scenario.
Maybe this form of education is not best.. there are one on one type of mentors that cost thousands but from the students that I have interacted with its worth every single penny. And most of those are here on BP but I don't see them post much they are to busy doing deals and implementing what their coach taught them.
only so many people can learn in an on line format.. its one way to do it.. But on line is just what it is its free, the information from those posting is faceless basically and opinions are all over the map, and you get what you pay for ... I suspect like anything Real Estate related those that pop on a on line forum maybe 1 out of 100 actually do anything.
dont waste your time at those seminars unless you are going to hand out cards and network with other investors
pm me and i will tell you all about this course
good luck @Gary Dubovick
From a practicality of execution perspective you could very well be correct.
When I wanted to learn another/different/better approach to rehabilitation of unloved properties as buy-n-hold investments, I networked to find out who were the reputable flippers and, from that list, the ones whose attitude to energy efficiency retrofits was closed to ours. I approached him and explained my objective. He showed me 3 properties in his pipeline. I picked one, committed to a significant portion of the rehab budget, wrote an initial cheque, and we were off.
So, it may not work for everyone, but, then again, it should work for some.
Sounds like you're convinced of the value of paying for this education. Given that, I'd pose my original question (to Gary) to you:
Is this REALLY the guy (or anyone who would associate with him) you want to learn from? Have you ever watched any of his old shows and how he treats people, especially those who work for him?
If you're convinced that these programs are worth it for you, I can think of MANY more ethical people to do business with.
I've dealt with a few "Armando" types in my career, and EVERY ONE left me feeling like I needed a shower and an appointment with a therapist!
15 years ago I went to a week long seminar. The one thing it did for me is get me motivated to buy houses and condos. The information then is the same they are teaching now and a lot of up selling. I didn't fall for that.
I have Carlton Sheets cd course which I listen to about twice a year to stay motivated but much of the information does not work or I would not use. BUT, it sure does make you want to get in the real estate investment business. And I'm glad I did.
Good luck
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I think your general depth of business knowledge gave you a leg up on most newbies.. at least it appears that way from my enjoyment of reading your posts
You can learn how to flip houses for free here or on the web. Spend some time researching and asking questions and I guarantee you will get better results then going to a seminar. Keep your money! I'm sure you will have a better use for it.
Originally posted by @Richard Ayvazyan:
You can learn how to flip houses for free here or on the web. Spend some time researching and asking questions and I guarantee you will get better results then going to a seminar. Keep your money! I'm sure you will have a better use for it.
Richard:
You can avoid paying a guru {please do} and read all you like, but the real education will come in the doing ... with a partner or alone, you are going to spend money.
I attended his seminar for $1500 in Nov, 2016.
As a ticket to his 3-day event, I attended his 3-day event in Dec, 2016.
Never got a chance to see himself, but bunch of sales pitch guys.
NO system at all but sale of $40K VIP Bus Tour.
Let audience BE AWARE.
I commented on this thread a few years ago. If you go back and read my post I told a story about a friends sister who is a doctor who wasted 40K on this program. I asked him recently what happened to his naïve sister. He said she went to the top of the mountain with Armando and had spent 75-80K on seminar stuff. Not kidding. In addition to this she invested in a house or 2 out of state sight unseen and lost that money as well. Big sigh. I have a degree in business finance. I minored in Real Estate. I'm a licensed agent. I own a roofing and construction company and also build houses. I say this because you could never swindle people like me with an Armando course. Unfortunately there are many out there that are starting from zero experience that think guys like Armando will show them the way to the golden goose. Armando and guys like him are the best at taking advantage of people with no background in Real Estate. They play the numbers game and are very successful at collecting cash from newbies. It's really sad. No matter how much people like me try and get the word out there will always be uninformed people that Armando will take advantage of. It's terrible really. If your reading this you have made the first step toward a successful career investing in RE. You have come to a forum to learn that will cost you next to nothing. Your doing the research and not relying on Armando Gurus. Attending seminars is not a bad thing. The problem is attending seminars that are run by scam artist who sell you something for 10's of thousands of dollars with hype and singing and dancing that you can get here for free. Why do you think they start the seminars at dawn and go to midnight? You think it's because they have so much information they need to keep you up all night?? Nope. It's designed to wear you down and break you mentally. Once this happens they get more people to buy the upsell. It works. Do your OWN research and keep your credit cards in your wallet. Best of luck to everyone and Happy New Year!