Has anyone taken the Sober Living Riches course by Andrew Lamb?

Question

Hi BP Community 👋🏾

I’m exploring sober living investing and came across the Sober Living Riches program by Andrew Lamb. It seems well-structured and includes mentorship, legal docs, market research tools, and a 6-month coaching setup. But before making a decision (it's not cheap!), I’d really appreciate any honest feedback from investors who have taken it or looked into it.

Specifically, I’d love to know:

• Was the content worth the cost?
• Did it actually help you launch and fill your first sober living home?
• How hands-on is the coaching/support?
• Are the tools and templates (like the policies manual) truly plug-and-play or did they need major customization?
• Any unexpected pros/cons?

Was the content worth the cost?

Did it actually help you launch and fill your first sober living home?

How hands-on is the coaching/support?

Are the tools and templates (like the policies manual) truly plug-and-play or did they need major customization?

Any unexpected pros/cons?

Also open to hearing about other trusted resources or coaching programs you’ve used to build out recovery housing. I’m based in Philadelphia, so bonus points if you have local experience!

Thanks in advance 🙏🏾

Elijah Rios · Answer

John Clark made a comment saying to "Beware if they are too eager to let you invest." I actually spoke with one of the salespeople, and I actually was told that the minimum required deposit in order to have the access to the program was $1,500. I made the person who worked for Sober Living Riches aware that I did only have $2,000 to invest right now. He asked if we could go over my financials and we did. He said that the answer to the question if I can buy the mentorship program was not a no, but a not right now. That was a green flag in my mind, but I still also want to hear from someone who has purchased the program. I want to hear the honest downsides to what the program has to offer. Not to disqualify myself, but if I can get a good review on the difficulties of this program, then I might feel safer to purchase it, not thinking that it's just being sold as this all perfect program.

That being said, I'm hopeful to get involved with these people and the community and mentorship they offer, and hope to find someone who has a not so good experience so that I can get a healthy review of what is to come.

Hunter Foote · Answer

Hi guys,

Happy to provide some feedback, and I hope I don't come across as confrontational. It is important that accurate information is provided to those interested in opening recovery housing. With 10 years of experience running a national membership organization for recovery housing operators and a PhD dissertation (and eleven published books) on recovery housing--I cannot stress enough the importance of accurate information.

1. NARR does not certify recovery homes. NARR is the national organization which provides the certification infrastructure to state-level certification organizations. Source.

2. There is no such thing as "NARR approved" documents. To imply that someone can offer "NARR approved" documents is disingenuous. NARR's state affiliates (which do certify recovery homes) often provide complete document packets for free. Certification is very straightforward and most of NARR's affiliates offer free training.

3. Ask to see the track record of the individuals involved in any "guru" programs. Ask to see their professional and/or academic credentials, books published, and homes operated.

Sober living is not a "get rich quick" field. The demand is there, but it is far from straightforward to run recovery housing. Unfortunately, our organization has seen a significant rise in so-called sober living education programs that sell the sizzle without showing the truth behind running recovery homes.

You can download Path to Purposeful Recovery Housing (for free). And as always, be cautious and pay attention to what is really going on.

Wishing you the best in your endeavors!

Andrew Lamb · Answer

Hey Ebony, looks like the mods deleted my first reply to you. No idea if they'll do it again, but I want to make sure you get answers :) Hopefully they leave it since you specifically mentioned me and my community.Quick answers to your specific questions:Was the content worth the cost?For most folks who actually work the material, yes - because it condenses months of “figure-it-out” time into a clear sequence: pick the right house, set up the essentials, finish your docs, pass your state affiliate’s review if getting certified or licensed, (In PA you should get licensed), then fill beds with the right referral partners. The biggest value tends to be clarity + speed, not flashy theory. You can search youtube for real case studies. I think if I share them here they'll get flagged and this post will get removed. We have less than a 2% refund request rate which to me signals that the vast majority of people find it valuable.Did it help you launch and fill your first home?The process laid out is the same step-by-step process I followed to fill my first 5 sober living homes I started in 2021, paired with referral-partner outreach scripts and cadence so filling beds isn’t guesswork. We added that outreach component as a bonus because many people were getting stuck in that relationship-building point a couple of years ago. Today, many of my students in different states have gotten certified and fill up their homes using our playbook. Philadelphia is no exception. We have a member directory as well, so you can actually talk to others in the area where you want to operate, and we love to see local and regional meetups run by our students.How hands-on is coaching/support?We have multiple weekly live calls, direct feedback on your documents, and walkthroughs that mimic what your state affiliate checks. There’s also community access for fast answers when you hit practical snags (staffing, late arrivals, difficult discharges, neighbor relations, etc.). We have an option for 1 on 1 support as well.Are the tools/templates plug-and-play or do they need customization?Think 80/20: a strong base set that’s already mapped line-by-line to NARR 3.0 standards with call-outs for where states tweak language. You’ll still personalize house rules, local resources, and any state-specific preferences, but you’re not starting from a blank page.Unexpected pros/cons?Pros: a single, organized set of documents that actually corresponds to what reviewers look for and are completely customizable and editable; practical partner-building (county departments, treatment programs, justice organizations); and real-time help when you get stuck. We provide a list of local contacts, but it's only as good as the info they have online, so you'll have a place to start but expect to update some of that info as you are making your connections.Cons: This is all about relationships and people first, and I can't build those relationships for you. You still need to do the local legwork - tour other local houses, meet potential referral partners, and implement your policies & procedures consistently to bulid and maintain a great reputation. It’s not magic pill. I give a roadmap & checklist, but you have to take action and implement to see results. The faster you implement, the faster you see results. But that's 100% up to you.Trusted resources (Philly-specific):Your Pennsylvania state affiliate provides the certification lane; local recovery coalitions, discharge planners, and reentry nonprofits become your best early referral partners. Pair those with a clean intake flow and filling up beds usually follows.On the NARR piece (since it always comes up):Who certifies?NARR sets the national standards; state affiliates certify and enforce. It's just like how  the National Association of Realtors sets the Code of Ethics for real estate agents who are members, while state associations enforce the rules on the ground. Only real difference is that NARR isn't as big and doesn't enforce a standard naming convention, so you end up with some wild state affiliate names like Texas Recovery Oriented Housing Network (TROHN), Washington Alliance for Quality Recovery Residences (WAQRR) or California Consortium of Addiction Programs and Professionals (CCAPP). This is what makes finding the right state affiliate so confusing for many people. NARR is also not in all 50 states yet, and has had some false starts in certain areas, so even getting in touch with someone can be difficult. “NARR-approved documents”?The real goal is simple: show your documents match the NARR Standard and your state affiliate’s checklist. Some affiliates publish sample packets, but many don’t, and/or their websites are hard to navigate. Or they might have PDF versions, which means you'll have to recreate them from scratch to edit them. Having one organized set that’s mapped to the standard and state checkpoints is what helps people “fly through” certification across different states. What takes many people 6 months without our help has in many cases been reduced to 4-6 weeks with our set of editable documents. We created them with feedback from students going through the process in multiple states with different NARR affiliates, and the timelines I mention are real results from our people. Training and cost.Many affiliates do offer training (sometimes free). Some do it online, while others only do it in person (like MASH in Massachusetts). Where info is thin or scattered, having everything centralized (your policies, resident agreements, house rules, incident/UA logs, grievance and appeals processes, governance, safety, neighbor relations) removes the guesswork.If you want, I can connect you with a couple of my Pennsylvania students so you can hear how they handled licensing and getting their first referral partners in Philly. I'm also connected to someone with 20 sober living homes and state funding in Philly, and I'd be happy to make that connection as well.At the end of the day, I just want you to make an impact on people's lives by providing a quality place for them to live, whether you're in our community or not. Let me know if and how I can help.

Evelyn Marshall · Answer

How much is it?

Ebony J. · Answer

Thanks very much for the suggestion.

Has anyone taken the Sober Living Riches course by Andrew Lamb?

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