Originally posted by @Mark Gustafson :

Your very best approach will be to learn the "Principles of Real Estate" the fundamentals that all transactions and strategies are based on. Then look to strategies, flipping or leasing or whatever, then you'll understand the basics of all strategies. Then you can become a specialist knowing how to structure or engineer the best transaction to meet the goals of all concerned.

If you have limited funds, not much to work with, every dollar must be used at its optimal advantage, that takes knowledge. :)

  Hello @Bill Gulley  thanks for all the time & advice you give to the BP community !!!  You  mentioned above to learn the "Principles of Real Estate" 1st   What would be the best way to learn the "Principles" ?  Thanks Again for all you do for BP !!!         Mark G

Mark, thank you and you're certainly welcome.

Well, I'm rather bias as to the best material and way to learn the basics from an investor point of view, I'd have to say at my Academy. There is a free basics course, so you can't beat the price anywhere. What I consider the basics is most of what a real estate agent learns for their exam. You could also buy an Agent's text book or attend a school for agents. The best way to learn is by testing yourself as to what you read. 

Check out my BP blog, "How To Develop A Good BS Meter" that's why you need to know more than marketing approaches dealing in real estate. 

I've not heard of a guru yet that teaches real estate, most may not really know real estate but they know hype, fluff, puffing and marketing. But, that's another issue! :) 

Originally posted by @Roger Blankenship :

Please do not spend the money. Everyone needs some information and training, but the most important thing is to just get going. 

Roger,,  were you the one I was working with when I was funding courthouse steps buys for  Joe Watkins ...  a few years back.?

If so lets reconnect would like to hear what your doing these days.. and if the hedge funds have finally slowed down there

Do Not Do it! A complete scam! They will take your $$$ and ask for more & more! I personally know.

No.  It's not worth it at all.

Hello Jason, I'm known for being honest and upfront. So with that being said. My wife and I bought into this program two years ago. It was the biggest mistake we have ever made. Not only will you pay $40K for the program but once you go to their Buying Summit in Las Vegas they will try and squeeze as much out of that they possibly can. We spent another $15K in Vegas. We had to find someone else to finally help us start closing deals. Save your $40K and search the internet Via Youtube and you can learn this without having to pay that much. I will say that everyone needs a Mentor. Find a Mentor that will not drain you of all you money and use the rest to start closing deals. Hope this helps. Sorry for being so blunt!!

I have said it before and I will say it again.....save your $40k for investments not self proclaimed gurus. These gurus are in the business of making money via seminars, upsells, etc.

Let me help you put that $40k to work and make money vs giving it away for nonsense. 

Hello and welcome to BP!  I intend to agree with the others that are before me here.  Do not waste your money on education or lack of it to people say they can make you more money like I did.  It is mostly about yourself and your abilities.  They usually just good salespeople who want your money and not your success.  You will be better if you can lose your 40K on your deal instead of nonsensically throwing it away.  Good luck to you!

Hi guys,

I'm new here and found you all quite by accident but glad I did!

I am planning on going to the 3day workshop (but this is 2017 now) and was told that we are GUARANTEED, at the end of the training, to have access to funding up to $1M per deal, without using our own credit and 0 of our own money. The organization takes a percentage of what is financed plus about a $385 fee. After your first deal is done, they refund you 100% of the course cost $1,147, and will give you an additional $1,000 if you use their funding.

They talk about buying below wholesale and selling at wholesale, among other things. But after doing research and seeing some bad reviews, mostly from people who didn't actually go through the course, I got gunshy especially knowing there's NO WAY I'd pay $20K+ (or even $5K for that matter), for a course like this. 

However, the representative from the course did say we in no way  needed to buy ANYTHING else after this course to start working our first deal.

I understand we can usually discover how to do everything for free, but the learning curve can be very steep...I'd be interested in hearing if anyone went to the 3day seminar (from 2017) and put into practice the tools included to do the deals (Deal Desk, funding, etc.).

@Isabella Romalatti that is just going to be a scam.  Save your $1200 bucks and stay home.  Your Gut is already cautioning you, listen to it.

Goodluck...

$40K ??? that's a good down payment in many areas of the country!

There's a TON of good info, experiences an failures to learn from right here on BP.

There's no cookie cutter approach that will produce results FOR YOU. Don't drink the cool-aid but start reading.

My wife and I purchased the program and it was more than $40k when it was all said and done. Biggest mistake we have ever made. One year later we had to buy into Cody Sperber's fast track and then and only then did we start closing deals. My suggestion to you is run and run fast!!!!!

Update: They are still awful, and they are still con artists.

I went to a meeting for these guys last week.  The meeting was advertised as 90 minutes, but upon arriving I saw it was scheduled for a whopping 4 hours.  I could only stand to stay for about an hour and I had heard enough, so I got up and walked out.  It was about 90% pitch for their 3 day class, which cost 1,100.  While listening to them ramble about pie-in-the-sky results from their product and give false data about Southern California Market, I did a quick google search on reviews for them. Basically, all the reviews said they are con artists.  According to the reviews, the 3 day class is merely a big pitch for an additional program that costs 40K.  I could not find any success stories, but I did find a lot of people that are extremely upset. Here is the link to their Yelp reviews.

https://www.yelp.com/biz/scott-yancey-las-vegas-2

I got a call yesterday from one their representatives offering this "free" seminar.  He was pushy and not very helpful.  Thank you, BP members.  Reading this thread just saved me a 45 minute one drive and 4 hours of what sounds like would have been a waste of my valuable time.

RUN AWAY FROM THAT DEAL

I wish my husband and I knew about BP before we went to a three day workshop! With Scott Yancey (Steve Edwards) We paid $1400 and really needed to keep it, but others paid $40,000 for Boot Camp! Just was convinced that we could retire from our jobs and get in Real Estate Investing!! Still learning how to start on BP! We will be successful!!

Don't do it! Spend a few hundred on DVD's and books. It won't take long until you start seeing the pattern. You will begin to see the same information repackaged but with the same basic principles. Take some local investors to lunch and pick their brain. Go to your local REIA meetings and meet seasoned investors. I promise you that you will regret spending 40k on information that you can get for free. Please call me before you spend the money. I'll gladly help you out for FREE.

The costs of trainings/mentorship some 40k it is a value thing. Many spend more than that on college, take forever paying that back not really doing that great. Even if you get a high paying job you will get taxed to death lol. People should be able to make way more than that with their help and tax write off. Many say take money and invest in deals instead. Many I know end up leaving alot on table deals wise who try to do on their own. many ways to structure a deal people dnt look at.

i enjoy bp very bright people. However, everyone has own opinion. Many I see change their minds when making a decision to pay for a class etc listening to people. Have to form own opinion.

Last Thursday (4-26-18) I attended the free 6 pm Scott and Amie Yancey  workshop at The Doubletree Hotel in Irvine, CA (LA Metro area). It was pretty much what I expected. I did not buy the course they were selling. I have attended similar introductory workshops sponsored by competitors such as Dean Grasiosi and Than Merrill. I received a boxed dinner (turkey sandwich), a 212-page softcover book "Flipping Your Way to Real Estate Profits" by Scott and Amie Yancey, and two free audio CDs: "Flipping Your Way to Real Estate Profits" and a "Bonus Disk" : with two sections: (i) 2 Crazy Secrets and (ii) Scott and Amie Yancey-Commonly Asked Questions & Answers." I believe the tv ad I watched showed a buffet dinner, and a free MP3 player, but neither were offered to attendees.

Amie Yancey spoke about 20 mins., but Scott was at a closing and did not attend. Amie said Scott Yancey started in real estate as a runner (assistant) for a very successful real estate agent in Studio City, CA (LA Metro area). Scott and three previous runners eventually went on to become millionaires. Scott's first deal on his own was a flipping fee for a housing subdivision for which he earned a net profit of $2.3 M, according to Amie. Amie said Scott measured real estate success in one word: Porsche. One of Scott and Amie's main interests is the White Heart Organization, a non-profit that supports military veterans.

The main speaker was Steve (age 47), from Los Angeles, who looked like a weightlifter. Steve said the average flip profit nationally is $58-70,000. Steve's real estate investments seemed to focus on Section 8 properties. Steve showed several examples of recent flips with large profits in the LA area. Most were in Corona, CA. The course offered for sale was a three-day event May 4-6, 2018 at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Newport Beach, CA., and was priced at $1,147. For that, you can bring a spouse or business partner at no extra charge. You also get access to their funding co. to fund your real estate deals, and a tuition refund if you actually do a deal; and a $1,000 check if you use the Yancey's real estate funding company. Someone said the Yancey's funding co. has funded over 30,000 deals worth $1 billion of transactions. Someone else said 85% of students from last year have done at least one real estate deal. You also get a one year subscription to Deal Desk, which prepares long reports on a particular property including mortgage info, liens, value, etc. so that you can determine if you want to make an offer. There were about 100 people in attendance and many were couples. I saw about 20 people buying the course at the back of the room. I did not buy.

There was a second speaker from www.interactivetrader.com who spoke on trading stock options. He offered a three day course  May 17th-19th, 2018 for $297.  His presentation was very good, but I did not buy.

My analysis: I have been a real estate investor for over 25 years. I believe many of the techniques the Yancey's, Than Merrill, Dean Grasiosi, and others offer do work, but it takes a lot longer and is more complicated and difficult than represented in the introductory seminars. Still, many people are successful with these courses. In my experience, the reason people do not succeed in real estate investing, internet marketing, starting a small business, etc., is that they give up too early.

John Keffalas

30,000 deals is a little hard to fathom.. unless they are adding all of Nudge and Buy PD's volume in as well.

those are the fullfilment companies for the guru's mentioned about just fyi