Fort Lauderdale, FL · Member since 2015 · 20 posts · 1 vote
Hey guys. I purchased the 3-day workshop for 197 (for two tickets) and I am able to get a refund if I wanted to. Has anyone gone to the 3-day summit? I know they're going to try to sell us their bigger, more expensive program, which I will not be purchasing, but I was wondering if the 3-days were worth it...
I attended the workshop a few weeks ago. Now I don't know your experience with real estate investing, but when I went into it, I had little experience, only what I have been reading in books and online.
Yes, they will sell you their mastery program in three levels ranging from 20k to 35k. They will also interview you because you have to "qualify" for the program. I quoted qualify because they ask you 5 simple questions to determine if you qualify, the only important one being if you can give them the 35k dollars the same weekend as the seminar.
Besides all of that, I still took a lot away from the workshop, and they give you tools and articles that you can take away when you decide to start your own business in real estate. I would say it's about 50/50 between actual education and marketing for their mastery program.
a few weeks ago I attended this same 3day workshop in chicago. I would recommend that you get your money back, the only thing that I found useful from attending was networking with some of the other attendees. Get your money back and instead you should try to attend a local REI club where you can network with other investors and talk about actual investing whereas at the 3day workshop they will mainly just go over and over why you should get the mastery program. I hope this helps you save money and more importantly 3 days worth of your time!
hi! We are actually at the three day seminar, day one end. While there have been some things I already knew from studying and listening to BP, I have also learned an incredible amount - it was worth it this far. I will not be doing the mastery program. However, I feel confident that I can actually leave here Sunday and DO the business - that confidence, to me, is invaluable.
If it is 2 tickets for $197.00? Can you sell one ticket for $100.00? Just mke sure you do not buy their other programs that they will try to sell you. It's not a lot of moey and if you don't know very much about real estate inveting it might be the push you need. Take an interested friend with you. Or you can go to one of their FREE one day seminars and see what you think instead. Just make sure you do not buy anything from them
For what it's worth, I just completed the real estate insiders summit, Fortune builders' three day workshop in Romulus Michigan which is in Metro Detroit. Overall I'm glad I went. With some reservations.
I wasn't able to attend Friday morning, but three people told me I didn't miss much. Friday afternoon was worthwhile. I should say that I am fairly brand new to real estate investing have done some reading, listening to BiggerPockets podcasts, etc.
Generally I would break the workshop down into three roughly equal thirds.
one third was motivational speaking which I liked.
1/3 was useful information.
And 1/3 was selling fortune builders mastery program.
As I said, Friday afternoon was worthwhile; I took a lot of notes. All day Saturday was a waste of my time. All they did was talk about the various features of Fortune Builders system once you buy in. You can buy in at three levels, from $20,000 to 34 or $35,000. So Saturday sucked and I was angry about it.
Sunday was much better with a lot of information. The presenter spent significant time on exotic deals that were nowhere near what I was interested in at this point, but the day was still worthwhile.
The presenter's name was Gerald Martin, and he was excellent. If he breaks out to become a motivational speaker on his own, I would probably pay to see him.
So yes one day (Saturday) was a waste of my time, but overall I'm glad I went. He spent a lot of time teaching the "make money"/success mindset and getting over your fear, which was helpful to me.
They passed out cards for people to fill out so they could be interviewed for the very expensive Mastery Program. I simply didn't fill out my card so they didn't call me for that. So I can say that besides the waste of an entire day talking about the features of their paid system, the overall sales was not a very hard pitch. In other words you didn't have anyone trying to corner you into doing something you weren't comfortable with.
At the end, on the survey, they asked what I thought the value of the summit was. I said it was about $150, less than the 197 I paid. That's all due to the wasteful Saturday. Also my wife was not able to come so it was just me. So I'm not entirely unhappy that I went. I expected the sales pitches so I wasn't too surprised. I got some solid information and perspective for a real estate beginner.
Oh and one more thing about the Saturday when they went over all the features of their online fortune builders system that you can buy into. Although they didn't give me any information that I can use (because I'm not going to buy that system), it was interesting to see all the things that their system does. It gave me a good sense of all the functions I will need to tend to one way or another. It really is an impressive system if it works as well as it was presented.
If you have little knowledge of investing, I would do it. It was worth it for me. A lot of it is selling their mastery program, just ignore that. But I actually found my old notebook from that seminar and read it again. Everything that I wrote down that they fought me was good knowledge
I attended the free intro workshop, but I had already talked to a number of people I knew who went all the way through the course, so I knew what to expect. Mostly I went to size up my competition, network, view presentation techniques and see if I could pick up a tip or two.
The free intro was worth every penny (I got some networking leads),
I have heard the $197 3 day for 2 people is a good deal and you may learn some things but you WILL receive a constant and heavy sales pitch to upgrade to the next level...it is not recommended to do it.
I have done the FB three-day as well as others and it is, as is said here, some information, some motivation and some selling - they're pushing a circa. $40k program.
However, for $197 for three days, it's actually a fair value, in my estimation.
Like others here, I've been through other education and have only a limited amount of experience. Still, I came away from FB's 3-day with notes I never got anywhere else.
So, from that perspective, it was money and time well spent for me.
That said, the 3 days will be quite grueling - 9 hour days and since it's held on the weekend, conveniently available lunch places will likely be closed by the time they actually break for lunch, often after 2pm.
If you want to learn salesmanship as well as the RE info. let yourself listen to the pitch for the upsell. Engage them to the point of frustration because they will pursue you to get the "yes" that you know going in you're NOT going to give them. You will learn a lot about pursuasion and overcoming objections.
REI isn't just properties and closings, y'know, it's also engaging with potential partners, team members, buyers and sellers - you're going to need some keen marketing "arrows in your quiver" to be successful in REI. These people are highly trained salespeople - never hurts to learn from the best.
Just leave your checkbook and credit cards at home so you're not tempted.
My $0.02...
Disclosure: I have no relationship of any kind with Than Merrill or Fortune Builders
Wholesaling, or "flopping", is said to be illegal in Ohio without a license. I'm still trying to nail down a definitive answer about my state of Michigan. The FB Summit did not address whether it was legal or not. You did, however, sign a release on your way in not to sue them if you got into legal trouble following their advice.
This may be a little late but this is something to consider. If it was me, I would go to see what the "free" event has to offer. Most likely it will be up selling and sales pitches about how great the 1500 dollar program is going to be. If that's what happens I would literally get up and leave as the show is going on.
For fifteen hundred dollars (maybe a little more or less depending on where you live) you can get real estate education that is TONS more useful than what information you will get from these "gurus". Today I just received my certificate for passing my second real estate class (Highest test score too!). I am more than half-way done with my real estate classes. I live in Ohio and the total time is 120 hours of class time before you can sit for the test.
Just stay focused on what you want to do and your classes will be MUCH more beneficial than the workshops these guru's provide. It is literally up to you as to what you do with your education. I have been taking classes this semester and trust me my mind has totally opened up as to how to effectively make money in this business.
Originally I wanted to wholesale and I learned everything I could about it. In my honest opinion there really isn't much to know about wholesaling. Literally you find homes for 70% off minus any "work" needed to be done and flip them to "cash" buyers which are usually investors or flippers. I personally find it easier than flipping and it would provide more connections to learn how flipping works. I would rather watch someone else receive a flippable property and see it happen in front of me and then try it out rather than go out and get myself caught up in something I cannot fix.
Seriously take the real estate classes, its worth it and you might even consider becoming a real estate agent. Make money selling houses. If you want to be a flipper you can save money on comissions. If you want to be a wholesaler you will have law knowledge (you will know a lot more about law and how to avoid lawsuits), credibility, access to the MLS to easily find CMAs/Property Values, and a broker to help you become a successful R.E agent.
I got free funding for the classes at a local community college. Look around, you might be surprised. The college doesn't list that they have the classes so make sure to ask.
I also have paid for the three day seminar. I was very disappointed. It offered less information than the free four hour seminar. It was all about the upsale for the two days I was able to stomach. I left at lunch the second day around noon and did not even ask for my money back.
I often get coaching students in my program, that purchased Fortune Builders, who want private hand holding during the rehab process and were disappointed with out of state coaching by phone.
Get your money back you will learn more by going on this site. I hate those guru events. I really believe you will learn more by just educating your self on this site and finding a mentor in your area who is actively investing. Best of luck!
@Adriana Babikian, go ahead and take the workshop. That's $33/day for each one of you, and the amount you'll learn - it will take you months to learn it from books or reading through posts. This class can get you ready to take action immediately!
I've taken the class and I am an experienced investor and broker, and I can say I still learned few new things. You always learn something new!
Buying into their more advanced program I don't advice, as it's kind of buying a PHD program when you barely are passing your middle school!