Success Path?

Success Path?

Investor · Cross Plains, TN · Member since 2015 · 13 posts · 8 votes

I am a brand new investor trying to learn the ropes. My long term goal is to have 15-20 rentals for passive income and flip 10-15 houses a year . I have attended a 3 day work shop put on by Success Path which is endorsed by Tarek and Christina El Moussa of the TV Show Flip or Flop. The 3 day workshop was 8 hrs a day and I paid $1799.97 to attend. The workshop was a disappoint to say the least. Many hours were wasted on a sales pitch to entice into continued education that cost $41,297 for Diamond Enrollment, $26,297 for Platinum Enrollment, and $21,297 for Gold enrollment. The red flags went up for me when the instructor gave the first homework assignment to be done during our lunch break was to call our credit card companies and up our credit limits to $25,000  if possible and to also have our interest rates lowered. They provided a book with a script to use. I did not complete the assignment and when asked why I explained to the instructor in (in front of the class) that I did not feel comfortable doing that since I had sat thru 4 hours of sales pitch thus far and had only wrote 2 sentences that I felt I could actually use to buy real estate. Well that sent him into a hour long rant about negativity and how we were thinking like poor people, upping our credit limit would raise our credit score ect ect. I stuck it out the 3 days  to try to gain as much info for my money as possible. Hey you just are not born knowing this stuff. I am a motivated person and business owner that by the way  I was told would not be successful 3 years ago and today it is. As the workshop went on we were seated one on one with a mentor/salesman who tried to sell the continued education. On the last day we sat down and was offered a SECRET(I was told to keep it to myself and not let any of the others know of the offer) scaled down version maybe the Tin Can version instead of Gold for $15,000. I told our salesman that it would have been nice to know about the other option so we could have had time to consider it but since this was a business of negotiation and I was not happy thus far I would take the scaled down version for $5,000 site unseen. He was not pleased and suggested that I go out on my own and try to make deals but I would ultimately FAIL without the continued education. We agreed to disagree. The better points of the plan that I have not mentioned that really had me sold was a magic software called Property Farm which gives an investor inside information as to a data base of home owners 1-3 months behind on their mortgage payments a way to find forecloses in the making or before they happen and are made public and  also a data base of buyers retail and wholesale . The instructor would not let us see the software for very long at all maybe a 1-2 minute example then he would cover the overhead projector up with a book to hide it from the class . Also a investor coach would be made available which both of these points is why I paid for the 3 day workshop to begin with. Since then I have been contacted by Success Path and I explained my disappointment with the workshop and that a refund was in order ect. She asked for a chance for her company to redeem their self and if we could talk about my situation ect. I agreed and after many questions she couldnt answer  was offered the software (previously not available by itself) 1yr  for $2500 or the software with a coach for 1yr for $7500 and the $1799.97 I spent on the 3 day workshop would be applied towards either. I told her I would have to think about it and let her know. I have read several times on Biggerpockets of people paying for seminars and paying what I consider big money . Has anyone heard of the magic software Property Farm. Does anyone have any info about the Success Path Plan. Sorry for the long post and any help or info will be greatly appreciated.

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Investor · Sherman Oaks, CA · Member since 2008 · 6k+ posts · 3k+ votes
11y

@Kenneth Norman

Man I am sorry.

In California we have Foreclosure Radar.  Best in the business.

https://www.propertyradar.com/?utm_source=FR&utm_m...

https://www.propertyradar.com/what-we-do/best-fore...

To attack the issue:

Write a letter to their office.  Ask for a refund within 10 business days or you will go to the FTC, BBB and the AG.

Good luck.

Brian

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  • Rochester, MN · Member since 2014 · 1 post · 0 votes
    10y

    Christina and Tarek were originally associated with Property Wars  and Zurixx. I don't know if they still are but these companies seem to have multiple names and their approach sounds the same.  We've lost a lot of money through these groups and their associates.  You are better off using the info on Bigger Pockets and educators like Robyn Thompson who actually care about their student investors and don't try to take all your money.  Red flags should go up when the first thing they want you to do is call your credit card company to increase your limit.  Please do your homework so you don't make the same mistakes we made!!

  • Tulsa, OK · Member since 2016 · 2 posts · 0 votes
    9y

    I wish I had been more Internet savvy when I took the Success Path workshop. It did not take me long to get hooked by a professional "bait and switch" artist.  Needless to say, I made a considerable investment with them and they did not fulfill their part of the contract. Now I am prohibited from actually investing until I get the issues resolved.

    So far I have been working through the Utah Consumer Protection Agency to assist in an investigation.  Now, I am going to go through the BBB to proceed to the next step.  It would be beneficial to find a class action suit to join so I would not have to pursue them alone.  My financial capabilities have been hindered by my participation with Success Path. 

    Just now found BiggerPockets and am hoping to find individuals with more wisdom than me to help me see my way through this dilemma.

  • Investor · Cedar Rapids, IA · Member since 2016 · 3 posts · 1 vote
    9y

     I attended the summit in LV last year and got quite a bit from it, although not cheaply.  Cannot say I regret spending the money.  Have bought 2 properties in last year. 

    So I wonder what happens to Success Path now that Tarek & Christina are splitting up.

  • Edinburg, TX · Member since 2017 · 1 post · 1 vote
    9y

    Thank you Kenneth for the long post.  It definitely saved my life.  I attended the FREE seminar and was reluctant to purchase the 3 day class.  I was exited about everything the speaker told us.  No money down, other people's money.  Sounded like it was still a great bargain, even with the 1997.99 purchase for the class, I thought I could sacrifice the big price.  Well, I gave in and signed up for the 3 day class and gave my credit card that had plenty of credit to cover it.  With luck my credit card read "DENIED".  I went home, sort of disappointed and decided to do some research on this class and with luck I found your post and like others, will decide not to attend anymore of these Blood Sucking "Opportunities".  I checked the credit on my card and it said that it did have enough credit, but, fortunately it was Declined.

    Thanks to the internet and SEARCH engine and the people that post true life saving moments.

  • San Antonio, TX · Member since 2017 · 1 post · 0 votes
    9y

    02/05/17

    What to expect:

    1) You will attend a Success path free bootcamp, where you will get some free material, where 90% of the time they will to sale a "FASTSTART" THREE-DAY BOOTCAMP for, in our case, $1990, and other Online training... the other 10% they will talk you about how awesome is invest in Real Estate (it really it is, I agree with) and then,
    2) You will attend these 3 days training where you expect a real class, go deep into the topics that they included for this, but guess what, 80% of the time they will to sale you 3 different packages where the more inexpensive is for $21600, YES almost $22K. The other 20% they touch superficially the different topics which are for what you really are in that class, also they will teach you how to play with your credit card to avoid the interest's payment, how you should use your saving, your 401K to invest in Real Estate, But of course you need start investing in your education and investing in your education came again and again. I WAS DONE AT THIS POINT. I feel that I start my Real Estate Investment with A BAD INVESTMENT, like when you wake up with the left foot.
    I really wish success to all of the people who bought those training packages. Especially to the elderly people who may have been using their savings for the last years of their life, or getting Debts at this point of their life, I really really wish them success.
    Come on Success Path team SERIOUSLY... 

  • Brooklyn, NY · Member since 2016 · 152 posts · 44 votes
    9y

    @Kenneth Norman

    Run away!! There's so much information available about real estate that's attainable for FREE!! You could use that money as a down payment for future investment.

    Check out this link as it gives a pretty accurate description on how these gurus work

    https://www.biggerpockets.com/renewsblog/2011/04/04/real-estate-guru-scam-trap/

  • Los Angeles, CA · Member since 2017 · 40 posts · 13 votes
    9y

    Oh man wow I'm in the same boat and they are denying my refund!

    Can someone walk me thru how they were able to get a refund from Success Path??? 

  • Real Estate Agent · Salt Lake City, UT · Member since 2017 · 22 posts · 13 votes
    9y

     I also went to their free seminar out of curiosity. I did not know much about real estate investing, and the one thing I did get out of the seminar is it got me excited about investing.

    The moment they did their sales pitch to the 3-day workshop for only $2,000 that needs to be paid today, I knew this was definitely not necessary with all the free information you can get from online. They are surely good salespeople getting many to sign up for the event, and there were many who did that day. I am so glad I did not sign up, especially after reading this post.

    Hopefully since your bad experience with them, you have been able to jump into real estate investing using a lot of the free and very helpful tools here on bigger pockets.

  • Rental Property Investor · St. Paul, MN · Member since 2016 · 3k+ posts · 3k+ votes
    9y

    @Kenneth Norman  I  started in this business in 2008 and never once took a guru course, even to this date. I'm not saying that Guru courses are bad, just that I did not do it. From 2008 until today I have flipped over 150 properties and I currently own approximately 150 rental units. You have amazing resources available to you right now in the likes of bigger pockets, podcasts, books, YouTube, etc that are free or cheap. My suggestion would be to continue to devour those and ignore what some guru told you about not being able to be successful without their additional classes.  You will be successful if you take strategic calculated action this year. You will not be successful by spending $20,000 or even $100,000 In courses.  My suggestion is to use this experience up as a lesson learned and move on. Use this as motivation to kick *** and then send them a letter about the success you have no thanks to them!

  • Investor · Mableton, GA · Member since 2017 · 29 posts · 13 votes
    8y

    I went to a Success Path event tonight. It was called Flip Atlanta but I am not sure why because they barely even talked about flipping. I will say, if it weren't for BiggerPockets and my networking, they may have got me! Like others have said, the presenter uses a very HARD sales pitch and if you do not know any better you'll get suckered in. Especially with them promising you a full refund in 3 months should you close on a deal and in 6 months should you not make at least $6K. 

    It is not easy to sucker me in at all but they actually had me thinking, so you can only imagine how many people they get at each of these events. I'd say there were probably 100 - 200 people there and many seemed very interested. Maybe it'll work for them but I am so glad I went with my gut. And I cannot believe they are charging these astronomical amounts that people are mentioning, OMG! You could definitely learn all you can from online, books and BiggerPockets and use that money for a down payment. That's crazy!

    The seminar was full of newbies so I was not able to network like I thought I'd be able to and didn't really learn anything new at all because most of it was the sales pitch. I'll just have to search for networking events with experienced investors as I continue to grow my portfolio. 

    Oh yeah, when the presenter mentioned how you could use a credit card and pay $50 a month on the credit card bill for the purchase, that really seemed to peak people's interest. What a shame. He did mention how in a few months you can do a flip or wholesale deal and make more than enough money to pay it back. Good luck! 

  • Investor · Atlanta, GA · Member since 2015 · 17 posts · 15 votes
    8y

    @Whitney Tutt Glad that you did not get suckered into paying for something you did not need! Almost always there is more money in teaching people to do things, than doing the thing itself. Remember that and keep being skeptical, or at least step back in situations and try to be as rational as possible.

  • Investor · Mableton, GA · Member since 2017 · 29 posts · 13 votes
    8y

    Thanks Alex! I agree.

  • Member since 2018 · 1 post · 0 votes
    8y

    I was initially so excited for the fast track 3 day seminar. I read a ton of negative reviews about this program and company but decided I would experience it for myself to make this decision. I along with my partner came in with an open positive mindset. I left feeling discouraged and defeated. The whole first day the presenter builds your confidence up he makes you feel like this is 1000% something you're capable of doing. The second day they ask you to up your credit limit / open new lines of credit etc. so that you may have access to more funding for Real Estate. So of course we do this, my partner and I both opened up new credit cards. Later that day we find out the prices of additional training 23,000-40,000, the Diamond package is literally more than I make in an entire year at my job! My partner and I had spent most of our savings just to attend this seminar. On the last day we pleaded for them to work with us on the $7,000 we managed to scrounge up through Credit cards and our last bit of savings and they did not. Our Consultant offered us a deal for another 3day course and the software that they put such an emphases on the entire time you're there for $10,000 and told us to not tell anyone else that price because it was unique for us. $10,000 for us is still something we could not reach. We're 24 years old, fresh out of college trying to get out of debt, put everything we have into this and it still wasn't enough! If they want people from all walks of life to have access to this opportunity why not be upfront about it when they first apply for the 3 day fast track? It would give people a chance to actually try to find funding, a day in a half just isn't a reasonable amount of time to gather that much money! Also the consultants were not relatable, insincere, and not compassionate what so ever! Hello they were in Philadelphia where alot of people are POOR! Once they know you can't afford $10,000+ they give you no time of day. I along with many others I talked to after who also could not afford the additional courses left so discouraged after this seminar and genuinely disappointed.

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