Originally posted by @Donna Carroll :

I have to add my experience with Josh Cantwell & all of his businesses. What he tells people in his webinars is that you can obtain a loan from his companies Freedom Funding & Freeland Lending with no money down, no credit check, no income verification, nothing that the banks require.  This is ALL LIES! They do require all these things & more! Cantwell continues to market his $40K Flip & Strategic Real Estate Coaching with these lies plus he charges fees for the lies!  I had signed up with him & then found out I did need money to get started, so I waited for months & finally got the money together. I had a great property under contract, I submitted the offer to him, waited days & never heard so I called them. I was told that they wanted all the requirements, just like a bank. When I complained, they told me that their "requirements" had changed since I signed up! I am on a mission to make sure everyone knows about Cantwell. I post anywhere & everywhere I can. I even told Cantwell's people I was doing this & no one cares. They did reply to my post on one of the ripped off websites with more lies!

Originally posted by @Sonya Suggs :

Thank you so very much for your review. I had seriously been considering purchasing the CI DEAL DOG package due to its 'simplicity'. But now I am looking elsewhere. Any suggestions for a newbie like myself? I do not have any real estate investment experience but I am very motivated to get started. I've seen sooo many webinars and don't know who to trust.

 I agree that website is iffy at best.

Sonya, go to your local REI association meetings first, see if there are people locally who are doing mentoring and then stick with them (after some investigation). I have found that even in HI, I can get good quality mentoring and education for less than $5K--far different than most of the major gurus.

Good Luck!

This is very interesting Jason & Josh. I have not spoken to your people "6-8 times" or "on a few occasions". I have never been offered any other lenders to work with. I was not refunded all my money either. In fact, this is the first time I have had any contact from you or your people since I put in my deal & found out your requirements had changed! Why is that? If either of you actually knew about me & had your facts straight, then you would know I have an LLC, I have experience in rehabbing & I have a partner with experience. As you have mentioned, I was ill for several years then had to start over, that's not easy at my age. So I guess I was gullible for believing what people told me, especially when I was struggling. I thought you would understand that Josh, since you went through a serious illness.

I tried to discuss this in a "professional & private manner", I gave your people numerous chances to contact me & then I just got mad!  I've been waiting to see just how long it took someone from your companies to actually react to my posts.  Funny, it took over 18 mos! I don't appreciate being told I can't "move on" or am "unclear or confused" because I am telling people the truth. I am aware of the inspection & appraisal costs, points & interest, that's not what I have a problem with.  I am not "upset", I have "moved on" & my real estate career is doing well.  I just don't think it's morally right to lie to people & I don't like to see people taken advantage of! 

The great deal, I had & lost, was for a house that had the opportunity to profit over $200,000!  I was NEVER given the chance to pitch this deal. When I finally spoke with one of your people, after leaving several messages & never receiving a call back, all I was asked was what my credit score was, what my income was & how much I could put down!  So explain that to me Josh!  

I would be happy to stop posting about your scams if I had ANY reason to believe that I was or am wrong. I am not the only one to say these things. You have every right to promote what you offer but you don't have the right to continue to lie & mislead without consequences! 

And by the way, 100% NO money down means exactly that!  If it doesn't fit with what your program is all about then you shouldn't say that!

Arguing over the internet is like nuclear war.

No winners. Only losers.

Both sides look bad.

@Donna Carroll , why are you arguing with a company via the comments section of a public website? Sure your review of these "connected investors" makes them look bad but quite frankly it makes you look bad too. I come out of this not wanting to Wirth with either of you if given the chance.

Find a mentor, hire a coach and read LOTS of books

I can say from personal experience that Connected Investor and the  CIX Referral Service is a very large and ELABORATE SCAM.  After signing up for the referral I was contacted by many supposed lenders who knew personal info from the application.  Later I found out that they were all scammers.  After some research I selected one.  He had a Facebook profile and a Linked in page as well as a web site.   He also came recommended by someone claiming to be the VP of Marketing from CI.  I even called the company phone number on the web site to confirm that I was corresponding with the VP Of Sales. 

  They don’t have an office but a single person who answered. (I should have known then.).  They claimed that he was unavailable but confirmed it was him.  They said that he would contact me.   Again I heard from the scammer who claimed to be him and vowed that he would personally guarantee the transaction.  I still tried to research the lender who had a Linked In profile, and web site and a personal guarantee, so, I applied and lost $1,500.  

 CI takes money from genuine lenders who pay to be listed on the referral service, then the scammers write to those who apply for funding using the credentials of the legitimate lender.  I found this out after I tracked down and spoke to several legitimate lenders who paid thousands to be listed in the Referral Service but were never received a referral from the site.   Thus, the owners of the CI web site are stealing from the lenders and the borrowers. In my brief investigation I discovered 4 experienced lenders and borrowers who had lost a total of over $20,000.   

bought into connected investors in march 2017. Could never access the promised info. Reached out by phone email and text multiple times for assistance. Never got a response. I finally spoke to someone after a year of attempted calls etc.. who promised to cancel and refund. That was in feb 2018. I was just charged another 97.00 April 13th. I called and was directed to leave yet another message that will probably not be returned. I hesitate to add up all the money they've charged me because it makes me feel like a fool. But I'm sure it's around 2500.00 at least.  For absolutely nothing.  These people are criminal and should be taken out of business.  Don't fall for their ads.  Scam artists all. 

I subscribed to Pinpoint Profits recently and now that we have had a chance to actually use the program we have determined that the information is garbage and the software is very glitchy. Most of the phone numbers are incorrect, the person doesn’t match the property, and properties showing as “new” and in pre-foreclosure have already been sold at auction. This software does not live up to all the promises at all, and I beg you not to waste your money like I did.

Hi @Shannon

Sorry to hear about your issues with Connected Investors and hope you can get a refund.

I saw some people looking for feedback on the Pinpoints Profits program over on the Real Estate Technology Forum, so it might be helpful to post your experience over there as well.

https://www.biggerpockets.com/forums/80/topics/556...

The comment about Nigerian trolls spamming BP reminded me of this hilarious ted talk about what happens when you start responding to scammers :)

https://ted.com/talks/james_veitch_this_is_what_happens_when_you_reply_to_spam_email?utm_source=sms&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=tedspread

i haven't signed up for any programs with cix investors. I agree with people start with local realestate groups. These programs even the gurus say consult with your attorney, make sure there are no Loophole's, stuff in fine print, what gets people, you know stuff you need a magnifying glass to see lol. Everyone entitled to an opinion, what works for some may not work for others. I had friends buy stuff and it works and others it dnt. Weird part is how come it doesn't work for everybody? Many gv up listening to others. People easily persuaded, do your own homework dnt listen to the broke friend lol

@Allan Goetsch or any one on BP. How do you find such information on lenders or anyone you want to verify legitimacy.  Allan talked about finding information like: the criminal data base of Interpol; 28 were in the in the financial crimes data base of Nigeria and 4 were listed in the Interpol data base connecting them to Russian mobs!

I would like to be able to check for this type of information if legally possible.

Quite the dramatic thread here.  I always laugh when hear someone ask for upfront fees.  And even for chosen purchases it is always with a service or credit card which can be disputed.  Thanks for all the input.  

@John Webster it appears to me that the reason the guru lessons work is for the same reasons expensive gym memberships do because of the work put in. Some people put the work in at the expensive, some don’t. I guess the beef with lots of guru classes is that we can do the exact same pushups at BiggerPockets as we can at an Equinox.

wow lol.....I’m laughing because this does not surprise me. It’s so many scammers that are getting into real estate every month from what it seems. One goes away and another pops up....So many fake lenders or lenders who actually screw you over.i have posted about my frustrations with lenders so many times on BP. With the exception of Lima One no one else really seems legit that I have had experience with. My partner and I are STILL looking for a good hard money lender and private money lender for future Illinois deals. 

I really wish there was some kind of ranking system here on BP. To rate HML/PML because lenders are screwing over so many people. I understand there is politics with doing this but I personally think it would mean a lot to newbie investors and experience investors who aren't familiar with the process of a particular company or person. Or could BP maybe add in a section somewhere on the forum and let us add companies and leave reviews about them. Is this possible?

@Brandon Turner @Mindy Jensen  

Yeah anssi i agree. Also, i would add that The cost of these programs imo i dnt see the big deal only to the effect that in the world how many people drop that kind of money some gurus ask for on college to be a server, working in retail or flipping burgers, stuff you dnt need a 4 year degree for. Look how many continue to go to college knowing most dnt make it anyway. I have friends drop 40 grand plus making very little cause of major , take years to pay back yet say I dnt see how people drop 30 grand on a program lol. Some spend that kind of money and get taking advantage of and some dnt. To say cheaper alternative to expensive programs is the same as there is cheaper alternative to a bachelor's degree both is true

yeah anssi people look at the cost rather than the value. What I mean is I had a friend  spend 50 grand on a program people laughed blown away..the templates they have alone has saved him more than he spent especially when dealing with contractors. I just use his stuff now . do people need gurus no..realestate like anything depends on person. I am betting most have bought some form of guru training..I see many say dnt need trainings just listen to.cd's and read books. Where you think.the books and cd's come from. A successful person selling info..definition of guru.

yeah Elbert i agree i dnt see them allowing it though, but who knows. I haven't had a bad experience with a lender yet. Maybe one day they did what they said. My deals usually so good they dnt want to lose me, hell they call me asking about next deal. Average person making what 50k a deal or so they come a dime a dozen, easy for some to take advantage of people lol

Dang donna hate to hear that. What i dnt understand is why are people using companies like cix for investors. Good deals are going to easily find money. There are lenders in all states drooling to fund 200k potential profit deals. I get emails everyday and calls from lenders ready to fund next deal. Especially Florida, Texas and California.

Wow, that's crazy. Thanks for the heads up!

Concern!

I watched Ross Hamilton’s webinar. It seems like a state of the art tool to access motivated sellers. CI is asking for 1495.00 to get access to this IT tool then after 6 months the investor pays 79.00. Any advise? Any much appreciated. Ty

@Jackie Paugam  I just watched the Ross Hamilton Webinar today and had my credit card ready to pay the $1497 (today's allege special price, plus a monthly fee after six months) but came across this discussion on BiggerPockets.  I thank God that as I was googling his Pinpoint Profits website which appears to be connected to CI this discussion came up on it previously being a scam. 

So before you give them your money you may want to read this discussion forum from the beginning and do more research on Ross Hamilton, CI and his Pinpoint Profits before you decide. I don't know if they changed their practices or not but I'm not chancing losing any of my hard earned money to them.  Wishing you the best!