Doug Fath Student Housing
Real Estate Investor · Dearborn, MI · Member since 2009 · 56 posts · 40 votes
Doug Fath Student Housing
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Real Estate Investor · Saginaw, MI · Member since 2008 · 136 posts · 24 votes
16yMy jury is still out on the "guaranteed funding" aspect of Doug Fath's program. His material is good...some of it is excellent! But I've submitted 30+ deals so far and NOTHING has been funded yet. Still waiting! And waiting!
When I started the program, I took the "guaranteed funding" component of it VERY seriously. It was hyped, no doubt. It sounded like he had all the funds lined up...and a group of investors... and it was just a matter of finding the deals that met the criteria and, boof, he'd fund it in one of 3 ways.
So I approached the program with a set plan: to submit 10 great deals to him per week. I worked all week finding deals, and then, every Friday before 5, like clockwork, I submitted 10 deals. Every one of them meeting the criteria established in the program: 65% to ARV, 1.35% cash flow. And several other variables. All met. As we speak, I have 35 deals sitting somewhere in the ether-equivalent of his desk. And nothing has been funded yet. (This is the 5th week of the program. I stopped submitting until I see what is going to happen with this guaranteed funding.)
We eventually talked on the phone, and he asked me to just pick the top 3. That was a hard task. I had tied up houses in one of the most booming college towns in the country. I have houses ONE BLOCK from campus!!! I have houses with college kids living in them NOW! Picking 3 was a difficult task, but I did that.
I'm 5 weeks into what is supposed to be an 8 week program, and not ONE house has yet been funded.
Because I have prime properties tied up, I am now seeking other investors to pick up what I thought the "guaranteed funding" program would take care of.
But as I said, my jury is still out on the "guaranteed funding" aspect of the program. Doug seems like a very sharp guy, and he knows what he is talking about. His course materials are great...some of the things are priceless. I would recommend the materials to anyone wanting to learn about this particular niche market.
I will post again in 3 weeks to update you on the funding. Did my deals get funded? And how many out of 35? (I would think at least 1/3 of them would get some attention)
Time and patience will tell.
36 Replies
- Wholesaler · Baton Rouge, LA · Member since 2008 · 471 posts · 98 votes16y
Greg,
I agree. I really believe he is over the top with his claims. I live in a large college town and looked into the student housing market. Getting deals at 30% below retail is tough. The demand for student housing is high and any decent properties that come up are bought quickly. So I don't where he is getting his deals
- Real Estate Investor · Saginaw, MI · Member since 2008 · 136 posts · 24 votes16y
My jury is still out on the "guaranteed funding" aspect of Doug Fath's program. His material is good...some of it is excellent! But I've submitted 30+ deals so far and NOTHING has been funded yet. Still waiting! And waiting!
When I started the program, I took the "guaranteed funding" component of it VERY seriously. It was hyped, no doubt. It sounded like he had all the funds lined up...and a group of investors... and it was just a matter of finding the deals that met the criteria and, boof, he'd fund it in one of 3 ways.
So I approached the program with a set plan: to submit 10 great deals to him per week. I worked all week finding deals, and then, every Friday before 5, like clockwork, I submitted 10 deals. Every one of them meeting the criteria established in the program: 65% to ARV, 1.35% cash flow. And several other variables. All met. As we speak, I have 35 deals sitting somewhere in the ether-equivalent of his desk. And nothing has been funded yet. (This is the 5th week of the program. I stopped submitting until I see what is going to happen with this guaranteed funding.)
We eventually talked on the phone, and he asked me to just pick the top 3. That was a hard task. I had tied up houses in one of the most booming college towns in the country. I have houses ONE BLOCK from campus!!! I have houses with college kids living in them NOW! Picking 3 was a difficult task, but I did that.
I'm 5 weeks into what is supposed to be an 8 week program, and not ONE house has yet been funded.
Because I have prime properties tied up, I am now seeking other investors to pick up what I thought the "guaranteed funding" program would take care of.
But as I said, my jury is still out on the "guaranteed funding" aspect of the program. Doug seems like a very sharp guy, and he knows what he is talking about. His course materials are great...some of the things are priceless. I would recommend the materials to anyone wanting to learn about this particular niche market.
I will post again in 3 weeks to update you on the funding. Did my deals get funded? And how many out of 35? (I would think at least 1/3 of them would get some attention)
Time and patience will tell.
- Real Estate Investor · North Carolina · Member since 2008 · 1k+ posts · 483 votes16y
Greg -- I live and invest in a college town. Myself, as well as many dozens of other investors continually monitor the market looking for any sort of deal (and this doesn't count the large number of rich parents willing to pay retail for a college home for their kids). Competition here is FIERCE.
Dr. Fish -- if you have tied up "prime properties" in a legitimate college rental area that are 65% of ARV you will have NO PROBLEM finding interested buyers.
Why are you not doing exactly that?
- Real Estate Investor · Saginaw, MI · Member since 2008 · 136 posts · 24 votes16y
Well, I AM doing that now. Doug's "guaranteed funding" program seemed to take all the hassles out of having to do that. I really like his due-diligence system. He has a very extensive submission protocol that, in all reality, takes a good week to put 10 properties through. So I focused the last 5 weeks on finding properties to submit via the system. And now, you're right, I have these prime properties...some with students already in them...and although I would love to hold out for Doug's "guaranteed funding," I am not so sure it is going to come. And the season for getting college students lined up for next year is upon us. Soooo... I AM looking for other investors now. Thanks! Tom
- Rental Property Investor · Mercer Island, WA · Member since 2008 · 22k+ posts · 14k+ votes16y
The "Make Deals" forum would be the appropriate spot for posting info about your deals. Lets keep this thread on track with Doug Fath's program.
- Investor, Entrepreneur, Educator · Springfield, MO · Member since 2009 · 21k+ posts · 12k+ votes16y
Hi can someone give the highlights of the "program"......if anyone claims you can buy at 30% of market vale in a college town, it must be a very small college town! Won't happen within a couple miles of any of our colleges or the university, we have more than 6, so that swallows most of the city.....Bill
- Real Estate Investor · Saginaw, MI · Member since 2008 · 136 posts · 24 votes16y
The program puts you through some very good and prudent due dilgence exercises, not just with the houses but with the colleges and the area as well. Then it gives you an excellent, iron-clad lease to use with the student-renters. And a great property management system. / It's a great program; and again, I would recommend it to anyone interested in this niche market. But I am starting to realize that he completely oversold the "guaranteed funding" component of it, which basically stated that, if you bring him the deals that fit the funding criteria, he would either (a) pay you an assignment fee for the deal, (b) partner 50-50 with you, or (c) get one of his associates or contacts to fund the project. Guaranteed! He stresses this component. In fact, he gives you the "guaranteed funding" module before you even sign up for the course. It's the main reason I (and probably many others) signed up. But you be the judge: 5 weeks into an 8 week program, 35 deals sent, and not one of them funded yet. It's really the only disappointing component of the program. And trust me, if he all of a sudden starts funding my stuff, I will eat every word I've written here and promote his program bigtime. Because every other aspect of it is great. It's the best and most refreshing program I've seen in years.
- Rental Property Investor · Mercer Island, WA · Member since 2008 · 22k+ posts · 14k+ votes16y
Does he give specific criteria for the deals he will accept? If must not just be a free-for-all.
- Real Estate Investor · Milwaukee, WI · Member since 2008 · 1k+ posts · 671 votes16y
Jon,
See above he taked about what this guy wants to fund.I dont think you need a special lease for students. Your normal lease should cover everything. Leases and law differ from state to state so I would never use a lease a guru from another state drafted.
How do you find 35 good deals in a few weeks? Is the college going to leave and you didnt get the memo? I invest in an area close to a university and I might find one deal a year within walking distance of campus.
- Real Estate Investor · Saginaw, MI · Member since 2008 · 136 posts · 24 votes16y
35 deals: I actually found about 45 but pared the list back. How did I find them? Mmmmm. some of that is a trade secret, but to give you a summary: I found one guy with a portfolio of properties in several states, and because of mismanagement, he was in foreclosure on everything! I found one lady who had hard money loans on 6 college rentals...and no exit strategy, so the lenders were knocking on her door. I sat down with one neighborhood developer who had a whole 'secret list" of properties and individuals on the verge of collapse. Just a whole lot of different things like that.
The criteria; Purchase price 65% of ARV (many of mine are in the 50's), cash flow at 1.33% of purchase. (many of mine are at 2+) Relative closeness to the college (mine are 1 - 5 blocks). Other college kids living on the street. (Most of mine either have college kids as neighbors or college kids already living there). Truly, I have some seriously excellent college rental properties. ALL of the 35 qualified under the set criteria...but okay, let's be realistic...maybe only 6 - 10 can be funded by the "guaranteed funding" program. 6-10 is a far cry from 0. But as I said, my jury is still out. There are 3 more weeks left in the program. A lot can happen in 3 weeks.
- Real Estate Investor · Saginaw, MI · Member since 2008 · 136 posts · 24 votes16y
Well, my jury is finally in on the Doug Fath "guaranteed funding" fiasco. His actual program is good. But his "guaranteed funding" is an absolute sham! Of the 35 properties I submitted 0 were funded. ZERO!!!!!!! He made a lot of promises, but then started getting actually kinda bizarre: he started sending other students in the program to me, hoping that they could possibly find funding. But the other students, they were crunching the numbers on my properties and then THEY were submitting them for the guaranteed funding. Just an absolute sham. So, I ended up reporting his program to the Attorney General of Pennsylvania and am working with my own attorney now to either file suit individually or as a class action. Will keep everybody posted.
- Real Estate Investor · oak creek, WI · Member since 2009 · 187 posts · 8 votes16y
I did receive email indicating they hold many turn key properties available
and to reply back , if you’re interested in hear more detailsI never received a reply back from Doug Fath on these properties
I purchase the program also, but have not submitted a property yet for funding [fyi]
It seems most of his currently information coming via California
I plan to submit a deal within the next 2 weeks and will keep you posted
Thing I do not like is his email delay response
You might have to email him several times before receiving a response
I think he has good intentions, but that does not put money in your pockets
I will keep BP upd on my status with Six Figures Student Housing program
- Attorney · Raleigh, NC · Member since 2008 · 4k+ posts · 1k+ votes16y
Build your properties like a freaking tank or they will trash it. I'm talking commercial grade tile/carpet and cinder block walls not drywalled and painted with thick, commercial grade, cheap paint.
Put a student in a padded room with nothing but a bowling ball and in 15 minutes they'll have broken it.
The only exception, and this is probably sexist to some people but it's totally true, is sororities or just general ladies-only housing. The ladies will consider a sorority an extension of themselves and will keep it cleaner than a 4 star hotel. The flip side is they are high maintenance tenants. A buddy of mine had one and had to deal with middle of the night calls to take care of leaky faucets and hair clogs in the midst of a dozen sorority girls in various night wear (not joking). How the heck I missed this market I still haven't figured out. - Real Estate Investor · Saginaw, MI · Member since 2008 · 136 posts · 24 votes16y
Hi Josh. Yes, please keep us posted. And that email you received about "turn-key properties" I think may have been about some of MY properties. How is THIS for "guaranteed funding": After everything else falling through, Doug had me price the properties with an "assignment fee" that both he and I would split, and then he sent the list out to other students (probably the one you received). I got emails froma couple students who said they were ready to turn the properties in for the guaranteed funding. And I was like, "Wait a sec... he can't even fund them for ME, how is he going to fund them for YOU to BUY them from me?" THAT is how bizarre his "guaranteed funding" really was. / And the lack of email correspondence? That is because he was out in CA attending other seminars on investing in commercial real estate, and busy putting together other programs and cross-selling programs of other "gurus." Doing more things to make more money while his students who he promised "guaranteed funding" to were losing their own money. I lost several thousand dollars on his b.s. and, frankly, I'm not sitting still for it.
- Investor, Entrepreneur, Educator · Springfield, MO · Member since 2009 · 21k+ posts · 12k+ votes16y
Another good example of why not to buy guru courses and explore this site. Perhaps there are not many posts concerning student housing here, I have not checked, but after twenty+ years of leasing to students the best advice I have is have the parents sign the lease and check them out as you would a tenant!
My rentals were very popular with the kids, spiral stairs, open floor plan split level. I leased to juniors and seniors, good families and they usually brought me their friends to lease it as they were moving out....very low vacancy, sometimes they cleaned the units as they moved in!
Not to hijack the subject, I would think that any college administrator/prof. would be in a great position to lease to the students and I know a few that do.
Other than the financing element of the program, I don't see much other value to it as it seems to me the information could be brought out here. We have many seasoned landlords on BP.
As to financing, I don't think I would give up 50% (especially 50%) for basically covering maybe 25% of the deal, since most cash flowing properties in good condition can be financed conventionally from local banks.
Sorry this program didn't pan out for you Dr. F. Good luck with it.....Bill
- Real Estate Investor · Saginaw, MI · Member since 2008 · 136 posts · 24 votes16y
Thanks "financexaminer," You're right, the biggest value of the Doug Fath program should have been the "guaranteed funding." But it turned out to have zero value. Other parts of his program were good. Another gross shortcoming, though, was how in his advertising campaign he promised to hook his students up with thousands of investors ready to fund blah blah blah. But THAT actually ended up being him directing his students to "connected investors," a site similar to bigger pockets, only at CI, people have to pay.
I actually got everything I needed information wise in the first few modules of his program. The rest of it was stuff anybody involved in real estate investing already knows.
But the true testimony of the program is this: 35 properties submitted, 0 funded.
- Real Estate Investor · Saginaw, MI · Member since 2008 · 136 posts · 24 votes16y
The Final Word on the Doug Fath scam is this: go to Rip Off Report and type in his name. There you will find my complaint, his VERY lame rebuttal, which really says it all!!!, and my response. What he's basically trying to do now, to cover up his "guaranteed funding" hoax, is say that my 35 properties didn't qualify. Not ONE of my 35 properties qualified! Please! The truth is, every single one of them qualified, but he didn't have anything set up to fund them. He was just using that "guaranteed funding" scheme to get people to sign up. Once they did sign up, the program was pretty much on auto pilot while we was out going to OTHER guru's seminars. Big Scam! Check out Rip Off Report.
- Investor, Entrepreneur, Educator · Springfield, MO · Member since 2009 · 21k+ posts · 12k+ votes16y
Do you have the phone numbers for the HUD Inspector General, Attorney General and the State Department of Finance? Better luck next time!
- Real Estate Investor · Saginaw, MI · Member since 2008 · 136 posts · 24 votes16y
Well, I did report him to the Pennsylvania Attorney General, which is where he is from. But I like the idea of the HUD Inspector General and the State Dept. of Finance too. I will find those sources and send info as well. And actually, I think the FBI has an Internet Scam Department too. Thanks!
- 16yDon KonipolBusiness MemberInvestor · The Woodlands TX / Avon, CT · Member since 2009 · 6k+ posts · 10k+ votes
Thank you for detailing your experience. Many people would not want to detail an incident in which they were scammed. This just shows how easy it is to be misled by a good salesman with a good story.
Although I never invested in guru scams, there have been incidents where I was scammed on investment deals and should have known better. A couple were even with people I had been doing business with for 25 years. Even if you know the individual you're doing business with, you neglect to check every detail at your own risk. People do funny things when financial pressure hits - one a--hole told me that he was sorry he had lied to me but if he didn't steal some money his wife was going to leave him!
Bottom line is always require sufficient proof of any promise so that you would feel comfortable doing the deal even if you had never met the individual you're deal with. - Real Estate Investor · Saginaw, MI · Member since 2008 · 136 posts · 24 votes16y
Thanks. Well, I know that I worked Doug Fath's student housing program with great intensity because it sounded legit. If you listen to him, he really DOES sound legit. But the bottom line, he was just trying to raise money to go off and buy real estate for himself (check out his facebook: he has an apartment closing this week). It's obvious to me that he had NO intention of funding ANYTHING!
So yeah, I got royally burned! And I'm letting people know so it doesn't happen to them too.
Incidently, Doug Fath does business under various names: faithful investments, wealthy passion, and investing in cash flow,
I tried to summon other students of his from Connected Investors, which is the source he sold in his program as "putting you in touch with other investors,." which is the equivalent of me saying, "If you join my program, I will put you in touch with 20,000 women." And then you join and I give you a link to Match Dot Com. You know what I'm saying? But Connected Investors won't publish my request because they are somehow in cahoots with him. I mean, at CI, they have to approve any postings. You'd think a simple posting that says, "Doug Fath Students, Please Contact me." would go through and get posted, but uh uh. They must've gotten word that I was exposing his scam all over the internet.
- Real Estate Investor · Saginaw, MI · Member since 2008 · 136 posts · 24 votes16y
Since my last post on this subject, I did report Doug Fath to the Attorney General, the HUD Inspector General, and to the FBI for internet fraud.
Also, a strange thing occured. One of those Court TV programs contacted me after seeing my posting on Rip Off Report, and they asked me if I wanted to come out to California and litigate my case on TV against Doug. Their jurisdiction was only for $5,000, but I laughed and said "Sure," knowing that they'd have to contact Doug to have him agree too. And he would never agree to being on TV, so MORE people can see his total scam. But I thought it'd be funny to have them at least call him and ask.
Another thing: I saw Doug's facebook page where he talks about closing on an apartment. Sure! I am thinking he made a good $300k or more off his student housing program, scamming people by guaranteeing funding and then funding NOTHING. So why not take the spoils and buy yourself an apartment. These are the kinds of things I plan on bringing up in court.
- Investor, Entrepreneur, Educator · Springfield, MO · Member since 2009 · 21k+ posts · 12k+ votes16y
LOL Tom, keep us posted as to the outcome in this pursuit of justice. Might as well start calling the talk shows too! Bill
- Real Estate Investor · NY · Member since 2010 · 1 post · 0 votes16y
I can feel the pain of the members of this particular forum. Perhaps Doug has the best of intentions, however, I too got taken. Within the first 3 weeks, I did not like the "Guaranteed Funding" promo. I sent an email request for a refund. Took my eye of the ball and diverted my attention to my business. Before I realized it, several weeks had passed and no refund. Contacted support for an inquiry, claimed they never received the request and will not issue refund. Bottom line....my own fault. It is a nice thought that people and/or businesses act with integrity but sometimes that just doesn't happen. To all new inquiries into Doug's program...be wary. The first 3 or so modules are very informative but document any communique with them. Best of Success
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