Real Estate Investor · Dearborn, MI · Member since 2009 · 56 posts · 40 votes
How does everyone feel about this hype over Doug Fath "Six figure student housing"?
I watched all of his videos and will join in on tonight's webinar. I like his ideas and his strategies. However I feel that having no expenses and earning that much cashflow monthly is a little far fetched.
Any thoughts, or experience in student housing or with Doug himself would be great.
Real Estate Investor · Saginaw, MI · Member since 2008 · 136 posts · 24 votes
16y
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)
Real Estate Investor · Saginaw, MI · Member since 2008 · 136 posts · 24 votes
16y
Thanks for sharing your experience, Cliff. You may want to share it on RipOff Report as well. Over there, because it was a public forum, Doug himself posted and offered a full refund. I balked because my damages exceed the tuition. Plus, I think it was all just talk because no other communication came through. And certainly no refund came through. I talked with other people from the program who got shafted in the very same way. Thanks! Tom
Commercial Real Estate Broker · Tustin, CA · Member since 2010 · 51 posts · 26 votes
16y
Tom,
Thank you for sharing your experiences with us. Although you weren't able to get funded, it sounds like you were able to track down some really great deals. Did you try to shop those around to other investors?
The strategies that you briefly mentioned to find the 45 properties - that was quite a feat to be able to do that. Did you learn that from the program?
It sounds like the program's financing portion was a scam, but the education portion couldn't have been that bad if you were able to find so many properties that met those criteria.
Real Estate Investor · Saginaw, MI · Member since 2008 · 136 posts · 24 votes
16y
Hi Michael. The program DID have some really good tools to use in the student housing market. A lot of the material, though, was very basic stuff. The guaranteed funding portion of it, though, was an absolute scam!!!! I have since talked with other students from the program. (A) they didn't get funded either and (B) they were refused refunds when they also discovered the program to be a scam.
I was fortunate enough to tap into one of the best college-housing markets in the country when I did Doug's program. It was because of this that I was able to find and submit 10 properties per week to him. I mean, I was finding primo college rentals IN SIGHT and 2 BLOCKS from the campus....selling at 60% discount. If he had had ANY intention of funding properties, he would have funded those. But, bottom line, he never had any intention of funding ANYTHING. The whole "guaranteed funding" ploy was designed to get students to pay the $1500 tuition. Once they were signed up, he just found every excuse in the book to ignore them, deny funding to them, and pretty much treat them like cattle who he just had to deal with until the course was over.
Real Estate Investor · Saginaw, MI · Member since 2008 · 136 posts · 24 votes
15y
Just a little Doug Fath update. About 11 months have passed since I fell prey to his scam. I have talked with attorneys in that time. One class action attorney rejected the case because he said that Doug Fath was probably not collectable. In other words, you can win but you can't collect.
Meanwhile, Doug is out there doing new seminars on different topics: Freedom$oft is one. My suggestion remains: DO NOT DO IT!!!
Real Estate Investor · Audubon, PA · Member since 2009 · 13k+ posts · 8k+ votes
15y
Originally posted by Dr. Thomas Fish, PhD:
...
Meanwhile, Doug is out there doing new seminars on different topics: Freedom$oft is one. ...
This is just the usual affiliate marketing at its finest. He has acquired a list of those who have already "fallen prey" to real estate marketing of courses, and he is offering other such "gurus" the opportunity to take advantage of that list - all in exchange for a cut of the sales to that list.
Real Estate Investor · Saginaw, MI · Member since 2008 · 136 posts · 24 votes
15y
Joshua, you should report your fleecing at Ripoff Report. This Doug Fath character is running rampant with his guru scams. The more voices that tell of his schemes, the better.
Real Estate Investor · Saginaw, MI · Member since 2008 · 136 posts · 24 votes
10y
This was one property in a small portfolio of properties that I turned over to a guy who was going to refinance to buy your father out, and didn't, and instead walked away from the property. It's something that could still be worked out. I am definitely game; I liked the property. But if your objective is to just trash my business, I'm not interested.