The Real Estate Arena?

Question

Does anyone have any experience with Peter Vekselman and the Real Estate Arena?  It seems that you can bird dog, or wholesale properties for them for pay.  I wanted to ask if anyone has been or still is a PROPERTY LOCATOR for them and what their experience has been.

I am interested in wholesaling and rehabing, and am still wanting to learn all I can before I start.  I am up to my eyeballs in debt so I don't have any capitol to start, and I want to learn to wholsale so I can pay down a bit of my debt, and get a little extra to start rehabing my own properties.  Anyone in the Columbus, OH area who can offer any help or advice would be most welcome.

Thanks in advance for your responses.
-Jetmek02

Chris Collins · Answer

I get e-mails from Real Estate Arena on a regular basis, they send me properties that their members post up and are for sale, you can actually go on their website, and view properties that are for sale that members post up.  A lot of people have joined, and even though this company have 3 complaints over a year's period that isn't a bad thing, most banks get more complaints than that on a daily basis.  You have to keep in mind it's not the complaints but how the company responded to the complaint is what you want to look at.  If you see they have tried to fix their customer's problem and did everything in their power to do so then you should be pretty happy with that, there are other companies out there that don't bother trying to solve their customer's problem, and some companies' higher ups can't be reached you always have to talk to a "representative" (a really crappy one at that), but with Real Estate Arena you can actually speak to the founding father, which is Peter.  He'll give you his e-mail address, and his cellphone # if you want to talk to him about an issue you have.  I know it may seem like I'm promoting Real Estate Arena, but I'm not a member and I can't promote something I'm not apart of.  I'm a Bird Dog, I go on Real Estate Arena to find some pretty good deals members post up, and send the information to my Investors. I don't pay for it, and I don't have to be a member to do this, it's quick easy access, plus I find other Investors I can bird dog for.  Real Estate Arena has it's pros and cons like all things in life my thing is it's fairly cheap, you can cancel and receive a refund at anytime last time I checked it's $19 for the first month, and $39.95 monthly afterwards, but it always changes so I don't know.  You can always try it out and see for yourself if their training is worth the price, if not just cancel and get your money back plain and simple!

Edgar Cruse · Answer

My name is Edgar Cruse, I would like to be a Bird Dog for investors, but I don't how to get started.

Jordan Mosman · Answer

Instead of wasting so much time talking about this or thqat being a scam and what you can't do>>>I need to know immediately how do I hook up with Real Estate Investors that need "bird dogs" and what do I do exactly get the criteria for what they're looking for go online and research it and document what comes up and then send it to them? OR is there any physical leg work in the neighborhood involved? I need some short straight answers so I can start doing this. I'm not interested in reading several commentaries on why something isn't working or isn't legitimate.

Account Closed · Answer

We have 2 great REIA's in Columbus. I would strongly urge you to join at least one of them and attend every meeting. Learn all you can.

Michael Rossi · Answer

Blake,

I do not know Darren Dicke and have never met him.

Since this very old thread has been brought back from the dead, I feel compelled to say that the REIA situation in Columbus has dramatically changed.  One of the REIAs had severe money problems and has become a private for-profit enterprise and appears more interested in making money than being a place to share info.

If I had to make a recommendation for a REIA in Columbus, I would recommend the Columbus Property Investors Association.

Mike

Joshua Dorkin · Answer

Jeff - Just do a search for birddog and you'll find dozens and dozens of posts.

Jeff Hebbe · Answer

Hello,

This is my first time here, seems like a great site!  I was also looking at "The Real Estate Arena" but after reading this post and being scammed out of too much money in the past, I don't think I'm going to try it.

I am, however, interested in being a property locator and would like more info on how to get started with no prior real estate experience.
Can you give me the exact thread you're speaking of in the above quote?
I can't seem to find it and there's a lot of info to sort through to find it.

Thanks!
Jeff

Eric Foster · Answer

First off, I am glad you took my comments as positive and didn’t “blast me” with your answer… Many people tend to get on the defense…

I would like to comment on the above listed items…

Flipping properties…In my opinion, flipping is the single most difficult and risky form of investing… Today in fact, I just made another comment about this… For whatever reason, people getting into the business, seem to always want to start with flipping. And flipping, you are 100% correct… the more knowledge you have, the better off you will be.

Hype…Yes there is a lot of hype in this industry. Hard to tell what is real and what is not. Seems like since everyone is on the “investing” bandwagon, every road promoter has jumped in pitching get rich quick real estate programs…

Reading books…That is a great way to get an education… Beats a $5000 seminar any day! Have you considered bird dogging, wholesaling, or subject to investing? With these, there is very little risk to you, and very little cash requirements. $0 - $500 would do it!

Risk…The least risky probably is either bird dogging or wholesaling. With these methods you can make $3k to $5 k pretty quickly and without much of any risk… Not enough risk worth worrying about. With a subject-to, you should be able to make $10k to $20k in a year or maybe sooner with a bit of luck!

Any ways… Keep at it! Now is the time! Set some goals, and start chipping away at them!

In real estate, if you cant make money with no money… You can’t make money with money! And, being able to make money with no money, in itself, makes for a great education. That way when you have money, you know how to do it correctly so you don’t lose that money

Scott Walton · Answer

I have gone through a change in my employment since I first joined bp.com.  A good one, but I have had to take a temporary pay cut.  I am working a second job to make up the difference.  I was ready to start investing and was actively looking at properties to flip when I got the opportunity to make this change in my full time career.  During this process I learned that the way I viewed money and how to manage it was skewed and I needed more education and change in that area.  I am in way too much debt for my salary and want to have some room if I end up having to carry a property for a bit before it sells.

There is way too much hype in this business.  Hard to tell the sheep from the goats, if you know what I mean.  I realize there is no perfect time, but at this point in my life it would not be a smart move.  I know that if I would have bought a property in the beginning, I probably would not have done well.  So I have been reading books, finding mentors, and taking this opportunity to learn more while I pay down my financial indiscretions.

In my industry, you don't fix airplanes by not reading and fully understanding the manual first.  People can die.  I don't want to kill myself financially because I blindly went into this over-hyped business.  I don't have a problem going into debt for real estate, but I just don't want all this credit card debt eating up any more of my income.  I know that investing involves risk, but I will not risk everything in hopes to pay it off quick.  The tortoise beats the hare EVERYtime.

But thank you for the pep-talk!  It does seem that I have been lurking on here for too long!!!