David Lindahl's Apartment Riches/Private Money courses

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David Lindahl's Apartment Riches/Private Money courses

Nerissa Vento
Rental Property Investor · New Britain, CT · Member since 2010 · 22 posts · 23 votes

I am interested in buying commercial apartment buildings and have looked in David Lindahl’s program Apartment House Riches. I also see that it comes with a 90 day email mentor certificate where he personally answers your question via email.

I am not able to see many reviews on this program so I wanted to see if anyone has bought and tried the program? Also is the 90 day mentor system really used meaning he does respond to your emails/calls and it helpful? He seems to have a lot going on so I wonder how well he is at responding to emails/phone calls with helpful info.

Also, eventually I would like to use investors and David Lindahl also has a Private Money Program. Has anyone successfully used that program?

If anyone has gone to any of his bootcamps, please let me know how those are as well.

Overall, I am looking to get reviews and see what results people have had with David Lindahl’s programs.

I appreciate any info on him.

Thanks BP members!!

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Joel OwensBusiness Member
Moderator
Real Estate Broker · Canton, GA · Member since 2010 · 15k+ posts · 11k+ votes
14y

Renae,

The problem is some people want mentors for nothing.

The mentor has to get something in exchange for their time whether that be monetary or otherwise.

If for example the mentor is doing deals and then you come in to ask a zillion questions what does the mentor get??

I had a bunch of agents at my brokerage but they were taking time away from me closing my deals.So in the end they were a big headache and cost me time and production so I let them go.

When you find a mentor ask them "What would you like me to do that you need help with??"

Then you can decide if you want to do it in exchange for them sharing their knowledge with you.

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  • Raymond B.
    FL · Member since 2009 · 2k+ posts · 357 votes
    14y

    Nerissa,
    I've been a member of www.ctreai.com, for almost 3 years. They have monthly meetings in Cromwell, Ct.

    Dave Lindahl has spoken twice at this event, since I became a member.
    The last time he spoke, he claimed that he doesn't travel the USA anymore to promote and sell his programs.
    He hired someone else to do the seminars, and sell his programs.
    He is from the Springfield, Mass area, so a ride to Cromwell, Ct is only a few hours.

    A few people boast about how successful they have been, using his various programs, that he sells.
    Of course, these people are at the meeting, when he is selling his program. But, that is the only time I see those people. They don't show up at any other meetings, only when Lindahl is speaking.

    Normally, over 100+ people attend these meetings.

    Raymond

    1Reply
  • Nerissa Vento
    OP
    Rental Property Investor · New Britain, CT · Member since 2010 · 22 posts · 23 votes
    14y

    Hello Raymond,

    I actually am a member of CTReia and that is where I first heard about David Lindahl because he came to speak at a Saturday event back in May. That is when I became very interested. From there, I read both of Lindahl's books (Multi Family Millions and Emerging Real Estate Markets) and I really liked his style of teaching.

    That is why I was wondering how his courses were and was hoping that some people on here would have taken his course or bootcamps.

    Maybe everyone is last minute shopping for the holiday so they aren't able to respond?!

    Thanks for the information Raymond.

    0Reply
  • Nerissa Vento
    OP
    Rental Property Investor · New Britain, CT · Member since 2010 · 22 posts · 23 votes
    14y

    Has no one on BP taken David Lindahl's courses? Has anyone heard of anyone else who has and what they thought about it?

    I am really interested in learning about commerical apartment investing and Lindahl seems to be the best out there, am I wrong?

    0Reply
  • Bryan Hancock
    Investor · Round Rock, TX · Member since 2010 · 8k+ posts · 4k+ votes
    14y

    I think Ray Alcorn's multi-family product is one of the best out there.

    The best course is really just syncing up with an experienced syndicator in your area.

    4Reply
  • Nerissa Vento
    OP
    Rental Property Investor · New Britain, CT · Member since 2010 · 22 posts · 23 votes
    14y

    I wonder why I am not getting more feedback on Lindahl but I am open to different people programs so thank you for that Bryan. I will certainly look into Alcorn and Block's programs.

    Happy New Year to you and BP members!

    1Reply
  • Bryan Hancock
    Investor · Round Rock, TX · Member since 2010 · 8k+ posts · 4k+ votes
    14y

    I have read a few of Lindahl's books and they were pretty good. A lot of what you are trying to learn is much easier by doing though. Look for someone you can apprentice with in trade for value you provide to them. A local syndicator is your best bet. You will learn more in a month shadowing that person than you will reading 10 books.

    4Reply
  • Renae Bliss
    Involved In Real Estate · Milwaukee, WI · Member since 2009 · 124 posts · 7 votes
    14y
    Originally posted by Bryan Hancock:
    ...A lot of what you are trying to learn is much easier by doing though. Look for someone you can apprentice with in trade for value you provide to them. A local syndicator is your best bet. You will learn more in a month shadowing that person than you will reading 10 books.

    Sometimes that is a little harder than it seems. I have tried to find a mentor several times, but only gotten TAKEN for a "ride"!!? I am not giving up on Investing, but I"m a little nervous about stepping out there solo!

    1Reply
  • David Wedemire
    Real Estate Investor · Bellingham, WA · Member since 2008 · 407 posts · 90 votes
    14y

    I've also read a couple of his books. They are informative and helpful to establish a base of knowledge. I agree that a mentor would be the way to go.

    I am surprised Renae has had trouble finding a quality one. I have found a number of them where I did some grunt work in exchange for knowledge transfer.

    The problem with programs like Lindahl's and other such programs is that he is not involved with you. A lot of rah, rah and plenty of reading but you always seem to have to buy more to get the full deal.

    1Reply
  • Jeff Greenberg
    Real Estate Consultant · Camarillo, CA · Member since 2010 · 2k+ posts · 1k+ votes
    14y

    I have to agree with Bryan and David, the best way to learn is to find someone that is doing what you want to do and find a way to help them. If you provide a service to them, then they will be more inclined to spend time with you. On the other hand, the more knowledge you have the more valuable you are to them. As far a bootcamps go, ask for recomendations from successful investors. Who were their mentors?

    As far as Dave Lindahl, he does offer a lot of good information and he is still doing what he teaches.

    2Reply
  • Joel OwensBusiness Member
    Moderator
    Real Estate Broker · Canton, GA · Member since 2010 · 15k+ posts · 11k+ votes
    14y

    Renae,

    The problem is some people want mentors for nothing.

    The mentor has to get something in exchange for their time whether that be monetary or otherwise.

    If for example the mentor is doing deals and then you come in to ask a zillion questions what does the mentor get??

    I had a bunch of agents at my brokerage but they were taking time away from me closing my deals.So in the end they were a big headache and cost me time and production so I let them go.

    When you find a mentor ask them "What would you like me to do that you need help with??"

    Then you can decide if you want to do it in exchange for them sharing their knowledge with you.

    Podcast Guest on Show #47
    NNN Invest53 Reviews
    WebsiteView Page
    9Reply
  • Nerissa Vento
    OP
    Rental Property Investor · New Britain, CT · Member since 2010 · 22 posts · 23 votes
    14y

    I can see how a mentor would be a great way to gain knowledge and I am willing to help them out as much as I can. I can definitely see why some people might not want to help if you are not giving any value in return.

    Is there a certain place I can go to find where syndicators are? Besides a local REIA which I think is great but it seems to have a lot of new investors.

    1Reply
  • Account Closed
    Real Estate Investor · Longmont, CO · Member since 2011 · 56 posts · 37 votes
    14y

    These books should provide a good foundation:

    ------------------------------
    "Commercial Real Estate for Dummies"
    Peter Conti, Peter Harris
    ISBN 978-0-470-17491-3

    "Commercial Real Estate Investing 101"
    David Lindahl
    ISBN 978-0-470-38035-2 (cloth)

    "Multi-Family Millions"
    David Lindahl
    ISBN 978-0-470-26760-8 (cloth)

    "The Complete Guide to Buying and Selling Apartment Buildings"
    Steve Berges
    ISBN 0-471-43639-9

    "The ABC's of Property Management"
    Ken McElroy
    ISBN-13: 978-0-446-53831-2
    ISBN-10: 0-446-53831-0

    "Principles of Real Estate Syndication", 3rd edition
    Samuel K. Freshman
    ISBN-10: 0-9777074-2-3
    ISBN-13: 978-0-9777074-2-3
    ------------------------------

    I think the Conti/Harris book is the best starting book.

    After you feel that you understand the basic principles of income property, then look around for part-time opportunities to apprentice or unpaid internships at companies that do the kind of investing that you want to do. Be sure that you will get an opportunity to work in every department so that you understand how the entire business model operates.

    There is no point in attending guru bootcamps. Those seminars are for folks who just can't get off the dime and take action on their own. You're far better off working for free part-time as an intern with a company that is successfully investing in real estate.

    Good luck and have fun!

    3Reply
  • Bryan Hancock
    Investor · Round Rock, TX · Member since 2010 · 8k+ posts · 4k+ votes
    14y
    Originally posted by Nerissa Vento:
    Is there a certain place I can go to find where syndicators are?

    I posted about this above and it was removed because the CEO of our fund runs a symposium to teach new syndicators. Simply do a Google search for "real estate syndication" or IM me and I can give you my experience. I don't make a dime by you joining so hopefully we can avoid the extreme moderation.

    2Reply
  • Jeff Greenberg
    Real Estate Consultant · Camarillo, CA · Member since 2010 · 2k+ posts · 1k+ votes
    14y

    You could also look on linkedin.com which is another business centric social media site. There are many forums there where you can connect with professions that are buying and selling CRE and syndicating deals. Use caution to always check out who you are really dealing with.

    1Reply
  • Ned CareyPro Member
    Moderator
    Investor · Baltimore, MD · Member since 2008 · 17k+ posts · 13k+ votes
    14y

    Nerissa,

    You have gotten good advice so far. I will add some more.

    I believe there is a syndication group or forum here on Bigger pockets. Bryan Hancock was active on it. I don't believe it is currently that active but the best way to get it active again is ask a question.

    Dave Lindahl's material is good. I have his courses. My partner has been to his events and would rate them highly. At his syndication (Private Money) boot camp he has Gene Trowbridge speak. Gene is one of the top attorneys doing syndications.

    I suspect the e-mail coaching will not be that effective. As others have said a local mentor is great. Honestly probably tough to find one for commercial property.

    Ray Alcorn's material is also excellent although I don't believe he does live seminars, his course is outstanding.

    Gene Trowbridge does his own syndication boot camps. He also has a big thick book on syndications. He's easy to find on the internet. Gene is only going to teach you about Private money. Deal analysis and other aspects of the business will have to come from someplace else.

    Scott Scheel also does live boot camps. I think his presentation is a little more polished than Dave Lindahl's but I would rate them about even as far as information given.

    The absolute best courses on financial analysis are the courses from CCIM. No Guru bull crap here; no up-sells, no marketing of other unrelated guru programs and no continuity programs. The CCIM material is far superior to Lydahl, Scheel, or Alcorn. However the CCIM stuff is more academic and primarily about financial analysis. You don't get as much real life experiences and practical application as the 3 others mentioned.


    what results people have had with David Lindahl's programs.

    Dave's information is good but most gurus have about a 5 to maybe a 15% success rate. I doubt Dave is any different.

    Good luck,

    3Reply
  • Bryan Hancock
    Investor · Round Rock, TX · Member since 2010 · 8k+ posts · 4k+ votes
    14y

    I have Trowbridge's book on the night stand next to me. I started reading it and it is almost exclusively legal stuff. There is nothing wrong with that if you want to learn about it, but it won't help you learn how to raise money.

    Raising money is about consultative selling, presenting yourself as an expert, and having the right legal framework. You also need to learn about deal construction, investor relations, proper fee structuring, etc. There are about 30 forks in the road for a typical construct to raise money and probably hundreds more of small things you can fine tune.

    This is really not the place for beginners to start. It is extremely complicated and screwing things up can literally get you tossed in jail. Find a mentor to show you the ropes. You aren't going to learn it all on your own.

    2Reply
  • Nerissa Vento
    OP
    Rental Property Investor · New Britain, CT · Member since 2010 · 22 posts · 23 votes
    14y

    Jeff, Linkedin is a great idea. I am part of it but do not utilize it as I should so thanks for the push!

    Ned, that is really interesting to know that the average success rate of gurus is 5-15%. I have seen many gurus but the reason I was attracted to Lindahl is because of the knowledge he gives you. I do not think I would do the mentor program because like Brian said, they can cost a fortune and it might be better to work with someone local who is currently working with syndicated investors.

    What I liked about the Lindahl programs is mainly the deal analysis tools he gives (and I heard in the bootcamps that he does case studies of actual properties) and I like the contracts he gives. Are these really as great as I think they are?

    I am not sure how the contracts are but they seem to be useful such as his "Never Lost In Housing Court Tenant Lease" and his "sample Business Plan" for Private Money. I feel that if these 2 alone are useful, that might be worth the whole cost of course.

    Ned, since your partner has gone to the bootcamps and I am assuming has the courses, have you or your partner used any of the forms or analysis tools?

    I will also check out the CCIM website, Ray Alcorn, Gene Trowbridge and Scott Scheel and starting up the syndication group here on BP is a great idea. I will post a topic there, thanks for that tip on that as well.

    I have my homework cut out for me which is great!

    1Reply
  • Ned CareyPro Member
    Moderator
    Investor · Baltimore, MD · Member since 2008 · 17k+ posts · 13k+ votes
    14y
    Originally posted by Nerissa Vento:

    Ned, that is really interesting to know that the average success rate of gurus is 5-15%. I have seen many gurus but the reason I was attracted to Lindahl is because of the knowledge he gives you.

    I think Lindahl is one of the better GURUs. He does give good information.
    What I liked about the Lindahl programs is mainly the deal analysis tools he gives (and I heard in the bootcamps that he does case studies of actual properties) and I like the contracts he gives. Are these really as great as I think they are?Ned, since your partner has gone to the bootcamps and I am assuming has the courses, have you or your partner used any of the forms or analysis tools?
    2Reply
  • Bryan Hancock
    Investor · Round Rock, TX · Member since 2010 · 8k+ posts · 4k+ votes
    14y

    Just knowing that almost all seller’s statements are “liars statements” with coked-up pro formas will help you a great deal. Never trust the person selling you an asset. Seldom have I ever found something they sent me to be accurate.

    You can learn all of the formulas in the world, but nothing beats real-world experience and knowing how to roll the rocks over to see what bugs are crawling under them. A local mentor is really the only way to get this experience that I know of.

    0Reply
  • Jeff Greenberg
    Real Estate Consultant · Camarillo, CA · Member since 2010 · 2k+ posts · 1k+ votes
    14y

    Ned, I am very curious where you found the 5-15% success rate for Guru's. I do agree that Lindahl gives a lot of good information, but if it was as easy as most Guru's make it out to be, there would be a lot more wealthy RE investors. I think Lindahl is one of the best, but my guess on the seminar success rate most Gurus’ would be more down in the 1-2% range.

    Now how do you make sure that you are the successful 1-2%. You are careful about which seminars you go to. You read books and magazines, and online social media such as BiggerPockets. Go to RE clubs that are not trying to sell you something. Ones that have real people that are interested in helping you along, and remember when they were in your spot. Talk to successful peoples, learn and absorb.

    You find the niche that you are interested in and focus on it. Find a mentor, or partner that has what you need, experience. As I said before, find a way to help them, so you can learn from them.

    Beyond anything else sit down and look around and decide what your "why" is. Why do I want to do this? Why should I give up a lot of my TV/Movie/Video Game/Partying time. When all of these different temptations are pulling you away from your business focus, your "why" needs to be strong.

    Gary Johnston (Financial Freedom Seminars) stated "We all will make sacrifices in life. Most of us get to chose if it is now or later. It is up to you.

    To your success,

    Jeff

    4Reply
  • Bryan Hancock
    Investor · Round Rock, TX · Member since 2010 · 8k+ posts · 4k+ votes
    14y

    Great post Jeff. Finding someone that is in the real world and not seminarland is definitely the way to go. I have a mentor that has been teaching me about syndication for 2 years now. Prior to that I had a separate mentor with over 30 years of experience and a PhD teaching me what he knew. If you can raise money in the current environment you can raise money anytime!

    I could have read 1000 books and not learned most of the most important stuff that I have learned in the trenches with feedback from subject-matter experts. The most important elements of raising capital aren't written in books. It takes experience in real world situations to learn the key elements of consultative selling.

    0Reply
  • Nerissa Vento
    OP
    Rental Property Investor · New Britain, CT · Member since 2010 · 22 posts · 23 votes
    14y

    Ned, that is really good to know that Lindahl does provide good analysis tools. I do agree with you that I would need an attorney to create a specific contract for each of my deals. I was more interested in the contract he has tenants sign.

    I have checked out the IREM website and was able to see an example of the expenses books. You have to pay for them but it looks like there is a lot of information in them so it could be worth it. I checked out the CCIM website but could not find the spreadsheets you were talking about. Can you direct me to where they are located? Thanks for these websites; they have a lot of valuable information.

    Jeff, I agree with Bryan that was a great post. In order to succeed, knowing your ‘why’ is very important because there are just too many temptations in life to pull you away from researching or analyzing deals. If there is no passion and focus, someone will never succeed in what they want to achieve.

    Bryan, as funny as seminarland sounds, I can see how people there do get caught up in the ‘I can get rich’ momentum and not think how much time and effort you need to put into it. It sounds like you had and continue to have great mentors. Wish me luck in finding as successful ones as you did!

    0Reply
  • Ned CareyPro Member
    Moderator
    Investor · Baltimore, MD · Member since 2008 · 17k+ posts · 13k+ votes
    14y
    Originally posted by Jeff Greenberg:

    Ned, I am very curious where you found the 5-15% success rate for Guru's. . . .my guess on the seminar success rate most Gurus’ would be more down in the 1-2% range.

    Jeff Greenberg, I have heard the 5% number, but I haven't seen and hard statistics. You may be right it is closer to 1-2%. I was being an optimist. Most people aren't aware it is even that low.

    0Reply
  • Lee G.
    Developer · Boise, ID · Member since 2009 · 168 posts · 112 votes
    14y

    Just hang on to your wallet if you go to a Lindahl seminar. Typical guru stuff -- some great gems surrounded by lots of high pressure sales. Best place to start is grab those books from above and then start doing.

    0Reply
  • Lee G.
    Developer · Boise, ID · Member since 2009 · 168 posts · 112 votes
    14y

    Oh, and I would plan on attending the BP conference in March. It's a he'll of a deal and Joshua Dorkin has put together a hell of a lineup for a couple hundred bucks and promised to keep the high pressure sales tactics out.

    0Reply
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