Is fortune builders mastery program legit?

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Is fortune builders mastery program legit?

Keri A.
Rehabber 路 Kingwood, TX 路 Member since 2012 路 11 posts 路 12 votes

I attended the 3day FB seminar in Houston. I thought it was really good! I am considering doing the mastery program. Has anyone been through the program? If so, is it worth the 25k?

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Tom A.
Investor 路 West Bloomfield, MI 路 Member since 2009 路 358 posts 路 306 votes
14y

First take $1K and:

- Join your local REIA, attend regularly and talk to the people there (~$150 - $200/year)
- Take some friendly local investors out to lunch/dinner/drinks ($50 per "date")
- Buy some good RE investing books ($5 - $20 each, used or new)
- Pick up a few well-regarded guru courses used on Ebay ($100 - $200 each)

That will give you big head start without having to throw $25K at something that may or may not be what you're looking for.

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  • J ScottPro Member
    Moderator
    Investor 路 Sarasota, FL 路 Member since 2008 路 17k+ posts 路 17k+ votes
    10y
    Originally posted by @Tim Hall:
    You probably have a very conservative cpa.

    If by "very conservative," you mean that he interprets IRS regulation as it's written and doesn't do the opposite of what the regulations say to do, then yes, he's very conservative.

    Good luck to you!

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  • J ScottPro Member
    Moderator
    Investor 路 Sarasota, FL 路 Member since 2008 路 17k+ posts 路 17k+ votes
    10y
    Originally posted by @Tim Hall:
    Don't you sell books on your website, maybe some Guru envy going on here.

    No envy here.  In fact, I cringe at the idea of ripping people off.

    If I wanted to make lots of money by selling overpriced information, I certainly could be.  Instead, I choose to make lots of money in more ethical ways.

    BTW, I'm not saying all gurus are unethical, but certainly some of them are... 

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  • Jay HinrichsBusiness Member
    Real Estate Consultant 路 Summerlin, NV 路 Member since 2014 路 45k+ posts 路 66k+ votes
    10y

    @J Scott  that Bill Gates comment when I read it ... caused me to laugh so hard while I was enjoying a NW micro brew that it came out my nose... :)  Bill Gates in a RE Mastery program  I don't think so..   These guys to do rent their names are well known and they are marketing guys through and through.. Think Trump... But Trump is a RE dude... so it makes sense.  If someone believe that Gates is a consultant or mentor to these dudes I have a bridge to sell them.. along with the school of hard knocks..

    8001 posts... 23 months... Velocity  !!

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  • Cal C.
    Investor 路 Peachtree Corners, GA 路 Member since 2014 路 1k+ posts 路 1k+ votes
    10y
    Originally posted by @Tim Hall:
    Originally posted by @Jay Hinrichs:

    @Curt Davis  there are finance companies that will finance student education.. it does not have to be credit card or cash.. I find that paper would be highly risky though..

    @J Scott  Excellent post about blindly following any professionals advice.. When it comes to the law of the land.. I have learned that the hard way over the years.. Generally though you get good advice from credentialed people.. however credentialed people are people after all and they all have their opinions,, there are many CPA's that will push the envelope and many that are probably too conservative.. ETC etc. 

     Excellent point J Scott all cpa's are not equal, just like doctors lawyers ect. You probably have a very conservative cpa. Don't you sell books on your website, maybe some Guru envy going on here.

     Having spent some time with @J Scott and seeing him answer email after email, text after text, and phone call after phone call from people he is helping and not charging, I take some umbrage with your statement.  Believe me, if he wanted to he could make a great deal of money on the guru circuit.   But that is not how he is wired, much to BP's benefit!

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  • Curt DavisBusiness Member
    Flipper/Rehabber 路 Memphis, TN 路 Member since 2008 路 5k+ posts 路 2k+ votes
    10y

    @Jay Hinrichs

    Congrats on $8k posts.  I think you have too much time on your hands :)  

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  • Jay HinrichsBusiness Member
    Real Estate Consultant 路 Summerlin, NV 路 Member since 2014 路 45k+ posts 路 66k+ votes
    10y

    @Cal C.  I think you tagged me by mistake.. I have never ever made any reference to J Scott other than positive... WE may differ a little on Paid training but hey that's what makes the world go round..  and I am one of the one's who has benefited by J Scotts referrals and or advice he was most kind to me... so to that end I totally agree with you.

    @Curt Davis  Thanks Curt  fast typer ... And with all my teams out on the East coast and mid west I am somewhat like a west coast stock broker up at 5am .. my day stops about 2pm because they are all done.. . I sit at my computer waiting for escrow docs to come in either a buy or a sell.. Yesterday I bought 2 and closed on 4 that will all record today.

    1 Vegas one PA  4 Birmingham's... some days I do nothing and just go out to the airport and  punch holes in the sky and try not to scare the @@@ out of myself. 

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  • Don KonipolBusiness Member
    Investor 路 The Woodlands TX / Avon, CT 路 Member since 2009 路 6k+ posts 路 10k+ votes
    10y

    "Let me ask you, do you have the knowledge of Bill Gates? He is pretty much the investing guru out there right now and an advisor to the three men that lead our Mastery program. I'll cut one pants leg off to put that advice in the two remaining pants pockets any time!"

    I think we have been reading the above incorrectly.  First the poster probably meant Warren Buffet, not Bill Gates.  Secondly, by saying that Mr Buffet is an adviser to the three wise men that lead the Mastery program may mean that these three men read a book about Warren Buffet, and consider his advice.  Just shows how gullible the unsophisticated can be.

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  • Jay HinrichsBusiness Member
    Real Estate Consultant 路 Summerlin, NV 路 Member since 2014 路 45k+ posts 路 66k+ votes
    10y

    @Don Konipol   Brilliantly penned   !!!

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  • Cal C.
    Investor 路 Peachtree Corners, GA 路 Member since 2014 路 1k+ posts 路 1k+ votes
    10y

    @Jay Hinrichs That post was in response to @Tim Hall 's comment about guru envy, sorry for the confusion!  

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  • Lennie Holland
    Superintendent 路 Gainesville, GA 路 Member since 2015 路 107 posts 路 35 votes
    10y

    Off topic but @J Scott you played poker with Bill Gates? Wow who else was sitting at this table and what was the minimum buy in and more importantly, did you take his money? You probably did, I forgot you were a professional.

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  • Greg H.Pro Member
    Moderator
    Broker/Flipper 路 Austin, TX 路 Member since 2013 路 4k+ posts 路 4k+ votes
    10y
    Originally posted by @Ryan M.:

    I have to share this:

    At a garage sale in Florida this year I found a Carleton Sheets program (CDs, Videos, Books) all in the orginal packaging with the plastic still wrapped around it. The person had a price of $6 on it, talked them to $2. Then went through the stuff and sold it on ebay for $18.

     Flipping Flippers' Flipping info.  Is there a seminar for that ?

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  • J ScottPro Member
    Moderator
    Investor 路 Sarasota, FL 路 Member since 2008 路 17k+ posts 路 17k+ votes
    10y
    Originally posted by @Lennie Holland:

    Off topic but @J Scott you played poker with Bill Gates? Wow who else was sitting at this table and what was the minimum buy in and more importantly, did you take his money? You probably did, I forgot you were a professional.

    Microsoft has a huge employee charity drive every year ("Giving Campaign"), which includes a big company auction to raise money.  One of the auction prizes one year was a chance to play in a small company poker tournament with a bunch of the execs.  I won that auction, and got to play.  Bill only played for a short period of time...he wasn't the type who ever liked to stop working for very long.  I wish I could tell a good story about how I had a tell on him, made a huge bluff and then took all his chips, but unfortunately, it didn't happen...

    Btw, given how much I paid to win the auction, it's probably safe to say that I lost the most money in that game...by far...  ;-)

    On a separate note, a couple years before I started working at Microsoft, I was in Vegas playing poker, and Gates was sitting at a table next to mine.  He was playing a $3/6 limit game, which is about a $100 buy-in. 

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  • Francisco Feliz
    Boston, MA 路 Member since 2015 路 93 posts 路 32 votes
    10y

    Copying @Kenneth Jones

    @J Scott, the 3 names of the guys are JD, Than Merrill, and Paul Esajian. (Don't remember the first guy's first name). I know this because, as I mention in my profile, I attended their $197 weekend seminar. Just for full disclosure, I did not do their coaching program, though.

    I will say I find it hard to believe that Bill Gates would have connected with these guys... but anyway, I just wanted to answer your question, and you may be able to find out.

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  • J ScottPro Member
    Moderator
    Investor 路 Sarasota, FL 路 Member since 2008 路 17k+ posts 路 17k+ votes
    10y
    Originally posted by @Francisco Feliz:

    Copying @Kenneth Jones

    @J Scott, the 3 names of the guys are JD, Than Merrill, and Paul Esajian. (Don't remember the first guy's first name). I know this because, as I mention in my profile, I attended their $197 weekend seminar. Just for full disclosure, I did not do their coaching program, though.

    I will say I find it hard to believe that Bill Gates would have connected with these guys... but anyway, I just wanted to answer your question, and you may be able to find out.

    Yes, I know those are the three guys at the top...

    That said, I'd be willing to bet my entire net worth they have never been "advised" by Bill Gates.  Bill Gates is huge fan of public education (look at some of the things the Gates Foundation has done in this space), and I can promise you that he's not going to support the type of education that goes on in this industry.

    Sad that they have to resort to sleazy tactics like lying about things like this (assuming those are the guys Kenneth was talking about), but I guess that's part of the game in that business...

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  • Account Closed
    Professional 路 Columbus, OH 路 Member since 2015 路 119 posts 路 37 votes
    10y

    @J Scott

    I do know that they use pictures of Than with Warren Buffett and the fact that he apparently spoke at some event that Warren either attended or was also a speaker.

    0Reply
  • J ScottPro Member
    Moderator
    Investor 路 Sarasota, FL 路 Member since 2008 路 17k+ posts 路 17k+ votes
    10y
    Originally posted by @Account Closed:

    @J Scott

    I do know that they use pictures of Than with Warren Buffett and the fact that he apparently spoke at some event that Warren either attended or was also a speaker.

    I've spoken at the same events as Steve Ballmer, Meg Whitman and Larry Page...and I have pictures of myself with each of them.   I certainly would never claim that any of them are advisors of mine...  馃槉

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  • Don KonipolBusiness Member
    Investor 路 The Woodlands TX / Avon, CT 路 Member since 2009 路 6k+ posts 路 10k+ votes
    10y

    I attended a backyard barbeque at Gerald Ford's house when he was still a member of the U.S. House of Representatives.  I guess I can now claim to have been a Presidential Adviser.

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  • J ScottPro Member
    Moderator
    Investor 路 Sarasota, FL 路 Member since 2008 路 17k+ posts 路 17k+ votes
    10y
    Originally posted by @Don Konipol:

    I attended a backyard barbeque at Gerald Ford's house when he was still a member of the U.S. House of Representatives.  I guess I can now claim to have been a Presidential Adviser.

    Ummm...no...

    This means that you the President advised YOU...

    :-)

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  • Ryan M.
    West, MI 路 Member since 2012 路 674 posts 路 182 votes
    10y

    Haha, I receiced a couple notifications from this post, I had a chance to read through some of the recent discussion and it reminded me why I stopped reading and commenting on biggerpockets.

    1Reply
  • John Zahner
    Lees Summit, MO 路 Member since 2015 路 6 posts 路 7 votes
    10y

    @ OP: BP is pretty anti-fortune builders. I joined Mastery in March. I've been to a few live events since then and my business is growing much quicker than a friend that also attended the 3 day event but didn't join Mastery. My friend decided to go the internet research route. Some people on this site don't understand what FB Mastery is all about. They tell you that you can find all the information that FB Mastery teaches on the internet, which is probably true. But then you have to consider what your time is worth and how many hours you'll spend researching different opinions, veting the sources, etc. To me time is precious since it's the one thing that we can never get more of. I spent my money on my education to learn proven systems from Fortune Builders Mastery. As a results I now spend my time doing deals instead of spending my time trying to learn the basics and chasing internet "experts". I'm sure I'll get bashed for this post from the anti-FB crowd but if you'd like more real info feel free to message me.

    ***All statements based on my personal experience. I do not receive any recognition or compensation for any of my statements nor is there any referral program offered by the company. I post because of how much FB changed my life and want others to have the same opportunity to change theirs if they choose. Your mileage may vary.***

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  • J ScottPro Member
    Moderator
    Investor 路 Sarasota, FL 路 Member since 2008 路 17k+ posts 路 17k+ votes
    10y
    Originally posted by @John Zahner:

    I'm sure I'll get bashed for this post from the anti-FB crowd but if you'd like more real info feel free to message me.

    Nobody here is going to bash you for posting a positive experience.  I don't believe anyone on BP believes that FB has a success rate of 0%, and nobody here believes that it's impossible to be successful by joining FB (at least I don't).

    The issue most of us have is that -- based on our experience -- a very large number of people who sign up for FB either never do a deal, don't feel that they got what they paid for and/or spend so much money on the program that they can't then afford to actually do deals. 

    I've probably talked to 200+ people over the past few years who have spent ridiculous amounts of money on FB and other programs and wish they wouldn't have.  You can argue that these people probably didn't put in the work required to be successful or didn't have the core skills required to be successful, but if that's the case, those who run these programs should have weeded them out before they paid.  If I can quickly figure out who has the ability to be successful and who doesn't, I find it hard to believe that these "expert" coaches can't do the same thing.

    In summary, congratulations on your success!  And I'm sure you're not the only one.  But, in my experience, you're likely in a relatively small minority that feel you got your money's worth.  

    Btw, if you were able to succeed with FB, you likely would have been able to succeed without it.  I taught myself this business in about 6 months without spending more than $150 on books and only spending a couple hours a day researching and planning, and I'm guessing you're smarter than I am -- so, while you were successful with FB, you likely would have been successful without them.  And you would have saved a lot of money!

    Regardless, it sounds like you have found success.  Again, congratulations!

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  • Tim Hall
    Flipper/Rehabber 路 Tallahassee, FL 路 Member since 2014 路 462 posts 路 237 votes
    10y
    Originally posted by @J Scott:
    Originally posted by @John Zahner:

    I'm sure I'll get bashed for this post from the anti-FB crowd but if you'd like more real info feel free to message me.

    Nobody here is going to bash you for posting a positive experience.  I don't believe anyone on BP believes that FB has a success rate of 0%, and nobody here believes that it's impossible to be successful by joining FB (at least I don't).

    The issue most of us have is that -- based on our experience -- a very large number of people who sign up for FB either never do a deal, don't feel that they got what they paid for and/or spend so much money on the program that they can't then afford to actually do deals. 

    I've probably talked to 200+ people over the past few years who have spent ridiculous amounts of money on FB and other programs and wish they wouldn't have.  You can argue that these people probably didn't put in the work required to be successful or didn't have the core skills required to be successful, but if that's the case, those who run these programs should have weeded them out before they paid.  If I can quickly figure out who has the ability to be successful and who doesn't, I find it hard to believe that these "expert" coaches can't do the same thing.

    In summary, congratulations on your success!  And I'm sure you're not the only one.  But, in my experience, you're likely in a relatively small minority that feel you got your money's worth.  

    Btw, if you were able to succeed with FB, you likely would have been able to succeed without it.  I taught myself this business in about 6 months without spending more than $150 on books and only spending a couple hours a day researching and planning, and I'm guessing you're smarter than I am -- so, while you were successful with FB, you likely would have been successful without them.  And you would have saved a lot of money!

    Regardless, it sounds like you have found success.  Again, congratulations!

    This is very true, out of the 15 people that attended the initial gathering only 2 people actually did anything at all with it. People have got to take spending the money very seriously in deed. The material is a road map to how CT Homes where successful and if you emulate them then you too can be successful. If you are not going to read and act on the material then it will be a waste of money. Like anything in life you've still got to try. 

    1Reply
  • Brandon Buchanan
    Columbus, OH 路 Member since 2015 路 3 posts 路 0 votes
    10y

    I just got home from attending a 3-day fortune builders seminar in Columbus, OH. For someone new, like myself, this event provided great insight on their tools/systems - lots of practical application. My partner and I were skeptical when the speaker first introduced the mastery program on the first day of the event - and chose not to sign up for interviews 

    The second day there was a local investor couple who were both alums of the program - they talked about their success and gratitude for joining (only after 18mos). It turns out that we live less than a block from one of their rental success stories). You can imagine how thrilled we were at our potential.  We decided turn in an application on the morning of the 3rd session. 

    Overall, the gentleman leading the interviews asked pretty tough questions and wanted to make sure we were serious about the program; we even had to do an "assignment" explaining how we would give back and contribute to our community prior continuing with the interview. 

    For us, it came down to the cost. The expectation was to pay tuition upfront - all $49,997 (for the highest level course). We were surprised they didn't offer financing (but then again, it's their business model so why should they?). We were strongly encouraged to leverage our existing credit by calling our credit card companies to extend multiple lines of credit. YIKES! 

    We are still actively pursuing other properties and will use the theories and techniques presented at the seminar. Going to look into joining our local REIA and continue educating ourselves.

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  • Robert EllisBusiness Member
    Developer 路 Miami, FL 路 Member since 2014 路 3k+ posts 路 1k+ votes
    10y
    Originally posted by @Brandon Buchanan:

    I just got home from attending a 3-day fortune builders seminar in Columbus, OH. For someone new, like myself, this event provided great insight on their tools/systems - lots of practical application. My partner and I were skeptical when the speaker first introduced the mastery program on the first day of the event - and chose not to sign up for interviews 

    The second day there was a local investor couple who were both alums of the program - they talked about their success and gratitude for joining (only after 18mos). It turns out that we live less than a block from one of their rental success stories). You can imagine how thrilled we were at our potential.  We decided turn in an application on the morning of the 3rd session. 

    Overall, the gentleman leading the interviews asked pretty tough questions and wanted to make sure we were serious about the program; we even had to do an "assignment" explaining how we would give back and contribute to our community prior continuing with the interview. 

    For us, it came down to the cost. The expectation was to pay tuition upfront - all $49,997 (for the highest level course). We were surprised they didn't offer financing (but then again, it's their business model so why should they?). We were strongly encouraged to leverage our existing credit by calling our credit card companies to extend multiple lines of credit. YIKES! 

    We are still actively pursuing other properties and will use the theories and techniques presented at the seminar. Going to look into joining our local REIA and continue educating ourselves.

     Would you recommend this as a good experience? Was their a cost to this weekend? I am also a local Columbus agent and have considered this. W

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  • Account Closed
    Real Estate Professional 路 Dayton, OH 路 Member since 2015 路 423 posts 路 187 votes
    10y
    Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain.
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