Wholesaler · Springfield, MA · Member since 2013 · 24 posts · 7 votes
has anyone looked into this? It claims to be a college on how to become a real estate investor from the best arpund. There are diferent courses the offer finacial aid and give you access to online classes or you can go to the school I believe in Wisconsin has anyone tried it?
I belong to Renatus here in south Florida. It's 100% legit. I've been in real estate for 40 years and it's the best concept in real estate investing I've seen in my career. I only wish it had been available when I was younger. I've been to several of the Guru's and spent tens of thousands of dollars, so I know and understand their models, and Renatus blows them out of the water for several reasons.
Doug - You have 4 posts on BP, all of which are regarding this company and 3 of which are just cut-and-paste of the exact text above. While that doesn't necessarily detract from your experience or opinions, it does call into question your relationship with the company (and your motives for posting here).
Is there a reason you've chosen to participate in the discussions about this company over the past year, but no other discussions here on BP?
...and the colleges which produced graduates who never used their degree were happy to take the students' money, as well.
Colleges are pay as you go. You pay for about 1/8 of your education at a time, and you can stop paying (and stop being educated) at any time. Most accredited institutions I know of will allow you to drop out of any semester and get your money back up to about a month into classes. After that, you can drop out and get a pro-rated amount back through about half-way through the semester.
So, with a typical college/university, I can pay, enroll in classes, try it out for a month and then get all my money back if I'm not happy.
Can you tell me what your organization's policy is with respect to how payments are made and getting refunds if you're not happy with the classes?
"You are arguing for arguments' sake, and making yourself and your organization look bad in the process."
Your view from your perspective.
I am seeking deals here locally and I seek out my local people who have the same level of REI education as I have or better.
Yes - my hackles are up, and that's not the answer you deserve to receive from me. Until I can get a respite and get out defensive mode, it's the best I have to offer right now.
From what I remember of the pitch you can watch their first class of the paid classes. You move on beyond that and you can't get your money back. My wife is in Grad School right now. I can't imagine if she went to one class and we were on the hook for all 6 years....
...and the colleges which produced graduates who never used their degree were happy to take the students' money, as well.
Colleges are pay as you go. You pay for about 1/8 of your education at a time, and you can stop paying (and stop being educated) at any time. Most accredited institutions I know of will allow you to drop out of any semester and get your money back up to about a month into classes. After that, you can drop out and get a pro-rated amount back through about half-way through the semester.
Can you tell me what your organization's policy is with respect to how payments are made and getting refunds if you're not happy with the classes?
We've been there before, Jason. Go back earlier in this thread and read the answer - it hasn't changed, nor is it likely to.
...and that BBB business? There have been 3 complaints since Renatus began in 2011. That's three out of 10,000+ students (last number I heard, probably higher by now). The Windows Calculator applet makes that 0.03%.
If you're THAT desperate for an argument, maybe it would be time better spent to crack open a cold one and chill out with the family.
We've been there before, Jason. Go back earlier in this thread and read the answer - it hasn't changed, nor is it likely to.
...and that BBB business? There have been 3 complaints since Renatus began in 2011. That's three out of 10,000+ students (last number I heard, probably higher by now). The Windows Calculator applet makes that 0.03%.
When you act like an accredited institution in terms of how you take and refund people's money, then you can compare yourself to accredited institutions. Until then, it's a false analogy.
As for the BBB, that to mean is just as worthless as testimonials...apparently Hamas had a great rating as well:
"You guys have a "tiered" comp plan where the more a person pays upfront the 'faster' they can make money. I mean learn a career in Real Estate with the ultimate package."
That's not how it works. If you ever were associated with Renatus, seek out your former contact and ask them to re-explain the compensation plan to you.
We've been there before, Jason. Go back earlier in this thread and read the answer - it hasn't changed, nor is it likely to.
...and that BBB business? There have been 3 complaints since Renatus began in 2011. That's three out of 10,000+ students (last number I heard, probably higher by now). The Windows Calculator applet makes that 0.03%.
When you act like an accredited institution in terms of how you take and refund people's money, then you can compare yourself to accredited institutions. Until then, it's a false analogy.
As for the BBB, that to mean is just as worthless as testimonials...apparently Hamas had a great rating as well:
"After investing an evening doing a little background work on Renatus, I still do not see clearly what you are selling, nor how it would benefit me more than seeking accredited education from a university or community college at a lesser cost?"
Do you really find even junior colleges "lesser cost" than Renatus? I'd be interested in knowing where you found such low costs per credit hour.
If I recall correctly, we're currently up to about 460 hours of class time at the top package. Not sure how that might translate to credit hours, but it does raise an interesting question, does it not?
As to "what we are selling", we sell on-line real estate investing education that can be reviewed as many times as the student wants and is updated as laws and methodologies change. We also have investor communities in some cities. We're looking to start communities in more cities.
Even here in "Illi-ana". The Indiana folks would like something closer to home than the South Loop or Western Suburbs of Chicago. Some folks travel 100 miles ONE-WAY(!!!) from Northern Indiana.
Investor · Sarasota, FL · Member since 2008 · 17k+ posts · 17k+ votes
11y
Originally posted by :
Do you really find even junior colleges "lesser cost" than Renatus? I'd be interested in knowing where you found such low costs per credit hour.
I didn't think you charged by credit hour. If you don't charge by credit hour, you can't compare based on that metric.
How much does it cost to get the equivalent of a "degree" from Renatus? That would be the correct comparison, since that's how you guys charge.
Plus, you need to adjust for the fact that Renatus isn't accredited, so the value of the degree outside of the direct knowledge is essentially useless. If I got a liberal arts degree from an accredited college/university, that would open up a lot of career possibilities even outside the specific degree I received. Not true with an unaccredited organization.
The comparison of a non-accredited organization with an accredited college/university is ridiculous, in my opinion. And I believe it was this thread where one of you guys even compared Renatus to Harvard... :-)
Massage Therapist · Chicago, IL · Member since 2015 · 613 posts · 84 votes
11y
Excuse me gentlemen....trying to convince someone of efficient ways of communicating appears to be a waste of effort at this moment. To be convinced against your will is to no avail. You are of the same opinion still. I don't feel as if most of the post here today have been beneficial (well Ron receives a thumbs up for delivering facts). I feel as if I should go into my alerts and delete several words, which could stop me from being alerted in reference to this. I'm very new (6 days or so) to Bigger Pockets. I have read over 300 forums and felt comfortable, enlighten and various other positive thoughts. Jason and Jay in other posts have been informative; not trying to change someone who doesn't want to be changed. I'm looking forward to reading more RE from the two of you.
Rental Property Investor · Rockford, IL · Member since 2014 · 4k+ posts · 2k+ votes
11y
@J Scott:
"I didn't think you charged by credit hour. If you don't charge by credit hour, you can't compare based on that metric."
Actually, yes, you can. It's rather like when you can't find the right comp.'s, so you convert recent sold prices to $/SqFt to do the comparisons.
If we could assign the right credit hours to the Renatus class time we could compare the package to college tuition and probably discover that most 4-year colleges cost 4 to 5 times Renatus for similar class time and credit hours, last time I sized up the local 4-year institutions, assuming at least 2 but not more than 3 credit hours per course. Our courses are generally a minimum of 8 classroom hours equivalent to 4 weeks at 2 hours per class per class day. Some classes run 16 classroom hours. So, I assigned them the higher credit hours (3).
Our total number of classes offered has increased lately. So, I'll have to run the numbers again.
Wow! You read this whole thread. I call that commitment. You are bound to be successful....unless you waste your money and future on Renatus. I do hope that you came to the conclusion that Renatus (or whatever they call themselves next) is strictly about selling classes to anyone at a very high price.
I may be quite biased, but I had a bad introduction to this program. So please forgive me. I usually won't talk any program down, but in this case I will make an exception. Allow me to explain my position. (May the moderator be generous. I no have intent to violate policy. Rather I wish to counter the powerfully deceptive practices with a powerful warning.)
The person who introduced me to the program claimed to have made enough money in real estate that she didn't have to work anymore. It turned out that she has made any money investing in real estate at all. She made her money conning people into paying ridiculous sums of money for courses in this fictitious university. Fully half of the tuition money went directly to her via the MLM component of the business. She had a hell of an incentive to deceive newbies into take out student loans to fund these programs.
Spending your investment capital on educational programs instead of investments is a well tested bad idea as every experienced investor knows. After all, when two investors meet, one with experience and one with money, the one with experience will leave with the money, the one with money will now have experience. Those of us that had to deal with student loans know they are not just bad debt, they are the worst kind of debt from a financial point of view. Who would want to start their investing business with that kind of anchor firmly attached to his throat?
I really don't think I would try to tell someone of @J Scott's experience and success how to best invest in real estate. I would rather shut my mouth and listen. It really wouldn't matter how wonderful my program might be. Nothing succeeds like success. Forced to choose I'd rather be successful than correct.
Bottom line, IMHO, Renatus is a very expensive way to fail at real estate investing. Anyone who could succeed with Renatus would succeed faster and to a higher degree without it. My apologies to the victims that still pray to this false deity.
Massage Therapist · Chicago, IL · Member since 2015 · 613 posts · 84 votes
11y
You are correct. It has been quoted as such by many individuals such as Les Brown motivational speaker. My intentions however wasn't to quote anymore, but to express myself, which appears applicable upon reading several comments.
"After investing an evening doing a little background work on Renatus, I still do not see clearly what you are selling, nor how it would benefit me more than seeking accredited education from a university or community college at a lesser cost?"
Do you really find even junior colleges "lesser cost" than Renatus? I'd be interested in knowing where you found such low costs per credit hour.
If I recall correctly, we're currently up to about 460 hours of class time at the top package. Not sure how that might translate to credit hours, but it does raise an interesting question, does it not?
As to "what we are selling", we sell on-line real estate investing education that can be reviewed as many times as the student wants and is updated as laws and methodologies change. We also have investor communities in some cities. We're looking to start communities in more cities.
Even here in "Illi-ana". The Indiana folks would like something closer to home than the South Loop or Western Suburbs of Chicago. Some folks travel 100 miles ONE-WAY(!!!) from Northern Indiana.
David,
This has been a hard one to quantify. The Renatus website is very careful to not list the cost of its various courses and programs publicly. However, it does make the point, in multiple locations, that as an affiliate, I could earn between $1000 and $10,000 per student whom I refer into a Renatus program {Making this the "draw" used to get folks to wander through the door).
Information obtained from videos and postings by Renatus members such as yourself, and dissatisfied customers (students) has identified a range of $16K - $24K for the basic program. Presumably this would be less, perhaps free, or better, I make money in excess of my opportunity costs, if I were to recruit others into the programs. The model is well proved: Amway, Avon, Tupperware, Mary Kay cosmetics, etc.
As for costs of an accredited education, forget about the junior colleges, a complete university undergraduate degree could be had for the same cost as Renatus' program (16 - 24K) ... actually less now given the embarrassing predicament of the Loonie. Where I already have postsecondary education, I would even have the option to pursue an executive MBA for about the same costs. With any undergraduate or graduate degree, the detailed curriculum is readily available and, as Jason identified above, I can pay as I go by the course/semester.
If we could assign the right credit hours to the Renatus class time we could compare the package to college tuition and probably discover that most 4-year colleges cost 4 to 5 times Renatus for similar class time and credit hours, last time I sized up the local 4-year institutions, assuming at least 2 but not more than 3 credit hours per course. Our courses are generally a minimum of 8 classroom hours equivalent to 4 weeks at 2 hours per class per class day. Some classes run 16 classroom hours. So, I assigned them the higher credit hours (3).
Our total number of classes offered has increased lately. So, I'll have to run the numbers again.
From my days at a university, a two credit course would have two hours of classroom time per week for a sixteen week period. For a total of 32 in class hours for two credits. So your sixteen hour class would be at most a one credit course. Run your numbers again :)
From my days at a university, a two credit course would have two hours of classroom time per week for a sixteen week period. For a total of 32 in class hours for two credits. So your sixteen hour class would be at most a one credit course. Run your numbers again :)
Wow, how did I miss this... Great point, Steve...
By that measure, Rebates is putting out about a semester and a half of material. That averages about $11,000 per semester or about $22,000 per year in tuition.
From my days at a university, a two credit course would have two hours of classroom time per week for a sixteen week period. For a total of 32 in class hours for two credits. So your sixteen hour class would be at most a one credit course. Run your numbers again :)
Wow, how did I miss this... Great point, Steve...
By that measure, Rebates is putting out about a semester and a half of material. That averages about $11,000 per semester or about $22,000 per year in tuition.
I may be mistaken in the number of weeks; I think it might be fourteen rather than sixteen. But either way, referring to Renatus as Rebates is a hoot :) Silly auto-correct ...
Investor · Fort Lauderdale, FL · Member since 2013 · 75 posts · 28 votes
11y
I have read these posts recently because I've been inundated with them in my inbox and I was curious to see what was going on. I have to say I'm astounded at the vigorous bashing of Renatus and some of the misinformation related to it.
As to why anyone responded in defense of Renatus, my response would simply be that this thread started with the simple question of whether anyone knew anything about Renatus. Some did, responded...and then all hell broke loose. I don't know why the bashing is so unrelenting and I really don't care. The question has been answered by both sides and it's up to the readers to determine.
My background is a 40 year career in real estate as a realtor, an appraiser and a small-time investor. Nothing great, just pretty much a typical guy. I'm happily retired now, which is something too many people can't say these days. I have a 4-year degree in Education and my wife was a career educator and administrator, so i know something about real estate and something about education. Unlike some on here, I don't have all the answers but I do know some things and bring something to the table in this discussion.
My synopsis is that Renatus is not for everyone. If you simply want to wholesale or fix-and-flip you can find out how to do that anywhere, including on BP. If you truly want to learn real estate however, I don't know anywhere better to do that than Renatus, and that includes an accredited college. If I had a choice between a four-year degree at a traditional institution in today's economy and an education that is laser-focused on real estate and operating a real estate business I'd take Renatus every time. It's that simple.
As has been stated here numerous times by those who know, Renatus is taught by known, verifiable, successful investors who make their livings investing in the fields in which they teach, it offers a wide variety of real estate investing classes and it offers both local support communities that create a synergy that isn't found anywhere else (including BP) and a national network of investors who bring much bigger possibilities to the table. This is one helluva lot of value for $20K, whether you like it or not. I know a helluva lot of kids who have spent much more than that on 4-year degrees (and more) and who can't get jobs in their field and are seriously underemployed. So do you.
Now, you bashers can go ahead and bash away. I've had my say and it obviously won't change your minds but I've put my 2 cents in. I personally know people who have had their lives turned around completely by Renatus. Some of them have done it through the marketing, some of them through investing and most of them through a combination of both. I also know many who haven't done anything with it. That's on them. I would just encourage anyone who is interested in getting involved in real estate to look at Renatus as an option and make your own decision based on what it offers.
I'm not going to waste another minute of my time with this. I think I've said everything I have to say and it's up to the readers to determine who and what they believe, but I do have to wonder what it is that compels a few people to so vociferously go after a program that offers so much to people who want to get started in our industry. They must have some other agenda.