Infomercial - Posted by Jason

Posted by HR on November 14, 1998 at 06:44:28:

ntnt

Infomercial - Posted by Jason

Posted by Jason on November 10, 1998 at 10:37:16:

Any one know about the Infomercial or course put on, or sponsered by Success Magazine?

This is Homebuyers of America; beware! (nt) - Posted by HR

Posted by HR on November 10, 1998 at 17:26:41:

nt

Re: Infomercial - Posted by Chris

Posted by Chris on November 10, 1998 at 15:44:30:

Was the guy advertising named Ron Legrand. If so, he is an excellent teacher. I just attended one of his seminars and it was great. If the infomercial had Jon and Jerry Rice this was the infomercial. If not, then I dont know.

Re: Infomercial - Posted by JLM

Posted by JLM on November 10, 1998 at 14:50:52:

Stay as far away as you can.

Re: This is Homebuyers of America; beware! (nt) - Posted by Paul

Posted by Paul on November 11, 1998 at 11:59:15:

I just attended a presentation given by Homebuyers of
America at a local hotel. It sounded pretty good but
still undecided.Why do say to beware? Any info. you
have on them would be greatly appreciated.
Paul

Re: This is Homebuyers of America; beware! (nt) - Posted by Cesar

Posted by Cesar on November 11, 1998 at 21:24:19:

I went through the course, and I must be honest, it is not all that it’s cracked up to be. It all seems wonderful until you realize they really did not teach you all that much except getting you all fired up. The information is the kind you can get from any other 49.95 course. All I can say is, don’t think you’ll truly be able to go out and close on all kinds of properties immediately after taking any course. You will only learn through experience…

Why you should beware of expensive seminars - Posted by HR

Posted by HR on November 12, 1998 at 07:29:57:

I agree with Cesar. IMHO, in general, expensive seminars don’t deliver a great return on your investment. There are other ways to learn more and get started (i.e. get better value) for your money.

I went to the HBOA seminar, paid the $1500, and I did get a lot out of it. But if I had to do it over again, I would pay the $1500 for courses here. Come to think of it, I have paid over $1500 for courses here ;), so I know what I am talking about.

HBOA info is average at best. Maybe C- level. You will learn FAR MORE by spending $1500 on books and seminars here. Difference between Yale and East Podunk U. No exaggeration.

So what would I do if I was doing it over?

  1. Join my local REIA group (@$100). There you will meet locals who have been doing re investing in your market for years successfully. Great contacts, networking, support, and monthly motivation through real people doing real deals in your area. INFINITELY better than an overpriced, undervalued re traveling circus.

  2. Start with books that talk about basic re investing (@$20 each). I have really enjoyed: investing in real estate by Mclean and Eldred; Creating Wealth by bob allen; street smart real estate investing by cymrot; fast cash with quick turn real estate by ron legrand, building wealth by russ whitney; how to buy your own home in 90 days by garrison; how to buy real estate for at least 20% below market value by john reed…

  3. Once you get an idea of the basics and what you want to focus on, then begin specializing. No one can really help you out here, since you have to decide that for yourself. Specialty books that I have bought and enjoyed are (again @$20): buy it, fix it, sell it, profit! by kevin myers; making a fortune quickly in fixup properties by mclean; real estate law by warner and kratovil; How i turned $1000 into three million in real estate – in my spare time by nickerson (out of print); landlording by robinson; every landlords legal guide by nolo press…

Then there are the course materials (@$150 each). I have bought Bill Bronchick’s stuff, and I have been very pleased. I also have been very pleased with Jeffrey Taylor’s mr.landlord information.

Other books (@$20) that have proven very helpful in getting my re business started are: rich dad, poor dad by Kiyosaki; success is a choice by pitino; ziglar on selling by ziglar; napoleon’s hills keys to success by sartwell; winning through intimidation by ringer; guerrilla marketing weapons by levinson; guerrilla marketing excellence by levinson; the guerrilla marketing handbook by levinson; keep your hard earned money by fellman; your wealth building years by berg; the nine steps to financial freedom by orman; aggressive tax avoidance for real estate investors by reed; the real estate investors tax guide by hoven; what the irs doesn’t want you to know by kaplan; the real estate professional’s bible of tax strategies by ayella…

This is a list of the good stuff. I have bought and read other materials (i.e. Hicks, Wade Cook, others) whose materials are inferior to those mentioned above.

Finally, Paul, I think you deserve an answer regarding where all this work and info has taken me.

  1. It’s helped me to have an excellent grasp on re investing in general, specific areas I want to focus on (rehabs, L/o, landlording), taxation, accounting, LLCs and corps, and how set my re business up as a business.

  2. While reading, learning, and lurking here, I have been putting together my professional team of re atty, cpa, mort. broker, contractors, other investors, etc. Yesterday, for instance, I just met with one of the three re attorneys I want to work with to talk about using land trusts in my state. I also have cleaned up our credit, gotten a home equity loan, formed a llc, etc. etc.

Cummings talks about knowing your comfort level. My comfort level is to be very informed. I like knowing what I am getting into before I dive in (although that didn’t stop me from jumping in and remodeling a 3000sf home when I didn’t have any great GQ experience…another story).

Yet, that remodeling experience did teach me the value of being informed upfront. I made some MAJOR mistakes. If I had known then what I know now, I could have easily avoided them.

The hardest thing for me right now is being patient and doing the daily, little things that are building my re investment locomotive. What Bob Allen in Creating wealth calls the preorbit stage: building your business. It’s hard to hear about others diving in and making deals. It just gets me fired up, though, to work harder and be ready sooner. My day will come. (I’m shooting for Jan. 1st) And when it does, I will be ready to buy with aggressive contracts through LLCs and S corps, in land trusts, with creative financing, with the support of re professionals, etc etc etc.

This is a business. Learn the business and run your business like any business. We just happen to do re.

Does that answer your question about why to beware? Do you think a three day seminar of trained sales reps can possibly teach you as much as all these specialized books and courses? And all the stuff I mentioned is less than $1500 to boot!!!

I would choose Yale. Boola Boola!

Best of luck to you!

HR

Re: Why you should beware of expensive seminars - Posted by cesar

Posted by cesar on November 15, 1998 at 09:56:18:

Someone asked me about the software that HBOA offers, and I felt it would be worth commetning on. Well, it’s not bad, but I am not sure it is worth the expense. It has some good parts, and generally for someone who is just starting may be of some help. The reality is, though, that I have not had ANYONE who has accepted the contracts that were included in the contract. Almost EVERYONE wants to use the standard FAR/BAR contract (which is the generic one created by the Board of Realtors and the BAR Association). There are also some other programs out on the market that also have most standard contracts for Real EState which are about $150 or so. They are found where you have programs relating to “Be your own attorney” or “1500 Legal Forms”.

As far as the mentor program, it does give you a bit more information than you would get on your own, and if you have no discipline, it may be a decent option. I must say, however, I have nothing against the people who gave the seminar. They were all extremely courteous, tried to be informative by giving us examples of their own deals, and generally made it entertaining. My only concern is that for what they are charging, it does not seem like the best choice for your money. I must say, however, that I was fortunate to have found a “mentor” who lives nearby, and by helping him put together some deals, he reciprocated by paying me a commission (much like the mentor program) on anything I brought to the table. In return, I learned how the deals need to be structured in REALITY, not in practice. It takes a lot more than the feew hours a week everyone seems to be bragging about!! I believe it gets simpler the more information you have, but this is just like any other business, and it requires your full time attention and devotion.

Re: Why you should beware of expensive seminars - Posted by BOB

Posted by BOB on November 14, 1998 at 16:28:04:

Just wanted to add, I have actually started to do this Home Buyers of America. Thank goodness I used a credit card to begin…phone call to home office that evening after the seminar. The price was $2,000.00 but, just for me (ha), they would let me pay $250.00 per month. I said I had to review the contract with my attorney before I agreed (they didn’t like that at all). I did get the contract, lawyer looked it over, nothing wrong but, why would anyone want to do this…he said. I called to cancel. In the meantime the books arrived. This all took place in early June, 1998. My credit card company is still fighting for my $250.00. They would not take back the books. Anyone interested?

I have just started my experience in re with Claude Diamone and am looking forward to learning (one on one) from the best. As he says, “can you speak to the man himself and talk to his students? If not, don’t think you can after you give him money.”

Any advice for a brand new beginner? I will soon be 59 and have decided to do something before I run out of life.

These responses are right on…keep um comming.

Re: Why you should beware of expensive seminars - Posted by Doris

Posted by Doris on November 14, 1998 at 12:27:40:

Another big thank you from me for all the
great info on books etc. I agree and have the
Russ Whitney book and Ron LeGrand book and
tapes - also a borrowed older Carlton Sheets
course - and picked up a Bob Allen book at a
yard sale. These and a few others I have
collected have been excellent reading. I
saved your page and am sure I will be
referring to it many times. I just ordered
Lonnie Scruggs book on mobile home deals. Thanks again. Doris

Re: Why you should beware of expensive seminars - Posted by paul

Posted by paul on November 12, 1998 at 17:14:08:

I just wanted to tell HR,thank you for the information
It’s greatly appreciated

Paul

Re: Why you should beware of expensive seminars - Posted by AJ

Posted by AJ on November 12, 1998 at 10:26:56:

I went to this free seminar just this week to see what they had to say. Price for the 3 day course was $1995. Funniest part was that after telling the group how foolish they would be to charge up their credit cards the presenter then tells us we can charge the $1995 to our credit cards!

I have to agree with HR’s reply and will add that if you actually have $2000 to spare use some of it to do research in your own area and use the rest to help get started in your RE business.

Why help make Success rich? Work on making yourself rich.

AJ