Can ANYONE Make Money in Real Estate?

If you watch enough of the late night infomercials, you’ll start getting convinced that anyone can make money in real estate.  That it’s so easy even if you’ve had a frontal lobotomy you can make a fortune in real estate.  They make it sound like real estate investing is like using an Easy Bake oven.  

            Now for the horrid truth.  Not everyone can make money in real estate, and real estate isn’t for everybody.  Investing, whether in the stock market or real estate can be very stressful, and you have to able to remove yourself emotionally from the investments.  Not everyone can do that.  In fact, I would be willing to say that most people CAN’T do that! 

I can assure you that if you buy a house to rehab, and you’ve allotted $5k for repairs, but by the second day of work you realize you’re going to need at least $10k to rehab it, but you don’t have the $10k, there will be some very powerful emotions involved!  Or what if  you have a house that you’ve put all your money into, and are trying to rent it out, but after 4 months of it sitting empty, and another payment coming due on it?  Can you remove yourself emotionally from it? 

Real estate investing is not for everyone.  Getting into real estate because you think it’s a quick, easy way to make money is like becoming a pastor because you think you’ll only have to work one day a week.  There is a lot more to it than that.  Not everyone can be a teacher, not everyone can be a pilot or a surgeon or an investor.  I know investors that have been investing for several years, and they still get their head handed to them on a plate sometimes.  It’s going to happen.  But how will you handle it if you lose greatly on a deal? 

Fortunately with the lease option program that we’ve developed, there is almost no risk, but there have still been times where at the end of the day I ended up making nothing or possibly even losing some money on a deal.  Or maybe something happened that of course was completely out of my control, but the fingers were still pointed at me.  Those are frustrating times when you are trying to do the right thing, and you end up wasting your time and money to help someone. 

I’ve developed my program to be as cookie cutter as possible, but it still comes down to the individual.  I trained a couple about 5 years ago and they just could NOT get the program working.  It wasn’t the program, but them.  They just weren’t cut out for it, simply because they lacked confidence.  I worked with them and worked with them, but at the end of the day, they couldn’t sell a glass of water to someone in the desert, because they just lacked confidence.   There was another couple that when we tried to discuss even the easiest, simplest task of our lease option program, they both looked like deer in headlights, and would ask the same questions, over and over and over.  I don’t care what method of investing someone is looking at, it comes down to the individual.

Bottom line, if you think that you should get into real estate because you will make a ton of money with almost no effort, then you may want to stick to the lottery. 

My Beef with Gurus Part 5 of 5

Can you imagine charging someone to teach them how to build a house...if you're not even a builder?

Or how about paying someone to teach you to fly a plane, who doesn't actually fly planes?

Sounds weird huh?

Well, that's exactly what some of the guru's do when they offer their weekend bootcamp courses. 

They claim they're going to teach you how to make big money buying foreclosed homes, or buying notes, or 10 other ways to make money in real estate.  Except...they don't actually DO what they are supposed to be teaching YOU!

How would you like to pay out thousands of dollars to learn how to supposedly do something, from someone that doesn't actually do what they are getting paid to teach you?

I know, sounds confusing!

There is a book that I highly recommend called "The Richest Man in Babylon" that you've probably heard of before.  In it, there is a passage about a man giving his money to a brickmaker to invest in rich jewels, hoping for a big return on his investment.  Well, the brickmaker ends up buying pieces of glass, and the man loses all of his investment.  Obviously the man is going to lose his money, because why would you give your money to a brickmaker to invest in jewels?  The guy is a brickmaker, not a jewel expert.  

This same story relates to trying to learn real estate investing from someone that doesn't actually do it.....or that isn't successful at it!

My course is ONLY on lease options, and even more specifically, my lease option PROGRAM.  

That's it.  That's ALL I teach because that's what I actually DO.  Everyday!

If you want to learn wholesale note buying..I'm not your guy! 

There is no way I'm going to pretend to be an expert in something that I don't actively participate in, just so I can sell some books. 

And if you are looking for education and training on real estate, then you need to do your homework, and make sure the person you are about to pay to train you actively practices what they preach, AND that they are successful at it.  Don't be fooled by they pretty DVD cases, and all the glitz put on by the presenter.  You want to learn from someone that actually practices what they preach.  Make them prove to you that they are active and successful in the trade they are going to teach you. 

My Beef with Gurus Part 4 of 5

"Hi! I'm Mr. Rock Star Real Estate guru, and I'm inviting you to my workshop this weekend to show you how to make millions!" Translated: I hire uneducated minions to travel from hotel to hotel to suck you out of your life savings to buy my courses, while I sit on my throne reaping the rewards.
The truth is, when you see a big name guru touting his weekend seminar, you better not get your hopes up to see your little guru idol, as your idol hires minions to give the seminar. The guru doesn't actually teach the class many of the times. Now, of course ther are some gurus that will actually teach the class, but I think you can name a few of the rock star real estate gurus that never teach a class. Besides you should not be paying for a seminar just because of the person, rather, you should be going for the content and subject. Hey, let's face it, I'm outrageously good looking, but I tell people not to sign up for my lease option classes just to get the opportunity to see such a pretty face and legend like myself! Sign up for the class, because you want to learn what I'm teaching. I always let people take pictures with me afterwards anyway. HA! Wheeeee!!! Daddy's on a roll!
Let me tell you a little story that proves what I'm saying.
Years ago my company, Leasing to Buy, had a booth at one of these wealth/real estate seminars. This was one of the big momma seminars with the biggest of the names there, selling all thier stuff. We had a booth to promote Leasing to Buy to other investors.
So we are there for the 3 day event, and we got to see most of the other booths that were set up selling anything from courses, to hard money, to condos. Now, one booth in particular was a huge area that took up a very large area of the floor and probably cost the company a ton of money for that large space. This company was selling condos or timeshares in the Dominican Republic. The guys/girls working this big booth were all dressed very professional and were really pulling the crowds in making thier pitch on why having a condo in D.R. was such a great investment.
If you're not familiar with the Domincan Republic, it's right next door to Haiti, which is often known for it's civil unrest. But, these salesman were selling the idea of owning real estate in a "tropical paradise".
At the end of the 3rd day we all tore down our booths, and as I was leaving the convention center, I saw all of these "DR" salespeople outside the convention center. They had their coats off, shirst undone, sleeves rolled up, tatooes on every area possible that was now exposed, smoking like they had just broken a nicotene fast.
Try to picture this for a moment. For 3 days these people put on a facade of professionalism, wealth, and success, and if you listened to them, and bought a condo in DR, YOU could be JUST LIKE THEM!!

Now I'm seeing the truth though. They are 19-22 year old kids that would rather be at a Beastie Boys concert (nothing against Beasty Boys, but you get the point) and not only do THEY not own any freakin condos in the DR, they have never been there, and only know where it is because of the big map on the back of their booth! Yet the crowds of people were entrusting them with their savings to invest in a condo in a place they had never seen.
Are you getting the point here?
It reminded me of a scene from one of the greatest movies. Jim Carey (Andy Kaufman)in Man on the Moon. The scene where he is in some third world country to get treated for his cancer, and the whole village comes to the witchdoctor to get well, and Jim (Andy) sees the doctor putting fake blood and a squid or something in his hands where the crowd can't see, but the witchdoctor type person then pretends to pull the deseased intestine out of Andy and the crowd is amazed. Jim Carey starts laughing because he realizes he and the village have been had, and it's all a show.
That's what I saw at that wealth convention.......
Don't be fooled by the witchdoctors.

My Beef with Gurus Part 3 of 5

"Join us this weekend and learn 15 ways to make money in real estate NOW!"

uuuhhggg...give me a break! 

Have you ever heard those commercials?  Guru's offering weekend classes where you can learn 15 ways to make money in real estate?

The reason they advertise that you can learn 15 ways to make money, is they know that in your mind, if you are being instructed on 15 different ways to make money, that SURELY you could money on at LEAST one of those ways.  

But the truth is that during the weekend training, you are only given a very small amount of information on any one method.  There is no possible way to provide sufficient information on 15 investment techniques in a weekend course.  

I only instruct on ONE technique, and my course is FOUR DAYS LONG!

So after your weekend course, you are all pumped up with almost no real information on any of the 15 techniques....but WAIT....if you act now..you can sign up for the next level of courses to learn more!  

The investors that are actually successful at real estate really only focus on one method.  They find the method that fits them, their interests, and risk ability, and they focus on that one method. 

Don't try to learn 15 different techniques.  If you do, you will succeed at none and fail at all. 

Find the technique that fits your comfort level and interests and focus on that one technique. 

My Beef with Gurus Part 2 of 5

This post I want to talk about the "levels" of courses that the gurus offer.  I was looking at the site of one very well known gurus, and he offered a basic course for about $4k.  This is the course you get when you first sign up.  BUT, if you want to learn MORE..then you can sign up for the next "level", which was about $3k more.  The total cost for the whole enchilada was over $13,000!!! Holy Cow!  

What do you think you get for $13k?  A bunch of fluff and nothing is what you get!  In my opinion, which I'm sure is highly regarded by many around the world....if you see any sort of training that offers "levels" of courses, you have to realize that it's likely a rip off and waste of money.  

By someone offering "levels" of courses, that means that they are knowingly holding back information from you in order to suck more money from your pocket.  How does that make you feel?  It should make you feel like you need to walk away.   

I wonder if the $13k includes an autographed picture of the "guru" or even a Christmas card.  I can assure you, that if anyone sends me $13k, I will immediately mail you an autographed picture of myself, AND I will add you to my Christmas card list!

My Beef with Gurus Part 1 of 5

If you've watched late night TV, you've seen the real estate gurus touting their real estate courses that you order for only $499 or the weekend "bootcamps" where they pack the seminar rooms then direct you to the back of the room to buy their courses.  Over the next number of postings, I'm going to discuss the issues I have with these people.  

The first things I want to address, is the idea of starting a business by reading a little booklet or watching a DVD.  Realize that the investors that are actually successful did NOT learn how to do what they are doing by watching a DVD.  They learned it from experience, mistakes, and making adjustments along the way.  They are successful because their investing is a business.  If you want to have a successful business, do you honestly think you can learn it from watching a DVD?  OF course not!  The information you get from those courses is nothing more than the THEORY of a particular style of investing.  Let's say you wanted to be a custom home builder.  But you know nothing about building, or running a business.  You're watching TV late at night and someone says, "Buy my course on how to be a home builder for only $499!" So you buy it and the DVD tells you that you will need wood, some nails, and a crew of construction workers, and that the house should have rooms, and a ceiling, and you should top it off with some shingles.  That's it.  Do you really think you're ready to start your own custom home building company now?  NO!  Yet that is exactly what the courses offered by the gurus give you.  Very basic information on the theory of real estate.  Certainly not enough to start a company with!  

Why I Limit The Number of Students

I was contacted by a person last week that had been hoping to get into my class last month, but the class filled up before he could get in. Due to his schedule, he couldn't make it to the next class in September. So he asked why I only allow a VERY small number of students per class.
I think this is a valid question, and I think a very important point to address. The reason I only offer between 6 to 12 seats per class, is that what I have to offer is a complete business plan, so I teach a very in depth course, and if I offered 75 or 100 seats in a class, I just don't think the students could absorb all of the information, and I wouldn't feel like I would be able to provide the attention to each student that I feel is necessary.
Keep in mind this is not just a course on the theory of lease options, it's about starting a business.
To see the company I teach you to duplicate, take a look at my website
www.leasingtobuy.com