When it comes to real estate investment courses, there are a lot of people who are selling a lot of TERRIBLE products out there.
As I into this arena of real estate investor trainings, as a real estate coach, I have found that there are a lot of “wolves” out there, and it’s hard to be a sheep among wolves.
What do the real estate guru “wolves” do?
Sell the product that will make them the most money, even if it’s not the most helpful to their students.
Sometimes it seems like it’s all about who has the best sales pitch, NOT who has the best product.
Fortunately, the Internet is making it easier for real estate investors to research these “guru’s” and find out if their products are the real deal, or just a bunch of hot air. Before you buy any product, search for that guru’s name and “scam” or “review” and see what you find!
Here’s what I do when I am tempted by the alluring, emotional marketing presentations…
Personally, I am very big on return policies… If I can’t return a product that’s low-quality, I’m mad… so I’m willing to buy things and evaluate them and use the return policy judiciously.
Note – I’m not advocating “Stealing” all the ideas and then returning a product, but I have returned products whose authors over-pitched them in attempt to sell the course, or who advocate unethical methods or techniques that I would not be comfortable implementing.
(That’s different than “techniques I am too lazy to implement.”)
The problem most of us experience in buying one real estate investing course is that once we subscribe to a real estate investor guru’s email list, it seems like we get new offers, deals and promotions every week, encouraging us to use and implement the next new and exciting program that will help us make money EVEN MORE easily.
We have to stay focused!
The key in actually achieving success is to unplug from all these sales messages, think about your lifestyle, your needs, your marketplace, and decide what type of investment strategy will work best for you. Then find a program, find a mentor, and stick with your plan! Don’t get distracted.
Distraction and lack of focus are our biggest enemies. They usually kick in right after we order the course and start to feel “buyer’s remorse” about whether it was really a good idea to spend more money on that program.
If it was a bad course, return it, if it was a good course – use it! The best way to overcome buyer’s remorse is to start implementing what you’ve learned in order to make some money!
There are a lot of scams out there, but most of them you can recognize by reading through the course. The ones that are harder to recognize, you should be able to flush out in 60-90 days of attempting to implement the program.
So, that means you should feel comfortable buying real estate education information that has a 60-90 day return policy.
If the program doesn’t have a return policy, don’t buy it.
If you don’t have time in the next 60-90 days to implement the program, don’t buy it.
And finally, if you’re down to your grocery money or rent money, you’ve run up your credit card bills, or you can’t pay for the postage or bandit signs the course recommends – don’t buy it either.
There are a lot of good courses out there, too.
The problem with being a sheep among wolves in the real estate education industry is that if you DON’T charge an arm-and-a-leg for your product, it’s harder to get JV partners to promote your product on their webinar or at their real estate investing seminar. It’s harder to pay for Google ads to promote your sales letter. Frankly, it’s just harder and less profitable to be in business.
You really have to have the heart of a teacher and want to help at that point…
The only “profit model” that I have seen as being “effective” for the less price-gouging real estate trainers out there is to use a “profit split” model, where they charge an upfront fee, and also offer take a portion of your profits on your deals as part of their compensation.
Think about it, otherwise, why would this investor who is otherwise “so good” at investing in real estate bother to go into the education business?
If he was making millions with passive investments like he claims, why does he need to teach you and get money from you? You’ve probably asked yourself the same question a few times.
Clearly, it has to be profitable for the trainer, but there’s no reason to charge exorbitant prices for products that don’t deliver.
Great products at reasonable prices is the direction I hope to see the industry go, but until then, caveat emptor… let the buyer beware!