What Works?
Most of the forum topics are asking about specific products/training ie Carlton Sheets, Russ Dalbey, etc. All the forums I've seen have come back with negative feedback. Has anyone had success with any program?
Well,
Real Estate buying and selling is the game of numbers. To make twenty offer you need to see 100 properties. And to get accepted on the 1-3 you need to try to arrange financing on at list tree, so be prepare to run around like a deer. You are in So. California where the market is very hot, therefore do not expect to run into some great equity like it use to be possible once in the past. This days the competition is fierce and it just make good sense to get the right education. If I was a beginner looking to learn the ropes, I would probably start with John Locke's REI Birddog book, which will allow me to 1) master marketing (the most important part) and make some money and contacts that I'll need in the pass. Soon after I would order the 'subject to' course for $189.00 and get ready to put some properties "under my belt." Numbers count and you do not get beginners success unless you are a ready beginner.
Question is, are you ready and serious or not?
Alex
cadreemin,
Glad to meet you.
To answer your question "What Works?"
"You Do" if you want to become successful with any method of creative real estate investing.
John $Cash$ Locke
Thanks for your tongue in cheek reply. We pretty much all know that work is what works. But I'm one who is a tad bit gun shy of going out on my own to invest in RE (one way or another) based solely on the knowledge I have. So I thought "What about taking one of those courses we all see advertised on tv?" So I went and looked at the forums dedicated to the "tv courses" and they all have way more negative info than positive. So I'm still wondering.... Has anyone come across a course that works? Thanks.
My brother and I just went to one of those Cash Flow seminars tonight in Visalia. It was interesting. Dont know if it will work but they sure do want alot of money for their course! Over $1500 up front.!! I figured we could learn more for alot less money by joining an investors club, so here I am.
cadreemin,
First, I don't think Cash's response was "tongue-in-cheek." It's a true statement. Even the best book/course/bootcamp, whatever won't work if you don't apply the knowledge learned from the experience. No book or course will motivate you to actually bite the bullet and start making offers.
So none of the courses "work." They can only give you various strategies or mindsets to help you in your investing. Some, like Sheets are woefully outdated. Others paint a rosy picture, or give vague ideas on what needs to be done. Pretty much all will give you a basic understanding of buying and selling, which is really all you need.
Basic how-to: Find motivated seller, make offer, close the deal, fixup (if needed), use your exit strategy (be it rent, lease, resell, wholesale).
Advanced basic: Buy only at a discount of FMV. Verify your numbers for comps, repairs, closing costs, etc. Make profit.
Not trying to sound trite, but that's basically it. I'd guess that you probably know enough to buy a property now, but fear is holding you back. Another course will not help that. Only action will.
Roger
kathyyf has the right idea. Get to know what you want and then go forward. This site will provide you with more info than you will ever need to get going and to maintain a succesful business. It seems that everyone here has something of value to offer when someone asks a question. I dont think you can put a price on something that valuable. I also know that from experience, I bought the CS program. If you dont work it, it will never work for you. I seem to be one, like many others, who like the thought of having access to someone who can answer questions as they come up. Realtime Mentors! You have access to quite a few right now. I would keep my cash now and rely on this site until you get your mind going in the direction you want to go in and then pull all you can from here. The courses here are second to none and the guidance is the best I have seen yet!
Hope this helps and good luck
I personally have never took a course but I spent many evenings at the public library and the University of Pgh's law library to learn. without that determination I would not be where I am today. I also like to find out what went wrong and don't do it. I write down everything that went wrong on each project I have ever started. I have learned from my mistakes. When I start a new project I look at my "list of things to do that day" And look at the journals to refresh my memorary of the mistakes I've made in the past.
Good Luck
Lori
[addsig]
I just want to say that i purchased the calton sheets program and it helps. but you can't stop or expect one program to work. since i've had alot of free time on my hand lately i've raided my local library something fierce(broke my ankle at workbeen home since july) but since you ask about a specific program i'm gonna say they all work because they teach you mostly what to do and what information to look for. plus they teach you how to stay ontop of things. (but i really like the carleton sheets stuff) anything that gets you started though will work
good luck
[addsig]
Join your local REI club you may just find a mentor/partner to help guide you in the beginning. When I began investing in real estate in 1976 there where very few books and courses on REI. Most of todays Guru's were unknowns. I was fortunate enough to have an elderly jewish gentleman mentor me. He and his parents and siblings had owned a retail store during the depression and had to go bankrupt. This had a lasting effect on him,he was still ashamed of this failure nearly 50 years later. Much of what I learned from Mr. Levy was always live below your means. As he taught me cash is king. Property you acquire should always be done with cash,and always ask for a cash discount on all purchases.
One thing thou tinman1755,
In words of one of the greatest marketing authorities today, Wharton business school professor Jerry Wind, learning alone is not enough. Things are changing so fast that learning cannot be separated form the actual process of unlearning, if you want to remain competitive.
Title: Convergence Marketing
Authors: Yoram Wind and Mahajan
Financial Times/Prentice Hall 2002
Good luck!
We should never let our mistakes paralyze us and keep us from moving forward. I had made a lot of good investments when I first started buying, facelifting houses, and then selling some and renting others. It was easier back then to make good deals. Later on I got into the most trouble buying and trying to rehabilate homes that were too far gone and had to spend too much time and money on them, running into the many thousands of dollars. It slowed things down as well being tied up in complicated remodels. I'm back to my original thinking of only buying homes with 'good bones', and only doing a nice cosmetic facelift on them. If the seller had a good home, fairly new, but was a slob and didn't keep it fixed up and painted, and the carpet needed replacing, stuff like that, those are things that can be quickly and inexpensively remedied without reinventing the wheel. A lesson I learned the hard way was to avoid totally old and decrepet properties, and not to fall in love with the 'possiblities', even if you are a handyman or creative fixer upper. You should not go into buying houses that need new roofs, new plumbing, or wiring, or any major repair work. I am making it a practice to keep repeating the words, "Face lift only", over and over, or stapling it to my forehead if neccessary to remind me to stay away from these mutts. Every time I've gotten into one, it's been a no win, no profit situation. On the properties that I've bought at a good price, and did a fast creative face lift where it was a turn key dream home to show, I always walked away with a lot of money to take to the bank.
Thanks cadreemin for the post. I guess some of what is being said on this post applies to me. I have read alot and studied alot, but no deals yet. I am trying to overcome my fears, but I find it hard to do so. I guess the only thing to do is to go out and find your self just 1 deal close to you that you can handle. Taking it 1 deal at a time (at the start) i think is key and to try to keep the deals simple and avoid complex situations (if possible).
Thanks all!!
Chris G
Thanks everyone! Didn't get the answer I wanted, per se. I was hoping I'd get a lot of people to respond saying yes, this course or that course worked and would give me a place to start. I often see courses advertised on tv & often considered sending in a check and taking one of the courses. Ultimately I never sent the check because I didn't think that making money with any of them would be as easy as they say. And the responses I've gotten basically confirm that. Thanks to all who took the time to respond.
Dear cadreemin,
Everyone, please bear with me, I'm a newbie here!
I went to the Robert Allen Institute to learn about real estate investing. It was an intense 3-day 10 hour training. I paid $2K+ for it, but here's what I got out of it.
It was a lot of class study, sharing experiences, listening to the teachers explain what they did with different RE opportunities and some personal coaching. We were taught about many different ways of making RE deals.
BUT, here's the key... When I COMMITTED myself to doing this and not just TRYING IT OUT to see if it was for me, things really began to happen!
During the course, I met one of the teachers during the break and he gave me his contact info. I can call him at any time with any deal that he's looking for and he has the cash and pays a lovely finder's fee. (I don't have money to invest just yet, so I'm bird-dogging)
Once again, COMMITTMENT is the key here to open doors for you... I started going to the courthouse, as they taught me in the course and wrote letters and mailed them as they suggested in class. And Walah! I got a call! It happened to be someone with an up-side down foreclosure. They needed a short sale. I won their confidence in a one-on-one meeting with them and they wanted to work with me.
Now, the scarry part... What do I do with them? I called several investors and found one VERY interested in doing short-sales. I am currently working with this same investor and we have helped several distressed homeowners walk away with money in their pocket when everything looked like they would loose it all. I am paid a very nice finder's fee, my investor is very happy and the distressed homeowners are allowing us to use them as a reference. (Must have liked what we did for them??) A few are remaining my friends.
This is just one of the RE ideas I got from the Robert Allen Institute, but again, the COMMITTMENT I made, made it work!
By-the-way, after paying the money for the course, I am now eligible and have gone to other courses for FREE because I am a graduate of the Robert Allen Institute. T. Harv Eker was one seminar I went to for "FREE" on Money management and How to have a Millionaire mind. This alone was worth the money for the R. A. course.
Okay, so I'm very long winded, but you asked for it.
To reiterate: There are several RE courses that are good out there, and once you commit to just getting out there and doing it, that's when things start to happen for you.
Good luck and much success!
Trese
I purchased Carlton sheets in October. I my opinion the information provided in the course is good. However you can also learn those things from local REI club or TCI forums, or hanging with an experienced investor. Education is good. In my opinion you could learn better by actually getting out there searching for properties or doing a deal.All the info is useless if you dont act upon the info given.
I have never attended any course but I have read a few books and I keep reading even though I'm very confident in my abilities nowdays. I take a bit from here and there. There are so many courses and books about different avenues of real estate that it's easy to get confused. Before any course or book you may want to try to define what type of investing you want to do. Buy and hold, flips, rehabs, sub to's? Maybe you don't even know which way you want to go yet. I learned the ropes while being a realtor for two years. The problem for me was that I always wanted to buy the houses and fix them instead of finding a buyer for them. That's how I learned what I wanted to do. I like the books because I get ideas. I think the courses do the same except that you have to pay more for them. It is great to meet and get to know people who are investing. They all have great ideas, but different ideas. Start slow, spend lots of time looking at houses so that you know the market values in the area. Sometimes for a first deal or two it doesn't hurt to use a Realtor. The seller pays the commission anyway. They have forclosure properties and estates that sell below market value and you don't have to try to close the deal yourself. When you've done a few and get more confidence you can go it alone. Sorry if I've been long winded here.
As stated earlier, It works when you do.
Studying doesn't make you money. Applying what you've learned does.
Get up and do some deals!