June 12th, 2008 | 
Author: Leslie Eskildsen By:
Anyone looking into real estate as an investment vehicle has probably come across a splashy ad for a seminar that promises to make all of their real estate dreams come true. The price tag is often steep and the claims outrageous – “Become a millionaire in a year!” “Guaranteed income of $3000 a month!” To struggling people trying to get ahead, the thought of making thousands on a “flipped” property is tempting enough for them to fork over hundreds or thousands of dollars for “the latest and greatest secrets”.
There are legitimate seminars out there, but they don’t promise things like “get rich quick!” or “guarantee” that you will make money at all. Scam seminars will promise all this and more. They will use buzzwords like “secret”, “virtually risk-free!” and, of course, “this is not a get-rich-quick scheme”. They also clearly state what they are going to deliver for their fee, not couch it in terms like “secrets” or “confidential information”.
The guru that hosts the seminar – is he someone who can prove that he has made hundreds of real estate deals and has thousands of ecstatic customers or does he gloss over the details and refuse to give references that you can follow up on? Does he expect you to believe the testimonial of “John S.” rather than “John Smith from Denver and contact information”? Does he call himself the “Millionaire Real Estate King” or some other fancy name? Does he mention God as a selling point – intimating that you should buy from him because he quotes Scripture? Does he have an impressive university degree… from an unrecognized or mail-order “university”? Bad signs, all of them.
Scam seminars will emphasize the beginning and the end – never the middle. Acquiring real estate and the life of luxury that you can expect to live with it are what they focus on. The actual mechanics of working with your real estate to achieve your financial goals are seldom discussed. Legitimate seminars will emphasize what you need to do with your property to make a profit from it and avoid pitfalls that can erase any rental income or increased equity. Scam seminars will only flash images of private jets, Hawaii and ski chalets.
While some legitimate seminars will have books and CDs for sale, look at them closely. Are the books full of useful information or are they a lot of white space, “forms” and definitions of real estate terminology. Does the seminar give you useful information in and of itself, or does it function as a vehicle to sell more and more of the books, tapes, CDs and other media? What will you be getting for your money?
Real estate seminars that promise you the moon for never-before-heard-of prices are probably just trying to sell you empty words and flashy terms for a stiff price. Legitimate seminars will have a clear goal for their seminar, have legitimate references and history and will not promise you anything other than the fact that hard work and education will get you farther than a once-in-a-lifetime-chance.
Anyone looking into real estate as an investment vehicle has probably come across a splashy ad for a seminar that promises to make all of their real estate dreams come true. The price tag is often steep and the claims outrageous – “Become a millionaire in a year!” “Guaranteed income of $3000 a month!” To struggling people trying to get ahead, the thought of making thousands on a “flipped” property is tempting enough for them to fork over hundreds or thousands of dollars for “the latest and greatest secrets”.
There are legitimate seminars out there, but they don’t promise things like “get rich quick!” or “guarantee” that you will make money at all. Scam seminars will promise all this and more. They will use buzzwords like “secret”, “virtually risk-free!” and, of course, “this is not a get-rich-quick scheme”. They also clearly state what they are going to deliver for their fee, not couch it in terms like “secrets” or “confidential information”.
The guru that hosts the seminar – is he someone who can prove that he has made hundreds of real estate deals and has thousands of ecstatic customers or does he gloss over the details and refuse to give references that you can follow up on? Does he expect you to believe the testimonial of “John S.” rather than “John Smith from Denver and contact information”? Does he call himself the “Millionaire Real Estate King” or some other fancy name? Does he mention God as a selling point – intimating that you should buy from him because he quotes Scripture? Does he have an impressive university degree… from an unrecognized or mail-order “university”? Bad signs, all of them.
Scam seminars will emphasize the beginning and the end – never the middle. Acquiring real estate and the life of luxury that you can expect to live with it are what they focus on. The actual mechanics of working with your real estate to achieve your financial goals are seldom discussed. Legitimate seminars will emphasize what you need to do with your property to make a profit from it and avoid pitfalls that can erase any rental income or increased equity. Scam seminars will only flash images of private jets, Hawaii and ski chalets.
While some legitimate seminars will have books and CDs for sale, look at them closely. Are the books full of useful information or are they a lot of white space, “forms” and definitions of real estate terminology. Does the seminar give you useful information in and of itself, or does it function as a vehicle to sell more and more of the books, tapes, CDs and other media? What will you be getting for your money?
Real estate seminars that promise you the moon for never-before-heard-of prices are probably just trying to sell you empty words and flashy terms for a stiff price. Legitimate seminars will have a clear goal for their seminar, have legitimate references and history and will not promise you anything other than the fact that hard work and education will get you farther than a once-in-a-lifetime-chance.
Posted in Real Estate
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