Jimmy, thanks for your comments and excellent questions. I[m going to answer your question in several parts:

1. Price:  Initially, I too had a problem with the price.  The reason; there appeared to be other options available that accomplished the same goal and the product seemed one dimensional. With the release of the new version, UFirst's MMA is no longer one dimensional, it is a complete full circle financial solution worth triple the price.  This company is not simply putting a product out there and walking away.  There are and will continue to be enhancements designed to educate the consumer in a "plug and play" sort of way.  The customer support and training is impeccable - when was the last time you were able to get support or training on Microsoft products?

The UFirst MMA is worth every dime and more!!!

2.  You can do it yourself:  How much time do you have?  Do you understand factoral math?  How well do you know Microsoft office.  My education is in Economics with a minor in Marketing.  In economics we talk about opportunity cost.  In the financial world we talk about the time value of money.  What we don't talk about the money value of time?  There is a huge opportunity cost to trying to figure something out yourself and what if you made a calculation error.  Wouldn't you rather have plug and play functionality with a product that works from day one - so that both your money and time are working for you and not against you?

3.  Commissions and business model:  I think that UFirst's brilliance is in its selling model.  The most powerful form of marketing is word of mouth.  It takes years to bring a product to market via traditional methods.  Sydney Financial chose a more traditional, elitist model and it has not experienced any where near the same impact as UFirst.  UFirst chose the direct selling model simply because it's grass roots and it would positivily impact the lives of Americans much more quickly.  It would also have made it much more difficult to "cross the chasm."  If you haven't read the book, Crossing The Chasm, it's an interesting read.  I wish that I were making $1576 per sale - I'm not there yet - but I will be.  Study the commission structure of ANY sales organization and you will find an almost identical structure. You are rewarded for making sales and exposing new customers to a product that you belive in.  It benefits them and it benefits you.  I have no problem being paid for the work that I do! 

Frankly, I think that had the company lowered the price and tried to sell it using a different method fewer people would benefit.  There is a psychology of pricing and value.   The management of this company is brilliant!

I could go on, I hope that this makes sense to you - if not give me a shout.  I do encourage you to get educated on the changes to the product that have been released with version 4.  They are remarkable!

Marchel,  what a testimony to the size of Active Rain.  Your comment clearly indicates that the world is bigger than us.  Thanks for stopping by and commenting.  Hope that you had a good 4th!

Paul, thanks for making this comment and allowing me to clarify a major misconception regarding UFirst. 

The UFirst business model is Direct Selling which is different from MLM (although the terms have been used interchangeably in the US since the 1970's).    Direct Selling has a focus on marketing product while in general MLM companies have a focus on "recruiting".   Nearly every sales organization has direct selling components to it's compensation plan, including Coldwell Banker, Farmers Insurance, State Farm Insurance and other well known names.

In fact Sprint started out as a direct selling company and later, once market share had been built, converted to what it is today.  It's compensation plan still has a residual income component.  In addition many US companies, including SteelCase are penetrating India and other developing countries using the Direct Selling model.

It's simply the most effective way to penetrate a market quickly.  There is nothing wrong with this business model it's a legitimate and effective way to build market share.

It's unfortunate that you have let a business model deter you from fully exploring and understanding the power of the UFirst product. 

Jimmy, your question about declining markets tells me that you have not been brought up to date on new developments with the company.  A line of credit is no longer needed to gain benefit from the UFirst MMA.  It's benefits go way beyond mortgage acceleration.  While using other peoples money is always an advantage, the tool goes well beyond what you are familiar with.

The new version goes beyond mortgage acceleration and empowers users to create wealth in addition to debt elimination.  America needs this product like never before.  We are a nation of debtors, our economy is built on consumer spending.  Banks and business's have a vested interest in keeping America spending at the expense of the long term financial health of our citizens.  Jobs are being

Again, I encourage you to go back and do your homework - you'll be impressed!

Cliff,

Mathematically, the concept absolutely works, it is not new.  Here are a few blog post that I've written on it that can help to clarify how and why it works.

What is an Australian Mortgage

Mortgage Acceleration Programs Explained 

Open Ended vs. Closed Ended Loans 

I haven't read the book and there is no question that companies are coming out of the wood-works mortgage acceleration programs and products. 

As for being able to accomplish the same thing on your own.  Yes, an individual can put together the components for these programs themselves.  Three questions come to mind:

1.  Will You read the book - or will you just spend the money and leave it sit there for months before it gets picked up?  There is a cost to that!

2.  Do you have the time to set up all the components?  We all live busy lives, how many times have you started something and left it unfinished because other things got in the way?  There is a huge value to plug and play?

My objective is to educate the public on these products. I learned a long time ago that the cheapest does not always save money and that doing it yourself can be very expensive!

Helocs are valuable tools, when used properly and not abused.