Surefire Ways to Lose Money through Get Rich Quick Real Estate Seminars

Don't forget to bring your checkbook to Real Estate Seminars

Real estate seminar speakers and their kind prey on the innocent, the greedy and the naive and, quite frankly, many of us, if we looked deeply inside ourselves, might find one or two of those targeted traits, so nobody is really immune from these shysters.

I am sure you have heard their infomercials on late night Television.  They proclaim that the Super Secret to Riches Train is coming to your town, for one day only, and one phone call can secure your reservation, but hurry because seats are limited!   You get there only to see the hundreds of chairs stacked at the back of the ballroom.  You see helpers pulling out chairs and lining them up in rows as the suckers.. I mean future students file in the doors.  Then once they are ready to begin you look at all the empty space in the ballroom.  Seats are limited I ask to myself as I see 50 people in a room that can hold 150.

Playing in the front is short movie presentation showing testimonies of people who supposedly graduated from the "Super Real Estate Boot camp", or the "Realty Riches School of hard knocks" Telling of how they got their start.   Showing these seminars with hundreds of people in the audience bragging about all that they learned about, while holding Thousands of dollars worth of Tapes and Booklets in their hands. These presenters are nothing short of the old west snake oil salesmen peddling tonics to cure all ailments.

I have personally attended dozens of these seminars, with one thought in mind..... Leads, Leads, Leads.   I have received numerous loan opportunities from those that I have met in such seminars.   After you have been to a few of them, you start seeing the same dilapidated before and after photos of the flips that the presenter has made during his personal Real Estate investing career.  I remember going to the seminars of 3 different companies, and all three of them had the exact same presentation, with the same before and after photos of houses they invested in and resold.  

These masters of real estate secrets have a secret all right to share with you. It's called: "Buy my books, CDs and tapes." Moreover, what they're not sharing with you is if you follow their advice, you might get sued or land in jail, because more than half of them make up stuff that could get an unsuspecting follower into trouble.   Yet even after the seminar winds down, you see the first 20 to 30 people rush to the back of the room to purchase their own "Get Rich tomorrow" Packet and sign up for the $ 2,000.00 seminar that will be coming to a town near them in 3 weeks.  I have actually seen MANY Realtors at the front of those lines myself, do realtors really fall for this stuff?  I guess we all fall for stuff like this depending on the slick lines of the presenter giving the show.

What I am saying is:

•·         Don't trust them

•·         If it sounds to good to be true, it usually is

•·         Do your homework on the internet before writing out your check

•·         Don't do business with them

•·         Don't walk,  Run to the nearest exit.

The realyy dedicated and brainwashed followers will see my blog as an attack on those gurus they think will make them Rich and, if given the chance, would rip the shirts off their backs to polish the ground in front of their idols. It's pathetic. I can't change those people's opinions, but I hope that my words will prod the rest of you to stay away these scam artists. Many of them can be charismatic, charming and quite believable until you scratch beneath the surface, and find that they have filed bankruptcy multiple times before going to the next scam.

P.T. Barnum is said to have made the statement "there is a sucker born everyday" I am sure that , if Mr. Barnum were alive today, he would be a Real Estate Seminar speaker.

 Many Seminar Speakers are Unethical

Some speakers will pre-screen audience members and place colored dots on their name badges. This would identify the financial situation of likely suspects by the seminar speaker's crew, as the various colored dots each represented a specific investment goal. For example, those with red dots might have $100,000 to invest; whereas those with blue dots might have less than $10,000 in the bank. The seminar company didn't want to waste time talking to those with the blue dots.

Seminar Gurus Fabricate and Stretch the Truth

Others will stretch the truth to just so close to an actual lie, and if they are caught in that lie, then lie their way around it.  Many just copy the ideas of other Real Estate Guru's and make their own presentation.  They may make some changes in it that will sell better, or make the tapes a little bit flashier.   I went to a seminar on how to buy stocks and bonds using a software program.  The course they were selling for around $ 299.00 not a bad deal, then you went to an all day seminar for free.   All throughout that seminar one thing was being told.  In order to make the real money you need to invest in our $ 19.000.00 package.  I cancelled my purchase, with a lot of reluctance from the presenter.  He tried everything but giving me the kitchen sink to keep my $ 299.00 purchase.   Afterall they said there was a 30 day guarantee.  I think he just gave me the refund due to all the commotion I was causing at the back table.

I actually asked someone who made presentations for one of the big seminar groups a question after he stated in the seminar that he owned tons of property in various states.  He told the audience that he even owned property here in Oregon.  I asked him after the seminar a few questions as he was trying to guide me to the table to buy books and tapes.  I asked him where in Oregon were his properties, and he said "oh I don't own any properties in Oregon"  He just blew if off as if I had misunderstood what he said.  He said during the presentation that he owned some Duplexes in Oregon.

So before you set your sights on being the next Donald Trump, do it the old fashioned way.  Spend some time at the library or online doing some research.  I hope this helps save people money that could be better spent paying down a mortgage or credit cards.

Thomas Hargreaves is a Financial Planner and Mortgage Broker, And understands how education fits in to the practice of building wealth and saving taxes. at:   541-844-1830    agentshelper@gmail.com     www.dreambizpro.com/tristarteamusa