Commercial Real Estate Investing For Beginners: You Bought a Course From A Real Estate Guru?
By
- What the HECK did I just buy from that fast talking clown?
Will This Real Estate Investing Course Work For Me?
- Emily Cressey Real Estate Investor and Coach
When you’re just getting started in real estate investing, it’s easy to get caught up chasing big dreams and money. Especially if you have been to a real estate seminar or class with a real estate guru selling a course about getting rich investing in real estate.
Many “front of the room salesmen” (I understand why they do this, so don’t get me wrong here… I don’t bear a grudge… I’m just laying out my perceptions) are very focused on encouraging you to make a quick decision to buy their product. They use all sorts of persuasive techniques that involve getting you excited about their investment program and the lure of “easy” money so that you will “invest” in their program as a first step toward reaping the riches that lie just beyond, in implementing their systems.
I love these seminars, they are very motivational. However, as a new investor, I found them frustrating, too. Frustrating because I would buy the program, do my best to implement it, and then fall short. You’ve probably been there yourself.
It wasn’t until I bought a (very expensive, in my mind!) coaching program that held me accountable that I was able to acquire my first real estate investments and begin to make some money.
Why Most Beginning Real Estate Investors Fail – Even With Great Training Materials
As I see it, a lot of people enter into real estate investing because they think they’re going to make a lot of money fairly quickly. They know it’s not “get rich quick” and they’ve been told they’ll have to put a lot of work in, but somehow, when that real estate investing guru is waving big checks under their nose and flashing smiling photos of successful students, all that hard work just doesn’t seem as real.
The truth is, most likely – the big checks and the testimonials are real, the system does work, and YOU can do it to.
The challenge is in recognizing what it really takes to arrive at the big-check-cashing moment. What is this business system or plan that you are buying into? What are you going to have to implement to make it work? Is that something 
you have time to do? Is it the type of work that you will enjoy doing?
Most people think, “Heck, if I can make that kind of money, I’ll do anything!”
It may be commercial real estate investing, owning a franchise, creating a profitable blog, or any number of other “business opportunities.”
Because, when you think about it, buying an investing course you plan to follow is like buying a business plan and starting a business. In addition to the upfront costs of the program, you’ll have ongoing costs for marketing, potentially outsourcing labor, and of course – your time.
Ask Yourself This The Next Time You’re Tempted To Whip Out Your Wallet
What would you judge the prospective level of success to be for a business owner who made a decision to start his business during a 90-minute sales pitch at a seminar or over the phone?
It’s easy to get caught up in the moment, especially if you know you’d like to get started in commercial real estate investing, but you just don’t know how. You’re already a warm and willing prospect. By asking yourself a few key questions in advance, you may be able to save yourself a lot of time and frustration in pursuing a real estate training program that’s not a fit for you.
How To Choose A Real Estate Mentor Who Will Help You Succeed
First you must realize that “real estate education” is an industry, a very big and profitable one in the last few years… there are a lot of folks making much more money selling “how to” information than actually investing.
That’s not necessarily bad, since a lot of successful businessmen and investors are “cowboys” who don’t know what they’re doing differently and can’t replicate it… they’re not teachers at all… and you can get very high quality information from real estate gurus.
The challenge comes in our lack of ability to evaluate the efficacy of the program we’re buying before we make a buying decision. We’re not encouraged to question, we’re just encouraged to rush to the back table before the bonuses run out.
I would encourage you to take the Caveat Emptor warning to heart and start to look closely at any buying decisions you make, especially when it comes to acquiring high quality real estate investing training or information.
- How much investing has this teacher done and how much does he continue to do?
- What resources (time, money, contacts, credit, etc.) are realistically needed to implement this program, and do you have access to them?
- Is this person’s primary business investing, selling information, or something else?
- Does the implementation of the program involve things that you enjoy or could do well? (Cold calling, door knocking, mailing, etc.)
- How many people have graduated from this program and gone on to be successful (raw numbers and/or percentage of aspirants)? Can you talk to people who did and DID NOT enjoy the program?
- Is there ongoing coaching/support to encourage you after the rush of adrenaline and excitement has left and you’re having second thoughts? What if you get stuck along the way?
I think there is a culture of “don’t ask because you don’t want to know” thinking out there when it comes to evaluating business opportunities.
The fact is, that most people who buy a real estate investing program will fail to implement it properly. Months and hundreds of dollars later, they’ll be on to the next best thing. Some of that is due to the nature of us opportunity seekers chasing big easy money. Some of it is due to the nature of the real estate gurus who won’t give you a straight answer, “We don’t track that information,” because they don’t want you to know.
In the wake of the Bernie Madoff ponzi scheme scandal, I think our days of being able to complacently assume success where it is implied are over.
I encourage you to become a discerning consumer of real estate information products.
Don’t look for a magic bullet because it doesn’t exist. Look for a system taught by a leader with a proven track record (who’s students are successful, not just someone who can close on a big percentage of the room) and whose system you will enjoy implementing.
More on this topic and which real estate gurus I like and don’t like coming up!
Post your questions or share your experience below!
Thanks,
Emily
3 Comments
February 11th, 2009 at 12:09 am
You are caught in the double whammy of reality here.
Most Real Estate Education “Guru’s” make a living off of selling training, not investing in Real Estate.
Many only teach you enought to be a “bird dog” for them. You learn enough to recognize a good deal, but not actually buy one and then you have to go back to your Guru … where they would be happy to “help you out” by adding your property to their portfolio.
AND most folks who buy trainings actually believe the old “Magic Pill” sales techniques the Guru’s use. It goes something like this …
“You don’t need money, brains, experience, smarts or even your own teeth to become a millionaire in Real Estate, you just need my course …”
And finally, there is a term in the business for the 95% of folks who buy a course and never use it … it’s called “Shelf Help” training. You buy it … it lives on your bookshelf and in 80% of cases never even gets opened.
The key … from my perspective as an anti-guru is you have to make the committment to become a real estate investor … and then go look for a Mentor… one who invests full time and makes 95% of their money finding, buying, managing and selling property.
With committment and experienced mentorship anything is possible.
My Two Cents,
http://www.investortours.com
February 23rd, 2009 at 8:55 pm
Thanks Emily, the timing of this post could not have been better. I found myself spiraling in the paradox of knowledge over the past 4 months. I think every real estate guru out there has my email address. It was literally this weekend at a wealth seminar that has helped ground me and re-focus myself back to the roots of my education. I am unsubscribing today from the noise!
November 29th, 2009 at 10:07 am
Very good post. You write verry good, keep up the good work and I will keep on visiting!