Recap of “Focus on Foreclosure” Free Seminar
Today, I attended a free seminar hosted by Wealth Intelligence Academy on how to make money investing in real estate. They call their program Focus on Foreclosure.
With reports of foreclosures on the rise and no doubt more to come, this is a hot topic! The inflated home prices we saw in 2005 combined with risky interest-only loans and ARMs are sure to set more and more homeowners into desperate financial situations.
So… that means more opportunity for real estate investors.
As a REALTOR, knowing more about real estate investing and foreclosures will help you procure more real estate deals. And you could also do a little investing yourself.
I thought the Focus on Foreclosure trainer did a nice job of outlining the basics of investing. I have prepared my own outline recap from the notes I took at the seminar:
Step 1: Locate & Recognize a Bargain - And Know When to Buy
- Before Foreclosure - pre-foreclosure where you deal directly with the owner
- During Foreclosure - purchase at auction
- After Foreclosure - REO properties
Step 2: 3 Ways to Earn Big Money
- Foreclosure Sales - Both judicial (mortgages) and non-judicial (deeds of trust)
- REO (Real Estate Owned) - Bank owned properties
- Short Sales (where you negotiate a lower payoff for junior lienholders)
Step 3: 5 Sources of Cash for Investing
- Hard Money Lenders
- Home Equity Line of Credit
- Credit Cards
- Partnerships
- Second Mortgage
Step 4: Exit Strategies (Know ahead of time what you plan to do with the property such as flip it, sell it, rent it, etc.)
Step 5: Foreclosure Timeline (differs from state to state)
Step 6: Get Rich while Helping Others (they base their program on a Win-Win strategy where you are helping a homeowner - or lender - avoid a worse situation)
One very intriguing part of the seminar was when the trainer discussed hard money lenders. These are investors who lend money solely on the asset (the property) as opposed to your credit, down payment, etc. This is a great option for anyone with bad credit or no cash. It is relatively simple and quick to get this money as opposed to a conventional loan.
Hard money lenders charge more to borrow the money, but the point is “Who Cares?” — if you can make money on the deal, it’s more money than you had before!
I thought it was very interesting when the trainer said that sometimes you have to “get yourself out of debt by getting into more debt.” And he coupled this with his own rags to riches story of how he used to deliver pizzas and was up to his eyeballs in credit card debt… and then he became a real estate investor and now he owns a plane and has tons of cash.
I can’t say this would be an appropriate strategy for everyone, but it was an interesting quote! (I didn’t forget that he was there to SELL me their program.)
And if I wanted to learn more about how to find the best deals, lenders, forms, and other tidbits of valuable info, I’d just need to sign up for their Foreclosure Academy classes.
There sure are a lot of companies selling books or classes on real estate investing. If anyone has attended the Foreclosure Academy classes, let us know what you think.
Andrea thank you for sharing the information from the seminar. Your notes are excellent, but I truly wonder if their program was updated for today’s real estate foreclosure market.
Today’s real estate market in some areas - has caused property values to decrease - thus causing a situation that might not be conducive to pre-foreclosure negotiations with the homeowner.
Another important point is to get into the property to assess the repairs - interior repairs are not readily apparent from the exterior or drive-by.
We have to remember - entering upon another’s property is trespassing. Guess the worst case situation is that you got shot. LOL
If you have any questions about foreclosure just drop me a line or call.
February 2nd, 2007 at 10:33 amThanks for your insight, Glenn. Very good points, indeed.
I don’t know if this company has updated their program or not - would be interesting to find out. The real estate market has certainly changed recently.
Regarding entering a home to discover the condition, I know several companies that strongly recommend purchasing only vacant properties unless the homeowner is cooperative.
February 6th, 2007 at 8:51 amThanks for your review, how much do they charge for the courses?
February 6th, 2007 at 2:49 pmI always wonder about any programs, so many are REALLY out of date. With the current market foreclosures will be a great way to make some money, but you better know exactly what you are doing before you get into it.
February 6th, 2007 at 10:19 pmThey were charging a special rate of $199 for a 3-day-course. But, they said their normal price was $2,995 (although not sure how much of that is gimmick).
February 7th, 2007 at 1:04 pmJust got back from the 2nd day of the 3 day course here in Florida — very good information so far — points me in the direction of which information I need to obtain and the people I need to contact. The price of the packages of courses are ridiculous - they range from $8990 to a whopping $63,990 which includes 11 - 3day courses and a mentor and a 5 day land investment hands on in Costa Rica. I personally have enough people in my circle to get the rest of the information I need. Also, there is the internet and books, I am intelligent enough to utilize them and not spend that kind of money.
February 10th, 2007 at 5:10 pmAlthough I have not written one deal, I have been studying and purchased a great, “Short Sales Course” for home and 4 on line Tele Boot Camps (1-1/2 hrs each). I am a retired physician and have purchased many properties the old way. I am going to the free Focus on Foreclosure 3 hr. seminar in my area of Southern California tomorrow 2-26-07 6pm - 9pm. After this I feel I will be ready to make the telephone calls to the people who are at the start of preforeclosure, right after receiving their NOD from the Bank (Usually around 3 months of missed payments) I am confident in succeeding by heloing the distressed homeowner, the bank whose must foreclose or negotiate a short sale with me, and my exit strategy of wholesaling or retailing the property!!
February 25th, 2007 at 11:31 pmi thought the whole thing was a scam….the way they encouraged everyone to max out their credit card limits as homework assignments and assignments to do over break. i am convinced this is so the people attending would have enough credit card limits to put their ridiculous tuition costs on their credit cards that they hit you up for on the end of the second day.
I feel bad for the people who fell for it!
February 26th, 2007 at 2:10 pmkelly f. -
So you attended one of their classes? And they really asked for folks to up thier credit card limits?
Unbelievable. No wonder they only charge $199 to get you hooked. I’d like to know what else they discussed.
March 9th, 2007 at 12:44 amThe course of helping the distressed homeowner in impending foreclosure is not a scam. It tells you how to find these homes, how to contact the owners properly, and most importantly, how to preclude, if possible, the foreclosure sale nd its adverse effects on their credit for a period of years. Most homeowners in pre-foreclosure have little insigt in to the several legal ways to obviate the Auction and adverse credit they will have.
March 9th, 2007 at 1:45 amContacting the distressed homeowner can be very productive and a win- win strategy if the homeownwer cooperates after they understand the various alternatives they have, fewer with each day of procrastination.
For instance having you negotiate a short sale with the lender for the purchase of the entire loan balance, along with having them sign a purchase agreement with you for the home. Lease backs thereafter with you can be arranged, lease options, with smaller monthly payments since you , if you, were able to buy the loan at a significant discount, etc. Themain point is that they can start over without a foreclosure on their credit and you have bought thr home for 40- 60% of the loan balance and can flip , rehab, and or sell the home retail at its ARV.
The instructor spent the first 4 hours alluding to the fact that foreclosures were small potatos, and that the big money was in “dovetailing”. Dovetailing being using several different strategies for each deal, and of course who better to teach dovetailing than their company.
I was horrified when he gave us a long lunch so we could call our credit card companies to increase our limits “because, by sunday we were going to need it”. Total BS, he was making it sound like we needed to have money to be ready to buy our first property, when what he was really saying was that our first deal would be to buy their program $50k+
I felt so sorry for the people who were running out calling their credit card companies. This 3 day Focus on Foreclosure class is only used to lure people in to talk about all the other programs they want to sell. Don’t get me wrong…I’m sure that their “real” classes are very good, but I didn’t like the way they tried to make it out that you were going to learn so much about foreclosure when in fact very little time was spent on the actual process.
It was horrible when he explained that you should be able to make 50k min on every deal, so if that is the case why would you have any problem forking over 50k to them, because you will re-coup the tuition on the first deal. Unfortunatly, we all know things are not that cut and dry, or easy for that matter. But some people were falling hook line and sinker.
March 9th, 2007 at 2:36 pmJane, did you learn anything of value at the free seminar? I am thinking about attending one but it is a couple of hours away and I don’t want to waste my time. Thanks for your post.
March 11th, 2007 at 2:25 pmMike-
March 12th, 2007 at 9:51 amYou can learn just about everything of value they discussed at the free seminar by reading my article above. Not sure what they actually teach in the paid classes, but from some of the comments here, it sounds like a ploy just to get ALOT more money out of the attendees.
Mike,
The free seminar is just a teaser to get you to take the 3 day seminar. They will tell you that they are running their last special for the 3 day class $199 for 3 days vs $1999.
I’m sure that this organization has some great courses, but the problem for me is the deception in the way they sell. If they would just come right out and discuss the courses they offer, instead of 3 days of upselling I wouldn’t be so down on them
Jane
March 12th, 2007 at 10:13 amThank you Jane and Andrea, I won’t take time off from work and drive 2 hours. This has been a very helpful/informative forum.
March 14th, 2007 at 12:51 pmHello,
I just attended the free seminar in Minneapolis. The value of the course is now $2999 but for $199 you can bring attend and also a friend/spouse along free. The 3 day course is set for April 3-5 here and I am attending. The free seminar information is good but a lot of hype too. We also had the young instructor who has a plane and is worth millions!
I am interested in flipping houses and $199 for 2 people is worth it for a 3 day seminar, if not for the information but for the networking and such. Anyone who wants to do this needs to get connections with hard money lenders, investors, RE folks, etc. I am prepared for the hard sales pitch for their courses. I won’t be bringing my credit cards with me.
Has anyone out there found their information helpful? I hope to find out before I spend 3 days listening to them pitch me on their courses.
John
March 16th, 2007 at 9:23 amI attended this past weekend and John you can do what you want to do, bu8t they tell you on the first day NO NETWORKING and giving each other your personal info. I did not care though I networked. The instructor also had a bad attitude. Never again!
March 21st, 2007 at 11:01 amThanks Myra, was the information helpful for you? Did you attend all three days?
March 21st, 2007 at 1:30 pmYes I attended all three days because I paid to do so, not because it was worth it.
March 21st, 2007 at 2:30 pmSome of the information was helpful, but most of it was NOT.
March 21st, 2007 at 2:31 pmThanks, Myra, for all your feedback. Just another question, what city did you attend in?
March 21st, 2007 at 2:35 pmHey Myra,
Did you do all three days? I only made it to lunch the first day, the instructor was ridiculous and the hard sell was to much to stomach.
I’m curious if anything substantial was taught over the 3 days?
Jane
March 21st, 2007 at 2:49 pmI attended in Atlanta. For Jane, I did not feel that they were teaching much if anything. To make it short, the instructor repeated himself quite often and got lost in his own stories and last but not least was rude.
March 21st, 2007 at 8:09 pmI attended the seminar in Philly. Yes it was a bit long and rah rah. A lot of it could have been covererd in 2 days. I did not by the seminar but I am considering doing so. Something no one has mentioned is that they are aligned with Robert Kiyosaki. Think about it. Would Kiyosaki ruin his name and image over a scam company?? Obviously not. The part about getting a credit card increase is a good idea. Whether you use it to buy the course is your decision. But I look at credit reports all day and I can tell you having a higher credit line increases your short term credit score, so Jane is DEAD wrong about being horrified.The mentoring where you actually can work deals with a coach is a great idea. they also have software that fills in all legal documents for you. Great idea. The bottom line is that there will always be naysayers and people just too scared to do anything. There was a lot of great examples covered in the course. I plan on going to the Vegas convention in August and at that time buying a seminar.
March 22nd, 2007 at 7:56 amJose,
How exactly do you think WIA is associated with Robert Kiyosaki?
BTW…I am not dead wrong in my feelings about having people run out at lunch to get their lines of credit increased, when it is being done by manipulating people who may not be as sophisticated as you in their knowledge of credit and how to use credit appropriately.
Jane
March 22nd, 2007 at 10:44 amEveryone is entitled to their own opinion and mine is and always will be that this program is not worth the material they waste producing it. Maybe it’s not a scam…………….but it is trash.
March 22nd, 2007 at 12:06 pmHello Everyone, I have attended quite a few of the Wealth Intelligency courses, both on the stock and option investing as well as the real estate courses. The courses may seem expensive, but the price is for two people so you can split the cost! I found that the material in the real estate investing classes was informative and up to date. I live in Colorado, the foreclosure capital in the recent past, and have found that it is NOT as easy as they make it out to be, but earning $50K shouldn’t be! You have to go through numerous leads before you find one that works, so many people give up after they fail on their first few leads. The keys are advertising, networking, and THE MENTOR PROGRAM. That is what ties everything together. I classes I took were Foreclosure, Wholesaling, Creative Finance, Lease Option, and I will be taking tax leins and deeds. What I found was most helpful was the mentor. He/she works with you in your market to give you the information that fits your situation. The most important thing I found is to purchase the homes for a low price and then sell them below market value (to reduce days on market). This is hard, and I recommend that you keep your day job until your business really takes off. Just like any business it takes time. I would say however, if you can just read something and understand it completely without asking any questions a good book to read is, “Making Big Money Investing in Foreclosures” by Peter Conti. It goes over a lot of the same information for $15.99. I have to say that I only encountered one “bad” instructor who like to talk down to us, but the rest were great and very supportive. I would also be wery of putting these classes on credit cards or maxing out credit cards, because it does take time to get a “deal” and many people will give up before giving it a real shot, and therefore regret putting thousands of dollars on credit. Do what is best for your situation.
March 24th, 2007 at 10:21 amI will be attending the seminar down in Miami on Monday and Tuesday. I am excited to see what they have to offer. I have done my research and if it what everyone else says it is then I will take advantage of everything they have to offer.
I am in a city that property continues to increase and decrease in good areas.
It is the 2 day course, can anyone give me some info on what to expect??? Thanks!
Danny
March 24th, 2007 at 1:37 pmIf you are a licensed agent and screwing home sellers this way under the guise of helping them, you should be shot! In California you will at least get sued.
March 24th, 2007 at 8:16 pmBob,
There are those who pry on these folks and I hate that but I don’t see how this is screwing homeowners if they will be losing their home to the bank in a foreclosure anyway because they are not making their payments and can’t catch up or re-finance, you get them off the foreclosure so it is not on their credit report so they can start over, and you have the option of renting it back to them if they want or they can begin fresh somewhere else. You, the buyer, get a property the bank does not want to own or have listed as a non-performing asset and can make a profit or have an investment in it. Seems like a win-win situation for all.
As a licensed agent, my first obligation is to help them sell their house if they can but many times they are upside down on these properties and have no way out, especially in a declining real estate marketplace. I recently did just that with a family who was in foreclosure. We convinced the bank to buyback the mortgage and sold it for the homeownerin 30 days and the buyers got $10,000 out of it.
BUT I was prepared to buy it myself and flip it and had that contingency to do so with the bank. That is the way for RE agents to do this. Of course, investors look for profit and if this house were purchased as a flip, it would have made a $30,000 gross profit for the investor.
March 25th, 2007 at 7:10 amThe problem is when “you, the buyer” are also “you, the agent” and flip the house for a profit. If you can flip (sell) it for a profit for yourself, why can’t you sell it at the value when you are representing the seller? If it makes enough sense for you buy it, then you should be able to demonstrate to the bank why it is in their best interest to hold off and let them recapture that $30k gross profit.
If you represent the seller in a short sale and profit from it as an investor, you can and should be sued. Every dollar that the seller is short is a tax liability to the seller. If you turn a profit on money left on the table in a transaction where you have a fiduciary relationship, you open yourself up to be sued by the seller down the road. The fact that you were prepared to do this is enough to bring your intent into question. Actually closing on the deal will make it easy to question your intent. Don’t think for a moment that these sellers will come after you once they now they can.
I don’t know how long you have been an agent, but having been in this biz since 1990, I saw a lot of this (and the lawsuits that followed) in the 90’s and I’m seeing it again now. What’s worse now are these courses where agents are taught how to take advantage of clients.
I wish I could practice law. I would go after every agent who does this. But since I can’t, I have no problem identifying those agents who do this and feeding the info to lawyers who will nail their asses to the wall.
March 25th, 2007 at 3:54 pmWhat if you are not an agent, just a real estate investor? You get a call from your add or contact an owner in preforeclosure who is about to lose him home to a trustee sale. The home is not worth the loan against it. The homeowner has lost his job and can not see a way to make up the back payments and reinstate himself with the lender. The home needs several thousand dollars of repairs to get it marketable.
Why can’t I try and negotiate a short sale with the lender before they have to take back the property and put more money into it to fix it up. Then farm it out to a realtor and pay a conmission to him for selling it, if he can?
Why can’t I represent the distressed seller, humanize him to the loss mitigation department, and after submitting their short sale package, including an agreement that they will not file a deficiency judgement against the homeowner, if they accepy my short sale?
Also, I have the lender agree not to send the homeowner, after the short sale, a 1099 for their loss amount in the loan as his income gain to pay taxes on?.
Now I put my own money in the home and sell it making a profit.
Everyone wins, the bank, the homeowner who avoids his credit from the obviated foreclosure, notwithstanding his lawyers advised filing of a Bankruptcy, should the trustee sale occur, and myself as the real estate investor(not a real estate agent or licensed broker)!!
March 25th, 2007 at 6:41 pmBob,
What is your interest on this topic?
March 25th, 2007 at 7:05 pmMiles - all bets are off if you are not the agent.
Jane - I thought I was fairly straightforward and to the point. Where did I lose you?
March 25th, 2007 at 9:46 pmMiles,
A few things:
Define represent. Each state has their own requirements n this regard. It’s why there are agents in the first place.
It’s strictly business and the bottom line.
Most lenders won’t talk to you if you are not the owner, the agent or the lawyer.
Not all foreclosures end up with deficiency judgments. It varies from state to state.
It’s not your short sale.
You can’t negotiate out statutory requirements. The law requires that the lender report to the IRS. The IRS treats it as debt relief and its treated as regular income. You can’t “negotiate” that out.
You can’t sell what you still don’t own.
You are trying to squeeze a profit out of a situation where the two principles (lender and owner) are losing. Why does the lender need you? How do they win if they leave money on the table (your profit)? They will require some kind of valuation on the property since they want market value. Why would they be willing to take any more loss than needed?
Why does the seller need you? Simply to avoid a foreclosure on a credit report? If it’s a non deficiency state like California then the credit needs to be weighed against the seller’s potential new obligation to the IRS.
Your altruistic intentions aside, it is not a win/win.
March 25th, 2007 at 10:52 pmBob, Why does the lender need me???
You must be a banker!!
If the bank stands to lose more money on taking the home back, paying foreclosure fees, fixing the house up to sell, paying a realtor’s commission to sell it, than my short sale offer and purchase from the home owner, then then will lose less and that’s a win!! Notwithstanding having to hold the unpaid loan for up to 3 years, if the home owner files chapter 13, then 7 and all the extensions, granted by the court as the home is stayed, the bank gets no payments on the outstanding loan, has to keep 6-8 times the loan amount in reserve until the loan is paid off their books, etc.
ARE you still saying with all these possible events, that can and do occur, a bank or lender might not benefit by precluding all these negative costly expenses by agreeing to a short sale made by me in the purchase of the home for a discount on the loan????
Ps. How about the credit effects of a foreclosure and or a bankruptcy on the home owner’s credit?? Alot of good the IRS can do when he tries to get a loan in the near future.
PPs. How about the mental status of the home owner and whatever caused his default like a job loss, divorce or family illness, etc. Does he not benefit from a fresh start to get this mess behind him??
So many more benefits to both the lender and the home owner under the proper adversities of an impending foreclosure.
I can’t get the homeowner to sign a lette of release to the bank. They won’t talk to me if I am a lawyer for sure.
I can’t buy the house from the home owner and have the lender agree to the same purchase price as the short sale mutually agreed on by us. If that occurs, the home is deeded to me and purchase is approved and all is recorded in my name, who owns the house, that I can’t later sell???
Hey Bob, I used to be the head of a bank’s loss mitigation department in the midwest where all final decisions on short sales were approved by me!!!
March 26th, 2007 at 1:43 amYes Bob, All bets are off; I am not an agent, but did work for a bank before going to Medical School. Our bank then, loved doing “short Sales” (not called that years ago) but had buyers who they frequently sold the discounted loan to for the same amount as the purchase price to the buyer. Many times they knew their loss would be less that way and get it off their books, esp. at the end of a Qtr. for the shareholders to see!!
As a matter of fact, I was the boss for a Bank’s loss mitigation Dept. We sent out $50 agent BPOs on the property and compared that to the buyers offer price.
As long as the home owner received no payment or profit, these types of loan discounting to buyers, working with home owners in default, were common. We even kept a list of reliable buyers and many times called them to see if they had any interest in an imminent foreclosure and trustee sale!!
As for reporting the loss to the Irs: This was mandatory and necessary for the bank to declare their loss, but not essential to send the homeowner a 1099!!
In the midwest, unlike Calif., deficiency judgements were many times recorded agaist the homeowner, however, with certain “short sales”, back then, we made promises to the buyer not to do so!!!
I know Calif. has non judicial foreclosures and does not record deficiency judgements.
And as far as I know, there is nothing illegal or unethical, for a non agent to represent or invest in a short sale with both the homeowner in default, and the participating lender.
March 26th, 2007 at 2:53 amMany times it is a win, win, win, for all three!!!
Miles,
This isn’t the 90s anymore with the RTC dumping properties. The goal today is for the loss mitigation people to actually mitigate (lessen) the loss, not merely expedite it, which is what happened in the 90s.
The fact you want to step around is that the best solution for the lender and the borrower leaves you out. The best end result is where the property gets sold to a buyer for market value. Lenders delay sales all the time, so given the time to do sell it, market value is a realistic goal.
I am seeing more lenders want to take the property back and go after a market value sale then do a below market short sale. If you can sell it for a profit, then they can get it sold as well and mitigate the loss.
March 26th, 2007 at 7:56 amIam now attending the 3 day course in Memphis, I am not too sure things are too kosher. when I went to the free seminar and after the got my money in cash I was told I coul go to their web sight and change the date for the three day course if I was unable to attend the one in Memphis. The only listing I could get was the free seminar. I e-mailed them twice and NEVER got a response. I am not too happy that they are not up front with their intents. I am not about to max out any of my credit cards and I didn’t do their little homework assingment to call my credit card companies and ask to have my credit increased. My wife and I worked too hard to get where we are in our lives, just to go and turn around and max out our credit cards on a gamble. I DON”T THINK SO!!! save yourself the time and the trip go to your nearest book store and buy a few books on investment.
March 31st, 2007 at 7:56 pmToday was my second day of my paid course and surprisingly enough, the mentor or the spokesman mention their changing their name from Focus on Foreclosures to Show me Foreclosure. Look out!!
March 31st, 2007 at 11:38 pmTomorrow is my last day out of my 3 day paid course. I got to admit i was sold!!!!!! But Upon very little re- search on the company’s business background on the BETTER BUSINESS BUREAU website, I was convince that this is not where I’m going to put my money in!!!! According to the reports on the website, this company has been changing their DBA’s since they started. If you visit the site you will find enormous amounts of complaints filed against this company and all their DBA’s, averaging about six complaints each month. Some of which have not been resolved and/or been ignored. Now, the wealth and intelligence academy is their new entity, if you search this company you will find zero complaints, very assuring huh? Well the reason it’s cause it just open it’s doors in January 2007.
Too find them at the web site just look them up under
Wealth Intelligence Academy at www.bbb.org
and click on both options.
I’ve been attending the three day class and have found the I have to agree with most of the comments that I’ve read on this site. Scam, Rude, Talking down to the attendees, Arrogance, A great deal of time spent on the hard sell, A great deal of time spent boasting of the instructors personal wealth (Just a continuation of the hard sell)and a great deal of how the instructor started out just where we are 5 1/2 years ago and now drives a Bently. Many ticklers but they always stop short of giving you the real info that I’m sure the attendees all expected go get. I guess the old saying fits well you don’t get something for nothing. I’m off for my third day and expecting to get some morsels between the hard sell.
April 5th, 2007 at 3:54 amI think the motive behind not networking is they realize if you make good contacts you won’t use their over priced services. They say it’s to protect you from scam artists. Even the CD’s that they provide you with are just teasers in a PDF form that can’t be altered and evert form has a header the says SAMPLE. you don’t get the real forms without paying a min of $8,990.00 and of course you still need to travel to the destination of the training and get accomadations and meals. This also doesn’t include your time off from work. If you can read go get a book this isn’t exclusive information. They do provide you with a lot of good Idea’s but there’s nothing saying you can’t get the answers else where.
I do not have any web site.I attended the 3 day class offered by the Wealth Intelligence Academy in April 2007.
April 18th, 2007 at 1:14 pmThe first day the Instructor was asking us to call the credit card companies to apply for credit cards and increase limits on the existing ones.I never believed in Credit cards especially using to buy houses on them. So I did nothing of that sort. After coming back from lunch the Instructor was more interested in people who got their Cards and was given chance for the free entry for a drawing for the book.He demanded us follow his instructions because he is our coach. In other words “do as I say attitude” Then he said attended this seminar 2 and a half years ago, he sat on the very same spot we were sitting and took the course with borrowed money which made the difference in his life, and how he made millions dealing in foreclosure buying.
My question to these folks is “if you made all that millions why do you spend your weekends in hotel rooms standing 8 hours a day doing these seminars instead of spending with your families at home and doing these deals you say you are so good at and make that chunk of money”? and don’t tell me you loves us more than your family.The exorbitant fees they charge $30,000 and some?
You just met us.I don’t know you or your company you represent and don’t even know YOU!! from Adam.and telling me to borrow it on credit card? Just handing over that kind of Money to a Total stranger whom I just met 24 hours ago?Sounds too good to be true.Thanks for this web-site.At least I get to know the truth from others who think like me. Has any one made any money attending and applying this course? Got a question? if you are so sure about your course and believe in us who you just met 24 hours ago then “give it to us free for 90 days and take the money for the course and 10% of the profit you helped us make.” I say “put your money where your mouth is”that is a fair deal is it not? who could tell me about real course offered on this subject less expensive of course with the software to package the deals? Thank you
Watch out for the yearly membership fee that will hit your credit card 3 months after signing up for the $199 3 day course. You need to cancel the membership 30 days before it’s due as it is auto debit.
April 18th, 2007 at 1:37 pmBOB,
I MUST HAVE MISSED YOUR LAST REMARK ABOUT THE 90′S, RTC, and stepping around. etc. Your prim & proper morals are impressive. However, today is much worse then the 90’s with respect to NODs, and impending foreclosures. It happens to be the highest default & foreclosure period in our history. Your empathy for the banks and lenders, who are at the cause of this problem, with their greedy lending (to make more money)is again, impressve!!
Anyone knows during the low interest rapid appreciation period 2002-2006, the banks purposely and deliberately qualified anyone and anything for their greedy interst only and ARM loans!! Now that things have changed, they have to eat it raw and should!!
As a matter of fact giving the bank a chance to take a short sale is an undeserved favor for those slimy greedy snakes!! Banks And Insurance companies are lower than snakes’ bellies!!!
It’s great your are such a man (realtor with integrity). That too, is an oxymoron!!!
Short sales are legal, beneficial to all, and should be, and are sought after by real estate investors.
What are you talking about negotiating “Statutory Laws”
California, where I live and invest, is a state of:
1)Non Judicial Foreclosure
2)Does not file deficiency judgements in short sales or foreclosures, etc cases or deals!!
No bank is being forced to accept any offer they get for a non performing asset. They do so because, in their greedy opinion, they are taking the best deal they can get. If not, they can refuse!!! They really don’t need your support or anyones sympathy!!!
Did you know that for any non performing asset, the bank must set aside 6-10 times the outstanding loan amount in a buffer account, that can not be loaned, until the non performing asset is off their books? Don’t you think that costs them dearly, notwithstanding their credit and inability to borrow with a large list of non performing assets, REOs, etc.???
My heart really goes out to them!!! They caused all this and will continue to do so as the market goes through its 8-10 year cycle!
Go out and shoot your realtor buddies who are definitely in conflict if they are representing the homeowner and trying to buy the loan at a discount from the bank. They should be shot and put in jail!!
Investors, without conflicts, should get as many short sales as they can. You find the buyers and sellers and receive your commissions with your agent’s license!!
Don’t criticize real estate investors who have to deal and negotiate with these slimy, greedy, lenders!!
April 18th, 2007 at 4:49 pmThanks Jane.
April 19th, 2007 at 12:03 pmFor the tip. I am sure a lot of people will not,because like me they did not read the fine print.
Hello any one heard of an Alexis Mcgee.She is a trainer. She offers some courses.and now came up with a software as well.
April 20th, 2007 at 10:48 amCan any one recomend a complete software program for foreclosure buying?
April 23rd, 2007 at 12:25 pmWell, the best part of signing up for the 3-eay seminar: Teach me Forclosure, is finding the famous agent website.
As a former broker [35 years in the Bay Area], I, too fell for the $199 course, skeptical, but within the last few minutes of the freeby, slapped down my AMEX. In the shuffle, I noted that there was the automatic renewal; right, that was a red flag. The sales associate immediately scribbled through that clause.
I’m not a lawyer, but I am quite sure that he, has no capacity to alter the contract.
The the biggest caveat. When I check the website upon getting home, there was one of the Guru’s I least respect. Whitney. [Not libeleous, I am entitled to my opinion].
Closely followed by the BBB, with 216 complaints!
This great discussion, from apparently level headed agents, not the diatribe seen by those who would fall for a $60,000 fleecing. Gad, remember the days of Arthur Murray Dance Studios? Too young, huh. Well, an old blue haired lady, couldn’t possibly live long enough to enjoy SEVERAL lifetime membeships?
Tomorrow morning, I will do three things, thanks to y’all:
a] Call AMEX and recall the charge, and,
May 6th, 2007 at 11:11 pmb] Fill out and post, with a sweet cover letter, the notice of recesion in time for the three day I
you right guys, tomorrow it will be my last day of 3 day training in MD.I dont recomended…the trainer spend
May 12th, 2007 at 7:57 pmtwo days just talking about him and the the programs they have to make you reach and incredible prices!!!!!
save you money $199 and buy a book.for $ 19.99 it will be the same unfortunatly they got me.
Has any one taken
May 22nd, 2007 at 10:39 pmDISCOVERING FORCLOSURE PROFITS seminar by Ann Goldschmidt ?
Yoly, I went to the seminar given by Ann Goldschmidt back in February. No real information given, just hype! They wanted you to attend their 3 day workshop for $2995. I didn’t sign up for it, but plenty of others did. Today in the mail I received a coupon for $1500 off on the 3 day workshop and the “deal closer” software free if I called today and reserved a seat. Do yourself a favor, save your money. For less then $40 a month you can subscribe to various company’s that will send you foreclosure lists in your area. Most come with a free trial before you buy, that’s the way to go!
June 4th, 2007 at 2:11 pmThanks for the heads up. Is there any company out there you recommend?
June 6th, 2007 at 1:25 pmI would say be very careful. You can get some descent info, but it is mostly fluff that could easily be pulled from the internet or Border’s. I am at the 3 day class now, and day one was more entertaining than informational.
In addition, they employees are very cautious not to give out info that could be purchased at another class, which makes me wonder how much they really want you to succeed.
Furthermore, it’s oh so kind of the millionaire mc to share his time making so much less that he could be earning…(heavy sarcasm)
The point on making a ton off of mobile homes isn’t all it’s cracked up to be either. Speaking from experience, people that live in these trailors often times don’t mind trashing them and leaving in the middle of the night. Then, the city fines you because your property has poor curb appeal. In the meantime, you are out a renter, have significant damages, and may even have to have the trailor removed, which is a whole other nightmare.
Anyways, bottom line, my advice is don’t sign up for anything through the Wealth Intelligence Academy.
June 9th, 2007 at 12:07 amSave your money and speak with real professionals/friends that have already been through the trials and tribulations of real estate investing.
Last but not least…
Got the AMEX reversed, but, that charge for $199 dated May 5 (the day I took the freebie); was followed by a second charge: $199 on May 12th.
The first one for the Teach Me Forclosure; the second for Rus Whitney Wealth Seminar?
The last man in the world I would give my credit card to: fortunately, American Express immediately challanged and reversed the second charge, and told me that if Whitney challanged it, they [AMEX] would refile the complaint.
There are GREAT books, recent books, on the subject of Forclosure, even written by Attorneys and yes, from the bookstore, and even the library.
So much wiser.
Thanks again for your forum.
Michael Ben-Edward
June 9th, 2007 at 6:20 pmI would like to know if anyone is having trouble signing onto the Focus on Foreclosure website? Also, if anyone has the phone number for them, I would really appreciate it if you could email it to me. Thanks & God Bless!
June 15th, 2007 at 12:47 amWe attended the 3 day seminar in May. What a complete WASTE of time. As many of you previously stated, it is a SCAM. It is a 3 day sales pitch for conning you out of even more money. We truly feel sorry for anyone that was duped into spending their hard earned money on any further so called education from this company. As we read through many of the other postings, we agreed with what many of you previously stated. I even made this remark to Bill as we sat there on day 2 and wondered, okay if you are making all of this money, why ARE you spending your weekend here teaching (ha, selling) a load of crap instead of enjoying your wealth or hey, maybe doing what you preach and buying/selling real estate. Seem a little odd to you? It did to me. In the free seminar, you are lead to believe that paying for this 3 day class, you were going to get a wealth of information. Well, not so and as many of you pointed out, they are just trying to get more and more money out of you. What a HOAX. We just received notice from them regarding the annual dues (which was never discussed in the free class), We promptly sent an email telling them not only do we not want them to charge our account, we want our money back. Naturally, the only response we got was an email stating “cancellation confirmed”. We am sure they receive daily unsatisfied customer complaints. Truly wish we had followed our gut instincts from the beginning. I had yet to see any type of free seminar on anything related to money making that was anything more than someone trying to get deeper into your pocket. And the worst part, usually the ones that fall for it, are the ones that can least afford it.
July 19th, 2007 at 1:00 pmAfter much further review, deliberation, and consideration, I have come to the conclusion that the Wealth Intelligence Academy is not all what it is hyped up to be. I attended the 3 day conference for 199 dollars (I snuck in the back door.) If you want to get in for free and save the 199, then go to the location and wait for the break that happens every two hours. They do continue to do sign-ins up to the first break so please wait till after that. I have literally checked every forum and the BBB and have not found anything good. This website was one of the first websites that has positive feedback and negative feedback. The one good thing about the Academy is the mentor program. But, is it really worth 19 thousand dollars? Is an expert’s advice for 3 days really worth that much to you? If it is, then by all means please take it up. However, I do not have 19,000 dollars and only have 19 dollars. So, I will buy a book.
August 12th, 2007 at 9:36 pmI just attended Ann Goldschmidts seminar and quite frankly dont know what I learned if anything. I was truly disapointed with the instructor which I believe is some sort of a franchise owner approach. As the class went along he got louder and louder when it was apperant that the time was running out on his pitch and no one purchased for 2995 which by the way 6 did. Look at it this way, im my city there were going to be 5 total dates at an average lets say 6 people buy it, the take for 10 hours would amount to about 75K not bad. The pitch was the news now that I think about it!
August 20th, 2007 at 1:21 amI am so glad to have discovered this forum. I just returned from the introductory seminar in Minneapolis.
August 27th, 2007 at 10:53 pmI was skeptical when I read the full page ad in the newspaper and nothing was disclosed about the company or the content…just a lot of general hype. The presenter took 2 1/2 hours to deliver a repetitive and condescending pitch for the 3 day seminar which now costs $2995 at the discounted rate. You could invite a friend for $1495. Also the $480 annual fee for listings is magnanimously waived. Interesting how the market changes with recent news of the subprimedebacle.$199 classes suddenly inflate to 3K. Xeroxed certificates were passed around for those who wanted to partake of this offer. I was surprised and dismayed to see that about half of the people in the room signed up. The rest of us were held captive for the promised Q&A session. I asked a lot of questions and got glib answers. When I asked for the presenter’s card, he sheepishly declined, esplaining that this privelege was reserved for the serious who were willing to “take the first step forward”. This really smells dirty and I am sorry for the people in the audience who were duped and for the people who are losing their homes because of unscrupulous lending practices. This was truly an educational evening. The introductory workshop continues for 3 more days. Be forewarned!