Don’t Go To Real Estate Investor Seminars or Conferences

Real Estate Investor Seminars are a tricky animal.  Most of the seminars are put on by one group, and have a specific “sale” in mind at the end of the event.  You can pretty much count on a free seminar selling you a $500 – $2,500 boot camp or “in-depth” follow-up training event.  At the in-depth event, you can also bet that you will presented with the opportunity to buy a $15,000 – $50,000 real estate investor mentoring or coaching program.  Many of these programs produce very little results, but are sold by some really good marketers (or big name celebrities).

Now, if you know me, you know I host the nation’s largest series of real estate investor events, the REI Expo.  Now why on earth would someone who hosts real estate investor seminars tell you not to go to them?  I do it for two reasons.  One, to get your attention!  Two, to tell you which investor conferences you should go to!

After eleven years buying and selling houses as an active real estate investor, I still thoroughly enjoy attending conferences and events.  You pick up nuggets of wisdom, best practices, and get a chance to network with like-minded people.  I learned this one thing a long time ago, if it is too good to be true, it is!

Here are three warning signs that should make you think twice about purchasing something at a seminar:

1. There is a “limited amount” available.  Many presenters are taught this technique.  It is called false scarcity.  They say from stage, “The first 10 get ______”.  This is a joke most of the time, because they will give the _______ to everyone that signs up.  It is merely a physiological ploy to get you to make an impulse buy.  Yesterday, I almost bought a new truck because of some good salesmanship.  “limited time offers”, and end of the month deals.  I am glad I didn’t today.
2. Today and today only!  This is one of the most dangerous.  If you are a real estate investor, you have to learn to make decisions quickly, but you also have to learn to stick to your numbers and conduct due diligence.  I do not like being told I have to do something before I am ready, and neither should you.
3. “You have been selected”.  Many educators have someone pull you out of the room and “qualify” you.  Most of the time, this means you have the money for their product.  They have teams of sales people marking the crowd, and pulling you out for “private consultations”.  Be leery of this practice.

I say all of this, and now I tell you, a lot of the programs offered really work.  Here are three steps to making sure their program or product is right for you:

1. Meet with the actual person that will be providing the training.  Make sure they talk with you about the CONTENT of the training, not the CONCEPTS.
2. Conduct due diligence.  You need to ask for a list of successful and unsuccessful past clients.  You should be able to contact these people, and ask them why it did/did not work for them.  At HomeVestors, we provide a list of everyone that is (or ever was) a franchisee, and their last known contact information.
3. Understand the ongoing fees, commitments, and expenses necessary.  I recently met a potential new investor, and learned this story.  He had bought a $17,000 mentoring program with his last $17,000.  Only afterwards, did he find out that the program recommended spending $1,000 a month in marketing.  He didn’t have it!

Find real estate investor events that have a moderate to low-cost for admittance, and feature a variety of presenters from different organizations and disciplines.  I also recommend you find events that are geared towards networking.  Networking is where I have found my most valuable contacts and ideas in this business.

That’s it for now, what questions do you have?

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