Than Merrill's How to Find & Flip HOuses (Is it worth the effort?

Question

Noticed he has several seminars in my area. Does anyone know if it is valuable information or just a FREE 2 hour seminar that ends with a big money pitch?

Thank you for any advise.

Sierra

Michael Hayworth · Answer

No, no, no.

Search for Than Merrill on this site. Also search Guru Seminars. Plenty of threads about them. These guys are really good at one thing - transferring money from your pocket to theirs.

As a GC who's also an investor, I get calls All The Time from newbie investors who went to these seminars, spent loads of money, got talked into a deal that's really not a deal, and really don't have a clue about what things are really like in our market.

Use this site, find a local REI group, find an investor who's successful that would be willing to mentor you in exchange for you taking some load off him somehow. Save your money for actually investing.

Frank Boet · Answer

My wife and I attended a two hour workshop about three months. The speaker focused on wholesaling. I paid $100 for the weekend seminar and I was allowed to bring my wife for free. So basically it was $50 each. It was very worth it. We learned a lot. However, at the end of the day, it's all about selling their Mastery program which could be as high as $33,000 if I remember correctly. Thanks to Fortune Builder, I found BP because as soon as the seminar was over on Sunday, I got online and searched for house flipping and found BP. After procrastinating for a couple of months, I became a Pro member after watching one of the podcasts. I don't think there's any secret sauce in buying real estate. It's about taking action and buying low and selling high. The wealth of information on this board is worth $225 X 100. BTW, Fortune Builder is advertising again in the Miami area. I think they advertise every 4 months or so.

Amit Kamra · Answer

Hi Sierra

I went to one of his seminars in Miami.  Basically, the free 2 hours is just a pitch for pricey courses in the near future.  They will give you a "discount" for signing up before the end of the seminar for 2 day course,  where they will offer you a very expensive "master" course for more personalized coaching.  I heard from some people that they learned a lot through the process but don't expect to learn anything for free.

Dorian Redden · Answer

I went one of Than's free workshops earlier this month. The information was helpful for a person like myself who is just starting out, but of course there's money involved at the end. By the end of the seminar they talk you into signing up for an extensive 3 day workshop that goes into complete detail about all of the information presented at the free workshop. The 3 day workshop is $197.00. I signed up for the workshop which is in February, but since I went to the free workshop in the beginning of this month I have been doing tons of research and I have found tons of FREE information that has helped me a great deal, so I actually called and got a refund and decided not to attend the 3 day workshop. Of course that was just my personal preference. Everybody is different and I know some people who enjoy the workshops and I've heard that a lot of people attend the ones that cost money.

Hattie Dizmond · Answer

Than Merrill is Fortune Builders...just search here on BP...there are tons of reviews on this one already, but here's my experience.

The "free" 2 hour deal is just a rah-rah session to get you fired up to pay for a 3-day event, which is pretty inexpensive.  If you sign up at the 2-hour, it was like $200.  BUT...the 3-day event, although it does include SOME valuable information, is mostly a sales junket to get you pumped up and excited enough to sign up for Mastery, which is $29k.  They even have "counselors" there that will help you get increases on your credit cards to fund the Mastery program.

I didn't sign up at the 3-day.  But, I was contacted later and told there was a Mastery "intro" program I could select that was only $3k to start and would give me access to their curated lists of properties and private lenders.  I bit on that.  All I got was a listing of registered investors who can be directly approached for money and the same list of properties you can get on your own, with a little effort.  I fought for a refund and finally received it.

Jim Keller · Answer

We have never been to a Than show, we have made hundreds of thousands of dollars with our own buy, fix, and flip formula and it  takes more than 2 hours to learn how to do this.

I don't believe my system is better or less effective than any other, I just know it works. Consider locating a working investor the "Meetup app" is a good place to start. Use your own since to determine who you will give your time to for free.  Spend a couple of months working with/for them, my guess is you will start to see you can't buy in to the "idea" of flipping and make a profit.  You have to invest in properties to do so.

Jim

Peter Brach · Answer

Hi Peggy, going to the free event is fine, but please be careful. I don't know this program specifically but know that it is possible to learn without spending lots of money. In two other programs I know of I heard that only 2% of the graduates are successful.

Peggy Liu · Answer

Thanks everyone for their input.  I was debating on going to their 2-hour free workshop next week in Los Angeles.

Than Merrill's How to Find & Flip HOuses (Is it worth the effort?

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