The Flipping Formula - sat through 2 hour seminar and

[Donald Zeller]

walked out during the break to do some homework before shelling out the $2k they wanted to attend the 3 day bootcamp. They said we would get our money back if we didn't triple the tuition amount in 6 months.

Though this sounds lucrative I would like to hear from people who took this bootcamp if they tripled their money in that timeframe and if not did they get their money back?

Or do you have to then pay $40k to start making money?

[Ray Hurteau]

@Donald Zeller and anyone else considering this course: don't, unless you really want to spend big bucks on things you can learn by reading and trying on your own.

My business partner and I took the course last year... the first free 2 hour session gets you to the weekend "bootcamp" where, just like everyone here states, they sell you the big package.  yup, you're looking at a customer here.

the package sold at the second bootcamp could be anywhere from 20-40k and includes different "courses" they offer.

as of last year, we were un-impressed with the content and after-the-sale support. we did not finish the other packages simply because an agenda could not be sent to us of the topics being covered and we refuse to waste more time and money traveling, staying in hotels, and hearing the same topics covered.  a local FF investor network simply does not exist, at least not through their program.  

anyone who wants to take this investing stuff seriously needs to do their own homework and put in more than an hour a day, which is what is pitched at these events (i can't imagine anyone simply getting a fully operational self-sustaining system in place without any amount of capital or experience-based knowledge).

do we regret taking the course?  yes and no.  monetarily, we always regret bad purchases.  did it kick us in the a$$ to get going and start bringing our investing game to the next level. heck ya!  did we do it with the flipping formula?  yes and no. it taught us about ways to market, but if we came here and did any amount of research, we'd figure it out quickly.

Since we are based in Boston, we had a chance to meet Pete and Dave multiple times and we are sometimes in contact with them outside of the program.  They aren't bad people, I just think they know they can capitalize on their TV stardom and honestly, who among us would not?

ABOUT THE CLASS/COURSE: the other classes they offer include a 3 day secondary bootcamp, a 3 day trip in vegas which literally covers many of the same topics as the second 3 day bootcamp, a special asset protection and marketing thing, and some one on one time with another investor (not likely from your area). after the more personal 3 day course, we would get calls every few weeks to see how we are doing... naturally, success does not come quickly, and then begins the selling of the personal 1:1 "inner circle" which they claim is exclusive, but everyone we spoke to gets the same call... 

and finally, at the vegas event, they do the most ridiculous things, such as a blind auction (to show everyone what a real auction is like)... the amount people were bidding for NOTHING blew my mind. oh, and they also try to get you to pay for more legal mumbo jumbo if you were too lazy to find a local RE attorney in the 3-6 months after the initial courses. they also have "pre-selected" houses for sale in the 40-100k price range and you only need to put 50% down and finance the rest with their partners! you don't get a chance to do any due diligence on the property and you have to assume many of the financial facts you are given.  there is a woman who blogged about her experience here (and about 4 earlier posts on her site) - it's worth a read if you want to know more about the houses being sold at these seminars:  http://flippinginrealestate.blogspot.com/2014/05/b...

the one on one was interesting and useful since nobody else was asking newbie questions and the guy we met with was willing to share his strategy - he does all his investing out of state.

in summary, rather than spend 20-40k on a guru course, spend 10-30% of that on some good old fashioned marketing.  our first marketing campaign covered approximately 2200 addresses over an 8 month period (6 mailings) and from that we completed one wholesale deal which paid for the next 2 years of marketing, one property under agreement to tear down and rebuild (pending city approval), and another property we plan to close on in about 2 weeks.

lastly, if you really want to do a guru course, consider the folks at fortune builders. i did not take the course, nor do i plan on it, but in the various networking events, i've met some of the folks from that program and was way more impressed with that program versus the FF (we actually partnered with one person from that course).  fortune builders seems to have a more solid "after the sale" network... FF does not really have anything

whatever your choice may be, i wish you the best of luck!