Why wholesaling is being pushed by gurus?

[Christopher Burns]

I have tried wholesaling for a while now and read multiple forums on the topic as well as numerous books. I hear it all the time, "The best way to get into real estate is through wholesaling!" I have wondered why so many gurus push this concept without much details unless you pay for a course they offer. Then it donned on me, wholesaling allows an investor to recieve many properties with majority of the negotiations handled. Often times though, these new wholesalers give inaccuriate deals and turn many investors off any deal but the lure is still there, getting houses without doing much to get them. So, with this thought, I have studied more on what kind of investor I want to be so that any deal , wholesale or otherwise, will be one I want to do, not a deal I just wanna pass on for a quick buck. Its my hope that this approach will take me away from actual wholesaling and into investments and partnerships. 

I'm curious as to how this sounds and what ideas could be offered to build working relationships with other investors that'll build my personal career.

[Jon Holdman]

In my opinion, gurus push wholesaling because is sounds so easy.  So its easy to sucker people into buying courses, boot camps and mentorships.  Most of these students will never do a single deal because wholesaling is MUCH more difficult than it seems and requires a lot of knowledge that is gained only by extensive experience.  But it sure sounds easy.  So its  easy to sell these expensive educational products.

More generally, I don't think wholesaling is investing at all.  Fix and flipping, property management, being an agent, developing are also not investing.  These are all businesses, not investments.  You may will have to invest significant capital to get these business running.  And you need a bunch of skills.  And they all take work.  But if you have the money, skills and invest the time, they can be very profitable businesses.

"Investing", OTOH, means putting your money into something and expecting a return.  Could be bank CDs, stocks, bonds, treasuries, real estate, gold or whatever.  But its not a business where you have to turn the crank in order to produce income.  The investment produces the income, not your labor.

I think this statement is patently false:

Again, its something gurus who are selling products (or the folks they've pulled into their traps) say to convince people to buy.  But it is a very, very difficult business that's going to require a lot of time, effort, and money to get started and produce any income.  It is, despite what the gurus say, a job.  A commissioned sales job that requires skills someone who's completely new to real estate is unlikely to have.  Does that really sound like a good place to start?