Commercial Guru's...any real deals?

Question

I got into R.E. at the height of the sub-prime meltdown, starting with residential loan mods....what a nightmare!
I hear that company is now doing Debt Settlement.

I then got my R.E. License with the intention of becoming an Agent.

Long story short, I have since decided on REI as the path I'd rather pursue....

With that being said I have looked into all kinds of courses and "Guru's" and will probably get my start in residential Wholesaling or short sales....

Naturally, as F/T course chaser (I'm talking like a webinar a night!) I've run across Commercial "Gurus" as well.

Commercial REI has always and will always hold my interest due to the Positive Cash flow and amounts of money involved and to be made.

I had a bad experience with Jason Gilbert's Commercial Training Institute, anyone else?
Also I'm curious about a few others like Dandrews Capital Partners, or any others.

I feel like all the Commercial "Guru's" are total scams anyone have any positive experience's? :roll:

Bill Gulley · Answer

Hi, my advice is, as always, get you education from conventional sources and stay away from the gurus. WIth a solid RE background you can, with a little imagination, make money from deals that most of the deal makers pass by. If all you learn are guru tactics, all you be able to do are guru deals! Commercial RE is a world away from residential. I don't suggest anyone getting into commercial without a good, solid business background. Knowing residential first is a good idea, it's something to build on. IMO, Bill

Bill Gulley · Answer

Hi, again, I think that if you know what type of properties you will be dealing in, such as a car wash, or wharehouse office spaces (as we are closing on tomorrow) or apartments, you should specialize in such properties in the beginning. Knowing the types of businesses that will operate in your property is important, required IMO. I don't think any guru will be teaching the business side of any commercial venture, they will be expanding basically strategies used for residential/appartments for the acquisition of the real estate, not rocket science, that's why it can be explained in a guru course, IMO. You can do that yourself! I agree with others as well that the CCIM course is just a given, for $80.00 (surprised it's that cheap) that's just a requirement for a novice investor. I have never taken the course so I don't know what's in it, but hopefully it will guid you in different types of leases, insurance, performance bonds, maintenace issues, regulatory issues with types of buildings, EPA and environmental studies, etc. I'm sure the course would be rather comprehensive in the real estate matters. You'll need to be able to read and understand financial statements or get someone to detail those aspects for you. Your sales and marketing background probably has those aspects covered, and assessing potential tenants ability to be successful in your building in order to pay the rents or purchase price. You need to qualify a commercial endevor in you property just as you would an individual who you do a residential deal with. I don't see gurus teach such matters. Commercial deals is not just financial ratios and analysis, you really need to know the commercial market for like kind properties in your area, not only for comps, but to set rents, and know the competition. Sorry it so long, but these are just some basic aspects that, to me, are not going to be fully addressed by any guru course. I'd concentrate of the Commercial Realtor courses, local business college courses and get with a mentor in you area that has done deals you're interesed in, but maybe does something else now, that way they are not in competition with you. You will be going where others have gone before you, use them! Bill

Don Konipol · Answer

The CCIM Institute has an introductory commercial course for $80.00 on DVD. I highly recommend it to anyone interested in commercial investing

Ted Akers · Answer

Bills advice on some residential experience first is a good suggestion. Commercial is a different cat, and usually requires capital. I attended a commercial bootcamp and follow several other gurus for my funding business. All of the partner with me deals are going to be a needle in a haystack find, and you will lose the majority of the deal to your partner. Commercial has great potential but will most always require private equity. If considering a guru make sure to ask what other programs they offer. That will tell you how much stuff they have to upsale you on. I just read a well recognized residential guru, who does do alot of deals, say he makes four times his deal income in selling programs and coaching. If you can find a local mentor or one on BP you will likely be better off.

Bryan Hancock · Answer

Ray Alcorn has some excellent material. InvestorTours University also puts out calls every so often that are free and are very good for educating you on syndication principles.

Ben Vigil · Answer

I am having a very good experience with Jason's course. I got the short sale course also. Now in my case I've been investing in real estate since 2003 and have a background in commercial and residential lending. It all makes sense to me and I have no problem investing money in my REI education. Actually, my parents taught me about MLO's on residential property so it was easy for me to grasp and its nothing new but that doesn't mean its well known either. It also doesn't work in all cases so you have to have multiple strats. Bottom line is you get what you put in. There is so much more to investing in real estate than buying a course. No course will teach you everything. I have never gotten the sense from Jason's course that this is easy. It may be simple but that doesn't mean it's easy. I have had property owners actually indicate they were open to a MLO even before I asked about it. This usually means the owner realizes that the property needs help and doesn't qualify for financing so a MLO transferring the costs of operation to a master tenant can look attractive. I offer it only when bank financing is not possible due to very low or even negative NOI. No lender in their right mind will lend on a property that doesn't make money. Since I do residential short sales, commercial short sales are not a stretch for me and his course is spot on as far as evaluation. I was actually looking at a self storage facility in AZ on a short sale. I know of a couple of self storage investors who helped me evaluate the property with the info provided by the agent. I put a LOI together and submitted it to the agent. The agent called me back and let me know the property was now under contract with a very solid buyer but would let me know if something went wrong. A few weeks later I purchased Jason's short sale course and went to the bootcamp. In one segment they showed some case studies on properties they had under contract currently and getting ready to close. You'll never guess what property they showed on the screen. The very property I was about to put an offer on a few weeks ago. I guess we live and learn and I'll be sure to be much quicker with my offers next time. Good luck

John Stokes · Answer

Check out my new post... http://www.biggerpockets.com/forums/79/topics/47764-partner-with-me- Had to vent!

Steve Babiak · Answer

Hit the nail on the head here - and that goes for almost ALL of these gurus who say they are willing to "partner" on deals; the criteria for deals that they have established for partnering are limited to GREAT deals - they almost just want somebody acting as a birddog.

John Stokes · Answer

To be clear, what I found offensive about Jason Gilbert's "course" was that I was ready to study. Learn the Commercial side of REI from a seasoned vet, I assumed it may be similar to a CCIM education, with of course the focus being on MLO acquisitions. Nope, just more Hype and Fluff... By the way, Bob, what exactly was your experience with "Dandrews"?

John Stokes · Answer

Thank you Bob and Jeff for the advice, so are you saying there's no magic pill (or course) that will make me rich by simply ordering it? Just Kidding, sometime these "Guru's" seem to be offering just that...as someone with a background in sales, I find it to be intellectually offensive. Jason Gilbert was just that, his "course" was pretty much this... find a distressed "Recession Resistant" improved property such as a self storage facility... convince the owner to sign it over via a MLO (Master Lease Option) based on it's current under performing state.So your asking the owner to Lease it to you for the SAME amount of income it's currently generating... Improve the properties performance (raise the NOI-lower expenses) to gain instant Positive Cash Flow, any income the property generates above and beyond the Lease rate is pocket cash. Exit...either exercise your option and buy then re-finance or flip etc. O.K., sounds great, in fact in theory it is great. But what I just covered above, is pretty much what the course covers. They just fill up 200+ pages and 7 or 8 DVD's saying the same thing. Their phone sales team charged my card after explicit instructions not to and when I wrote in w/ a complaint I was ignored. His "course" teaches exactly what I wrote, nothing more. If you have CCIM and Commercial Investing experience then you may be able to put it to use, otherwise, he baits you in with just enough info. to get you excited but not enough so that your confident to go do deals.... So there's a Easy Button fix, just "partner with him" and get your Hands on training plus a percentage of the deal. Problem is, after e-mailing Brokers with his criteria I quickly found that the standards he has for partnering on deals....is completely unrealistic. Or should I say, a great deal..IF you can ever find one.