Guru Scam Anyone?

Question

I am curious to see if anyone is willing to admit getting scammed or duped by either a Guru or anything related to RE investing products that did not turn out like advertised? I will start it off:

Greg Clemens SIMS 2.0 - Looked and smelled like a great thing for someone who would like to take their business to the next level. 4.5 months later still no delivery for completion, horrible communication with my contact person. In the process of refund!!

P.S. Than Merrill is in on this gig. Wish I could make a million dollars pushing everyone else's products!!

Maryann L. · Answer

Curt, I used to work for a very large REIA and I would see these guys (and gals) come in every month pushing a new program. Everyone made it sound like a no brainer. The lowest I saw stuff sold for was $997 and highest up to the $3000-$5000 range. It was CRAZY. What is unfortunate is the SAME people at these REIAS every month buying new courses and I'm sorry, but any newbie needs to understand that the main way these gurus make money is through SELLING COURSES. I'm not saying they aren't successful, but the gravy train is now the courses. The funny thing is you bought a course for $997, THEN you had to subscribe MONTHLY for "personal coaching" - THIS IS NOT GOOD FOR ANY NEWBIE. It's is distracting and there is NO WAY you can focus on developing your business, if every month you're lured by this stuff because you'll be all over the place. I have spent EXACTLY $200 on materials. Unfortunately one was an older course of Donna Bauer's note buying. It was outdated and that's ok. It gave me the jist of what I needed and one was Nathan Juruwitz and actually gave valueable material for the $100. My partner and I ran accross this the other day http://reitips.com/open-letter/ We loved it.

Bill Gulley · Answer

We were hit yesterday with a program to provide rehab estimates "down to the nail". While it might have some merit, the claims were obviously overstated. But then that should have been obvious to anyone who has ever done any home project. If anything sounds too good to be true, it probably is.

Gregory Childs · Answer

I have had a similar experience with SIMS 2.0 - however, I still feel that the program has some pottential for being useful; so I intend to hang in there. Realeflow has some organizational challenges but the foundational product has some nice features that I am willing to be patient to get my hands on. I am more of a turtle than a hare - so I tend to see things through to the conclusion; as long as the business case is still sound. TTFN, Greg

Thomas Fish · Answer

I got royally scammed by Doug Fath. (You can go to ripoff report and read my complaint as well as Doug's lame rebuttal. Just type in Doug Fath in the search). In a nutshell, he proported his niche to be "Student Housing," and he ran a program, with webinars, etc., and GUARANTEED funding for any student housing property you brought to him that met a certain criteria. In the course of 1 month, I brought him 35 properties. PRIMO student housing properties. Within site of the campuses!!!! Guess how many he funded? ZERO!!! NONE!! NADA!!! The truth is that he never had any intention of funding anything. He didn't have the resources to fund anything. He ran a scam program that cost $1500 and guaranteed funding...and in the final analysis, he took the money, funded nothing....and I read on his facebook page shortly thereafter that he was buying an apartment building for himself. Hmmm.... do you think there was a connection? Doug Fath is running other programs out there too. I get emails from him forwarded to me from time to time. He seems to now be the expert in things other than student housing. My suggestion: STEER VERY CLEAR!!!!!!! Check out RipOff Report on him.

Joel Owens · Answer

Bottom line is new investors are just like new real estate agents. They will try to suck you dry of the little money you have so they can make hundreds of thousands to millions for themselves. If you really want a specific course you can by for cheap from EBAY at a fraction of the cost. I think it's very funny a lot of these SYSTEMS people are creating for marketing.

James Vermillion · Answer

This is a good thread. Just by reading through the various "guru" threads here I can tell you many people feel like they have been scammed. It continues to happen over and over again and I doubt there is an end in sight. As long as there is a promise for quick and easy money there will be scam artists. Thomas, I am sorry to see that happened to you. Thanks for making your complaints very public, as the more information is out there, the fewer people will make the same mistake.

Rachel H. · Answer

Yes, I do think it's really interesting to hear the experiences folks have with other materials and courses out there. It's really easy to get caught up in all of the hype of things especially in this day and age. I guess it's a part of human nature - a lot of the hype feeds on the two most powerful emotions, greed and fear. But, when it all comes down to it, it's not the book or the course that will make someone successful. Success really comes from within. Thanks for sharing and starting this thread!