The Guru’s to the rescue

So even though I had climbed to new heights, I was still not very fulfilled at work. I was still working very long, super stressful hours. As they say, work was getting the best of me, and my family was getting the rest of me. I was worn out, stressed out, and beat down.  

Rewinding a bit to the middle of that massive project, I decided that I needed more, and had thought about REI for years based on my success and failures in previous home purchases. Every few days driving to or from work I would hear a radio spot advertising a free seminar to learn how to flip houses in my area. I though why not. I already know how to manage construction projects, and the seminar is free. I signed up, and drug my wife along with me. I knew it was a setup to buy something, but I was curious, and wanted to learn.

We showed up to the hotel where the seminar was being held and I was surprised by the diversity in the group. People from all walks of life had registered for this free seminar. I actually really enjoyed the seminar. They presented some concepts about how to structure and finance deals that completely blew my mind. I had no clue about the creative ways that you could structure a deal. But I also was waiting for the sales pitch. An then it came. $200 to attend a 3 day seminar that would go into much more detail. I remember thinking, “Holy crap! Only $200 for 3 days. I know they are going to try and sell me something else, but for $200 bucks I can soak up a lot of knowledge in 3 days.”

I signed up and gladly handed over the $200. I was so excited. My brain was racing with the possibilities! My wife thought that I was crazy, as she often does, but I was going to do this, and she was supportive because she saw how excited I was.

This next seminar was a few weeks later in July of 2019 at a small convention center out in the burbs. Again, there were people there from all walks of life. I couldn’t believe it. I ended up sitting next to sleepdrool mc stinkey. The guy smelled bad, and slept through most of the seminar and drooled all over himself. The seminar was very motivational, which was exactly what I needed. I had been feeling stuck for quite a while. They touched on a bunch of different aspects of REI. Buy and hold, flipping, wholesaling, tax liens, on and on. I was super excited and just soaking it all in.

Then they started showing us the systems that they had in place for each niche, and the network of people that came with it. I have to admit that it was all pretty impressive. I actually considered buying into the program . . . until I had my one-on-one interview to discuss the details, and the price. There were 3 different packages, basically a low, medium, and high-level access. They cost $30k, $40k, and $50k respectively. While I saw tremendous value in some of it, I wasn’t going to fork out five figures to get it. My “counselor” asked me how I would theoretically pay for it if I decided to jump in. I told him that I could pay about half of it in cash and would have to get creative for the other half. His response was that I should apply for more credit cards and keep my cash. Then I could pay off the credit cards when I crush my first deal and hold onto my cash. I was floored. Looking around at the people in the room I knew that some of them stretched to pay the $200 to show up for the 3 day seminar. Now they are being pressured to take out credit cards to pay for this program? I was out, and I told my “counselor” that.

He responded by telling me that he was just here to help. That he didn’t need the money. Someone had helped him, and he just wanted to help me. I responded by telling him that they do these seminars all over the country because I had heard their radio ad for years in the different cities that I lived in. There are 200 people in the room today here, probably thousands around the country. If you only sign up 1000 people a year nationwide at an average cost of $40k that’s $40 million dollars a year in revenue. So please tell me again that you are here “for me”. His only response was again that he didn’t need the money and was just trying to help. I walked away.

When I got back in the conference room I sat down next to sleepdrool mc stinkey. I had gotten to know a couple other people in the seminar by this point and we were quietly talking about the program. They all had similar discussions and asked if I was doing it. I told them no, and they agreed as well.

I paid attention to the rest of the seminar and learned everything that I could. It was an eye-opening experience for me and was hugely motivational. So even though I didn’t buy the big expensive system, I certainly made the most of my $200 investment. I would actually say it’s probably the best $200 I had ever spent, because I had no clue about REI walking into that seminar. Walking out, I had a ton of good information, renewed energy, and a shift in my mindset. The possibilities were endless!

A couple days later the phone rang. It was someone from the Guru company, and they had an offer for me. I actually laughed and couldn’t wait to hear this ridiculous offer. For $3000, I could access just the portion of their “system” that was most important to me, which was turnkey buy and hold properties. It came with lifetime access to their library of educational videos and materials, lifetime access to a coach, and access to a network of turnkey companies that could support my goals. I actually thought it was pretty reasonable and signed up for it.

I watched a bunch of online videos, and had a few sessions with my coach who helped me to develop a strategy with my finances, and to find a turnkey partner. Within just a few short months I had two single family rentals with a property manager in place. I closed on the first in January of 2020, and just a few months later had closed my second in August of 2020. I was off and running on my real estate journey right in the middle of covid, and couldn’t care less. I chose the market I bought in carefully, and while there were a few bumps in the road one tenant is current with rent, and the other is only a half-month behind. In today’s covid world, I’ll take it.

Was it worth the $3000 for the program? I actually say yes. I could have done all these things on my own, but by going this route I got there much quicker, and had a coach on call that could help analyze deals and make recommendations. They take a fee on every transaction, but it isn’t any different than using a wholesaler or real estate agent to find deals in my mind. Looking forward, I will likely move away from using them for my deals, but the value in getting started so quickly, and the knowledge and experience that I gained over those few months is priceless to me. To go from zero knowledge to having two cashflowing SFR’s held in an LLC in about 12 months was 100% worth it in my opinion.