After reading through many of the posts, I thought I'd put my two cents worth in.
First of all, let me disclose a few things:
- I have been a member of bigger pockets for a while, and read the emails often but seldom post - no, I did not join only to post about Lifestyles Unlimited, but because I enjoy what I read.
- I was a Realtor for Lifestyles Unlimited in the Houston office from July of 2011 through October 2012. I would have remained with Lifestyles, but have moved to South Florida.
- Before I hung my license with Lifestyles Unlimited, I joined the group on the $500 level.
The original questions were: "My question is how beneficial is this group? Has anyone on here experienced success in real estate investing from their training? Is it worth the $500 membership?"
How beneficial the group is, depends on how much you utilize the information and assistance they offer. I've seen many people join at the $500 level who did absolutely nothing with their membership after the 2 day seminar. For them, I would say it was most likely a waste of money. I've seen others learn from it and take what they've learned and wisely invest in real estate; and for them it was probably a wise investment of $500.
I've also known members who invested at the "Challenge" level. This level is for people who only want to invest in single family residential investments at this time. The membership dues are less than the PIG (Preferred Investors Group) level by about half and I believe is the most beneficial membership level for new members. When you join at the Challenge level, you not only get access to the mentors, vendors, 2 day, etc. (just like the $500 FFP (Financial Freedom Program) level but you also have the agents that work for Lifestyles Realty looking for properties for you. Let me expand on that a little bit...
When the agents at Lifestyles Realty search for properties, yes, they scrub the MLS for properties that meet the basic criteria set forth by Lifestyles Unlimited. They do not visit each house prior to sending out the email blasts, but use a default estimate for repairs in the evaluation. If the numbers are in line with the teachings of the group, they email blast the property out to the members and the first person to respond that they want the property is the person the agent works with, the second person is informed that they are second in line should the first person decide not to go forward, and same with the third person in line. You have to be quick in responding to the email blasts. I've had some members respond a day or two after the email blast went out, when the first person in line responded in less than 2 minutes. Also, the agents don't visit each property prior to emailing them out because the properties sell quickly. If the agents had to visit each house prior to blasting them out, they would most likely get very few deals through.
After setting the appointment, I always met my clients at the subject property, walked the exterior and interior with them pointing out what I saw as needed repairs and make-ready, and helped them with estimates for repair based on our findings and before any professional inspections were done. My default estimate for repair was always $10,000 and a few times I showed properties that needed very little repair but most properties that looked like they had the appropriate return on capital gain needed more. Then, before we actually wrote the offer, I would re-run the evaluation based on what we estimated for the actual repair amount and make sure the numbers were still in line. FYI, after the first 2 months of estimating I was seldom off on my estimates by $1,000, and the actual repair estimates came in less.
From this point, not only did I write the offers and negotiate on behalf of the member, line up the inspection, but also helped teach the members how to safeguard themselves through the process. Getting the inspection done, written estimates for repair - rerun the numbers, desktop appraisals - rerun the numbers, hard money lenders, refinance into long term loans, all of this can quickly become overwhelming for many people and I was always there for my clients. I not only helped the members obtain the properties, but was there for my clients after the sale to help them make sure they did not over-improve the properties, and keep them in the right mindset.
Now, someone posted that they would take the money Lifestyles charges and put it into a property, after finding some hungry Realtor to work with. Here I can tell you that I brought other agents to the "case study nights" and I always heard the same thing "I don't even know what they're talking about" and "this sounds like way too much work". Most agents do not understand the math, let alone working with a hard money lender who will lend up to 70% of the ARV. Ask most agents how much it will take to make a property "rent ready" and they'll throw a number out at you based on nothing! They simply do not have the property training. Real estate investing is not something they are taught to get their license, so if that's the route you choose to take be prepared to have to teach your agent the math, that the comps on the property need to be for after repaired value, and good luck getting them to understand hard money at all. I've even seen agents hang their license at Lifestyles only to leave before completing their first deal because they could not get their head around the concept of real estate investing, and protecting the client.
Another plus, if you want to call it that, of working with the Lifestyles agents is that they have worked with the vendors on the vendor list and can help point you to the right one for the job. I found plenty of general contractors to work with both on and off the vendor list, but only by actually working with them was I able to assist my client by saying "I would recommend this person, not that one. That one will quote you a price, then it will constantly change upwards until the job is one". I trusted one enough to remodel my own house prior to selling it so I could move to Florida, and he came in exactly on budget (and even did additional work he didn't budget in).
Overall, speaking as a former FFP member and as a former agent for the company, my recommendations are:
1. If you fully plan to invest in multi-family properties within the next two years, but want single family properties now (and be VERY realistic in your time frames, don't figure you will have 10 properties within the next two years, figure you may have five) then join at the PIG level.
2. If you eventually plan to invest in multi-family properties, but want to invest in single family residential properties now, want agents who know how to evaluate a property and help safeguard your interests through the process. Then I recommend the Challenge membership.
3. If you are certain you know how to run the numbers, are good at estimating repair costs to a property, have an agent who understands hard money (and really test them on this prior to letting them write an offer for you), and can build a spreadsheet to evaluate properties, then go with the FFP level.
Feel free to contact me directly if I can answer any questions or clarify anything. I can also offer letters of recommendation (on my performance) from a number of members that I worked with, and I believe many are still members. Each of them has offered their contact information and I am sure they will be more than happy to offer their thoughts.
I hope this helps!
