Not sure what you mean about pay to play, but if you mean pay to be in a coaching program, it can be fairly expensive. Almost all the coaches I listen to are pencils down right now. That doesn't mean all operators are out of the game, but many are due to bid/ask spread differences, interest rates, capital raising issues, leverage, and other issues.
Brad Sumrok out of Dallas has a nice conference coming up in August/September timeframe. Fairly cheap to attend, but of course you'll have airfare and hotel expenses...3 or 4 days depending on what level you pay. I've been several times and thought it was an excellent event....great networking, great speakers. About 80% other speakers and about 20% Brad. He will try to sell you on coaching which is probably $25000-$50,000. It's called AIMNATCON I think. Normally I don't like guru programs, but I've seen many success stories out of Brad's program.
I think that is one thing different about multifamily vs normal fix and flip or get rich quick guru seminars. I've seen success stories with most of them. There are some huge failures too. You can read about the Arbor foreclosure in Houston to see one. There are plenty of others and there will be more in the next year or two. There will be plenty of sponsors and investors who loose everything and maybe more than they invested. There will be lawsuits....you may win the lawsuit, but if you have to pay expensive lawyers and spend time in Texas on the defense in a hotel, with meals and all other expenses...it will not be fun.
One thing you have to think about is if you are an accredited investor or hang out with plenty of accredited investors. That will be your main sources of funds...and typically you and your friends will need to invest $50,000-$100,000 per person. There can be exceptions, but that's probably 80% of the raises i would guess from what I see.
Of the others on this list I've only been to TWA events. I listen to plenty of podcasts from the others....and they seem legit as well, if you apply the knowledge.
Here's the list of gurus I have:
Brad Sumrok- Rat Race 2 Retirement...expensive, but I personally know lots of success stories. I’ve been to his seminars and thought they were great value. Normally in Dallas area.
Michael Blank-
Mark & Tamiel Kenney-Think Multifamily out of Dallas.
Steve Davis-Total Wealth Academy out of Houston. I’ve been to several of their events and thought they were top notch. His full day Wealth Mastery Class is one of the best classes I’ve ever attended. As much about life goals as real estate goals.
Lifestyles Unlimited--lots of success stories there too, but expensive....Sumrok and Davis and many others came out of Lifestyles program.
Rod Khalif- out of Florida.
Jake and Gino-
Joe Fairless- Best Ever Conference
Plenty of people on BP have been to one or more of these seminars and can give you the scoop probably on any of them. Some of them active on BP too. Many if not all have youtube videos and podcasts.
Other multifamily conferences:
MFIN—Various locations throughout the country
Vertical Street Ventures-
LFI-Left Field Investors
Family Office Club
One thought is and it is just a thought.....if you have $50,000 and are an accredited investor, instead of coaching invest as an LP in a deal. You can learn a lot that way, learn about the sponsors, maybe you can contribute in some way to the success of the deal. Do that once, and then be a fundraiser for their next deal. You'll have some street cred that way and also get familiar with the numbers, reporting, distributions, pro forma vs actual results, capital stacks and communication....what you like and what you don't like. It's probably a slower road than coaching, but it is a start....and hopefully at the end of the 5-7-10 year hold, you have some cash flow to show, hopefully 2x-3x your initial investment, some depreciation along the way. Coaching probably speeds things up for many, but lets just say you spend $50,000 on coaching and all the coaches are in retrenchment mode right now and coach you to be pencils down. You could very will spend that $50,000 and in the end just have some notes and notebooks and nothing to show for the money?
