All Forum Posts by: Doug Leedy

J,

Just go to the Resources tab and click on the Video Library. Each of those videos contains the bios and backgrounds of the instructors. Maybe not all of them but enough for you to get the picture. You're using this stuff as an excuse, throwing stuff on the wall to see what sticks. I said before, if you do your due diligence you'll get your answers and you're unwilling to do that. I know why. You have no intention of getting involved, and that's fine. But you are really doing a disservice to people who haven't had your level of success in real estate. You are attempting to dissuade them from looking into something that you know next to nothing about, have all kinds of mistaken pre-conceived ideas about and that you are spreading disinformation about. That's not a good way to go.

David Dachtera answered that question, at least in part, earlier: "While it's true that the instructors are experienced, successful investors - the founder requires that instructors make $1 Million using the method they teach before qualifying them as instructors, the instructors - with at least one noteworthy exception - are not teachers. One from Illinois - who is reputed to own roughly 3% of the rental properties in Danville, IL - was a high school teacher before taking up REI full time. Another of the instructors is one of only 200 known note investors of a certain calibre". Each instructor must meet certain criteria re how much business they have done in the field they are teaching, undergo annual reviews to make sure they are still reaching those goals and are replaced it they are not. When I was in college many decades ago, NONE of my profs, most of whom were PhD's, had ANY real world experience in their areas of "expertise" and I know for a fact that my school was not unusual in that regard. I had Political Science profs who never ran for office or worked on a campaign in their lives, Business profs who never owned a business, hired anyone or fired anyone and most of my other profs were the same way. Personally, I prefer the Renatus model.

I think I've said all I can say on this subject. If anyone reading these posts would like to know more and get some real answers, please contact me at [PERSONAL INFO REMOVED] or call me at [PERSONAL INFO REMOVED]. I'd also link a video for you but the "moderators" here seem to be afraid that I would take you to a marketing site, so please contact me directly. Regardless of what you do, good luck to each of you. Real Estate can be the way to true, long-term wealth as long as you know what you're doing. But be warned: if you don't know that and are not well educated, real estate can cripple you. Be careful out there.

Phillip,

I have no idea what you are talking about or who you are talking about. What video? Who was the phone call with? I've never seen or heard of any 8-16 hour video unless you are watching actual classes, and they are not interactive. If you did a conference call with a Renatus affiliate who reacted like that I'd look for another one. We usually do our exposures through live meetings. Something doesn't add up. Do you have names? I will say this: some affiliates put more emphasis on marketing than I care for, but I've never seen one who doesn't emphasize the investing side. That's what most people are looking for.

Bill, I don't know what to tell you either. It's over 200 hours. Period. If that's not enough for you, don't do it. But I don't think you can find that many anywhere else. If you can, that's probably where you should go. Renatus isn't for everyone and it sure looks like you're one of those people. I guess that answers the earlier question if anyone is ever turned down :)

FYI, MLM is a marketing system that has nothing to do with real estate. Technically, Renatus is not an MLM, but it does use marketing in selling its education, just like all colleges and universities do. There are some components of MLM (which is a legitimate marketing system used by most companies today, major or minor) but it is not a pure MLM and that has been verified by the FTC. You may participate in that side of the business, you may just become an investor, or you may do both. It's actually YOUR choice, which some on here don't seem to grasp. Please take the time to investigate yourself. Then you'll know.

Complete BS, both of you. Bill, ALL of those issues are taught in multiple classes where they are relevant (Tax and Legal Strategies, for example, which is taught by a CPA/Attorney). I'm sorry our website doesn't come up to your standards but it is difficult to synopsize over 200 hours of education. An individual needs to be interested enough to do their due diligence and obviously you aren't.  

Bill, That policy is used by some of the Affiliates but it is NOT company policy. If you are that experienced why would you need the education? You already have it. Unless, of course, you want to pass you knowledge on to newbies without having to develop your own curriculum and handle your own liability issues. This education is no scam. If you don't like the commission part of Renatus you don't have to participate. There are plenty of affiliates who do ZERO marketing, they just invest. To each his own. Apparently that's not good enough for you. That's fine. So what? You are looking for excuses to rip this program for some reason. You have an agenda. I don't know why this would even concern you.

I have not taken the time I've put in here to convince the unconvincable. You have your preconceived notions and I'm not going to try to change your minds. I am simply inviting people who are interested in doing real estate investing as safely and intelligently as possible to be aware of Renatus as an alternative. Notice, I didn't say as cheaply. The value speaks for itself if you investigate to any real extent. Please feel free to contact me with any questions or concerns you might have if you are looking for something to change your current circumstances.

Then I suggest you not get involved. Or buy the company so you can set their policy. It is what it is. I know what I see, you guess what you think. That's fine. I've given you all the information I have. I think we've beat this horse enough.

Bill,

I would assume you know by now there are no guarantees in life, and certainly not in real estate. I would also assume that you have seen what the Renatus curriculum consists of, and I wonder how you determine that over 200 hours of instruction for 20K is overpriced? That comes conservatively to $100 per hour. The average cost of a Master's Degree is over $600 per hour, and that's on top of an Undergrad degree that averages from $250 per hour to $650 per hour and includes numerous classes that have no relationship to a major course of study. There is no question that a college education is an over-priced proposition unless the student is in a particular area of study that requires specialized knowledge. That has not always been the case but in today's Information Age economy it is more and more common. Ask anyone who has a 20-something year-old child with a college degree who can't find work in their field of interest and is significantly underemployed. The times they are a-changing. I will again direct you to [SELF PROMOTIONAL LINK REMOVED] for more information. Educate yourself.

I will summarize too, and then I'm done with this. I've said all I have to say. Anyone who says good education is asinine is a fool. Unless you have seen (not "read") the Renatus education, you have no idea what you are talking about and are operating on your own assumptions. I've been in real estate for 40 years but I understand that I was in a particular segment of real estate and don't have all the answers. The sign of an intelligent person is one who knows what they don't know. I get the impression that some of the people here have all the answers. If so, more power to them but I assure you that very few people can truly say that. The average person needs knowledge and support to play this game. A lot of people say they want to invest in real estate but few really do, primarily because of fear. Renatus takes most of the fear out of it. Real estate investing is an inherently risky business, as many people find out every month. The odds are with those who minimize that risk and maximize safety through knowing how to do things, what not to do and what to look out for. If you do that you will get your investment (yes, this education is an investment) back relatively quickly, and do so without nearly as much stress as you otherwise would have. 

Is Renatus perfect? Of course not. Is it the best business model of its kind? I haven't seen anything better. [Solicitation Removed]

So Christopher, you don't believe in education. Interesting, but I don't think most people agree. Do you realize that the average cost to educate a public high school student in Illinois is $15,621 per YEAR? You're paying for that. You must really feel ripped off. Unless, of course, you send your kids to one of the 25 most expensive private schools in Illinois. Then you pay from $11,850-$51.400 per year PLUS funding the public schools. Do you really think the wealthy think that spending money for education is asinine?

And J Scott, apparently you don't understand nuance. What I previously explained is what they mean. They provide the structure to create investors. It's not that tough to figure out.

All I am saying is that you have to determine the meaning of value. If you're an investor you know that you can profit well over $20,000 in just one real estate deal. That's a pretty quick payoff for the kind of knowledge and support Renatus offers. Don't think so? Then you must not know any investors who have lost money because they have either miscalculated costs or made a mistake. I do know people who have lost $20,000 and a helluva lot more than that, and I have for over 30 years. To me the sign of an intelligent person is one who knows what they don't know. Your opinion is your opinion but I'd rather deal with someone who knows what they're doing rather than someone who thinks they do. 

You're making a lot of assumptions for some reason. What I've been told is that Renatus doesn't keep those stats because they deliver the education but they don't get involved in the investing in any way. That's up to the individual. I have spoken to two of the regional leaders who do keep those stats and their groups had about a 65% rate of people who did at least one deal and about 50% who upgraded from the Essentials course to the Advanced Investor Training. I've been told that the Guru's rate is around 5% who do at least one deal. I can't verify or guarantee any of these. Concerning not accepting someone, that would be entirely up to the individual. My mentor told me he has occasionally turned people down but there's no way to verify that either. 

The accredited college dropout rate is about 42% in 6 years. Per the Federal Reserve, only about 27% of recent college grads got jobs in their related fields of study.  The average cost of a traditional undergrad college education at a private school is about $120,000, at an in-state school $36,000 and an out-of-state student about $88,000. 

Here's a link that may be of interest to you:

April 30, 2014 5:00 am

Graduating college seniors face a grim job market little improved since President Barack Obama’s reelection, and many say they are concerned about their future.

The effective unemployment rate, referredto as U-6, now stands at 15.6 percent for the youth, ages 18 to 29. U-6 adjusts for labor force participation by including those who have given up looking for work. That rate since 2012 has only improved slightly, from 16.4 percent.

The unemployment picture for others in this age group remains stubbornly high. For African Americans, the U-6 rate is at 23.6 percent, the rate for Hispanics stands at 16.2 percent and the rate for women is currently at 13.3 percent.

College seniors are frustrated by their inability to land a job.

Lauren Dwyer of Hampshire, Ill., who is graduating from Aurora University this week with a major in English Education, has yet to find a job. She said she has been looking since March.

“I applied to 50 jobs and have had no interviews,” Dwyer said. “It’s very competitive. I’ve been told there are roughly over 1,000 applications applying to teaching jobs every day.”

Dwyer has $25,000 in student loans she must start repaying in October. She says she will be living at home with her parents. “I knew it would take some effort, but I didn’t know it would be this difficult” to find a job, she said.

Justin Roth, of Lancaster, Pa., who is graduating from Lebanon Valley College, is in a similar position. Roth has landed an internship, which he said was not an easy task. While interning, he hopes to network for a full-time job. “I’m looking for a full-time job, and hopefully can get one from a client,” Roth said.

Like Dwyer, Roth said he will move back home and hopefully will move out on his own if he gets a full-time job.

“I haven’t heard of any friends getting full-time jobs,” Roth said. “Most of my friends have gotten internships.”

According to Generation Opportunity, 1.916 million young adults are not counted as “unemployed” by the U.S. Department of Labor because they are not in the labor force. These young people have given up searching for work due to the lack of jobs.

“It’s very frustrating. Sometimes the official unemployment rate goes down because people stop looking and older people decide to retire. Young people can’t retire,” said Corie Whalen, spokesperson for Generation Opportunity.

Even more alarming is how many college graduates are stuck in positions that are unrelated to their field of study.

“Young people aren’t even using their college degrees in their work,” Whalen said. The latest data shows approximately 50 percent of young people are in that situation.

The struggle is not limited to college graduates.

Adele Coghlan, 18, of Chester, Pa., will be attending Westchester University in the fall and majoring in psychology. She has been looking for work to support herself and save for college. She has been unsuccessful.

“It’s really hard. I’m from a small town. The first day an ad goes up, the job is taken,” Coghlan said. She said the prospects for her future “really concerns me.”

“I do not want to be a boomerang,” Coghlan said, “I don’t want to return home when I am done with college.” But that is a distinct possibility, according to Coghlan. “That’s an issue for a lot of people. They want to be independent, but the job market is so tough right now.” Many of her friends, she said, are in the same situation as she is.

“My parents provide for me,” Coghlan said. “I feel bad about it. I have siblings and I should be able to support myself. I feel bad that I am taking away from my brothers,” Coghlan said.

I think that makes a laser-focused education in real estate (no history or foreign language or religion or English Lit) at $20,000 a pretty damn good value, don't you?

My question to you is why is that important to you? The quality is either there or it isn't. It's up to the individual to decide if it's worthwhile to them. 

Here's my experience. I spent some good money on one of the Guru's programs, flew to California for a 3-day weekend. I got 3 days of very good information fire-hosed for about 10 hours per day, a whirlwind bus tour and an offer to be personally mentored. The mentoring was to be long-distance for a limited period of time with no further contact after that. No guarantee of the bona fides of the mentor.  When I left I was all fired-up. About 2 days later I sat there, having retained about 20% of what I learned, and wondered where I would go from there. I called and immediately got an upsell to the "mentoring" program again. That's their business model.

Contrast that with Renatus. Almost 200 hours of about 30 classes offered 24/7 by instructors who actually make their living doing what they teach. Accessable over and over as many times as you want. Live classes if you want to travel to Utah. Local communities of investors you can get to know, work with, learn with and partner with. A real live support system. A personal mentor that you actually know and can meet with. A national network of investors with access to properties, deals and funding. And here's the best part: secondary training by individual mentors that goes well beyond the Renatus education. By that I mean investments that have been put together by Renatus affiliates that Renatus students can participate in and invest in. One, as an example, has developed a software system that analyzes properties to the specs of several Hedge Funds. If you find a property that qualifies, the Fund will buy the property and split profits with you. No risk, good reward. If you want to do deals yourself there is funding in place. If you don't have a lot of money on hand they have put together a program to get you the money that includes any credit repair you may need. This is the kind of thing that actually gets newbies started in investing. No ********, no empty promises. But you have to meet certain requirements in order to participate. It's a phenomenal training method. 

As I said earlier, I don't know of a similar program anywhere. There is real, substantial value here at a fraction of the cost of a college education that may or may not lead to a job. You truly learn self-sufficiency here, which is crucial in today's Information Age.