Hi All,
I wanted to provide my first-hand experience of Brad Sumrok’s Rat Race 2 Retirement and MF investing programs. I want to be completely transparent, because I believe that’s what BG stands for. And I’ve seen the good and the bad in the RE training. I’ve also had a career where I support sales training programs for a ½ billion $ company, so I can see straight through the sales hype and the scam artists. So, here’s our story…
My wife and I have been investing in SF for over a decade and wished to learn about MF. Our model was, and still is, the Kiyosaki/Monopoly method; 4 green houses, red hotel. She saw Brad at the 2012 Dallas REI Expo and did a bus tour to the tune of about $80. He had an R2R (Rat Race 2 Retirement training) weekend coming up and said I needed to go. That was March 2014. We went.
The weekend included what I would now consider introductory and some intermediate education on the MF investment processes, including CAP rates, market synopsis, goal-setting, financing and personal investing criteria. There was also background on Brad's experience and credentials as a previous trainer with Lifestyles Unlimited and his MF investing awards, and some motivational content.
At the time Brad offered 2 training programs, Foundations and Mentoring. We joined the Foundations program which consisted of webinars that taught his MF investing process, plus live webinars, and bus tours/networking events for 1 year. The cost at the time was about $3k. The mentorship program at the time was about $13k. We have good friends who did join the mentorship program.
Was the Foundations program worth it? To us, yes. That’s because we developed a peer group that we have to this day. The webinars taught us Brad’s process for MF investing, which is really all that we wanted to learn at that point in our careers. We were NOT interested in syndication or partnering, which is a preferred method of Brad’s and most MF investors. We simply wanted to know what it takes to invest in apartments and what the process is. After completing the information and participating for a year, IMO, Brad is by far the most up-front and honest ‘trainer’ in apartment investing there is. We chose not to renew the program because we received exactly what we were looking for.
Now, we didn’t join his Mentorship program because IMO, to spend $15+k on anything means that it has to compete with a master’s program at an accredited university. That’s serious money. And we’ve been to all the pitches, Rich Dad, Doug Clark, etc. Those organizations are scams that we are very skeptical and weary of. Just Google Rich Dad scam or Doug Clark Scam and you’ll see what I mean.
I firmly believe Brad Sumrok is not a scam. He is sincere. However, having had friends who have joined the mentoring program, I personally do not believe it’s necessary for an intermediate investor. Those friends don’t feel they have seen a value in the Mentoring program that they paid for. Some success stories that Brad shares have.
I think, once you’ve built confidence with Brad’s Foundations program, you do not necessarily need him as a personal mentor. People have learned and invested in MF apartments long before Brad, Lifestyles Unlimited, and any MF ‘gurus’ came along, and people will continue to invest in apartments long after they are gone. Even though they’ll make their mistakes (and we probably will too), with enough commitment and a solid Team, you can invest in apartments without them. Maybe you can get there faster by using Brad as a Mentor, but if you’ve got a good head on your shoulders, maybe you will yourself.
We’re currently working on a development deal that will allow us to retire, and admittedly have not done a big MF deal yet. I can’t honestly say that if we had joined the Mentoring program we might be farther ahead than we are now. But, our goals were to be Individual Investors, and because we’ve been smart with our investing, we’re poised to do that on our own, and with the knowledge that we learned in Brad’s Foundations program.
If you have any questions, please ask.
