One of the things I really like about Bigger Pockets is that @Joshua Dorkin and @Brandon Turner really take pride in ensuring that BP remains true to being an open and friendly environment where fellow real estate investors can learn from each other without the threat of being subjected to a hard sales pitch.
Unfortunately, the same cannot be said for all local real estate investment associations. Case in point: This last Tuesday I went to check out one of my local REIAs, the Real Estate Investment Club of Los Angeles. This club was apparently founded by Phyllis Rockower for the purpose of generating leads for her mentoring program. The price of admission was $29. The first 20 or 30 minutes of the evening is devoted to why you need to become a “Gold Member” for around $300 or even better, a “Platinum Member” for around $500, and why you need to hire Phyllis to become your personal mentor. That’s followed by a 90 -120 minute presentation by somebody Phyllis has brought in to tell the group about the real estate services they were selling.
The worst part is two nights after the meeting, one of Phyllis’ assistants, who sounds like he’s right out of The Wolf of Wall Street, calls me up to give me an unrelenting hard sell on why I need to give Phyllis $5,000, in consideration for several phone calls with Phyllis, access to her lenders, and attendance at other “meetings” “for free”.
Others may find value in this particular club…but it’s definitely not for me.
