It rivaled Joel's symposiums in Vegas for the quality of attendees and discussion.

The attendees are just wanting to get it done, adn are on the cell phones, texting, checking e-mail, doodling, doing nails...and the instructors are just giving the answers that will be on the test.Obviously this is painting it all with a broad stroke, but I think you get my point.

The negative thing I have about REIAs is that a lot of attendees are beginners who claim to know more than they actually do.

Most attendees are rehabbers, not wholesalers.

RealtyTrac tracked foreclosure-related filings on 2.3 million U.S. properties in 2008, an 87 percent jump from the year before, with 861,664 homes making it through the entire process to become REOs.The Mortgage Bankers Association's surveys of members suggest one out of 10 mortgages was either delinquent or in the foreclosure process at the end of September, and Moody's Economy.com estimates 12 million homeowners are "upside down" -- they owe more on their homes than their properties would fetch in today's market.RealtyTrac senior vice president Rick Sharga told attendees at the Inman News Real Estate Connect conference in New York City this month that an analysis of 500,000 distressed properties in four states in the company's database found only about one in four were listed for sale in a multiple listing service, or MLS.That suggests that as many as 75 percent of distressed properties have yet to hit the market, Sharga said, and that many of those homes will soon be putting pressure on inventory and prices as banks repossess them and put them up for sale. . . .

In hindsight, I realized I had made several fatal blunders. 1) The borrowers(referred as they in this post) ran REIA, and acted as mentors to dozens of attendees.

The last time we met was at Starbucks and had few attendees.

Tell the attendees you will keep them notified by email list or Meetup notices, which ever you choose, and then either collect those emails, or ask them to join your group on meetup (emails are more reliable).But make no mistake, running a group is work, even if you keep it simple. 

time_continue=77&v=P3siQvQttUQI scheduled my first call with my wife as an attendee for Friday, January 11 at 11:00 am EST which is about a week away.

The last time we met was at Starbucks and had few attendees.