You sent 1000 one time and decided it was a scam.

depends on what kind of auction. if it was auction.com then its a scam because the system creates phantom bids against you.

Also, I don't have time to devote to landlord duties.

I didn't click the link as I fear getting scammed.

Adam,There's a real estate investment goup that meets once a month in RI.The first hour is exclusively devoted to new investors like you and me.  

I often post the following suggestions to avoid getting scammed by them: 1.

In the past I pretty much did the traditional buy/sell deal, but not exposed to the creative side of REI.Initially I am targeting about $10K/month in income so I can fully devote my time in REI.Currently looking for a Mentor that would guide me through the initial stages of REI.

I've been devoting an hour a day to watching videos and educating myself, so far  multifamily and house hacking is my current interest and i would like to educate myself through real estate clubs, video's, books, and networking.

Montelongo is well known for these scams.

To provide every American household with decent, affordable housing, given the large and widening gap between incomes and housing costs, will require vastly more government subsidies than we now devote to housing - the exact amount of course depends on what kinds of programs, what systems of financing, ownership, development and management we choose (the more market-oriented, the larger the cost; the more we create a social housing sector, the smaller the cost), but think along the lines of $80-100 billion annually.