Before I "retired" at age 37, I worked in the corporate world for 15 years and held a variety of jobs including marketing manager for a tech company, a conference and event director, a probation officer, an office manager for a major alcohol distributor, and a counselor at a residential rehab facility for teens.

I want to avoid using random turnkey distributors as a lot of times they make properties look good when they shouldn't.

David its like anything.. you have a certain amount that will take the training and do nothing with it.. certain amount who will blow the 10k and another 10k in marketing not get the results and quit.. and you have the few at the top.. much like MLM.. 

Typically what I see is they've been screwing around with workshops and guru seminars and MLM crap for 3 or 9 months and nary a preapproval in sight, they're done with it and want to actually buy a house, I connect with them, they get preapproved in under a week, and they go out and buy something right away.

His program is not cheap and he is a MLM. 

best way to do this is go to work for a commercial developer at ground level and get paid to learn  NOT pay to learn..or get your RE license go work for a commercial brokerage and learn how to do deals in the real world not in the make believe world of those that sell how to..the presenters as stated are professional speakers , generally at the set up meetings.. they are not investors and they probably showed you a nice picture of the wife and kids and pleasing pictures of why real estate its all based in MLM very well researched on how to convert to sales.