Asking questions and conversing with neighbors can help keep you alert, participating when you can rather than just listening.

For the top program that was $34,995 when I went through the 3 day workshop 3 years ago is a bargain rate compared to other franchises I looked into that required at least twice that much to millions to get into the franchise.I have never participated in their Mastery Program so I don't have any personal experience with it but going over the information they gave me it sounds like all the stuff Subway, Budget Blinds, MaidPro, Re/Max LLC or Anytime Fitness would provide you with for training and mentorship.They are not marketing it as a franchise that is just my view on it based on the similarities when I looked at franchises.They do tell you that you can take the information from their 3 day workshop and start doing deals in real estate.  

Many of the parties to this thread are also participating in this market ;-)

Bare in mind they look at present and past income so if you trended up this year, you are still dragging down because last year you didn't make the same money.If you can defer or pay down or pay off some of your other liabilities your DTI will go down.

I look forward to participating in the forums and gaining knowledge from some of the great discussions I've seen here.Tom

How about a good chunk of the full cost, say 10% at a bare minimum?

Keep reading through posts, blogs and articles as well as participate in forum discussions.

As an investor/consumer, I have no desire to overpay or participate in fake bidding wars.

By writing it down I barely ever made the same mistakes twice!

Lots of great info and participants here!