What Can A Guru Teach You About Real Estate?

I have been involved in real estate for over 20 years. During that time I have been a loan officer, real estate broker, investor and managed a property management company. In addition I have spent thousands of dollars on books, resources and classes taught by the so called real estate 'gurus" of our day. I believe anyone who is serious about a career in this field does just that. But I now have insight based on my experience as a real estate professional which I want to share with you.

Guru's are those people who have been involved in real estate in some capacity and now have achieved a certain level of "success' whereby they have shifted from investing full time to teaching. They write books, conduct seminars and offer personal mentoring to students. By themselves these items are good. But let's examine what you typically pay for when you enlist the help of a guru.

1) The focus is on marketing heavily to an unsuspecting public - they buy infomercials and spend a ton on pretty packaging. They use commercials and websites to promote their supposed expertise.

2) The material offered is very basic - the information you get from these gurus is available on the internet. They seldom get into anything deep and stay on the surface with what they share. Even after spending all that money on a seminar the truth is most students make no money after completing these programs.

3) The pricing is ridiculous - when you consider hundreds of dollars for CD programs, thousands of dollars for seminars and tens of thousands for mentoring, the price points are way out of line. The only person making money is the guru. Instead of making money from real estate, they make their money from being a guru.

4) The success of the program is always dependent on the student - guru's would have you to believe that if you fail, its your fault. That is a prevalent concept with people who focus on sharing information. But if you took a driving class and at the end couldn't drive or our children went to school and at the end couldn't read, is that only the student's fault. Guru's need to take responsibility for the information they are charging so much for.

5) Everyone acts like they have the latest "concept' in investing - there is very little new under the sun. Don't get caught up in thinking that someone has some "new" concept that will revolutionize real estate. Remember, if the guru could make a ton of money with the concept they are teaching you, they would teach less.

Finally, many gurus end up bankrupt. Look them up after a few years and see for yourself.