Education of a Real Estate Investor, Day 12

As I suspected when I began this project, there are a lot of snake oil peddlers out there.

It is very obvious that most of these "gurus" (which you invariably see spelled "guru's" as if an apostrophe means "Look out, here comes an 'S' ") are not making their money in the matter they claim. Here are a few examples:

• One such guru's "Privacy Policy" tells you he "may not" sell your personal information, but that you should "expect" he will. Why does he need a few bucks from selling telemarketing lists if he's making a gazillion dollars in real estate?
• Another guru's website is so plastered with affiliate marketing ads and pop-ups as to be nearly unreadable. Again, why the need for all this if he's doing so well in real estate?
• I watched a 92-minute (advertised as 70 minutes) "free webinar" by another expert. He kept professing that "time limits" wouldn't allow him to share all of his great "techniques." He never lacked time to pitch his expensive training program, however, which consumed almost the entire presentation. The few techniques he did discuss were merely common platitudes of the "Chicken Soup for Whatever" variety.
• My personal favorite is the guy with the flashy video trailer for a new (and doubtless expensive) software program he's releasing in January. The website is full of "testimonials" to the greatness of the software, even though there is no description anywhere of what the software actually does. The mountebank himself says he "can't tell you" what the software does. I clicked a training link on his site, where he and an associate spent six minutes hemming and hawing over something on the web called "Google."

I did receive, via UPS, the "Multiple Streams of Income" package from EWI I was promised for attending their free, three-day event. The whole package weighed in at 11 pounds. So far, the book doesn't thrill; it is mostly regurgitations of Mr. Allen's earlier works plus conventional wisdom you can find anywhere. I have to laugh when he talks about network marketing and affiliate marketing as roads to wealth. So far, I've lacked both the time and the motivation (given what I've already seen) to wade through the workbooks and CDs.

By the way, if you want to know how Robert Allen made however much it was he made in one day on the Internet, here's the secret: he spent nine months pre-selling his mailing list before he issued his challenge. You can do it, too, if you don't need the money for nine months and have a mailing list like Robert Allen's.

At EWI, I was advised to concentrate for 6-12 months on assignment of contracts. I was told to round up my investor network first, then go hunting. This technique also is known as "bird-dogging." It still requires a certain amount of up-front cash for inspections, appraisals, and earnest money deposits. My own advice on the last is not to enter into a contract that specifies a non-refundable earnest money deposit. If the property fails inspection (according to your own criteria) you don't want to be out both the the inspection fee and the deposit.

I've played phone tag with a funding source for a couple of days now. I'll post results when we finally have a chance to speak.