It seems that whenever you are interested in investing in real estate, you get inundated with large font, glaring colors and titles promising you the sun, moon and stars if you take their seminar (a bargain at $2999), buy their inspirational tapes (what a deal at $199.99), and/or purchase their motivational DVD and book combo (only $ 99.99? Practically giving them away!).

When the eager investor signs up, the "guru" delivers speeches and media that are long on fantasy and short on reality. These people prey on greed, pure and simple. They capture the attention of people who want to believe that the path to riches is not paved with long, hard work in the beginning.

It's certainly true that real estate investments can improve your finances and diversify your portfolio. It is also true that there are many people who are quietly well-to-do as a result of careful investing in real estate. The thing is, most of these people worked hard, gave up luxuries and invested wisely instead of falling for claims of easy money.

What these fake gurus will do is emphasize the life you "could" have and gloss over the work real estate investment takes. They describe themselves with as many adjectives as possible instead of actually giving you verifiable information as to their competence. They gloss over any problems common to real estate investment.

Fake gurus also don't want you to talk to real professionals, like REALTORS(R), because a good REALTOR(R) will lose no time informing you about the truth of your position in the real estate world and then guide you to sensible investments that are likely to give you a good return for the money and time you are willing to put in.

Not every person conducting a seminar on real estate investment is a shyster. Look for people who don't promise you the moon, who don't use flashy buzzwords instead of actual facts and who have verifiable references. Do they work in the real estate industry? Do they have references from that industry? What is the focus of the seminar? Someone who is willing to give you the facts on what could go wrong is much more valuable to you than someone who charges you a grand to tell you nothing about what you need to know.

There are people out there getting rich by holding seminars with an emphasis on motivational material instead of facts and strategies. They will throw a lot of buzzwords into their shop talk and intimate that you a) are a fool b) going to stay POOR for the rest of your life and/or c) are too ignorant to understand their 'vision'. If you show any sign of critical thinking, they will attempt to deflect your questions with more buzztalk and/or unverifiable claims.

Don't fall for these scam artists. Put your trust in an agent who will make your goals a priority and won't charge you for their knowledge.

Posted by Steven Schneider on December 13, 2008 at 12:00 AM

About Steven Schneider
Steven Schneider is affliated with La Crosse Area Realty, which is located in La Crosse, WI. For further assistance please use the contact information located on the right.




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