Of Real Estate Gurus and Their (Cheaper) Alternatives

Gurus are defined as spiritual teachers in matters of fundamental concern who impart wisdom and initiations to those with less awareness and experience. Some are altruistic – think Gandhi or, as pictured, Yoda. Some are outright crazies who pursue their twisted ideas of domination and control over their followers – think David Koresh of the Waco tragedy. However, the majority of modern-day gurus are innocuous business people leveraging their brand to make money.

They position themselves as experts in a particular industry, but the industry they are actually in is educating and motivating folks. Their target market is those who might believe they could benefit from their message. Their marketing plan is to identify those people and convince them that what they will hear from that particular teacher (or guru) is worth paying a specific sum of money.

There is nothing wrong with making money by educating and motivating people. There is also nothing wrong in investing in education and hoping that this investment would pay off in the future. My concern is specifically with real estate gurus and seminars that charge thousands to “initiate” you in real estate business.

We’ve covered some of my specific concerns in our previous blogs about the real estate seminars, so let’s not beat the dead horse further. The bottom line is that these seminars or those real estate gurus might impart a lot of theoretical information you still might have difficulty making sense of unless you completed your first rehab. They want to maintain their own “mystique” and would not tell you one simple truth – that the real estate investing business is not rocket science.

Real Estate Investing is Not Rocket Science

Psst, let me tell you a secret, and it will be free of charge. If you’ve been able to successfully purchase your own home, you know 70% of what you need to know about real estate investing. If you have some seed capital to invest, you’re already ahead of the rest of the crowd that has nothing to offer but dreams of grandeur. If you are gung-ho about learning, ready to ask questions and pro-actively listen to the answers, you can acquire the information you need cheaper and faster than attending an overpriced seminar or a real estate guru presentation (also, see our blog on how to become a real estate investor). Last but not least, if you need to pay someone thousands of dollars to get you pumped up to take the first steps towards entrepreneurship, perhaps you should stick with a 9-to-5 kind of job.

Lack of Funds is #1 Obstacle to Real Estate Investing

The main obstacle we see to becoming a real estate investor is not the lack of knowledge or the lack of motivation. It is the lack of funds. It’s actually the number one obstacle to becoming an investor of any type: without money you can invest in stocks or cryptocurrency either. So here is another free bit of advice to accelerate your savings rate: don’t spend your hard-earned money where you don’t need to. We live in the information age where much of the information is free. Leverage it to cut your costs of doing business. In our next blog, we will talk about the guru-alternatives: the real estate experts that can offer advice that is cheaper and more practical than any real estate seminar can even come close to.

New Funding Resources is a hard money lender that works with real estate investors in Maryland, Washington, DC and Virginia. For over twelve years, we’ve openly shared our advice and expertise on increasing your rehab’s ROI and minimizing your risks. Whether you’re just embarking on your first flip or are a seasoned investor, we will add value to your transaction by offering you unparalleled leverage and service.