(Image by Stephen Dann via CC BY-SA 2.0 )
I hate contrarian arguments. Do you know people who purposely pick arguments to hype themselves into believing something they know they shouldn’t? I have a relative who would pick arguments to hype himself into going to those real estate seminar scams that are heavily promoted on late-night TV infomercials.
It’s hard to understand why people are attracted to such things.
Paying someone, a motivational speaker, a wealthy person, or a real estate, “expert,” to reveal the secrets of easy wealth attainment is a futile exercise in procrastination and eventual self-defeat.
Also, paying someone to make you feel good about the potential to become financially secure is a waste of money.
My relative paid $300 to hear someone peddle motivational witticisms and offer publicly available information about real estate investing.
After returning from the seminar, my contrarily combative relative never mentioned it again.
Paying for Vicarious Ambition?
The point is that real estate seminar scams are designed to get you to pay for registrations, books, podcasts, memberships, and reservations for future seminars.
Consider: the average price for a multi-day real estate seminar is a few hundred and up to $1,000 per day. Some seminars can cost as much as $5,000.
The average American salary is only about $47,000. So, where is the wisdom is paying someone $300, $500, $1,000, or $5,000 to tell you can get rich via real estate investment?
Especially with no guarantee of success?
So, how would you know if you were being scammed at a real estate seminar? Here are some dead giveaway hints.
Seminar Speakers Flaunting Promises of Luxury
Prudent real estate investing takes time. There is a lot to must learn if you want to make the right purchases in the right markets and profit.
If your seminar speakers are entertaining you with promises of how rich you’ll become and flaunting their own wealth as proof of the possibility, you’re being scammed.
You’re Peddled Information You Can Learn on Your Own
Foreclosure notices and soon to be auctioned properties are publicly available information. So is the number of local foreclosures. You can learn about the process of buying properties online yourself.
If you’re given random statistical data without a context of how to use it for personal monetization, then how useful can it be to you in a seminar?
Think about it: how much are you going to learn about real estate investment in two hours anyway? Or a weekend? Seminars usually pad their pitches and marketing ploys with statistics to look authoritative.
You’re Pressured to buy Things
At many of these seminars premium memberships, books, registration to future seminars and speaking engagement are aggressively peddled for sale.
Think about it: you are going to be pressured to buy a series of books, podcasts, and access to future speaking events so that you’ll learn someone’s secrets.
How much are you willing to pay to learn secrets you need to know now but won’t have access to until you buy a series of products?
Overly Optimistic and Motivational Presentations
Real estate investing is volatile and unpredictable. If your seminar hosts talk only about profit in overly optimistic tones then they are selling you good vibes, not useful information.
Check it Out
The title of this piece is a reference to a famous Star Wars quote. Sometimes you only know you’re in a trap when you’re in it.
Don’t overly hype yourself to do something you wouldn’t normally do. Especially if the impetus is the aggressive persuasion of infomercial spokespeople.
If you are interested in attending a real estate seminar, vet the organizers. Are the featured speakers famous for sharing useful real estate investing tips or just for appearing at seminars and selling products?
Talk to people who have attended previous seminars. Find out what topics will be discussed beforehand.
If you are going to spend hundreds or thousands of dollars for a real estate seminar, get referrals from prior attendants. That is more sensible than trusting seminar spokespeople promising you instant fortunes on late-night TV infomercials.
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Allen Francis was an academic advisor, librarian, and college adjunct for many years with no money, no financial literacy, and no responsibility when he had money. To him, the phrase “personal finance,” contains the power that anyone has to grow their own wealth. Allen is an advocate of best personal financial practices including focusing on your needs instead of your wants, asking for help when you need it, saving and investing in your own small business.