Deepak Malhotra, Investor & Landlord, Cheney WA,  99004

Which Real Estate Guru Should I Follow?


It is important to realize that most courses that are promoted on late night infomercials are designed to generate a profit through sales of courses and materials.  The gurus in question may or may not have really been successful. Review my previous post on no money down schemes and note that, while they may work occasionally, you will be searching far and wide for a seller dumb enough to sell to someone with no cash and no credit rating.  And, if you are successful, you will probably be paying more than a property is worth and may be taking on the risk of a due-on-sale clause being triggered.

That being said, there are a couple of courses that I enjoyed and that I thought contained unusual, useful, information.  One was a course on foreclosures by Alexis McGee, http://www.foreclosures.com  Another was on buying estate properties and was called Diamond Farming by Gary Digrazia.

Better to hire a credit repair service to improve your credit score (if necessary), and buy your first property with a low down payment USDA or FHA loan (if you are struggling to scrape together a down payment).

There is some good information on real estate gurus as well as a list of gurus that are recommended and not recommended, here:  http://www.johntreed.com/Reedgururating.html

If you have a goal of learning how to invest in real estate, I suggest you start by reading books (as well as networking with established investors).  You will usually get a lot more value per dollar with a book than with a course pushed by an infomercial.

Some books I enjoyed and recommend include:

Real Estate Investing from A to Z by William Pivar

The Millionaire Real Estate Investor by Gary Keller; and

Landlording by Leigh Robinson

I also recommend that you join your local landlord association.  They will have form leases for purchase, discounts on services, and additional good networking.  For motivation, you can also join a local real estate investment club.  There is a list of groups here:  http://www.reiclub.com/real-estate-clubs.php  Note that some of these will be on the “creative” (high risk) side.  Get away from any club that tries to sell you courses or seminars.