Due Diligence Research & Real Estate

If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is...We've all heard it, but sometimes we still fall for it. 

Have you ever seen the show on HGTV called 'Flip or Flop'?

My fiancé and I recently attended a real estate seminar from Tarek and Christina El Moussa's program, 'Flip Advantage'.  The program seemed to have high hopes for new information regarding real estate investments, and as the seminar was promoted from their TV series success, and was FREE, we did little research on the program prior to attending.

Shortly after arriving for the seminar, we realized that the presenters were only associates of the couple who were not there. Big deal, we wanted to learn more about real estate, we could care less about meeting celebrities. Within a short period of time, the presenters stated that for a small $2,000 investment they would be building an investment team with practically unlimited access to capital, promising up to $500,000.00 in immediate funding from their 'Investment Team' with 1-3% interest.

It sounded too good to be true, but so perfect for our business. We know how to identify houses, conduct research, make an informed decision, and present our findings to a team of investors, with our only limitation being capital.  As my mind started twirling at all the properties I could obtain for less than $500k, I couldn't help but start to listen more intently.

For the small (as they put it) $2,000 investment, you would be required to attend a 3 day seminar in the upcoming weeks that lasted approximately 27 hours over three days. Still interested, the presenters continued on that you were GUARANTEED to get your $2,000 back in one of two ways: 1) You would be required to find and complete one deal within 90 days, which would get your money back right away, or 2) After 6 months of not completing a deal, they would refund the $2,000 and basically tell you to walk away.

Fair enough, still interested.

After Selling the Dream and providing the audience with one or two small tricks on how to identify bad bank lists and properties, we were informed that we must pay for the seminars today to attend and begin having access to their abundance of networks and capital investors.  Oh, and the speaker had a flight that left town in an hour and a half, so we must hurry.  Still locked in mentally to the $500,000 capital access, I began to stand up after the speaker was finished to sign up for the seminar. 

Luckily, my fiance, and fortunate business partner, was not so amazed.

As we retrieved the registration and payment form, she had a check in her spirit. Me being more risky, tried to convince her that this was a good deal: all the capital we would need, with no risk of losing our money based on the guarantees, right? Wrong.

We left the convention without signing up, and decided to do a little bit of further research before proceeding. Thank God (sincerely) for her, because we found out that we were guaranteed NOTHING from the PAID seminars. If we would have signed up for the initial $2,000 we would have been attempted to be tricked into another $27,000, then in upwards of $50,000 after that.

Point being, if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is. Do your research, and make smarter informed decisions and financial investments. When you find your next investment property, visit www.HomeFaxInspect.com and www.NationwideHomeFax.com to Know the Home Before You Buy.