FortuneBuilders.com is an online education website that teaches its members the ins and outs of real estate investing. Run by Than Merrill, Paul Esajian, and JD Esajian of A&E’s “Flip This House,” FortuneBuilders claims to have courses available to people of all levels of real estate investment experience.
Though this may seem like an odd time to become involved with real estate investment, fans of the show “Flip This House” understand that the concept behind Merrill’s investment theory is buying homes cheaply and finding ways to quickly and affordably fix them up for a solid profit return on your investment.
How Does FortuneBuilders Work?
Fortune Builders functions completely as an educational company. Working with professionals in every aspect of the real estate industry, their course curriculum covers a wide range of real estate related topics, including but not limited to what to look for when buying an investment property, what remodeling projects offer good investment returns, how to deal with the tax implications of quickly buying and selling property, and how to successfully market and sell your property when the time comes.
Having recently been written up in Inc. magazine, FortuneBuilders is growing quickly. Perhaps one of the best reasons why is the wide variety of ways they handle their classes. You can take an in person seminar from one of the three owners or many faculty members referred to as a 4 Day Bootcamp seminar, which is a type of crash course to being successful in the real estate industry.
In addition to that, Merrill himself offers a brand new webinar each week on a topic relevant to investing in today’s volatile real estate market. They also offer eBooks and online classes, in addition to a selection of DVD series on a variety of topics.
Finally, they offer the FortuneBuilders Mastery Implementation Coaching Program to a select group of members at a time. This series includes in-depth training from a variety of professionals who have been and continue to be successful in the real estate industry.
Is FortuneBuilders Right For You?
Fortune Builders claims to work with people of all different levels of experience, but what they aren’t clear about on their web page is what sort of resources you must have at your disposal to begin a career in real estate investing.
A quick glance of their DVD training series will be enough to stop many people, as the DVD training courses are priced at $1,197.00 each. A further investigation shows that investing in many of their coaching programs often requires investments of thousands of dollars.
Though prices in the housing market as low as they’ve been in years, you’ll still need the time and money to purchase, fix up, and a market a home. As these figures vary widely from region to region and project to project, Fortune Builders wisely makes no promises as to what is required from you for potential success. But it does seem fairly clear that being serious about switching to a career in real estate investing will certainly require some significant investment capital.
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They really only want people a HANDFULL that will give them 30k
re think your situation, this will only make it worse
I have done credit card collection for 5+ years and I found it reckless and misleading to tell a room full of people whos back round and education level you dont know, to call their credit card companies and increase their limits as high as they can go and then tell them to take ALL their money off ALL their credit cards put that money in their checking account and then make deals, pay their bills and then use one credit card to pay another credit card. While I don't think his intentions where malicious and the way he explained it was correct IF and only if, you were to pay those cards back IMMEDIATELY, but to the uneducated person (ie.uneducated on credit cards) that was extremely dangerous and reckless, he never explained how this could ruin you credit if not done properly or prevent you from getting a loan in the future because of debit to income ratio among other things.. he sold a half true statement. all the while he was taking 10 credit cards out of his wallet and throwing them around the stage!! RECKLESS!! HE made it sound very " matter of factly" and everyone could use this technique on a day to day basis for normal expenses, he basically just taught an entire room of people how to do a check kiting with credit cards. The sales men they have on stage are handing out half facts and reckless information and selling a flawless dream of rainbows and butterflies. They are quick to show their success stories and gloat about how much money these people are making but never say anything about the people who failed after giving this company all their money. I want to know why those people couldn't make it work, I want to hear those stories, I want to be well rounded and educated about what I'm about to get myself in to, because if you are prepared and you know what's coming and you know the potential hangups, you will know how to deal with it, and being blindsided is the worst feeling! If something sounds too good to be true then chances are it is! They made me feel; on day one, I needed to make a decision NOW NOW NOW. I dont like high pressure sales from people giving out cherry picked information making it sound like a perfect solution to the drudgery of a 40 hour work week, I like to know both sides of the coin.. I told my friend, who was also there, that it sounded like a combination of a church revival, a used car salesman and a time share lecture. And the price for false security was...DRUM ROLL PLEASE... $50,000... word of advice..do your own research don't take anything or anyone at face value.. don't let someone sell you a dream when they are only giving you the upside and not educating you on the risk.. while I'm not telling anyone what to do.. I only say: see the whole picture before making any decisions. Be educated on all sides and don't let one guy, that you don't know, who you've never talked to, and only hear speak for 3 days determine you financial future. FINALLY: word of advice watch the movie "wolves of Wall Street" and see how smooth, convincing, quick talkers swindled people out of millions of dollars and destroying their lives with the sole intentions of making themselves rich . I'm Not saying his is the stock market but the principal of the movie remains the same!
what am doing, am writing down the story line they are using and the step by step on how to get people engaged and fooled. 90% of people sitting in this room think this is a business not realizing they are just buying a course 30K.
This totally unfair and unethical as they mislead PEOPLE. again Law doesn't protect fools.
Save your money read and read books that will cost you far far less than wasting time and energy on some clowns dancing around with fake smile.
What I find interesting is that none, I repeat, NONE of my friends have made a single dollar and it's been over 6 months since the seminars have passed.
But what is more interesting is that there are 2 groups of people:
A) My friends who did nothing after the seminar, and attempted no deals, and never took action due to fear.
B) My friends who took action, but lost significant amounts of money on their first couple deals. Most lost between $15,000 and $50,000 on their first deal alone.
I highly discourage anyone from attending and paying for these seminars, if the price is more than $500-$1000. The information they give is indeed worth up to $1,000 maximum. But it definitely is NOT worth $10,000 or $25,000 or anything more than $1,000. And I'm talking about their advanced 4 day seminars where they supposedly "spill their beans" and tell you how to get rich quick.
The fact is, they never tell you exactly how to do it, because they don't know. They are experts at selling INFORMATION, not real estate. Real estate experts don't host educational seminars. They quietly do real estate deals. You might find them at a local REI or seminar investment club. Or you might find them at one of the low cost, $100 or $1,000 seminars, just to network and hear whats new.
But you will not find highly successful real estate investors at these expensive seminars. You will only find noobie students as yourself, hoping to get lucky, only to wind up in serious debt at a high interest rate.
Summary: Buy a book about real estate investing, and read it. It has the same information these expensive seminars do. Don't give away $25,000 for information. Use that money for your first deal. Be careful using hard money lenders, because they are not forgiving, nor is the bank. Use your common sense. Go network with local investors and become their friends.
I learned so much more just from being genuine friends with an ACTUAL real estate investor who I met at a local REI event. And he taught me for free! He even took me through his rehab projects from start to finish while it was being done, and showed me everything he was doing. Just because we were friends!
So with that said, good luck all, and keep your emotions in check. Imagine that you are successful as a real estate investor, and it will come true, even without spending any money educational courses, because you'll naturally become magnetic to success and draw the people into your life that you need to meet.
I am a business owner who never paid anyone to learn anything. What I did do was research things for myself and always looked for ways to minimize my expenses and to cut out the middleman.
The question is, what if anything can I do or say to change her mind about moving forward with this without feeling like a dream killer? I believe in dreams, however, I just hate it when the people I love wake up to find out get into college at the age of 16 and was one of three children who was asked to finish her final year of college abroad in Taiwan so she could master the Mandarin language. Before starting school I repeatedly instilled the importance of financial well being and debt management. Now that she is back in the U.S. she currently has a high credit score, no school debt or personal debt to speak of at the tender age of 21. In many ways she has a bright future and has not caused her mother or I any concern.
My daughter recently attended a FB meeting and is now convinced that this is the way to finally gain financial independence. Its almost like all the preparation and education have gone out the window after she listened to the speaker at the seminar over the weekend. She now wants to utilize her credit and her savings to invest in this course and I am not sure what to do in order to get her to understand that this is just a show and not a real opportunity at least not for her (its an opportunity for FB). She believes that these people have her best interest at heart and are willing to take her under their wing because she is African American and a fluent speaker of Mandarin. I believe that if they truly respected what she brings to the table and the markets she could reach they would be paying her instead of charging her for a show and an empty bag of tricks. My Ex wife and her seem hell bent on moving forward. They told me about this just to make sure that they could not be accused of shutting me out of this decision after having me invest heavily in her education over the past years. I am conflicted because I am 100 per cent sure that she will loose her investment. Similarly, I am also sure that if she really wants to be successful at this or anything else she has to be willing to do what she did when she committed herself to learning Mandarin. She has to go to the "mother land", learn from the source and exercise due diligence and good that the reality of their dream is nothing less than a nightmare.
Please advise,
Concerned parent
INTELLIBIZ.COM THIS IS AN EXCELLENT REAL ESTATE COURSE UNDER $100 AND COMES WITH WEBSITE, LIFETIME COACHING, EBOOKS, AND A GUARANTEE IMMEDIATE DOWNLOADS AND HARD COPIES OF ALL COURSE INFORMATION AND TONS OF OTHER IMPORTANT INFORMATION GOODIES
CHECK IT OUT YOU WILL SEE YOU DO NOT NEED TO SPEND 33,000.
This to me is a much better course...cause if i can come up with 33,000 for fortune builders I can use this money for my deals...there are many that will help you just like when you deal with fortunebuilders. can you imagine how much wealth they have accumulated based on the lack of confidence possessed. Plus fortune builder stays only a year holding your hand and after you give them their initial 33,000 during the year you are in training they will be extracting thousands more from you... It is all so not worth their sales manipulative brain washing tactics
It is stressed over and over: honesty, integrity, being transparent, 'people first, profits second'. Nothing could be further from the truth. There is nothing honest about their intent. They are talking out of both sides of their mouth.
Finally, they stress 'time management' and 'optimizing' your time. THIS was the best part of the seminar. Since I lost 2 days of my life that I will never get back, I decided not to go back the 3rd day and waste yet another valuable day of my life.
http://www.bbb.org/blog/2012/07/real-estate-investment-seminars-promise-millions-in-reality-they-mostly-just-empty-your-wallet/ . When you go to this site see how NM links all the companies above all together. The people that worked for those companies are working at Fortune builders.
Also go to this link http://www.bizapedia.com/nv/TOP-INVESTORS-CLUB-LLC.html See who the members are at Top Investors club. Christine Kasper, Elisa Stabile, Mike Kasper, Scott Bell.
This is what NM posted. Go to the link http://www.bbb.org/blog/2012/07/real-estate-investment-seminars-promise-millions-in-reality-they-mostly-just-empty-your-wallet/ See below
If your discussing Real Estate Pickers from California then yes they probably are a SCAM just as there previous company Millionaire Mentor Group (MMG) proved to be a SCAM. MMG used bait and switch tactics and a host of other tricks to SCAM individuals of their money.
Scott D Bell was the CEO and President of MMG now he is the owner of Real Estate Pickers and Stategic Coaching Alliance which may also be SCAMMING Cdn’s as the above reports seem to indicate.
Scott D Bell has a past record of these sort of SCAMMING business practices such as with Capital Investment Systems, followed by Global Resource Network Inc DBA as Nevada Global Resource Network Inc in the state of California. Scott Bell’s name is also connected to Financial Power Group along with Chief Denny and his attorney Rob Kovalsky of Kovalsky and Associates in California, and to Top Investors Club LLC along with Mike Kasper. He is connected to numerous others as well. Many of the above are notoriuos (in the wild west) for their SCAMS.
Scott D Bell recently declared bankrupcy but this isn’t stopping him. He may now be trying to hook up with Troy Stevens of Digital Success Institue from Utah. Digital is doing a seminar in Ottawa Canada soon along with the Steve Martel group. Hopefully this information will help others to sit up and take notice of what’s happening in this industry.
So, let’s go back in time to go forward and get to the present. Scott Bell was CEO and President of Capital Investment Systems and Global Resource Network back from 1993-2002. Elisa Stabile was the Vice President of sales and marketing for Capital Investment Systems and Global Resource Network from 1993-2002. I’ll repeat that VP of Sales and Marketing. She is second in charge of their marketing and sales tactics. She is now with FortuneBuilders. Mike Kasper worked for them as a road crew speaker for the same duration of time. He is now with Fortunebuilders. Under this company, for 9 years, they promoted several different programs from notes to foreclosures to flipping etc.. None of these people above that worked for these companies were Real estate investors during these 9 years but they claimed to be. The only investing they did was taking Millions of dollars of those people’s money for 9 years and spending it. Look up those two companies see the complaints. Go to the rip off report and read the reports. See what the Federal Trade Commission had to say and see how they were implicated in “Operation Show Time” which target seminars selling fraudulent Business opportunities. Also, they were told by the Attorney Generals office to “cease and desist” for misleading business practices. State Attorney General Office 1-517-373-7117. Case# 98-182. See below
It appears that Global Resource Network assumed its business under a new name, parallel to numerous complaints and a previous derogatory rating with the BBB.(Click Here). There has been a warning issued by the BBB, and a cease and desist order imposed on them by the Attorney Generals office for misleading business practices. State Attorney General Office 1-517-373-7117, Case Number 98-182.
According to the Federal Trade Commission, Global Resource Network Seminar was implicated in the report entitled: Operation "Show Time" Targets Seminars Selling Fraudulent Business Opportunities and Investments FTC, State Law.
It is highly probably that seminar instructors at the Global Resource Network Seminar implied that this was a great and easy home business, with deliberate intent to deceive. They made a lot of money as they held high pressure sles, for more and more expensive products to a trapped captive audience. These materials are sold for cheap or even for FREE: example "How To Get Started Profiting From Notes
Even if you have not opened the box and tried the system, or faulted yourself..think again. This lucrative business opportunity as depicted by seminar instructors does not exist. A New York Post reporter went in under cover to investigate this home business opportunity. Results: One year and 5 months after the course, the cummulative profit from an entire group of students (some who worked very hard in the business), was less than $1200. The student who made some money, is still about $4,945 (thousands) in the hole + all expenses incurred by the cost of labor and time. Source (Washington Post)
Voice Heard Around the Globe
For those who have had a negative experience with Global Resource Network, American Investment Group, Capital Investment Systems, Don Burnham / Discount Buyers Association or Russ Whitney's MPAP / Leasecomm contract, we need your testimony to support a law suit and government investigation. As most do not have the time, to file with the FTC, FBI, CA AG/ and legal firms, please forward a note about your experience below, and we will do the legwork for you.
Include the dollar amount you lost and hardship incurred as a result of the financial loss. Please pass the information along to anyone you met at the seminar, and have them do the same.
So, now Capital Investments/Global Resource Network are forced after 9 years to shut down because of all the lawsuits. 1993-2002. After they close those individuals above assume business as usual under Financial Power group LLC. If you look them up Scott Bell is listed as owner according to the BBB filing but not with the same guru’s as with the previous company. It last 3 years and they close. Then those 4 individuals, as I showed you above, start Top Investors Club in 2005. Not much else for that club out there on the internet. I guess these great investors didn’t do too much investing. I guess their own programs that they sold for 9 years couldn’t help them. 4 years go by. Then Millionaire Mentor Group in 2009 pops up,(dba Scott Bell Profits in Paper), which surprisingly has the same address as Capital and Global Resource Network. 2010 Jimmy Durante Del Mar CA 92014. Just a different suite #. Scott Bell as CEO and President and guess who else was with him?
There, we just made the connection between Top investors Club, where you can see they were all principals, all the way back through time and all the companies they created and worked for. Scott Bell goes off and as you read before continues on with other companies like Real Estate Pickers. Elisa Stabile and Mike Kasper end up with none other than Fortune Builders. As of February 2012 –present, according to her Linkedln report dated 2012 was the “Preview Manager”. That means she’s in charge of all the previews where they ask you for $200. She’s the manager of all the previews. Mike Kasper, according to social media lists his education as FORTUNE BUILDERS MASTERY COLLEGE CLASS 2012.
So, what do you do when you are in charge as Road Crew manager at Fortune Builders? You get all the people that worked for, Robert Allen and Capital Investments and Global Resource Network and Financial Power Group and Millionaire Mentor Group, which if you recall were all in SAN DIEGO and BTW where Fortune Builders is and you put them to work.
Mike Kasper is in Ottawa today speaking for Fortune Builders AUG 15 2015. Woody Wolden is a speaker for Fortune Builders and worked for Capital Investments, Global Resource Network and Financial Power Group under Elisa Stabile. He worked out on the road crews and at the trainings for them. If you google his name now there is a page by Fortune Builders Entitled “CRUSHER”. Erin Marron, is on Fortune Builders road crew as well. She worked under Elisa Stabile at Capital Investments/Global Resource Network. There is also Mike Clodfelter who worked for Capital and Global and Financial as a road crew member and now with Fortune Builders.
These are the people that are out on Fortune Builders road crews trying to sign you up for their training. They are the same people that had been traveling around the country from state to state and town to town for 20 years telling you how they have made all kinds of money in real estate. Each company they had a different guru they promoted. They jump from company to company and guru to guru. They do this because they build up a worse and worse reputation from “training” all these people in how to make money in Real Estate and the Attorney Generals in every state start investigating them because of all the complaints and they shut down. They claim they are in the business and making money in the business but they’re not. They are all paid commissions on each sale. You can’t be traveling around the country 25 days out of every month enrolling people in the 3day training and be investors. Also, ask to see the transactions these individuals have done. Checks from deals they have done and they won’t have them. Oh and of course they will have a line when you ask like “it’s not about me it’s about you”. Or, “I don’t disclose my financials”. Always the same as all the other Real Estate seminars before with some of the same cast of characters. Why would they employ these people that fleeced so many thousands of people out of millions of dollars? If you are so LEGIT then why employ these people? If these people have been investing for 20 years with all these companies before why aren’t they rich by now? Oh yes I almost forgot. It’s because they are in the seminar business and make their entire living off commissions gained by selling real estate trainings while claiming to be investors as well.
I am going to be sending a file of all the information I have to the SEC and to the U.S. attorney General as well as State Attorney Generals.
For all of you that have given money to these people come together and file complaints. Contact your State Attorney General and demand they investigate. Contact the Federal Trade Commission. Contact and complain. This is the only way you have a chance in getting your money back. For all of those who are thinking about it. If you read this and sign up you deserve what happens to you.
Regarding the consecutive training for $35,000, $25,000 and $20,000, it is up to the individual to decide. And they said it repeatedly that, success is not guaranteed. But for me still I believe it is quite expensive. And it makes me wondering that are they really RE investors or a company making a big money from these huge training revenues. What I would like to see is their accounting report so that I can observe which part of revenue streamline is bigger in the income statement.
As for the learning try things like biggerpockets.com and youtube.
PS I am not a "Plant"
See people in the Mastery program do not have the time to feed into these kinds of sites and blogs because they are out there making deals. Think about that.