The best real estate guru?

Maybe they aren’t all bad?

There are a few thousand real estate gurus out there. Who is the best, in your opinion? Who is the worst? And please explain why.

David,

I’ve read many of the big names and have learned a lot from them. The best is Greg Habstritt from Calgary. Take his course if you can. http://www.masterwealthtraining.com/

Why? His course is an intensive 5 day course that begins a few months earlier with a series of teleseminars with “required” readings of some pretty outstanding books. It ends with followup forums and a feeling of belonging to a group of real estate investors from around the US, Canada, and some from other countries. The focus is not only real estate but looking at the bigger picture of where you’re going with your life.

I wouldn’t ignore the other “gurus” out there. Read Rolf de Roos and Robert Kiyosaki. And definitely read “Think and Grow Rich” by Napoleon Hill.

hnderson,

I guess thats probably what I’m not looking for. Why is it that the real estate gurus and an real estate investment industry feel it necessary to sell the “life plan” approach. Why can’t it be a simple investment plan and not a life plan.

David,

There’s a really simple answer to that. If they’re really concerned about helping their students, they want them to be able to keep what they get. I’ve no doubt you know of people who are great investors but have nothing – or the classic lottery winner who has nothing a few years later. Read Napoleon Hill’s book. It’s not about investing. It’s about chosing to be successful. It’s a classic that all investors should read.

hnderson,

I agree that many potential investors may need to rethink other facets of their lives to become successful investors. I just don’t think thats me, maybe I’m not looking for a guru. Perhaps that confused the conversation.

In your opinion, who has the best investment plan? For a few different techniques. Foreclosure, Short sales, Property Management, Flipping? Who is the expert in each category?

David,

The “gurus” have a niche. If you tell us which real estate investing niche you are interested in, maybe we can give you a more definitive answer.

If you are just starting out and looking for a basic primer on real estate, I suggest Carleton Sheets. I got his course when I first started back in the 80s. I bet a lot of successful investors over the years started with the Carleton Sheets materials.

Really, the obvious answer to this question is: “Me, of course!” (just kidding)

Feel free to look at aussierodney.com for my perspective.

Any other recommendations for Carleton Sheets?

I think thats what I’ll go with.

Hi David:

This is Greg Habstritt, to whom Harold previously referred to. I just happened across this thread and felt compelled to comment on it.

First, I must say, I don’t refer to myself as a ‘guru’, but I guess that happens when you teach a lot of people investing and financial strategies.

In any case, I can’t say I normally respond to every post out there that mentions my name. However, yours was particularly compelling for me, because a lot of people feel like you do (and I did as well), and I wanted to give you my perspective.

It’s clear that you’re looking for ‘investment strategies’ and not all the other stuff that comes with it – like psychology, habits, core values, etc.

Harold is completely right (partly because he’s been through my program). And Harold, thank you for the VERY kind words. My wife actually came across this posting when she Googled my name for fun, and she was very touched to read such a beautiful post about her husband – made her very proud!

Anyway David, I will tell you that, without ANY question, if all you seek are ‘investment strategies’, but you do not place equal (or more) emphasis on the ‘soft issues’ that are involved with money and investing, you simply will never achieve your financial potential.

This explains why 80% or more of lottery winners are broke 3 years later, often in worse financial condition that they started. Why sports stars end up wrecked financially. Why you’re seeing Ed McMahon and Evander Holyfield in foreclosure right now.

It’s because knowing how to make money is only one element of wealth creation. If you only focus on the strategies to create wealth, you will NEVER hold onto it long term.

I know this from experience. I made a bunch of money, and then lost pretty much all of it. I then decided to really figure investing and money out, and that’s made all the difference in the world.

I love teaching people about real estate strategies, but I also know that if I don’t teach all of the soft issues around it, I won’t have very many successful students in the long run. They’ll just continue running to seminar after seminar, seeking the ‘magic pill’ or silver bullet, the secret strategy that makes them rich overnight.

I believe in this so strongly that I am in the process of writing a book, and have developed an entire model on what I’m talking about.

For my clients, I just created a new online presentation (it literally went live yesterday), and right now it’s public access and not placed behind the members-only wall.

So here is a link to that video, and I would STRONGLY recommend that you invest the time watching it. It’s 75 minutes long, and there’s a lot of content in it. I promise it doesn’t sell ANYTHING at all, as it’s developed as part of a curriculum that people are paying for.

It refers to other content that members are going to getting so don’t worry about that. It’s designed to make sense on its own.

But, just the timing of your post and the fact we haven’t moved it into the members only site, means I can share it with you for now.

I’d be interested in hearing what you think about it, because I think if you keep an open mind, you’ll see why seeking out ‘the strategy’ is a logical, but flawed, approach .. and you’ll understand why most people never DO achieve financial success – because they’re constantly seeking the strategy, instead of realizing that the strategy itself is really not that important.

Of course, you can say “I don’t need that stuff, I already have that” which you’ve said in your post above. But with all due respect, if you say that and stick to that story, then you’ll continue chasing the wrong train.

By the very nature of what you’ve said, I know that there is information you need to learn, and I think this video I created will give it to you.

Let me know what you think about it and I’ll try to come back to this site for feedback.

You can access the video I created here:

www.masterwealthserver.com/MCKickstart

It will only be there for a week or so, because then we’ll get it moved into our member’s site. The truth of why it’s accessible to public access now is because we haven’t been able to get it working inside the member’s site!

I hope you enjoy it and that it gives you another step in your journey.

Regards, Greg Habstritt

P.S. Among dozens of programs I’ve done and thousands of books I’ve read, the Carleton Sheets program is as good basic information as any. Truly, I believe ANY education is good education as it makes you think differently, so the Sheets program is a good one to start with if you’re new to real estate investing.