James Smith Scam Review | Complaints Investigation: James Smith customers can feel safe confident & secure when doing business with James Smith Real-estate, James Smith Coaching Company and JamesSmithSeries.com. James Smith reinforces commitment to 100% customer satisfaction. James Smith stopped doing business with of 3rd party investor education companies, he had no ownership of or direct control over any customer service issues - That has all changed now. Read how James took the situation into his own hands. Draper Utah

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*UPDATE: James Smith - James Smith Real Estate strongly demonstrate their commitment to total customer satisfaction through the Rip-off Report Corporate Advocacy Business Remediation & Customer Satisfaction Program.

I attended this seminar for the first time 2 days ago. I just finished real estate school and my teacher told us to go to these seminars but DON'T BUY ANYTHING. I decided to take his advice. I even wrote myself a note on the invitation I had received in the mail "Don't buy anything" because I know how I can get sucked into stuff sometimes. Well, these guys were SO good, that I did want to buy everything they offered, except for one thing...I was broke. Being broke was my only saving grace.



By the time James Smith was done, I wanted to quit my 40-hour a week job and buy his program because I was so convinced that he could help me make it big in real estate, except for one thing...I was too broke! I couldn't even afford the cheapest thing he was offering, at $3,000.



Reading these comments here today really opened my eyes, especially about the software not working. I really liked the comment by the guy who said he raised his hand and asked for the scholarship and got the program for $500. You are really creative! You've got what it takes to succeed! And I wouldn't doubt that you have made the best of the program and are successful now.



I am not going to bash anyone for spending the $10,000 or more that day, but I also wanted to say that the power of positive thinking has a lot to do with whether you succeed or fail, and of course having a creative imagination helps too. Back in the early '90s when I was married, my husband bought Carleton Sheets. A lot of people call that a scam. My husband put a lot into it and did what that program told him to. We ended up buying 3 properties, and we picked them up really cheap, too. The only thing we did wrong and learned from is that we bought single family homes and hung onto them for rentals. Don't rent out single family homes, rent out duplexes instead because it is unlikely that they will both move out at the same time. In a single family home once they move out, you are stuck paying the whole mortgage till you find someone else which could be months.



I didn't read anything about anyone NOT being able to get their money back if it didn't work out, and I am very thankful for that, if that is true. I do believe in the power of positive thinking, it is what you make it, you become what you think about, so don't let disappointments discourage you. Stick to your dreams! Best of luck to you all!

I attended this sells bonanza today in Tucson AZ. You are right there is some valuable information but I was not convinced that I needed to spend $3000 for their kits. I'm convinced that each person must find their method for obtaining a good income. Not everyone is going to become a millionaire. Many times luck is involved and the right contacts. But, they do not tell you that.They pretend that you can operate in a bubble and that you don't need anyone but your own hard work and resources. Its just not true. They are selling the American Dream that everyone can become rich. You just need to buy their kits that answer all your questions and fulfill all your dreams. We must stop falling for their lies. Just look at the number of millionaires versus the poor and moderate income persons in this country, the odds are not good.

I attended this sells bonanza today in Tucson AZ. You are right there is some valuable information but I was not convinced that I needed to spend $3000 for their kits. I'm convinced that each person must find their method for obtaining a good income. Not everyone is going to become a millionaire. Many times luck is involved and the right contacts. But, they do not tell you that.They pretend that you can operate in a bubble and that you don't need anyone but your own hard work and resources. Its just not true. They are selling the American Dream that everyone can become rich. You just need to buy their kits that answer all your questions and fulfill all your dreams. We must stop falling for their lies. Just look at the number of millionaires versus the poor and moderate income persons in this country, the odds are not good.

I attended this sells bonanza today in Tucson AZ. You are right there is some valuable information but I was not convinced that I needed to spend $3000 for their kits. I'm convinced that each person must find their method for obtaining a good income. Not everyone is going to become a millionaire. Many times luck is involved and the right contacts. But, they do not tell you that.They pretend that you can operate in a bubble and that you don't need anyone but your own hard work and resources. Its just not true. They are selling the American Dream that everyone can become rich. You just need to buy their kits that answer all your questions and fulfill all your dreams. We must stop falling for their lies. Just look at the number of millionaires versus the poor and moderate income persons in this country, the odds are not good.

I attended this sells bonanza today in Tucson AZ. You are right there is some valuable information but I was not convinced that I needed to spend $3000 for their kits. I'm convinced that each person must find their method for obtaining a good income. Not everyone is going to become a millionaire. Many times luck is involved and the right contacts. But, they do not tell you that.They pretend that you can operate in a bubble and that you don't need anyone but your own hard work and resources. Its just not true. They are selling the American Dream that everyone can become rich. You just need to buy their kits that answer all your questions and fulfill all your dreams. We must stop falling for their lies. Just look at the number of millionaires versus the poor and moderate income persons in this country, the odds are not good.

I have to laugh, partly because I used to think the same way, that all the gurus are frauds, seminars are for suckers, etc..



The truth is, my wife and I have been Real Estate investing for 2 years now. We are in our 3rd deal and have been "shooting from the hip" so to speak. We had no defined direction or system. No seminars or $3000 book/tapes. But we were surround by others that have successful invested. All using different strategies and all have made money. We have made more equity than we could ever save up. The nature of the real estate industry is so incredible that you can turn almost every marginal deal into a profit with the right guidance and perseverance.



If you are searching the net making sure that this seminar is a scam, then you will be right. If you are searching for opportunities to make serious equity and become financially free, then you will be right. It is all about what you want to see. These SCAM review posts are not surprising given that 95% of all seminar attendees will not do single transaction. They know this, and you should to. The point is, the difference is YOU. If your only action is to justify your purchase, then you are not investing. I have to admit, it is intimidating starting something new and getting involved in large transactions. You just have to be that 5% that take action and focus on the deal, not whether or not the training is a scam. I do not regret this purchase. We got the 3-day with 12 week coaching. Fantastic event, great teachers, excellent networking opportunity. If I had this information before we started it would definitely made it easier and faster.



I have noticed that most of the successful investors are either 1) 20 somethings with nothing to loose, and 2) People who have succeeded other business ventures. The common denominator is that they took ACTION and weren't afraid to make mistakes (even if they are expensive mistakes). But remember that children learn to walk by falling down. Everybody makes mistakes is this business, but if you learn from it and come back stronger, you win.



Keep on trying and networking! You will succeed, but you won't find your success reading up on SCAMS!

I have to laugh, partly because I used to think the same way, that all the gurus are frauds, seminars are for suckers, etc..



The truth is, my wife and I have been Real Estate investing for 2 years now. We are in our 3rd deal and have been "shooting from the hip" so to speak. We had no defined direction or system. No seminars or $3000 book/tapes. But we were surround by others that have successful invested. All using different strategies and all have made money. We have made more equity than we could ever save up. The nature of the real estate industry is so incredible that you can turn almost every marginal deal into a profit with the right guidance and perseverance.



If you are searching the net making sure that this seminar is a scam, then you will be right. If you are searching for opportunities to make serious equity and become financially free, then you will be right. It is all about what you want to see. These SCAM review posts are not surprising given that 95% of all seminar attendees will not do single transaction. They know this, and you should to. The point is, the difference is YOU. If your only action is to justify your purchase, then you are not investing. I have to admit, it is intimidating starting something new and getting involved in large transactions. You just have to be that 5% that take action and focus on the deal, not whether or not the training is a scam. I do not regret this purchase. We got the 3-day with 12 week coaching. Fantastic event, great teachers, excellent networking opportunity. If I had this information before we started it would definitely made it easier and faster.



I have noticed that most of the successful investors are either 1) 20 somethings with nothing to loose, and 2) People who have succeeded other business ventures. The common denominator is that they took ACTION and weren't afraid to make mistakes (even if they are expensive mistakes). But remember that children learn to walk by falling down. Everybody makes mistakes is this business, but if you learn from it and come back stronger, you win.



Keep on trying and networking! You will succeed, but you won't find your success reading up on SCAMS!

It is good to see the comments on this site supporting James Smith. I say this not because I support the man or the company myself (I came to the site for a review after hearing him speak) but because I have seen again again where individuals or companies are slammed unjustly. I can't speak about the efficiency of his company or program (although I do have an associate that received a 22k refund after writing a letter to the company explaining why it wasn't working for him) but as a season real estate investor and business owner, and an attendee of many, many classes and seminars, I can speak to the propensity much of the public has to point fingers when things don't work out exactly as they think they should. When James spoke yesterday he made it very clear that he wasn't teaching a get rich program and I can speak from experience that success in any business venture includes lots of hard work and "sticktoitivness". Most likely I won't pay the money to attend his seminar because my company is already working in the markets and deal types he teaches about but I would have no problem dropping thousands of dollars to get education (in fact, I have, on several occasions). $5k, $10k or even $22k is a drop in the bucket that can be made by even learning one good piece of information. Shoot, I have made thousands of dollars on a transaction just by changing the wording on a contract. If you quit and are blaming others, get over it, get your butt in gear and work. Getting rich is simple (I can teach anyone how to do it, for free, in 5 minutes) but it isn't easy. Most people don't have the discipline or the willingness to sacrifice. Instead they go to one seminar after another hoping for the magic word or method that will be so easy that even they can become wealthy despite their laziness.

Hi,

I don't know what to tell the angry mob all I can say is what happened to me after the three day workshop. I am a speedy gonzales when I see something I like so ofcourse I wanted to purchase every product James Smith had but I couldn't because I didn't have any money.



I turned 22 right before I went to the 3 day workshop in October of 2006 and before I went I was just an accounting student. Now its January 2007 I'm still an accounting student but now I own my own real estate investing business, I purchased my own home in Brooklyn, New York (If you know anything about NY you know how expensive it can be), and am now in the middle of purchasing another property for investment purposes. Mind you I was too broke at first to take more of Jaimes Smith classes.



Maybe because I'm a student but I saw this as tuiton. I go to a private University so $3000 for a 3 day class is the same amount I pay for one 3 credit class at school so it added up to me. People look at me totally different now and it's only been a couple of months. I have more equity than my parents combined and right now all I want to do is thank James to his face but I told myself that I want to make my first million (hopefully before I turn 24) first before I do so. He didn't teach me by the way, his son did.



Also this 3 day seminar was the only thing my partner and I purchased. People called us afterwards from NRI and other agency offering us so many services for so much money. Thank God we were still broke! We learned to use the resources around us. I used the professors at my school who are accountants and friends who are lawyers and bankers for free advice to create our own business and to establish ourselves, saving us thousands of dollars. Learn to Network! Those that spent $20,000 at once I don't know what to tell you, next time don't be in such a rush. Yes, I want to invest in more classes but I'm 22 and even I know to take it step by step. My partner and I call the hotline for help all the time and they give us so much support. We email James son - the one that taught our class and his wife and they get back to us within 2 weeks time (Hey they have a life of their own too and we respect that).



Also before I went I had no credit and couldn't even get a gas station credit card now I have 5 credit cards and great credit and am more educated about taking care of my credit than my friends and I help educate them. I have told my new lawyer and mortgage brokers and friends things from this conference that have changed their lives as well.



One more thing, I almost didn't even go to the class and was about to ask for a refund because of the things I read here and because I started reading real estate books by myself. My friend who is now my business partner was the one who helped me go and the 3 day workshop blu all those books and these comments out the water within the first day. It rocked my world and changed my life. Hey it may not be for everyone but it was definately for me and I'm so glad I didn't listen to the comments here. Again I'm sorry for those who feel let down. I didn't want to share my experience so soon because its only been 3 months since the workshop, I just read these comments and thought maybe I should share my experience. Hope it helps someone.



Remember if you have money don't be so quick to throw it at every workshop. Take your time you may find that you really don't like the real estate business and end up not liking James Smith forever. And also I'm not rich-yet. I've just established a great foundation. Praise God! Do that first and then maybe think about taking more workshops.

OK.. I am not hear to offend anyone. BUt reading everything that went down I have to comment.



OK took the seminar in NYC Jan 3-5.

Lots of information to take in. If you followed a long you can get a great idea of what you need to do.

The Seminar was taught by Ryan, James son. Great guy. Smooth talker and his wife is on point as well.



I am a guy from the Bronx who paid $6000 for the 3 day plus mentor for 12 weeks. Now I was scared as well. Thats a lot of money to come out my pocket at one time.



But its one week later and I am working my first deal. The deal I am working is in Dallas.

Its a lot of home work you have to do but honestly everything can be done via email. I contacted a few agents in the areas I wanted to invest in. I feel as long as you hustle and make the calls the deals will come. I have not used any of my mentor calls yet.



I also contact the lawyer who is getting my trust set up. Also if I had the money I would have jumped on the Platinum band wagon.



Jennifer if you have any questions just email me. Or the other guy who has made a few deals. It is possible to make money.



I hope this helps alittle. I think you get out of it what you put into it.

Happy New Year All

I represent the company and respond to most expedited Customer Service concerns.



"Jennifer from Orlando"'s comments troubled us, mainly because we didn't know her identity so we could reply to her concerns. Jennifer had never contacted our company to express dissatisfaction; she simply contacted this website.



Jennifer's boyfriend had purchased an educational package in January, and after considerable effort, we were finally able to link the information in this complaint to him. I left multiple messages for her to contact me and discuss her concerns. Several weeks passed before she called me. When she did return my call, we discussed several options and have been able to amicably resolve each of her concerns. She is continuing with her real estate program and has expressed satisfaction with how the company responded to her concerns; given the opportunity.

Hello all!



First offI want to express my deepest sympathy to those that lost $$$. There are many scams out there and believe me. I got hit with a few of them.



So why did I invest with James Smith anyway? I don't know, but I did.



I attended the Learning Annex Wealth Expo in San Francisco in 2006, in which I attended the James Smith presentation. His speaking motivated so much that I invested $6k for his three-day workshop. Later that night, I did a research on the internet and found 99% negative responses. As you could imagine, my heart just dropped and I busted out in sweats. I barely had enough money to invest in this program, but I did anyway. There was a money back guarantee, so I said, what the hell and did it!



Anyway, I received a lot of information from the three-day seminar and got a coach. I don't know what happened to the other investors on this forum or in my class, but I at least made my money backand more. I knew NOTHING about real estate when I signed up for this program. I started reading a lot of books just to get basic knowledge, which was not even close. However, my coach helped a lot and always motivated me.



The most valuable thing I have learned from my whole experience was, Come up with solutionsnot excuses (My solution to myself). From day one, I have always made excuses. My coach would give me homework and I would always come up with some lame excuse. It took one day of just thinking and thinking about why I was not successful. From then on, I decided to stop getting ready to get ready and pull the trigger. Rather than waiting for the tire kicker buyers, I went out and found REAL buyers.



I have not made tons of money yet and am still working a full time job, I so far, I am happy with my progress and can see that I am on the road to bigger investments.



My lesson was that things would go the way you want, if you set goals and find solutions to problems. I am not saying that this is everyone's answer, but this certainly worked for me. Maybe it depends on the coach, and I feel I got a great coach! Sure he has taught me things I might have learned from a book or from someone for free. I at least made my money back and learned a lot from this experience.



Hope this helps.



I wish luck to all investors.

I am so grateful to everyones comments on James Smith and The Learnign Annex. I was very impressed by all the speakers they delivered a great preformance. I am sorry that all of you have lost your hard earned money by buying into the scams. I wanted to as well, but have little cash flow so I was unable to . Boy am I glad I did research on the internet the next day.

To Donald Trump,Tony Robbins and Robert Kiyoski you all should be ashamed to have your name associated with The Learning Annex. They are praying on innocent hard working people.

Kirsten

I am so grateful to everyones comments on James Smith and The Learnign Annex. I was very impressed by all the speakers they delivered a great preformance. I am sorry that all of you have lost your hard earned money by buying into the scams. I wanted to as well, but have little cash flow so I was unable to . Boy am I glad I did research on the internet the next day.

To Donald Trump,Tony Robbins and Robert Kiyoski you all should be ashamed to have your name associated with The Learning Annex. They are praying on innocent hard working people.

Kirsten

I am so grateful to everyones comments on James Smith and The Learnign Annex. I was very impressed by all the speakers they delivered a great preformance. I am sorry that all of you have lost your hard earned money by buying into the scams. I wanted to as well, but have little cash flow so I was unable to . Boy am I glad I did research on the internet the next day.

To Donald Trump,Tony Robbins and Robert Kiyoski you all should be ashamed to have your name associated with The Learning Annex. They are praying on innocent hard working people.

Kirsten

I attended the Learning Annex Millionaire seminar this past weekend in NYC, and James Smith did his presentation on Friday. It was definitely a live infomercial, and even I was excited at the end to sign up for the 3 day class. But for 3 grand??



I waited till the end of the class during the Q&A session that he did, and after waiting almost an hour, he finally picked me to ask my question.



My question was that if you have to be in it to win it, and dont get anywhere if you dont ask, then could I get a scholarship for the 3 day?



Im going to the 3 day for $500. So obviously it isnt all about the money, and like anything else, you get what you put into it.



Im hoping to get something out of this, and will not be spending 20 grand on some additional classes - you guys are absolute suckers who did -

I think Im going to just find out for myself. If its bad, then I only lost $500.

There is good AND bad. In summary, I think James Smith actually believes he's a good guy, and he does do SOME good. The problem is he ALSO does shameless "guru" stuff, and is NOT the detail guy who runs the company. He's just the pitch man. The company itself is VERY poorly run - except their marketing arm which tries to sell you more stuff. There are scams within this organization, AND there are also honest people trying to educate you. So you get BOTH. But that's getting ahead of myself - let's start at the beginning:



Heard him at Learning Annex Wealth Expo in San Francisco in April 2006. My girlfriend loved him, so he was the only real estate guru we signed up for. About $1500 for a 3-day seminar in SF a few weeks later that we both could attend for the price. James Smith's son Ryan Smith taught the class. Day 1 highlight was Ryan explaining that one way to get money for real estate deals is from Credit Cards, so the homework that night was to get your card companies to raise your limit to $100k or more. AmEx Blue was also highly touted. This was VERY clever because I got an AmEx Blue card that night with a $25k credit limit, and on Day 3 they pitched their $22k "Platinum Package". So I had interest free credit card for 1 year to pay for the program with very little pain.



Now that I'm much further down the road and working with a phone "coach" he is definitely NOT recommending using credit card advanced for any real estate financing - so this was all a "scam" although there are useful and truthful reasons for raising your credit card credit limits, and good advice given about credit scores and reports. But to me the ultimate purpose was to give you a means to pay for their enormously expensive $22k program - which I did.



Overall the 3-day was interesting and informative, but it was also a pitch for their other programs. I have since attended two more 3-day classes (one in Las Vegas where James was there for a bit, but again it was mostly Ryan Smith, and another here in SF where two strange guys taught). Each were slightly different than the others, but I found these more motivational than hard core "how to" invest. They are light on details, and heavy on "look how much I made in this deal". Ryan gives out a variety of useful internet tools, discusses Land Trusts and Lease Options, and you get some basics on Foreclosures and Mobile Home Parks. However, most of this info you can find in books, the internet, and much cheaper courses.



Next up was the "M5" which is their 5 day seminar where they claim 83% of students end up with $5 million in net worth after 5 years, which is the stated goal M=million, 5= 5 years and 5 million. I'd call the 83% claim pure "BS" since we all know that about 2 or 3 in 5 probably won't even attempt any real estate investing no matter how many courses they attend and how much they pay for them. I found the M5 enormously entertaining and motivational, and once again it was packed with information. But like the 3-day, they NEVER tell you the pitfalls, the legal issues you MUST deal with in real estate investing, the tax consequences, and so on. They also make patently false statements - one was in reference to "UPREIT's" touted as a way to 1031 exchange property into a REIT stock thereby avoiding taxes and now owning a real estate stock. I have since investigated this, and while UPREIT's exist, this is an enormously complex SET of transactions that do NOT work anywhere near the simplistic way they described. This is a perfect example of virtually everything they teach - make it sound enormously simple and profitable, with ZERO information about the real complexities and difficulties in pulling it off. Another was their Mobile Home Park expert, Robert Johnson telling the story of how he got a MHP owner to sell for all cash at 50% of the property's value, and then had him sign a second contract for $500k more that stated the seller was doing Seller financing. Robert took the second contract to a Note buyer and got a 100% loan thereby pocketing $500k. Now I don't know about you, but that sounds illegal.



The good is that you do get about 20 different speakers who are experts in their fields. Many were very good, a few were worthless. Their Credit Expert was the best, most informed, I've ever heard, and I've heard many. Their commerical guy just told you how great he and his company were with an eye towards selling you on buying into their condo buildings.



At the M5 there were far too many references to their religious beliefs, lots of crying (literally) about how they love to help poor downtrodden people and we should all "give back" when we make it big, and other BS that has nothing to do with teaching me how to invest in real estate. Most of this was part of the "scam" of feel good stuff to convince you that they are really good people. Despite this, I did learn a fair amount at both the 3-days and the M5 and was motivated to start investing. But my general feeling is that what you really got was 8 days of classes. 4 years of college only taught me so much, so how can 8 days really teach you enough to become a good investor? It STARTS your education process - but your education truly begins when you start to invest and finally discover the intricate details involved in real estate investing.



The M5 was August of 2006, and immediately after I tried to do two things:



FIRST - set up phone coaching - I get one hour per week for 12 weeks with a coach who actually does invest, and will tell you the pitfalls. But it took me nearly 3 months to get my first call set up. Like Jennifer from Orlando, I filled out a 5 page profile that my coach(es) never got. And my appointments were never communicated to my first coach, and when we first did speak he had larengitis (sp?). So we scheduled for the next week at which time we told him our profile and he said he wasn't an expert in that field, but he'd research it and we'd start the next week. The next week we got a call hours before our appointment saying he was dumping us because he couldn't help up. That was nearly 2 months down the drain. With several irate phone calls the company responded quickly (finally) and got us a new coach - who after 2 calls now has been very good (see I told you there was good). But he too never got our profile.



The SECOND thing that took months was installing their $3,000 IntellipointPro software (which thankfully was "free" with the $22k Platinum package). This was written by Ryan Smith, and is a hack job. You can't register online and without registering you can't get into the program. I thought it was me, so I uninstalled and reinstalled it, and this wrecked havoc with my computer. I then tried their "manual" registration, but it would not accept my phone number (turns out you need to enter only digits, with no spaces, dashes, etc. But it just tells you it's wrong, and not why). Once I figured the manual thing out (after calling and emailing for help to no avail) they have a fax number for speedy registration. First, you can't print the manual form they tell you to print for faxing - it is mis-formatted, and can't be re-formatted with your printer preferences. So I physically wrote a duplicate copy on MSWord, printed and tried to fax that, only to discover the fax number is some other company's main line phone number. I then found the www.IntellipointPro.com site and discovered there is no company contact information, and the only "contact us" page is called "feedback" and results in an error message when you use it. Since I've done basic HTML programming in the past, I know this is an unforgivable error, as is the wrong fax number, and the non-functional online registration.



It took me 4 more phone calls to the "hotline" number before I found a guy who knew a "back door" work around to break into the software. That is literally the ONLY way to get into the program - CRAP, BS, AWEFULL experience - and supposedly worth $3,000. In the 10 minutes I've tried to use the program I've discovered that none of their purported internet resources can be accessed direct from the software as they tout.



So where am I now? The best advice to date from this group was on my first conference call with my new coach. He said "write 5 offers a day at 30% to 40% below the asking price or market value, and you'll actually get about 2 in 100 accepted, and have a deal within 30 days". As stupid and simplistic as this sounds, it's brilliant, and I'm just now writing my first offers. Secondly, if you want to get into foreclosures, I've since spent $500 on the Foreclosures.com CD set, and found it to be more informative than any of the foreclosure advice given at the M5 or 3-day, and obviously a LOT less expensive.



I'm visiting Salt Lake City Utah (where John T. Reed says many rip off gurus are based) for their Foreclosure and Commerical "boot camps" which are free as part of the $22k platinum package (as is the phone coaching). Each are 3 days, so I've got 6 days in a row ahead of me. You may think I'm nuts, but I'm reasonably happy with my $22k purchase. They should charge about 1/3 of that, but I do believe that in the end I'll make it back in just one real estate deal that I may not have done without the constant seminars and phone coaching you get in the "Platinum" package.



They really do need to clean of their act, because they open themselves up to "scam" claims - like their IntellipointPro software, their over-selling of "easy millions", and the fact that no one knows who the heck is in the company, who really runs it (I'm sure it is NOT James Smith), or if it's really about 5 different companies just shuffling us suckers back and forth to run their hands through our pockets.



Should you sign up? Figure $30k overall to factor in travel and lodging for various seminars, the fact that the first 3day is a separate charge, etc. I could now tell someone how to get all of the useful things I got for my $30k, but I don't think I could have found it all without the $30k. Then again, if you want foreclsores go to ForeclosureS.com and if you want Mobile Home Parks go to MHPUniversity.com. There are cheaper courses and seminars - so search the internet for alternatives, and make your choice. OR, just write 5 offers a day for 30% or more less than market value, and learn by doing the deal.

There is good AND bad. In summary, I think James Smith actually believes he's a good guy, and he does do SOME good. The problem is he ALSO does shameless "guru" stuff, and is NOT the detail guy who runs the company. He's just the pitch man. The company itself is VERY poorly run - except their marketing arm which tries to sell you more stuff. There are scams within this organization, AND there are also honest people trying to educate you. So you get BOTH. But that's getting ahead of myself - let's start at the beginning:



Heard him at Learning Annex Wealth Expo in San Francisco in April 2006. My girlfriend loved him, so he was the only real estate guru we signed up for. About $1500 for a 3-day seminar in SF a few weeks later that we both could attend for the price. James Smith's son Ryan Smith taught the class. Day 1 highlight was Ryan explaining that one way to get money for real estate deals is from Credit Cards, so the homework that night was to get your card companies to raise your limit to $100k or more. AmEx Blue was also highly touted. This was VERY clever because I got an AmEx Blue card that night with a $25k credit limit, and on Day 3 they pitched their $22k "Platinum Package". So I had interest free credit card for 1 year to pay for the program with very little pain.



Now that I'm much further down the road and working with a phone "coach" he is definitely NOT recommending using credit card advanced for any real estate financing - so this was all a "scam" although there are useful and truthful reasons for raising your credit card credit limits, and good advice given about credit scores and reports. But to me the ultimate purpose was to give you a means to pay for their enormously expensive $22k program - which I did.



Overall the 3-day was interesting and informative, but it was also a pitch for their other programs. I have since attended two more 3-day classes (one in Las Vegas where James was there for a bit, but again it was mostly Ryan Smith, and another here in SF where two strange guys taught). Each were slightly different than the others, but I found these more motivational than hard core "how to" invest. They are light on details, and heavy on "look how much I made in this deal". Ryan gives out a variety of useful internet tools, discusses Land Trusts and Lease Options, and you get some basics on Foreclosures and Mobile Home Parks. However, most of this info you can find in books, the internet, and much cheaper courses.



Next up was the "M5" which is their 5 day seminar where they claim 83% of students end up with $5 million in net worth after 5 years, which is the stated goal M=million, 5= 5 years and 5 million. I'd call the 83% claim pure "BS" since we all know that about 2 or 3 in 5 probably won't even attempt any real estate investing no matter how many courses they attend and how much they pay for them. I found the M5 enormously entertaining and motivational, and once again it was packed with information. But like the 3-day, they NEVER tell you the pitfalls, the legal issues you MUST deal with in real estate investing, the tax consequences, and so on. They also make patently false statements - one was in reference to "UPREIT's" touted as a way to 1031 exchange property into a REIT stock thereby avoiding taxes and now owning a real estate stock. I have since investigated this, and while UPREIT's exist, this is an enormously complex SET of transactions that do NOT work anywhere near the simplistic way they described. This is a perfect example of virtually everything they teach - make it sound enormously simple and profitable, with ZERO information about the real complexities and difficulties in pulling it off. Another was their Mobile Home Park expert, Robert Johnson telling the story of how he got a MHP owner to sell for all cash at 50% of the property's value, and then had him sign a second contract for $500k more that stated the seller was doing Seller financing. Robert took the second contract to a Note buyer and got a 100% loan thereby pocketing $500k. Now I don't know about you, but that sounds illegal.



The good is that you do get about 20 different speakers who are experts in their fields. Many were very good, a few were worthless. Their Credit Expert was the best, most informed, I've ever heard, and I've heard many. Their commerical guy just told you how great he and his company were with an eye towards selling you on buying into their condo buildings.



At the M5 there were far too many references to their religious beliefs, lots of crying (literally) about how they love to help poor downtrodden people and we should all "give back" when we make it big, and other BS that has nothing to do with teaching me how to invest in real estate. Most of this was part of the "scam" of feel good stuff to convince you that they are really good people. Despite this, I did learn a fair amount at both the 3-days and the M5 and was motivated to start investing. But my general feeling is that what you really got was 8 days of classes. 4 years of college only taught me so much, so how can 8 days really teach you enough to become a good investor? It STARTS your education process - but your education truly begins when you start to invest and finally discover the intricate details involved in real estate investing.



The M5 was August of 2006, and immediately after I tried to do two things:



FIRST - set up phone coaching - I get one hour per week for 12 weeks with a coach who actually does invest, and will tell you the pitfalls. But it took me nearly 3 months to get my first call set up. Like Jennifer from Orlando, I filled out a 5 page profile that my coach(es) never got. And my appointments were never communicated to my first coach, and when we first did speak he had larengitis (sp?). So we scheduled for the next week at which time we told him our profile and he said he wasn't an expert in that field, but he'd research it and we'd start the next week. The next week we got a call hours before our appointment saying he was dumping us because he couldn't help up. That was nearly 2 months down the drain. With several irate phone calls the company responded quickly (finally) and got us a new coach - who after 2 calls now has been very good (see I told you there was good). But he too never got our profile.



The SECOND thing that took months was installing their $3,000 IntellipointPro software (which thankfully was "free" with the $22k Platinum package). This was written by Ryan Smith, and is a hack job. You can't register online and without registering you can't get into the program. I thought it was me, so I uninstalled and reinstalled it, and this wrecked havoc with my computer. I then tried their "manual" registration, but it would not accept my phone number (turns out you need to enter only digits, with no spaces, dashes, etc. But it just tells you it's wrong, and not why). Once I figured the manual thing out (after calling and emailing for help to no avail) they have a fax number for speedy registration. First, you can't print the manual form they tell you to print for faxing - it is mis-formatted, and can't be re-formatted with your printer preferences. So I physically wrote a duplicate copy on MSWord, printed and tried to fax that, only to discover the fax number is some other company's main line phone number. I then found the www.IntellipointPro.com site and discovered there is no company contact information, and the only "contact us" page is called "feedback" and results in an error message when you use it. Since I've done basic HTML programming in the past, I know this is an unforgivable error, as is the wrong fax number, and the non-functional online registration.



It took me 4 more phone calls to the "hotline" number before I found a guy who knew a "back door" work around to break into the software. That is literally the ONLY way to get into the program - CRAP, BS, AWEFULL experience - and supposedly worth $3,000. In the 10 minutes I've tried to use the program I've discovered that none of their purported internet resources can be accessed direct from the software as they tout.



So where am I now? The best advice to date from this group was on my first conference call with my new coach. He said "write 5 offers a day at 30% to 40% below the asking price or market value, and you'll actually get about 2 in 100 accepted, and have a deal within 30 days". As stupid and simplistic as this sounds, it's brilliant, and I'm just now writing my first offers. Secondly, if you want to get into foreclosures, I've since spent $500 on the Foreclosures.com CD set, and found it to be more informative than any of the foreclosure advice given at the M5 or 3-day, and obviously a LOT less expensive.



I'm visiting Salt Lake City Utah (where John T. Reed says many rip off gurus are based) for their Foreclosure and Commerical "boot camps" which are free as part of the $22k platinum package (as is the phone coaching). Each are 3 days, so I've got 6 days in a row ahead of me. You may think I'm nuts, but I'm reasonably happy with my $22k purchase. They should charge about 1/3 of that, but I do believe that in the end I'll make it back in just one real estate deal that I may not have done without the constant seminars and phone coaching you get in the "Platinum" package.



They really do need to clean of their act, because they open themselves up to "scam" claims - like their IntellipointPro software, their over-selling of "easy millions", and the fact that no one knows who the heck is in the company, who really runs it (I'm sure it is NOT James Smith), or if it's really about 5 different companies just shuffling us suckers back and forth to run their hands through our pockets.



Should you sign up? Figure $30k overall to factor in travel and lodging for various seminars, the fact that the first 3day is a separate charge, etc. I could now tell someone how to get all of the useful things I got for my $30k, but I don't think I could have found it all without the $30k. Then again, if you want foreclsores go to ForeclosureS.com and if you want Mobile Home Parks go to MHPUniversity.com. There are cheaper courses and seminars - so search the internet for alternatives, and make your choice. OR, just write 5 offers a day for 30% or more less than market value, and learn by doing the deal.

There is good AND bad. In summary, I think James Smith actually believes he's a good guy, and he does do SOME good. The problem is he ALSO does shameless "guru" stuff, and is NOT the detail guy who runs the company. He's just the pitch man. The company itself is VERY poorly run - except their marketing arm which tries to sell you more stuff. There are scams within this organization, AND there are also honest people trying to educate you. So you get BOTH. But that's getting ahead of myself - let's start at the beginning:



Heard him at Learning Annex Wealth Expo in San Francisco in April 2006. My girlfriend loved him, so he was the only real estate guru we signed up for. About $1500 for a 3-day seminar in SF a few weeks later that we both could attend for the price. James Smith's son Ryan Smith taught the class. Day 1 highlight was Ryan explaining that one way to get money for real estate deals is from Credit Cards, so the homework that night was to get your card companies to raise your limit to $100k or more. AmEx Blue was also highly touted. This was VERY clever because I got an AmEx Blue card that night with a $25k credit limit, and on Day 3 they pitched their $22k "Platinum Package". So I had interest free credit card for 1 year to pay for the program with very little pain.



Now that I'm much further down the road and working with a phone "coach" he is definitely NOT recommending using credit card advanced for any real estate financing - so this was all a "scam" although there are useful and truthful reasons for raising your credit card credit limits, and good advice given about credit scores and reports. But to me the ultimate purpose was to give you a means to pay for their enormously expensive $22k program - which I did.



Overall the 3-day was interesting and informative, but it was also a pitch for their other programs. I have since attended two more 3-day classes (one in Las Vegas where James was there for a bit, but again it was mostly Ryan Smith, and another here in SF where two strange guys taught). Each were slightly different than the others, but I found these more motivational than hard core "how to" invest. They are light on details, and heavy on "look how much I made in this deal". Ryan gives out a variety of useful internet tools, discusses Land Trusts and Lease Options, and you get some basics on Foreclosures and Mobile Home Parks. However, most of this info you can find in books, the internet, and much cheaper courses.



Next up was the "M5" which is their 5 day seminar where they claim 83% of students end up with $5 million in net worth after 5 years, which is the stated goal M=million, 5= 5 years and 5 million. I'd call the 83% claim pure "BS" since we all know that about 2 or 3 in 5 probably won't even attempt any real estate investing no matter how many courses they attend and how much they pay for them. I found the M5 enormously entertaining and motivational, and once again it was packed with information. But like the 3-day, they NEVER tell you the pitfalls, the legal issues you MUST deal with in real estate investing, the tax consequences, and so on. They also make patently false statements - one was in reference to "UPREIT's" touted as a way to 1031 exchange property into a REIT stock thereby avoiding taxes and now owning a real estate stock. I have since investigated this, and while UPREIT's exist, this is an enormously complex SET of transactions that do NOT work anywhere near the simplistic way they described. This is a perfect example of virtually everything they teach - make it sound enormously simple and profitable, with ZERO information about the real complexities and difficulties in pulling it off. Another was their Mobile Home Park expert, Robert Johnson telling the story of how he got a MHP owner to sell for all cash at 50% of the property's value, and then had him sign a second contract for $500k more that stated the seller was doing Seller financing. Robert took the second contract to a Note buyer and got a 100% loan thereby pocketing $500k. Now I don't know about you, but that sounds illegal.



The good is that you do get about 20 different speakers who are experts in their fields. Many were very good, a few were worthless. Their Credit Expert was the best, most informed, I've ever heard, and I've heard many. Their commerical guy just told you how great he and his company were with an eye towards selling you on buying into their condo buildings.



At the M5 there were far too many references to their religious beliefs, lots of crying (literally) about how they love to help poor downtrodden people and we should all "give back" when we make it big, and other BS that has nothing to do with teaching me how to invest in real estate. Most of this was part of the "scam" of feel good stuff to convince you that they are really good people. Despite this, I did learn a fair amount at both the 3-days and the M5 and was motivated to start investing. But my general feeling is that what you really got was 8 days of classes. 4 years of college only taught me so much, so how can 8 days really teach you enough to become a good investor? It STARTS your education process - but your education truly begins when you start to invest and finally discover the intricate details involved in real estate investing.



The M5 was August of 2006, and immediately after I tried to do two things:



FIRST - set up phone coaching - I get one hour per week for 12 weeks with a coach who actually does invest, and will tell you the pitfalls. But it took me nearly 3 months to get my first call set up. Like Jennifer from Orlando, I filled out a 5 page profile that my coach(es) never got. And my appointments were never communicated to my first coach, and when we first did speak he had larengitis (sp?). So we scheduled for the next week at which time we told him our profile and he said he wasn't an expert in that field, but he'd research it and we'd start the next week. The next week we got a call hours before our appointment saying he was dumping us because he couldn't help up. That was nearly 2 months down the drain. With several irate phone calls the company responded quickly (finally) and got us a new coach - who after 2 calls now has been very good (see I told you there was good). But he too never got our profile.



The SECOND thing that took months was installing their $3,000 IntellipointPro software (which thankfully was "free" with the $22k Platinum package). This was written by Ryan Smith, and is a hack job. You can't register online and without registering you can't get into the program. I thought it was me, so I uninstalled and reinstalled it, and this wrecked havoc with my computer. I then tried their "manual" registration, but it would not accept my phone number (turns out you need to enter only digits, with no spaces, dashes, etc. But it just tells you it's wrong, and not why). Once I figured the manual thing out (after calling and emailing for help to no avail) they have a fax number for speedy registration. First, you can't print the manual form they tell you to print for faxing - it is mis-formatted, and can't be re-formatted with your printer preferences. So I physically wrote a duplicate copy on MSWord, printed and tried to fax that, only to discover the fax number is some other company's main line phone number. I then found the www.IntellipointPro.com site and discovered there is no company contact information, and the only "contact us" page is called "feedback" and results in an error message when you use it. Since I've done basic HTML programming in the past, I know this is an unforgivable error, as is the wrong fax number, and the non-functional online registration.



It took me 4 more phone calls to the "hotline" number before I found a guy who knew a "back door" work around to break into the software. That is literally the ONLY way to get into the program - CRAP, BS, AWEFULL experience - and supposedly worth $3,000. In the 10 minutes I've tried to use the program I've discovered that none of their purported internet resources can be accessed direct from the software as they tout.



So where am I now? The best advice to date from this group was on my first conference call with my new coach. He said "write 5 offers a day at 30% to 40% below the asking price or market value, and you'll actually get about 2 in 100 accepted, and have a deal within 30 days". As stupid and simplistic as this sounds, it's brilliant, and I'm just now writing my first offers. Secondly, if you want to get into foreclosures, I've since spent $500 on the Foreclosures.com CD set, and found it to be more informative than any of the foreclosure advice given at the M5 or 3-day, and obviously a LOT less expensive.



I'm visiting Salt Lake City Utah (where John T. Reed says many rip off gurus are based) for their Foreclosure and Commerical "boot camps" which are free as part of the $22k platinum package (as is the phone coaching). Each are 3 days, so I've got 6 days in a row ahead of me. You may think I'm nuts, but I'm reasonably happy with my $22k purchase. They should charge about 1/3 of that, but I do believe that in the end I'll make it back in just one real estate deal that I may not have done without the constant seminars and phone coaching you get in the "Platinum" package.



They really do need to clean of their act, because they open themselves up to "scam" claims - like their IntellipointPro software, their over-selling of "easy millions", and the fact that no one knows who the heck is in the company, who really runs it (I'm sure it is NOT James Smith), or if it's really about 5 different companies just shuffling us suckers back and forth to run their hands through our pockets.



Should you sign up? Figure $30k overall to factor in travel and lodging for various seminars, the fact that the first 3day is a separate charge, etc. I could now tell someone how to get all of the useful things I got for my $30k, but I don't think I could have found it all without the $30k. Then again, if you want foreclsores go to ForeclosureS.com and if you want Mobile Home Parks go to MHPUniversity.com. There are cheaper courses and seminars - so search the internet for alternatives, and make your choice. OR, just write 5 offers a day for 30% or more less than market value, and learn by doing the deal.

There is good AND bad. In summary, I think James Smith actually believes he's a good guy, and he does do SOME good. The problem is he ALSO does shameless "guru" stuff, and is NOT the detail guy who runs the company. He's just the pitch man. The company itself is VERY poorly run - except their marketing arm which tries to sell you more stuff. There are scams within this organization, AND there are also honest people trying to educate you. So you get BOTH. But that's getting ahead of myself - let's start at the beginning:



Heard him at Learning Annex Wealth Expo in San Francisco in April 2006. My girlfriend loved him, so he was the only real estate guru we signed up for. About $1500 for a 3-day seminar in SF a few weeks later that we both could attend for the price. James Smith's son Ryan Smith taught the class. Day 1 highlight was Ryan explaining that one way to get money for real estate deals is from Credit Cards, so the homework that night was to get your card companies to raise your limit to $100k or more. AmEx Blue was also highly touted. This was VERY clever because I got an AmEx Blue card that night with a $25k credit limit, and on Day 3 they pitched their $22k "Platinum Package". So I had interest free credit card for 1 year to pay for the program with very little pain.



Now that I'm much further down the road and working with a phone "coach" he is definitely NOT recommending using credit card advanced for any real estate financing - so this was all a "scam" although there are useful and truthful reasons for raising your credit card credit limits, and good advice given about credit scores and reports. But to me the ultimate purpose was to give you a means to pay for their enormously expensive $22k program - which I did.



Overall the 3-day was interesting and informative, but it was also a pitch for their other programs. I have since attended two more 3-day classes (one in Las Vegas where James was there for a bit, but again it was mostly Ryan Smith, and another here in SF where two strange guys taught). Each were slightly different than the others, but I found these more motivational than hard core "how to" invest. They are light on details, and heavy on "look how much I made in this deal". Ryan gives out a variety of useful internet tools, discusses Land Trusts and Lease Options, and you get some basics on Foreclosures and Mobile Home Parks. However, most of this info you can find in books, the internet, and much cheaper courses.



Next up was the "M5" which is their 5 day seminar where they claim 83% of students end up with $5 million in net worth after 5 years, which is the stated goal M=million, 5= 5 years and 5 million. I'd call the 83% claim pure "BS" since we all know that about 2 or 3 in 5 probably won't even attempt any real estate investing no matter how many courses they attend and how much they pay for them. I found the M5 enormously entertaining and motivational, and once again it was packed with information. But like the 3-day, they NEVER tell you the pitfalls, the legal issues you MUST deal with in real estate investing, the tax consequences, and so on. They also make patently false statements - one was in reference to "UPREIT's" touted as a way to 1031 exchange property into a REIT stock thereby avoiding taxes and now owning a real estate stock. I have since investigated this, and while UPREIT's exist, this is an enormously complex SET of transactions that do NOT work anywhere near the simplistic way they described. This is a perfect example of virtually everything they teach - make it sound enormously simple and profitable, with ZERO information about the real complexities and difficulties in pulling it off. Another was their Mobile Home Park expert, Robert Johnson telling the story of how he got a MHP owner to sell for all cash at 50% of the property's value, and then had him sign a second contract for $500k more that stated the seller was doing Seller financing. Robert took the second contract to a Note buyer and got a 100% loan thereby pocketing $500k. Now I don't know about you, but that sounds illegal.



The good is that you do get about 20 different speakers who are experts in their fields. Many were very good, a few were worthless. Their Credit Expert was the best, most informed, I've ever heard, and I've heard many. Their commerical guy just told you how great he and his company were with an eye towards selling you on buying into their condo buildings.



At the M5 there were far too many references to their religious beliefs, lots of crying (literally) about how they love to help poor downtrodden people and we should all "give back" when we make it big, and other BS that has nothing to do with teaching me how to invest in real estate. Most of this was part of the "scam" of feel good stuff to convince you that they are really good people. Despite this, I did learn a fair amount at both the 3-days and the M5 and was motivated to start investing. But my general feeling is that what you really got was 8 days of classes. 4 years of college only taught me so much, so how can 8 days really teach you enough to become a good investor? It STARTS your education process - but your education truly begins when you start to invest and finally discover the intricate details involved in real estate investing.



The M5 was August of 2006, and immediately after I tried to do two things:



FIRST - set up phone coaching - I get one hour per week for 12 weeks with a coach who actually does invest, and will tell you the pitfalls. But it took me nearly 3 months to get my first call set up. Like Jennifer from Orlando, I filled out a 5 page profile that my coach(es) never got. And my appointments were never communicated to my first coach, and when we first did speak he had larengitis (sp?). So we scheduled for the next week at which time we told him our profile and he said he wasn't an expert in that field, but he'd research it and we'd start the next week. The next week we got a call hours before our appointment saying he was dumping us because he couldn't help up. That was nearly 2 months down the drain. With several irate phone calls the company responded quickly (finally) and got us a new coach - who after 2 calls now has been very good (see I told you there was good). But he too never got our profile.



The SECOND thing that took months was installing their $3,000 IntellipointPro software (which thankfully was "free" with the $22k Platinum package). This was written by Ryan Smith, and is a hack job. You can't register online and without registering you can't get into the program. I thought it was me, so I uninstalled and reinstalled it, and this wrecked havoc with my computer. I then tried their "manual" registration, but it would not accept my phone number (turns out you need to enter only digits, with no spaces, dashes, etc. But it just tells you it's wrong, and not why). Once I figured the manual thing out (after calling and emailing for help to no avail) they have a fax number for speedy registration. First, you can't print the manual form they tell you to print for faxing - it is mis-formatted, and can't be re-formatted with your printer preferences. So I physically wrote a duplicate copy on MSWord, printed and tried to fax that, only to discover the fax number is some other company's main line phone number. I then found the www.IntellipointPro.com site and discovered there is no company contact information, and the only "contact us" page is called "feedback" and results in an error message when you use it. Since I've done basic HTML programming in the past, I know this is an unforgivable error, as is the wrong fax number, and the non-functional online registration.



It took me 4 more phone calls to the "hotline" number before I found a guy who knew a "back door" work around to break into the software. That is literally the ONLY way to get into the program - CRAP, BS, AWEFULL experience - and supposedly worth $3,000. In the 10 minutes I've tried to use the program I've discovered that none of their purported internet resources can be accessed direct from the software as they tout.



So where am I now? The best advice to date from this group was on my first conference call with my new coach. He said "write 5 offers a day at 30% to 40% below the asking price or market value, and you'll actually get about 2 in 100 accepted, and have a deal within 30 days". As stupid and simplistic as this sounds, it's brilliant, and I'm just now writing my first offers. Secondly, if you want to get into foreclosures, I've since spent $500 on the Foreclosures.com CD set, and found it to be more informative than any of the foreclosure advice given at the M5 or 3-day, and obviously a LOT less expensive.



I'm visiting Salt Lake City Utah (where John T. Reed says many rip off gurus are based) for their Foreclosure and Commerical "boot camps" which are free as part of the $22k platinum package (as is the phone coaching). Each are 3 days, so I've got 6 days in a row ahead of me. You may think I'm nuts, but I'm reasonably happy with my $22k purchase. They should charge about 1/3 of that, but I do believe that in the end I'll make it back in just one real estate deal that I may not have done without the constant seminars and phone coaching you get in the "Platinum" package.



They really do need to clean of their act, because they open themselves up to "scam" claims - like their IntellipointPro software, their over-selling of "easy millions", and the fact that no one knows who the heck is in the company, who really runs it (I'm sure it is NOT James Smith), or if it's really about 5 different companies just shuffling us suckers back and forth to run their hands through our pockets.



Should you sign up? Figure $30k overall to factor in travel and lodging for various seminars, the fact that the first 3day is a separate charge, etc. I could now tell someone how to get all of the useful things I got for my $30k, but I don't think I could have found it all without the $30k. Then again, if you want foreclsores go to ForeclosureS.com and if you want Mobile Home Parks go to MHPUniversity.com. There are cheaper courses and seminars - so search the internet for alternatives, and make your choice. OR, just write 5 offers a day for 30% or more less than market value, and learn by doing the deal.

I have participated in the NRI program in the year of 2004 and signed up via james smith when he came to santa barbara CA. I paid $4000 for the 3 day course and mentorship.



Before this program i knew nothing about real estate investing. Since the program I bought 1 property 1 month after starting the program and have bought 3 more properties since then within 1 year. I am 24 years old.



My point is, james smith is a realistic authority on real estate. Of course he is going to sell you all his products, he is a business man. I think it is foolish to spend 20k worth of product on the first go round. any "real" real estate investor or a person with common sense for that matter would never do that because it is uneccessary. I have made over $20,000 off a $4000 investment, if that aint real i dont know what is.



The problem is when you spend too much money your expectations are unrealistic. James states, "this is a 2-3 year transistion, not an over night get rich quick". That is what he told me and that is the truth.



It is crazy to state that this is a pyrimad scheme!! thats the farthest thing from the truth and no, i am not aphiliated with this company in any way. James helped to shape me into a legit real estate investor at the age of 24. He never gave any hype and that is the reason I chose him over all those other fake gurus.



It isnt the program that failed it was you, because obviously all real estate knowledge is the same no matter who gives it, however, james smith, donald trump, etc cannot make you rich all they can do is pass the knowledge.



There are no free lunches, everythin cost and you get what you paid for. I failed countless times before getting a deal, and i live in L.A. the hardest market. did i blame james when it wasnt working NO! I kept trying until it worked.



Will the real, real estate investors please stand up! IM TIRED OF THESE NEWBIE INVESTORS BLAMING PRODUCTS FOR THEIR LACK OF SUCCESS. THERE ARE NO SECRECTS TO GETTING RICH! THE SECRECT IS IN THE CONSISTANCY OVER LONG PERIODS OF TIME IN THE MIDST OF FAILURE!

Jennifer,



So funny that I found your comments so quickly and easily on Google. I went to the "Millionare Seminar" yesterday and thought I should check up on these guys. By the second speaker I was suspicious...by the end of the day I was mad at myself for wasting eight hours on this BS. I have been a real estate professional and investor for many years and am always looking to learn more about real estate.



One of the things I have learned over the years is that nothing is free, another thing I have learned is that real estate is a great investment and you don't need special books, tapes or schemes to make money. Your report confirms what I suspected, thanks for writing it! By the way, side note, shouldn't our first clue have been the singer from the Osmond family to kick the day off-so cheesy!

Anyone who is reading this just needs to type in the name JAMES SMITH and click search.



I have read yours and many others Jennifer and you have saved me at the very least $6000.00.



I had attended a "Celebrity Conference" a couple of weeks ago where James Smith and his other associates were selling their programs. I was "hooked" and very intriigued with all that was said. I was ready to purchase the $6000 program from NATIONAL REAL ESTATE INVESTORS, but did not have the finances to render immediate funds. I had gotten all of their information in case I wanted to go through with it in a few days. I just thought I would wait for the "buzz" to wear off to see if I might still be interested. Let me just add here, that I have been quite interested in real estate investment in the last year and am quite ready to make my move, so the timing seemd to be right.



I had called the 800 number a few days later and told them of my interest and that I wanted to take the 3 day program and 1 year mentorship. However, I still did not have any money to do this and had asked if I could send them installments by check. They were reluctant to a degree, but would certainly accept a check. They said to just call back in the next day or so and let them know when and how much I would be paying each time. We would then "close" the deal. I guess they trusted me like I trusted them.



So low and behold and by NO REQUEST of mine, I had received their full kit delivered by UPS to my door step. I had never asked for this, nor did I ever give a them credit card number or pay them a penny for their program or materials. I haven't even called them back nor have they called me to confirm or pay. I guess this was a fortunate thing to not have the funds because it saved me from losing $6000+.



I then did some reseach on the web, something I had planned on doing the first evening, but it just slipped my mind for some reason. I had come across not only this website, but John Reed's website.



The first post I read was this one by Jennifer. I cannot tell you how upset I was not only for her/you, but ME. I wanted so much to believe that this was a legitimate program to get me started in real estate investment.



I then did a search of JAMES SMITH, NATIONAL REAL ESTATE INVESTORS and what ever else I could think of atttached to these people. The reading wasn't pretty!



I am convinced now, that there is NO honest program out there beyond proper certified official schooling, that can teach one this process.



I do hope more good folks find their way to this site to avoid a rip off like I have.



Thank you all and especially you Jennifer. God Bless you and I am confident that if you persist, you WILL get your money back!



BTW, Federal Law states that if you receive "unordered goods" through the mail or any other means, you are in no way obligated to pay for or return the goods. You can bet that I will NOT be contacting NRI to get them their material back that they had foolishly sent. Interest of a program on my part, does NOT constitute a contract to receive materials that are to be part of their program and paid for. I guess in someway I may have gotten them back for others out there that haven't been so fortunate, though these materials cost them little.