Can You Trust Any So Called Property Guru?

These days any Tom Dick or Harry can call themselves a property guru. It’s just a title and the definition of it is highly subjective.

To someone who doesn’t even own their own property then anyone who does, may be held up as a property expert.

To someone who only owns one property then someone that owns five might be classed as a guru. Yet, to someone who owns 50 properties, they are only likely to look up to someone who has 100 or more, as a property guru to take advice from.

If you are on the hunt for advice and you think a property investing guru or property mentor might be the way to go – you may be right. However you stand much more chance of being very wrong.

Today’s property market can be up and down. Yes there is usually money in property in the long term, especially if you buy it for the right price. But investing in property is still a huge commitment financially. Anyone, - especially a property expert - can tell you that.

Therefore it is good business sense to diversify. And how are many property investors diversifying at the moment? They are turning their hands to one of two things.

1. They are becoming property educators by selling offering training courses, mentorship programs, workshops, seminars, books or a whole host of other things.

Or

2. They are sourcing property deals for other investors (many times these are off plan property deals). With off plan deals they will normally tell you they have obtained them at a discount. In our experience these discounts are normally said to be from 15% upwards. They then make their money either through a finders fee from you as the investor or from the developer themselves, or even from both.

There is nothing inherently wrong with property investors educating others or even selling discounted property to other investors and making money from it.

As we mentioned before – it can be wise to diversify. And if you have skills that other people will pay for then why not use them?

However, many times these educational products or there discounted properties aren’t all they first seem.

Property investors of today have to be wary, they have to understand what the property guru’s motive is.

As an example.

Many property gurus who are selling discounted new build or off plan properties lure the unassuming investor in with lots of claims of the great deal they are going to get. This goes for both UK investment property and those offered abroad.

The claims normally include such things as:

• Yields that are in double figures
• Discounts of 15% upwards
• The promise of huge capital increase – again in double figures – many 15% upwards
• And these days a low deposit requirement to secure the property is also becoming the norm.

Now, despite what some investors say, you can actually get some very good deals by buying properties through property investment companies and individuals.

However, unfortunately in our experience you are much more likely to get lumbered with a terrible deal that you will find it difficult to back out of or sell later on down the road.

This web page isn’t about advising you to never go to a seminar or workshop or buy property, a course or book from a so called property guru. That isn’t the point we are trying to get across.

If you followed that rule you could end up missing out on a wealth of education and great property deals that are out there for you.

What this page is about is about trying to get every property investor to understand that they need to do their own research and due diligence on each investment opportunity they look at. And on top of that they need to do their own research on every property guru they consider doing business with in some way.

If you are buying a book off someone who claims to be a property guru then check their refund policy closely. But don’t just check what they say about it, do a check on google or on popular property forums about what other people say about this person/company and their book. Do this before you part with any of your hard earned cash.

The same principal goes for if you are buying property from an investment company, check them out. Check out what other people are saying about them. Visit some of the forums on our investment property forum page and do a search for these companies or individuals and see what has been said. Do a google search as well.

Don’t just rely on the testimonies you find on the investment company or property guru’s website!

Treat with suspicion every company and individual that offers you an education at a high price or to sell you properties at a discount. Treat them this way until you have seen enough evidence to convince you otherwise.

There are a lot of property experts springing up from every quarter. Some are fantastic, many are down right crooked.

Beware the property guru who is offering something that sounds to good to be true! In desperation to get out of their day job, many people put their life's savings in the hands of such people, only to regret it a few months later, when unfortunately it may be a little to late.

Invest time in your own property education – you don’t necessarily have to invest lots of money into it – but you do time. Then – and only then – will you feel more qualified to make the right decisions when the opportunities comes along.

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