by Brian Brady
Commercial Real Estate Finance Expert
Structured Debt and Equity
Licensed Real Estate Broker in AL, CA, and FL
Are you a victim of predatory coaching?
There are many advice gurus available to Realtors and loan originators. I watch our industry grow and am amazed at the cottage industries that have hatched from that growth. It reminds me that the only people really making money in multi-level marketing sell the books and tapes on how to succeed in MLM. I can think of three or four gurus who offer real content and provide “how-to-do-the-business” knowledge that comes from personal experience…
…but…….THERE ARE PREDATORY COACHES
There is a vacuum in the real estate and mortgage brokerage industry when it comes to training. A new licensee signs up with a brokerage and the broker says “Get to work!” Many have figured out how to make an above-average income doing just that. Hustlers love vacuums, though. They “prey” upon the weak and their booty is an annuity of fees extracted from an unsuspecting and well-meaning Realtor or originator.
Let me give you a real life example. In 1999, a good friend of mine opted for a career in real estate brokerage over her corporate recruiting career. She approached me to secure a line of credit for her so she would have ample reserves to meet expenses in an irregular income environment. The predators started circling like hungry buzzards on a hot desert day.
1-She was encouraged by her broker to “invest” in training. (What the hell does the broker do?).
2-She was encouraged to take out full-color ads borrowing other people’s listings. (Good for the brokerage; free advertising.)
3-She enrolled in coaching programs at $500/month.
The best marketing advice she received was from SCORE (Service Corps of Retired Executives). The cost was $79.00 for the six-week consultation.
We have a new vacuum and that vacuum is in marketing. Realtors and loan originators are having increasing difficulty learning how to market themselves. The new buzzards are circling. They come disguised as “online marketing experts”. They sell and resell “online leads” to us. They hold seminars and follow-up with pushy sales people who try to make you feel inferior by suggesting that you “might not be ready to become an evolved agent” when you question their price. You know them because they call you weekly.
Here are four signs of predatory coaching:
1- We only take a select group of clients so you have to act quickly (That’s crap, they’ll take anyone’s money)
2- Our guru, XXX XXXX, has made so much money in real estate that he has retired and just enjoys sharing it with everyone. ( My idea of sharing is not $2995 for a 3 day weekend in Palm Springs)
3- You really can’t afford NOT to buy this program. WHAT???
4- These leads are exclusive and pre-screened. Verify, verify, verify.
Real estate brokerage is one of the last bastions of true capitalism. I have never seen so many rags-to-riches stories that have resulted from hard work as I have in this industry.
Don’t be a victim of predatory coaching.
Todd Carpenter says:
I couldn’t agree with you more Brian. Fortunately, I think blogging is going to go a long way in tearing down the strength of these so called gurus. As more and more professionals ban together in sharing their ideas, the value of any one expert is marginalized.
March 30, 2007 — 12:32 am
Todd Tarson says:
Nicely done. In 2001 when I started in RE a lot of the advice I got was to ‘spend’ on this or ‘buy’ that. Then I did meet a broker that was the kind of person to say I’ll ‘show’ you how to do that and I’ll ‘teach’ you the right way. Saved my stay in this business.
March 30, 2007 — 7:51 am
Jeff Brown says:
Although I certainly agree that brokers should be either teaching their new hires or arranging for it in-house, learning is learning.
I wonder how many folks would pay good money to learn the mortgage business from Brian Brady. I bet it’d be a bunch. And I wager they’d be willing to pay more than it cost for their round trip to fly to the seminar.
The predatory vultures who’re preying on both mortgage and real estate newbies are vermin for sure. But experienced, successful people like you would be doing them a favor by putting on a seminar and charging less than a grand.
March 30, 2007 — 8:12 am
Brian Brady says:
Blogging will share a lot of knowledge and allow people to save a few bucks.
Jeff, thanks for the nice words. You’re right; learning is learning no matter where it comes from.
March 30, 2007 — 9:24 am
Sondra Johnson says:
Brian- a good article on a subject that needs more coverage. My wish list would be to have a ‘who’s good and who’s bad’ list that separates the cons from the real thing.
Education and knowledge is power…. the Real McCoy can launch a career, and slick con artist can blow any profits out of the water….
April 1, 2007 — 9:26 pm