THE RANT - Wes De Leur on training scams

Training – the path to mounting credit card debt or financial freedom? Buy To Let Group founder and long-term investor Wes De Leur has some words of wisdom for newcomers.

WES DE LEUR

You constantly hear lots of people talking about the property training industry – both extremely negative and glowingly positive. I wanted to offer up my two-penneth to hopefully help new investors decide.

There are certainly some great trainers out there however, there are also plenty of scam artists. That’s why one of your first and most fundamental skills as an investor might be an ability to sieve out the charlatans. Just as for an investment, carrying out due diligence is vital to decide if a trainer is compatible and will guide you in the right direction. It’s really is a case of pup property investor beware - some have seen ‘training’ as a way to make quick bucks by selling desperate individuals the dream of an easy life. Property isn’t easy. Let me say that again because it bears repeating. PROPERTY IS NOT EASY. It is not passive and is not a get rich quick scheme. Property is a get rich slow scheme.

PLASTIC IS NOT FANTASTIC!

For those new to property, training programmes to avoid are those hard-selling types. These are the sort where after a few days of aspirational waffle they will get you running to the back of the room with your credit card in hand to book a one-time only spot that costs some ridiculously slashed price and will always, always end in a seven! (BTW If you want to enjoy these ‘contrapreneurs’ being exposed – check out Mike Winnet’s videos on YouTube).

If you are going to attend any introductory training courses, go for it! But leave the credit card at home. Most of these seminars will use NLP techniques to convince you that their course is the yellow brick road to riches. I am going to open up on a little secret. Early on in our property investing journey my wife and I attended a course because there was no other avenue when searching for property knowledge or education. I wish The BTL group was around back then! It was either go it alone or find the best training available. We were new to the UK and needed a fast track option to knowledge in order to start building our portfolio. Notice how it was a fast track option to gain the knowledge and not a fast track to building a portfolio.

If you find yourself in a similar situation today, I would suggest searching the internet for free information – there’s stacks available but definitely verify and consider the source. Do not expect to know how to fully execute it all on your own as many strategies will require experience to put into action. This will come over time though.

TO TRAIN OR NOT TO TRAIN?

If you are someone who needs to be guided in order to take those first big steps then training might be for you, provided you have the spare cash – certainly not your deposit funds! But before you rush off and pay eye-watering amounts of your hard earned, please make sure you’ll be getting value for money and you’re not just succumbing to the hard-sell squeeze. However, for those of you who are happy to trawl the reams of property investment info and have lots of free time, then becoming successful in property absolutely can be achieved this way too.

Neither way is right nor wrong, it definitely depends on what type of person you are and exactly what resources you have available in order to get the results you want. Importantly, both share the common theme that you are going to have to roll up your sleeves and get working. The only path to success is taking action, no one is going to do it for you.