I was a W-2 wage earner for over 20 years. When I realized that I could no longer let the faceless others on Wall Street handle my company-sponsored 401(k) investments, I decided that I needed to learn how to manage them myself. Because of what had happened in the market, recognizing the problem was easy. Doing something about it, on the other hand, has been a lot more difficult than I could have ever imagined at the onset. Not having had a clue as to who could help me learn to do it the right way was the biggest first hurdle. The cost of ignorance was enormous.
During the last dozen years, David and I have attended several do-it-yourself-investment conventions. In retrospect, I can see clearly that, for the most part, these conventions are designed to be non-stop-sell-a-thons by a hodgepodge of self-proclaimed “gurus.” They “teach” you – during their presentations – just enough to get you to want to buy their materials. See my September 2012 blog post on “Be forewarned about the so-called ‘gurus’” for details.
Their superb ability to sell, however, has no correlation whatsoever to their ability or commitment to help you become an independent investor – as I have come to understand over time.
It is astounding to me how few in the industry are truly committed to teaching students to learn to “fish” on our own. Ron LeGrand, whom we finally met in late 2012 – after years of nothing but good things about him that we had heard – is one notable exception. In fact, I’m convinced that we could have easily shrunk our learning curve by a decade and saved at least $100,000 in outdated, worthless training programs, not to mention an additional hundreds of thousands of dollars in investments – if we went straight to Ron and learned directly from the master. The good news is that we gained the ability to discern the good from the bad in the industry. No one can tell us that we did not pay our dues to get to where we are today. Come to think of it, I suppose all was not a waste after all in that we are now in a very good position to help others with their real-estate problems and be paid for our knowledge and expertise.
Listed below are the reasons why David and I are so impressed with how Ron organizes his Real Estate Investor Conventions.
- Ron’s program has a set of curriculum.
- There was cohesiveness to how the entire four-day (plus one extra bonus day) event was organized. No other do-it-yourself-investment conventions that we’re aware of had such logical flow to the event.
- Ron taught many of the courses himself as well.
- Each of the additional presenters has been vetted by Ron. In fact, the majority of them, if not all, work very closely with Ron.
- Most other convention organizers invite just about anybody to speak. Their focus is on short-term profit and nothing else. Put more bluntly, they don’t care what happens to you after they take your money.
- In sharp contrast, everything Ron does tells me that he genuinely cares about his students and wants us to succeed.
- For sure, the speakers at Ron’s conventions do sell their materials but the greater focus is on TEACHING.
- The focus of most other conventions is the other way around; i.e, it is on selling.
- In fact, Ron is so committed to teaching that he has a special, all-day session focused on teaching children, ages 13-21, how to make and handle money. Knowing what I know today, this could be worth a lot more for them for the rest of their lives than Ivy League credentials.
- Throughout the event, attendees who have good leads (for deals) are encouraged to submit them. In fact, those of us who are being coached were EXPECTED to bring leads during the event. If the leads have excellent profit potential, Ron and his coaching staff would go over them for the benefit of everyone in the audience. They proved time and time again that good deals are out there.
- We have never seen such sharp focus on getting the students to close on deals PROFITABLY at any other conventions.
- In my humble opinion, Ron raised the bar on quality standards for the industry – for the benefit of students.
- While it is entirely possible that someone else’s convention could be as good as Ron’s, I’m sticking with his. All you need is one good practitioner who teaches you the ropes until you can run your own investment business profitably.
- As part of the program, many of Ron’s students, who have been closing on deals successfully, were invited to come to the front and answer questions that both Ron and the audience asked. These sessions were not only impressive but very valuable.
- At any other conventions, we have never seen anything like it – where the sharp focus was on student success.
Ron LeGrand at far left, at the edge of the photograph, with his successful students.
Ron with Lynette and Brian Wolff, our coaches.
At this convention, it became crystal clear to me why Ron LeGrand commands such high level of respect in the industry. During the four-day convention, we could not help but notice how deeply he cares about, and is committed to, helping those who come to him because of their burning desire to remain financially free and independent. I am grateful that he is willing to share with his students whatever he has learned throughout his investing career. I am determined to make him proud soon by closing on our first deal.
We already signed up for next year’s convention as platinum participants. The price was so reasonable – it was a no-brainer. At that event, I expect to be sharing our story of successful closings.
