Ron Legrand - a review

Anyone interested in learning how to become a real estate investor has heard the name  Ron Legrand . Ron has been around for decades marketing his home study course on late-night TV infomercials, following in the footsteps of  Carlton Sheets .

Many "infomercial gurus" use seminars, boot camps and bus tours to promote their own courses; gurus such as Armando Montelongo and Than Merrill with his FortuneBuilders franchise, and Ron is not that much different. However, unlike some gurus, Ron is a very successful investor in his own right.

During his career as a marketer for his course, Ron coined the now-famous term "pretty houses" as a catch-phrase to attract attention to "turn key" properties where little or no work is involved in fixing them up.

More recently Ron has instituted the "Gold Club", a membership program that incurs monthly dues. He was also among the first to promote what he refers to as "wholesaling", which is actually a strategy called "assigning", which was popularized by investor Bill Vaughn, creator of " The Simple Man's Guide to Real Estate " which teaches all 22 methods of real estate investing.

The question many people have is whether or not any of these real estate home study courses actually work - can they expect to grow wealth from the materials provided by the gurus? The answer is complicated by a variety of factors, and depends a great deal on which program the would-be investor chooses. Consider as an example Carleton Sheets. It is reported he sold over 3,000,000 copies of his program. That means about one in every 80 adults purchased his "No Money Down" course. When you add all the courses sold by the many other "gurus", it would seem that every other household on the block would have a wealthy investor living there. If the courses worked well, there would be successful investors everywhere and you would know dozens of them. Do you? Probably not - but that should not discourage you, because there is a reason most do not succeed - and a way to get around that obstacle.

Most courses teach the student certain methods of investing such as wholesaling, or lease options. But knowing the techniques is quite different from applying them successfully unless the student has the support of an experienced real estate investor as a mentor, to walk them through a transaction from start to finish. That is the secret to success. The problem lies in the cost of a good mentor, and Ron Legrand, like most other gurus (except one) charge anywhere from $5,000-$35,000 for mentoring. And frankly, few people who buy their materials can afford the mentoring. And that is the second biggest reason for failure (the first being "inaction" - not putting in the effort).

However, there is a very high rate of success for students who do have access to a qualified mentor. And that is where "The Simple Man's Guide to Real Estate" shines. Offered on a non-profit basis, it is the only real estate investing program that includes free mentoring by experienced investors. Free mentoring is made possible because the mentors are all volunteers dedicated to helping others succeed. Every student who orders the course (under $100 complete) is assigned a mentor with a minimum of 20 years experience. Anyone with an interest in learning the art of real estate investing would do well to consider that.

After all, if your car breaks down and the mechanic tells you it could require a $5 part or a $5,000 rebuild, which would you ask him to try first?