The Trump Way to Building Wealth

Originally posted by: robinhood on: 4/23/09

Rick Brown “The Foreclosure Coach” and Steve Clements, tax lien trainer, gave presentations at 8 free workshops in Southern California this week: two seminars each day in Anaheim (April 18th 2009), Ontario (April 19th), Irvine (April 20th), and Riverside (April 21st). The workshops were put on by Pacific Seminars LLC, and Rick Brown stated that his other partner in this venture is Jeff Friedman. The business address for Pacific Seminars was given as One World Trade Center, Ste 800, Long Beach, CA 90831.

Pacific Seminars has no website that I can find and is not listed in Whitepages.com at the address they gave out. The only businesses I can find listed at Ste 800 of the Long Beach World Trade Center are the Law Offices of William W Green, Adept International, Benchmark Information Technology, and an individual named Carol Adams.

Rick Brown was promoting a one-year tuition and mentoring program on buying foreclosures wholesale from lenders before they get to title companies and realtors, and then selling them wholesale to real estate investors, splitting the profit 50:50 with the real estate investor. The normal price for this program is $2995, but the ‘today only’ price was $1495. This covers a 3-day intensive training somewhere in Southern California from May 2nd-4th from 9.00am-5.00pm, and the final day of this training will include a field trip to a trustee auction at a County Courthouse; one year of help, support and mentoring; one year of full access to complete So Cal foreclosure records and data, which the Foreclosure Coach claims to get five days before the title companies get it; and a foreclosure buying manual and resource materials. Rick Brown offered a one-year 100% money back guarantee.

Steve Clements was promoting a tax lien workshop at the Disneyland Sheraton in Anaheim on May 8th-9th. The regular price for this is $1695. If you signed up for the Foreclosure Coach training at the same time, the price was reduced to $795.

Both speakers were very well-polished presenters. I agree with some of the comments in earlier postings that Rick Brown looked a little suspect.

Steve Clements was more informative and less of a salesman. Moreover, he does not try to hide his identity on the Internet, which gives me more confidence in him. You can find him on Twitter, where he goes by the name Speakerman2000. On his Twitter postings, you can find links to websites that he is associated with, namely www.gettaxliens.com and www.dogreat.com. He is also associated with www.ocean2oceanproperties.com which offers tours to Panama for real estate investors.

The www.gettaxliens.com website is run by the Association for Optimum Achievement (AOA). I have found one negative comment about AOA and its tax lien training at http://www.reiclub.com/forums/index.php?board=30;action=display;threadid=1748

Some of the sales reps at the back of the free Foreclosure Coach workshop looked shady, but one of them, Bryan Locke, came across as genuine.

At the end of Rick Brown’s 2-hour presentation, only 5 people stood up and said they wanted to enroll in his program. Most of the five looked like English was not their first language. The two people in the audience who were already making money from real estate investing did not enroll and left before the end.

There were a number of sceptics in the audience, including myself. One repeatedly asked a sales rep why Rick Brown would bother to put so much time and effort into these workshops when he is making so much money from buying and selling foreclosed properties and when so few people at each free seminar then enroll for the program. Rick Brown implied that he was making around $4 million per year from buying and selling foreclosures, but the sales rep said that the $4 million was shared among a number of partners in the operation. The sales rep said they were happy if 10 people signed up at each free seminar.

It seems unlikely that Rick Brown is running these workshops out of the goodness of his heart. He must be making money out of them. According to one of the sales reps, the company spent $50,000 advertising these workshops. Given the small number of workshop participants who actually signed up for the program at the workshop I attended, the up-front enrolment fee of $1495 would not appear sufficient to cover all the costs of putting on these workshops, providing the training and materials, and paying for staff and business overheads. So I am assuming that there are other fees and charges that were not mentioned at the free seminar. I assume that after the first year, the fee for continuing with the program is considerably higher than the initial ‘teaser’ fee.

I have not completely ruled out enrolling in these two programs. I try to keep an open mind while doing my due diligence background research. One of the sales reps said they are planning to repeat these seminars in Orange County after doing some seminars in the San Diego and North Los Angeles areas. I would love to hear from people who have enrolled in thess programs and who may know what the additional fees and charges are.

Here are a few questions I have:

Are Rick Brown and Steve Clements trying to distance themselves from the Trump Institute Seminars that they have been associated with in the past? If so, is this because they disliked some of the practices of the Trump Institute, or is it because the Trump Institute has been getting so many scam accusations on Epinions.com and elsewhere? Is Pacific Seminars affiliated with the Trump Institute in any way?

I just came home from 4 hours seminar in Montreal , QC presented in English. This was ok as we speak multilanguages here in area anyway. The man who presented himself as Rick ( the same description of a man as dalinkou gave) started his show. He was very good in what he was doing.He spoke fast and like a "God"... He tried to speak down to poeple by saying "OK" after every sentence . We do not use this slang here in Montreal ok???Anyway.It sounded very unprofessional. He also mentioned the story about his single mother raising kids, living in Alberta etc. and him to barly finish a high school,I could guess this one, he could hardly name few big cities in Canada where he did great deals and presentations! LOL!... but today he is ...a rich man! I just said myself "WOW" "Did I miss anything in my life? "... " Anybody even with the grade 8 can become a rich man if he does exactly what I tell him/her to do" Rick said....Hm, maybe he was looking at all the audience and he tried to speak again down to people? Did we ,Canadians ,look like we do not have any education? Yes, we speak multilanguages, we have funny accents, we dress warm , not in sleevless dresses, as we have winter 6 month in a year here, we drive SUVs , not convertables, but we listen and we think....thank you Mr. Rick for your presentation, but we do not buy everything you said. You need to speak more professional, something like Mr.Trump who can speak, who can answers questions...you can speak very fast, but you do not answer any question.

PS: The Rick Brown that presented last night is described as follows:

White Male, approximately 50 - 55 years old
Blond Hair / receding hair line, slightly thinning hair on the crown of his head
170 - 180 lbs, slight belly - out of shape
5'8", /-
dark suit, white french cuff shirt (looked like it had been stuffed in his coat pocket for some time, along with his red tie), average shoes & watch.........nothing to cause me to suppose great wealth.

Regarding Rick Brown (or Rick Wiseman)

Does anyone have photographs of this guy? My wife and I saw this guy last night in Arlington, VA (December 6, 2008). Rick Brown pitched Trumps Real Estate System, and some guy named Steve pitched a tax lien investment program.

My wife was really excited about the whole thing. I asked her to really hold off until I could do a little research, and Rick backed off from our side because I believe he sensed that I would ask questions that would cause EVERYONE to start thinking. Then, when Steve was pitching I suddenly realized that my Blackberry could tell me a few things about all of this with a simple/quick internet search. I don't think Steve liked that very much........and he stayed away from me the entire time.

My email address is dalinkou@hotmail.com and I would love to receive any photos of Brown or Wiseman so that I could be sure that everyone is talking about the same guy I saw. And, if anyone has solid experience that they could share I'd love to have that too. PS: Not complaints or sob stories........just facts and events as they happened, good or bad.

Kind Regards,

D

I attended a 4 hour free seminar here in calgary alberta, where a Rick Brown (older white gentleman with grey hair) presented the $2999 (to everyone else i.e. joe public), and the "discounted" $1499 stuff to us. I went with open eyes and wrote down nearly everything that came out of that mans mouth (I can write very fast, I would recommend you bring a voice recorder). I have taken a few "paid" real estate courses, and what he said is very factual, I think that's why so many people signed up, he is very good at mixing fact with fiction.

His 2 hour presentation was followed up with a 2 hour presentation from Steve Johnson (young 28 or 29 year old, he mentions his age to help his credibility as he says he started when he was 22!). Steve talks about tax liens and purchasing them in the US. There is plenty of fact in this presentation as well, but keep an eye out for the BS...there is some non factual stuff he has to say. Although Steve's presentation is a little more on the "up and up" as he adds credability by saying that he has gone down to mexico for 2 years to help build houses and churches for the needy, and he was able to do that and could afford to because of the Trump Way to Wealth program.

If you are wondering what is covered by the two presenters, here is what I was able to write down (again, if you want to learn about real estate investing, flipping, etc., bring a voice recorder, this guy says a lot in a short period of time):

Rick Brown:
(PS, would someone kindly do a background check on this guy, as his parents definately sound like nomads as he makes himself sound like a local);
After a bit of a choppy video presentation by The Donald (Rick, you need a better laptop, or better encoded quality video...call the nerds), he begins by talking about government programs, businesses that run themselves, then talks about Donald Trumps philosophies:
Use:
OPM, OPC, OPE, OPT, OPA:
1. Other Peoples Money
2. Other Peoples Credit
3. Other Peoples Experience
4. Other Peoples Technical expertise
5. Other Peoples Assets

then he talks about how important it is to write a really good business plan, and stresses how good the trump is at writing the worlds best business plan, and how he does all the pre research so that the lender looking at the business plan, just agrees and signs, that simple.

He also mentioned that the legal agreements that the trump makes are rock solid and air tight, they always work in his benefit, and are always in legal jargon, Rick mentions that the trump was very very good and that we need to be at realizing that legal agreements are key to a real estate transaction where we can use OPM, OPC, and OPA.

He mentioned that wealthy people know how to make sure that there are no inheritance taxes when the wealthy pass away and pass on our inheritance (this part was a little beyond me, but was very interesting, and with my past financial experience it sounded factual).

He also mentioned that if you want to increase the "perceived value" of a home (if you're buying and selling residential to get you started) that the best places to spend money are the outside of the house, the kitchen (he mentioned that this is best as the woman usually makes the buying decision, and the kitchen is where she finds most importance), then the entryway.

He next talked about how it's a buyers market right now, and a lot of people don't realize this (this is seen because the houses are overvalued, and the market is flooded with houses for sale). He mentioned that the people that don't realize this are experiencing something like "buyers market denial" (that may not be exactly what he said, but that's the idea). He said that usually what happens is a cycle that is x amount of years a sellers market, and 1/2x that for the buyers market, then rinse and repeat (my term there).

He says that trump only like no risk & high reward.

and that there are 7 different types of ways you can buy and sell a property:

1. Buy & Sell
2. Buy Hold & Rent
3. Buy Renovate Hold & Rent
4. Buy Renovate & Sell
5. Buy Rezone & Sell
6. Buy Subdivide & Sell
7. Options Assignments... (I missed the last part of this one, the slide went too fast for my hands to write)

Pick an area or neighborhood in your area that you're familiar with, check property values (get comps (comparible homes that have sold recently) from your realtor), make sure you get a good relationship with a realtor as they will be the key to your success in volume transactions. Get a CMA on the neighborhood, let the realtor know that you want the last 90 days, if that's too much back it down to 30 or 60 days, if 90 is too little bump it to 120 or more days. Make sure the realtor gets you a "full printout" with the "LP" (List Price), "SP" (Sold Price), "DOM" (Days on Market).

Look at the sold properties from the exterior, check the sold price/living sq. ft. which equals the avg. cost/sq.ft.

Then he gave some tips on sending a post card in the neighborhood to people that you think might be interested in selling but aren't currently advertising for sale, and say something like:
"Hi, I need to buy a property in your neighborhood, if you know anyone, I'll pay cash, quick sale, no realtors. First come first serve"

Make sure to check your comps first so you know what to offer in order to make the 20% profit that Rick Brown said was necessary to make it worth your while (as you have to give 6% to your realtor), but because of the way the contract is written, you aren't buying the house, or really selling it!? (this part was a little confusing to me, but with more research, I think it's on the "up and up").

Make sure the realtor gets you a board approved purchase agreement, and add a few caveats:

"1. See attached addendum A"
Subject to inspection approved by purchaser
Subject to some other junk about nominee and separate agreement for disclosure over to the nominee

he also mentions that the 20% fee that we charge for a sale must show on the purchase agreement that it's a fee for service performed on the property (an intellectual fee, but none the less, if this isn't there the underwriters will give us a shot to the nuts apparently).

that's most of the 2 hours right there, then they get into a conversation about how it's important to have an incorporated company that you're doing all of these transactions under otherwise you'd get hit with capital gains taxes as an individual because they're investment properties.

Then Steve Johnson gets into his thing about tax lien certificates (only buy these in the US as our tax laws here in Canada apparently such the unholy bung!?).

That's what I got out of the free seminar, after I make $15 k on my first deal, I'm going to pay the $2999 on the 2 day, then do a few more deals to pay for the next 5 day $8000 seminar, then do a crap load more deals, then pay for the next seminar (the one in Vegas...$20k? for 2 weeks? a month?). Then once I'm a millionare, I'll pay to meet the trump and shake his hand, maybe shine his shoes with a thousand dollar bill, smoke a cigar with the man...we'll see.

As Mike B mentioned, the presentation I went to in Markham, Rick Brown fed us the same thing, however he told us he was raised by a single mother in Markham. At first I thought the 1500 weekend might be worth while, but now I am not so sure..

WELL RICK WISEMAN IS NOW WORKING FOR NATIONAL GRANTS SEMINARS. HE IS A GREAT SPEAKER INDEED. I WAS GOING TO INVEST IN WHAT HE WAS SELLING TODAY. GETTING FREE GOVERNMENT MONEY TO BUY REAL ESTATE, START A BUSINESS, PRETTY MUCH EVERYTHING YOU MIGHT NEED MONEY FOR. THEY GUARANTEED THEY COULD GET YOU MONEY. YOU JUST HAD TO PAY THE $999.00 TO DO IT, AT THE SEMINARS, YOU COULD ALSO PURCHASE BY PHONE, OR ONLINE FOR $1,299.00. THEN ATTEND A 2 DAY TRAINING. HE ALSO SAID, "THE COMPANY WAS PART OF THE BETTER BUSINESS BUREAU." WELL I THOUGHT I SHOULD CHECK THIS COMPANY OUT FIRST. SO I WENT HOME AND WENT TO THE BBB WEBSITE, AND LIE #1 IS THEY ARE NOT BACKED BY THE BBB, THEY HAVE AN F RATING, TONS OF COMPLAINTS NOT RECTIFIED. PRETTY MUCH A FRAUD, ACCORDING TO THE BBB. THEY SOAK YOU FOR THE ONE GRAND, AND THEN TELL YOU YOU HAVE TO BUY SOFTWARE TO CONTINUE TOTALING ANYWHERE FROM $3,000.00, TO $5,000.00. NO LICENSE TO PRACTICE WHAT THERE SELLING, AND BBB SAID, "THEY'RE PROMISING WHAT THEY CAN'T DELIVER." AND THEY ARE NOT GOOD AT ANSWERING THEIR CUSTOMER COMPLAINTS. THEY WERE TAKEN TO COURT BY THE VERMONT ATTNY. GENERAL'S OFFICE, AND SETTLED OUT OF COURT. THEY'VE ALREADY USED 3 DIFFERENT BUSINESS NAMES. I'M SO GLAD I CHECKED IT OUT FIRST, OR I'D BE OUT A GRAND, I CAN'T AFFORD TO THROW AWAY.

I, too, attended the National Grants Conference seminar just this past weekend. It was a long afternoon - 4 hours. The reason that I decided to attend, I work for one of those global companies mentioned in the informercial.
The presenter was Rick Wiseman & a guy named, Rich, did the internet selling portion. He was from AuctionTeacher.com (for the person that was looking for their website). I didn't sign up for the 2 day real estate seminar. I was on the fence. They also said for those of us that were holdouts, we could come to one of the other local seminars over the next couple of days & sign up then for the same $999 (vs. usual $1299).
I decided to check out NGC on the BBB website. They are listed under their other name - Proven Methods Seminars. They have been rated an 'F'. That is all I need to know to decide not to attend. I know I have to spend $$$ to make $$$, but I'm not giving them my $$$.

I wholeheartedly agree with Sheris' insight into the seminar she saw in Calgary.There is something not quite right about this shaminar,Rick Brown or Rick Wiseman or whatever his name really is, fed us the same bunk here in Burnaby. He is NOT Canadian(apparent from the way he talks), but told the audience that he grew up in a single parent home in Burnaby. He barely knew or could remember any names of Canadian cities he supposedly did business transactions in. I didn't have any great expectations when I went, so I don't feel ripped off(didn't spend anything other than $4 for parking).I did learn a few new things(not much I didn't already know),so a few hours and $4 is getting off cheap,compared to some of the folks who bought into this stuff.

Roslyn,
You have to know what it is the Auction Teacher guys do. They make it sound easy on the free presentation. It isn't easy to build a website and it isn't easy selling online either. Their main focus is selling the AuctionFON and Merchant Account because they are affiliates of these companies. You can get a merchant account cheaper, do the research. I found the seminar informative, but haven't gotten into building the website. I would suggest calling them and get some help if you need it. Let me know if you get it, that is the part I want to know about now. I just went to the class on 3/5.
Too bad you fell into the trap about the Merchant Account. The AuctionFON deal looks to be a good one though from what I have seen.

Wow. Am I ever glad I stumbled across this thread. I just got out of the workshop in Calgary headed up by someone named "Rick Brown" but his performance seems oddly reminiscent of the Rick Wiseman character described above.

I too asked the question posed by "Loco." I asked if the speaker tracked the success rates of students who took the two-day workshop. He replied slowly and cryptically, "I don't, but they do." I was confused. Who are they? Why are you speaking so strangely? Then I realized it was because he has his microphone on yet. Obviously he couldn't directly answer my question. He must keep this on so that he can keep repeating his mantra: "I can tell you, if you do this, you will make money." I finally figured that "they" is the Trump Institute. I was surprised as I thought that he, the speaker, was FROM the Trump Institute. My suspicion is that it is a group that has managed to gain branding support from Trump. I don't think this course would be any better than the No Money Down informercials or that guy who used to ask late at night if I wanted "fast cars and beautiful women."

To reinforce Loco's statement,I too can say that the speaker offered nothing for statistics or success stories. I wanted to believe this person as I had hoped that the Trump name meant something. I was doubtful from his presentation that was fraught with stock tricks. He spoke down to people, said "shoot" about 200 times to try to appear hokey and apparently of their level. It seemed obvious he knew he was dealing with needy people. He tried to galvanize his relationship with them by emphasizing that he was raised by a single Mom and by playing on the disdain people certainly must feel for educated individuals who would only ever hold down a "J.O.B."

By the time he quoted the Good Lord's words that we should take care of children and our children's children, I could hardly contain myself for the pure bunk. In the free book I finally received, Trump says "If it seems too good to be true, it is." We should strongly heed that advice.

Sheri

went to the seminar and the 2day workshop.

you will learn few bits and pieces of information here and there... nothing concrete. no facts or stats. daniel alexander claims he has 4 huge filing cabinets full of success stories, yet he couldn't produce even one. he claims there's so many he doesn't even know how many. BS. no personal quotes from the people that have "succeeded" using their tactics, nothing to back up their claims. nothing what-so-ever. just a whole bunch of blah-blah... "i helped out this person, i helped out that person.." no facts though.

i could just tell you i helped my best friend become a milionaire in just a couple of months using the 'trup-way' and he's got 3 hotels and 4 condo buildings right now!!.... would you believe me? -- without actually mentioning the perosns name, his net worth, properties? anything to back up my claim?


pesonally i don't think the info they give you is worth the money... BUT i also do not regret waisting all this money on the workshop... like few people up there mentioned, it got all these crazy ideas buzzing in my head. it was a wakeup call for me. they were more motivation speakers, than teachers...
and i think i needed that. i agree, i could have gotten it somewhere else for a lot less $$, but hey.... lesson learned.
they pointed me in the right direction...

went to the grants conference in NY in DEC of o7 and what a sales pitch. I got caught into the web for the auction teacher presentation and bought the CD, I also did the seminar the following week where I purchased the auction fon, and the merchant account. They give u 3 days to cancel which is in no way anytime to change your mind. I am yet to get my website started. Wonder if I can use this option to do cakes on the site because I do cake decorating?

i just went yesterday and rick wiseman is a great spokesperson but is what he saying true or just another scam? has anyone been to the two day seminar? and better has anyone gone through the whole program and tried making money? has it worked? i noticed alot of people here have just gone to the free seminar and not passed the two day seminars. all the negative commnts are coming from those who haven tried the system. i would likr to hear from someone who has actiolly taken a chance and tried following the steps.

What a load of crap!!!!! I attended the seminar today as a guest of my sister. Both my sister and I just recently started our own business and figured we could use the information from the seminar to really get our business off the ground............ When Rick Wiseman first opened his mouth and spoke, I knew we were in for a sales pitch. (He has to have a theater degree….. very dramatic.) My sister has written grants before and knew Rick was not fully disclosing all that he should have to his “students”. I was ready to go, but my sister wanted the free books (which told us no more than what we got from Rick’s presentation.)
Go to bbbonline.com and do a search on National Grant Conferences and notice how many complaints have been filed against this company (84). Also the Attorney General in Vermont filed a lawsuit against the company and NGC had to refund all monies to citizens of VT in 2006. In addition, NGC also do business as Proven Methods Seminars, LLC. The Better Business Bureau also point out why this is not a wise investment. I do believe in investing, but what NGC/Rick is selling you can get for free by doing your own research and spending time at the library. We (my sister and I) thought by attending the seminar we could save on time, but we were wrong and not suckered in! I just felt so bad for those who did……
Auction Teachers on the other hand is a member of the BBB and as a BBB member companies must abide by certain standards… To date they have had 58 complaints in the past 36 months. Please do research before giving away your hard-earned money.

I attended both seminars today. The seminars were free but cost $999.00 to be a member of the Grant Program, and the Auction Teacher cost $197.00 to be a member. I did not buy the grant program although I wanted to but did not have that type of spair money, however I did purchase the Auction Teacher for $197.00 plus the website software for $20.00. I go back for training on the 20th which is this Thursday. I will let you know how it goes after I have had some experience with this program.

I am still looking into Grantwriting but trying to learn how to do it myself between my 2 jobs, my kids and husband, and going to school to get my doctorate degree.

Also, I got my free 4 thin books on "Making Money With Govenment".

Sounds like alot of unhappy people. I'll be attending soon just to practice networking and getting a few extra tidbits of information.

If you want to do real estate, find a local REIA (Real Estate Investment Association)- check Google. Get a mentor and get busy.

I just attended the seminar at Doubletree in Toronto and got suckered.What is the best option to get a refund? Registered mail, email, or calling?

I attended the free Trump Seminar and really liked what we saw with Auction Teacher Pro. My husband and i have signed up for it and we also did our research before committing. The merchant account is reasonable priced and is good for those who cannot put down any security to obtain the merchant account. It was easy and we did learn a lot attending the next ATP seminar. However, it is ultimately up to the individual to decide how much they want to educate themselves about the product and e-commerce. Is it easy? No- but there is a lot of help and material to educate yourself with.

As far as the next $1,000.00 seminar. You learn there but not $1,000.00 worth. It's another sales pitch for the software, the next seminar at three pricepoints- $4,999.00, $8,999.00, and $19,000.00. It was disappointing because had we NOT had to listen to our speaker's life story(I know his wife, his childhood, his jobs, pets, etc...) and was able to tell us what they want to charge $4,999 for then we would have gotten it.

It is for those seriously into Real estate and are ready to make a huge financial risk..

CAUTION ON AUCTION TEACHER PRO: I, like some of you, was not interested in the Trump seminar but completely intrigued by the Auction Teacher Pro seminar. I paid the $400 and attended last week. It was okay, but BEWARE: they will make it sound much easier to make money than it really is. Before you go, ask yourself: (1) do you have LOTS of time to dedicate to researching your products to see how much competition is out there, what the potential is, what competitors are pricing at, etc... (2) do you have a REALLY unique product? If the answer is "no" to either, DO NOT GO. They will get you excited about drop shipping. We went to their #1 recommended drop shipper and found that most e-bayers are selling the same stuff at less than wholesale cost. In otherwords, it will be virtually impossible to make money using their drop shipper. We visited the personal websites of the trainer. During the seminar he talked about how much money he made off of them, but when we visited them just 24 hours after the seminar, it didn't appear that the sites were being kept up. The products on there were outdated, pricing was unreasonable. In otherwords, there's NO WAY he could be making money on those websites. Instead he makes money by doing these seminars and giving away his "secrets" to people like you and me. He said that 1,000 people attend the Auction Teacher Pro seminars per week. They are all be given the same cookie cutter website design, and told to go to the #1 drop shipper. EVERYONE WILL BE DOING THE SAME THING and it will be hard for ANYONE TO MAKE MONEY DOING IT!!! Although I learned a few things about e-commerce that I didn't know before, it wasn't worth the $400. Also, don't buy the merchant account they are selling. They make a TON of profit selling that to you and there are much more reasonably priced merchant accounts both on line or at your local bank. BUYER BEWARE!!!!

Well, the trump seminar wasn't that awesome to me, but the Auction Teacher Pro presentation really got my attention and I signed up for their program. That was a great choice, the program is great and easy to use (as long as you know how to operate a computer) I started out with just basic computer experience (copy and paste and all that) and I now know exactly how to build a website, and even some HTML thanks to the support they offer (which is for life, btw. I was a little worried at first due to some rip off reports I read, but as it turns out, those people were expecting to make money without any work as I found out through some of my calls. As long as you realize that this is a BUSINESS venture, and that the idea of making money by an automated process is a little retarded, then it is easy to be successful with this program.

Hi,

I attended the Donald Trump Wealth Building Seminar at the Doubletree Hotel in Toronto.

I did not pay the $1500 for the two day seminar..
After the break there was another speaker who offered a $399 package from Auction Teacher Pro.. Has anyone signed up for it and was it worth trying as I was quite impressed with the presentation and I wanted to try it..


thanks...

I went to last night's seminar in DC & kept waiting for "The Sell". I admit I was hoping to learn a bit more, but it became obvious quite early on that Rick Wiseman was putting forth a lot of effort to get us keyed up. No black AmEx in this seminar, but we did get the "FREE GOVERNMENT MONEY (intheformofataxcredit) TO RENOVATE YOUR HOUSE" spiel. (Funny thing: I'm from Salt Lake City, & I recognized all the pictures he flashed.) He did try to make us feel bad for not putting up the $999 (yeah, the price has dropped since most people on here attended), and gave us the whole "if you're hesitating about spending a measly thousand dollars to invest in your future, what are you going to do when you come across a $300K property? Maybe this really isn't for you." He swore that the price was offensive to the Trump reputation, but that "Mr. Trump wanted to set the price such that 80% of the people in the audience could afford to attend." I don't think I can count the number of times he or Trump (via video) made some comment about "the next wave of entrepreneurs" or "it's time to stop the cycle of the rich getting richer," etc. And of course, I happened to be at the last seminar in DC metro, so the workshop (which is now 3 days) was "just about full". He swore they were going to run out of space before all interested parties could sign up. I must admit, a fairly large percentage of people in the audience declined the offer. The really shady thing is that you couldn't get the free book until you sat through another hour-long presentation, and from what I saw, only people who went to the back table & asked for a sign-up form got the book.

After the break, some other guy from Utah (Jim? Mitch?) came along to offer us the Auction Teacher Pro deal for $399, in case we just didn't have the $999 yet. Dude figured that we really were interested, otherwise we wouldn't have stuck around. So to help us out, he wanted to show us how to use this other program to generate income that would put us in a position to jump into the Trump Institute the next time around. He also offered a payment plan for those who didn't have $400 right then, either: as long as we could give a check or credit card number right then, they would hold off on charging us until payday.

I must admit, I was pretty impressed in the beginning, but it started to seem too good to be true. As I thought about it, I realized he never said how long it would take to really get things going & see income. With all the examples he showed, he was sure to say that these "aren't necessarily representative". I later asked him what the average person could expect, but he never did answer my question. On the other hand, they did give you a lot of software, unlimited access to an 800# helpline for life (or a year, I forget which), and a disc of 300 thousand product suppliers' contact info.

Another attendee had signed up for the Institute, but decided to get a refund & purchased Auction Teacher Pro instead, thinking that this would be an easier way to make a lot of money (read: I'm a lazy a** & I don't want to put any effort into making money for myself). I didn't sign up for anything that night; they'll be back in 6 months, so I figured I'd do some research, read my free book, and decide what to do based on that. I just started poking around when I found this site, somewhere mid-page on Google. I, too, am wondering if there is anyone out there who attended the workshop and is getting support from the Trump Team. It sounds like a good support system if you prefer the human touch to your learning. No doubt, Trump is The Man when it comes to making money, but perhaps that's exactly what makes me skeptical.

I attended the conference in Calgary, Alberta in March 2007 and I have to say I was impressed. I'd been to a Russ Whitney presentation before and even though the speaker almost put us to sleep I did learn a thing or two from it.
Rick Wiseman is very good at what he does, but as someone mentioned before, if you think listening to him's gonna make you rich then you should probably just tough it out and work your 9-5er until you get a decent pension.

All this conference should really do for you is help you get off your ass and get some ideas flowing through your head because not everyone can invest the way the "2 day seminar" teaches. Everyone knows their own strengths and limitations and spending $1900 on a brand name isn't gonna change that.
I think INGRID nailed it on the the head and I thank her for her smart post.
As for me, I'm gonna keep on reading George S. Clasons The Richest Man in Babylon and any other useful book I can get my hands on, and when I need a spark or a new idea, i'll probably go back to one of these free conferences.

Cheers everyone!

Thanks everyone for the feedback. I registered for a Trump seminar happening in my town next week because I am expecting a lump sum of money and seeking investment advice, however, I will not attend. Thanks to the Canadians, the lawyer and those husband/wives who wasted their money. Of course this is a business and perhaps some folks didn't realize what they were going for. Still it is advertised as a free wealth building seminar and the expectation is that you will get real estate investment and wealth building advice. Sure folks attended who cannot afford the $1500, they attended because they want to better their lives. If you can afford to GIVE AWAY $1500 (critics of the above) then by all means go ahead and GIVE it to the Trump Institute but don't criticise those who are smart enough to tell the difference between a seminar and a sales pitch and back out in time, or better late than never. What some folks do not realize is ALL these programs are selling is the seminars and the services. Their aim is not to make you a million it is to make themselves a million.

As for me, I am going to take INGRID'S advice and the advice of those who suggested reading a book. The seminar would have been a shortcut to knowledge, but anyone who is serious will research whatever it takes to get there. My best advice to get started is Napoleon Hill's Law of Success. It has aided me to transition from welfare mother of four to a six figure job with a condo in S. Florida. I didn't get this far by giving money away. I did it by being gaining financial wisdom and being frugal. Now I am ready for the next level.

The conference that I attened was very unorganized. Food all over the back tables. I was just wondering if it were cosumary for the staff to pass out there own business cards for credit repair with the free books.

For those of you who took the 6 month seminar, did you receive any follow up calls from anyone at the institute or did you always have to call the hotline? Also, were you charged a monthly fee after 6 months?

It seemed to me that the Trump seminar would be useful to someone who has already bought a few properties, but finds themselves 'stuck' for one reason or another. Of course, they would be going in with a lot of very specific questions... I have found the following things very helpful:

1) Lots of reading
2) A mentor - this can be a wholesaler, an agent who invests, or a mortgage broker who invests. Ask around, they are not hard to find and need you as a potential 'flippee'. They may come with their own property management and contractors as well.
3) Getting to know my target market.
4) Transaction costs, down payment, carrying costs.
5) Gross Rental Multiplier: 7.9 or less = buy!!
6) Find your lender by referral.

Good luck to all!

14 May 2007 saw rick wiseman at the Brookstreet hotel in Ottawa
ON(parked on the street and saved $$$). I went with the intention of getting some value from it, remind myself concepts I may already know of and have fun (hey it was cheaper than a movie). I got it all and the free book (after the 2nd speaker)
I had already done some research before the seminar (read this column!) and so knew I wouldnt be investing any $$$.

Rick is so good at presenting I learned a lot about stage presence and being comfortable. I was analysing him to model what makes him work (yes I'm also into NLP).

And more important what doesnt work...the atittude of being richer and superior to his 'renters'. Yes I too own rental property (self taught - no regrets) and I see my job/fun as a highly responsible previledge of sheltering people. Not one of ripping off ignorant masses. When it suits them I do encourage/help my tennants to buy property. There is enough abundance for all. The greed and more is better aspect of Ricks' life would totally not work for me - not that I'm knocking him for it. bless him.

I was amazed at the number of people who signed up with little or no research on the matter. Everything they talked about one can learn from books/net. If you already havent put in the work, and arent passionate - just want to get in for the $$$ - this is a great way to stay in that mode of 'eternally wanting'.

IMHO I do agree that it can work for some (who are passionate and want to put in the work)...most will regret the $1899CDN.
Personally I would go a different route to being educated.

The 2nd speaker (auction teacher pro) - reminded me of some important things about the net. I decided $400 for his 4hr course is not worth it for me. I got good value listening to him - even took notes.

In the end he said if you havent signed up for any of the classes and only got the $8 book for 4hours of your time then your time is only worth $2per hour. WOW Now he is really trying to help me spiritually - don't react, let it go. I already got good value for my 4 hrs. Even met some nice people and networked. Checked out the fancy new hotel, met a bewildered canada goose who could not believe WTF happened to his breeding grounds....

The trump book - i'm almost finished underlining it. The best thing about it is the preface where he compares it to 'Conversations with God(life)' by Neal Donald Walsh, one of my all time best reads and truth. toodles, gotta go to finish reading the last illusion (communion with life) to get ready for the ottawa CWG book club this eve.

Thanks for the entertainment!

Thanks Voula,

I did sign up for the two day seminar. It sounds legit and I would like to do do some real estate courses but I don't want to pay out any more funds. I was excited about learning some of this real estate business.

The FREE seminar that weekend DID have a second speaker and the guy from Auction talked about making web pages for $399.00. I'll see if I kept the brochure from him and get it back to you, here. If I hadn't signed up for Trump's I would have looked into his offer.

Hi,

My friend and I did attend Donald Trump Wealth Building Seminar it was worth it because it was FREE.

However I did not pay the additional $1899.00 for the two day seminar way too expensive for me.

One question after Rick spoke we heard from someone by the name of Craig who was offering a package $399.00 US for a company called Auction (not sure if that is what it is called.)

Can anyone help me out and provide me with the companies name and if that is worth trying ?

One more thing I am Canadian and both my friend and I enjoyed the seminar and Mr. Wiseman.

Any assitance is apprecicated.



Thanks,

Voula

My domain is .net ............
I had enetered .com. Thx.

Hi again. I added the carrier in my address. I'll fix it when I submit. I still would like to hear from anyone who has taken the Trump seminar adn teh 'Weekend to Weatlth Training. As above:

I'd like to hear, asap, from those who started the 2 day class then decided it ‘wasn’t for them’, left at the first morning break and

1)GOT THEIR MONEY BACK!
2) was it a 100% refund?
3) did they verbally make it difficult to withdraw?
I would really like to get some feedback. Thx all.

I want to hear from those who started the 2 day class then decided it 'wasn't for them', left at the first morning break and GOT THEIR MONEY BACK!

I just attended the Way To Wealth Seminar today and like anything else out there you have to take the good with the bad and choose what you want to use.

I expected a free seminar is not going to make me rich.

I have two questions for everyone that has posted the prior posts and that is what price will you put on your value and what are you willing to pay to get there?

For some you can do the Grunt work and learn it all your self, build experiance like Trump in the same amount of time if not more or less than he did and we all know that's the hard way.

The other is to learn from active people in business their mistakes, falures, success, the things to do and the things not to do.

For me becuase I am 37 I must get it right the first time now and learn from other people's experiance.

Good luck to all.

Thank you all for the posts. The particular seminar I was to attend was actually headed up by Trump Jr. Obviously this makes it SEEM much more legitimate. My husband and I actually planned to spend an entire day at this meeting (the day before our vacation when we already had million last minute things to do as well).

We are planning on getting into the house flipping business and actually thought we might get some additional insight. We knew there had to be some type of hook (obviously), but this one really SUCKS.

These type of seminar scams have been going on for so long it is sickening. I've had friends in the past get so taken over this nonsense.

I'm sure what people are paying a ridiculous amount of money for is no different than his book that you can get discounted on Amazon.

I have lost respect for Trump. He's a greedy jerk. HE SUCKS.

One more thing......Don't expect to get rich quick....wrong plan...Most people are either lazy or greedy and want 'IT" right away....doesn't happen anymore in this business at this very moment...

Also, as a beginner, pick a strategy...foreclosures or pre-construction or fix and repair or buy and sell or buy and hold some cash-flowing rental property....remembe cash is King....When you get real good at one of them you can begin to learn about another strategy...don't mix them up now...too complicated and too much work...

Don't worry about appreciation....it will come, maybe not as much as in the 'good ol'e days' but nothing wrong with 2, 5, 8 percent......Don't forget you also get a "tax break" for depreciation and you get to deduct all expenses related to you're doing business in real estate....keep a mileage log, time sheets, track hours spend on seminars, webinars, teleseminar, etc., etc.

I now get most of my real estate education for free....yes, they're still will try to sell you something in those teleseminar/webinars but you'll just have to learn to say 'no'. The good thing is, since these are conducted via telephone, you can just hang up.

My final comment is, read a lot...not only about real estate but about the economy...who's laying off people, where are companies moving to, what will the impact be of global warming (flooding will result in insurance rates triple the amount of the mortgage payments in some states)...and so on and so on....

Again, good and safe investing

Ingrid

No need to spend thousands of dollars like I have on books, tapes, seminars or bootcamps!

Here's the easy way to get started....If you don't own your own home go out and get yourself qualified for a duplex. Live in one unit and rent out the other (lenders will give you 100% financing for Owner-Occupied properties).

In about a year, upgrade to a 2-4 unit property which you can still easily qualify for (most lenders will do 100% financing if you plan to occupy one of the units). If you say you're going to live in one of the units, do it and don't lie about it....it ain't worth it!

Besides, if you're just beginnig, don't think about it as your one and only "home"....When you really get into the money, only then can you look and think about your 'dream' home.

You can keep and stay in the duplex, or rent out the half you were staying in or exchange it (1031 Exchange, to defer any capital gain taxes) into the 2-4 unit. Lenders will give you a credit for rental income from the 2-4 units which could further help you qualify for the 2-4 unit loan.

A year or so later, do it again (refi, cash out and use it for down payment or 1031 exchange) and buy a 5 investment which nost lenders consider 'Commercial' property.....In that case, the income of the 'Commercial' property is primarily used to qualify you for the loan and NOT you/your income.....

Join a local real estate investment club, use www.google.com a lot for tons of free information!

Hope this may be useful to someone.

Good Investing

Ingrid
Accredited Investor who doesn't hold a J.O.B.

A seminar is being offered in my area and I'm glad that I have read this post. I don't want to waste my time with a sales pitch. Of course, I don't expect anything for free. I'd rather they charge me a fee, tell me what it is up front. Then, I can decide whether or not to attend. I don't need to waste a full day just to return on another date for the paid seminar. It's a marketing gimmick. You have to weed people out...like a filter. It's ironic. While they get rid of the people who aren't really interested (or won't take action), they also lose the people who were interested, but don't have time to play games. My time is valuable. It's sort of like a bate and switch. It's a scam!

I have to agree with wade, if you cannot figure out that a FREE seminar is not going to make you rich in one afternoon then you might want to go back to your trailer and stay there. It sounds like many of you resent people who have become succesful and are out there spending their valuable time to try and help others out who don't know where to start, heaven forbid they ask for an investment so the company can make aprofit (its a business you morons).

And for all you Canadians, I've never been there before but it sounds like the cold weather has had adverse effects on your brains, heh?

All this negativity makes me laugh. The biggest thing that all of you should have learned is you need to invest! One way or another. I'm not saying into a seminar company, I'm saying into yourself.

Maryse, I'm dissapointed at how you say "merely a tax credit" as if it were not the same as getting 140k for the house. You are a lawyer, Tax Credits are some of the best programs in the country!

And to all you Canadians! Learn to spell!! OMG I want to poke my eyes out after reading your post!

Mzz Reay, your an idiot! I can tell by your post that you are only interested in Free Stuff. What you need to do is learn to invest! You sound like most Americans. Poor me, just trying to get by, I hope I can succeed in life. A free seminar will not change your life. Be a responsible adult and take your own life by the steering wheel. Mommy and Daddy won't always take care of you.
My first advice would be, Look in the mirror and be willing to blame all the things that happened in your life on the face you see.

Vikki, what was even the purpose of your post? To show patriotism with your fellow "The Canadians". Serious.

I am a member of National Grants and thouroughly believe that Mr. Wiseman can change lives with his message. I have successfully invested in real estate because of his hard to swallow words. If his presentation offended you maybe you should look at the reason why! The truth will set you free even though it pisses most people off. Thats why there is an 80/20 rule. Now let the crazy reponses fly. FYI learn to invest!!!

I went to the seminar last night and felt so guilty because I dragged another 5 people with me. It was as horrible as one can imagine and the speaker ( Rick Wiseman) was a being very forceful in asking the canadian audience to show some enthusiasm "or else" we would ask you to leave..... Frankly, I was impressed that we " The Canadians" did not feed into this poor sales tactic. We showed me that he was not dealing with the a bunch of wide eyed idiots. And by the way Rick, I would recommend letting the audience know how long the break is for so that people didn't just use this time as the perfect get away. The ridiculous body rocking back and forth was becoming offensive. After this seminar, I can't help but side with Rosie.....what a bunch of crock!!!!

PLEASE READ BEFORE GOING TO SEMINAR!!ya i just got back around 10 mins ago from this ceminar and i went there with the intention to get some good information about getting rich , get the free book and i got NONE OF IT! i found i got more from the t.v commercial that donald trump spoke on for 2 mins , they had no real useful information and i didnt even get a free book that they said they would give , let alone i actually thought donald trump would be there. it was hoorible here i am no money at all trying to get buy in life and i thought this would be helpful to ppl but it was all a way of gettin ppl to pay 1600$ or w.e for some stupid 2 day course ,and i bet it would give as much info as today did! very disapointed they didnt even have coffee or something for ppl sitting there for 2 hours, plus i dont think rick wiseman is realistic , the only reason he has money is because he has the helping hand of trump , and im sure he was deslexic a couple of years ago , ah im so mad , and the black card thing? just made everyone in canada feel POOR and really bad , tellin us that we have our blinders on and we wont go ne where in life!and the only thing i learned was how to get free money from gov if u buy an old ass home , which by the way the money goes back into fixing your place and thats not some guienous info he gave , im just sayingg im a 19 yr old student hoping that i would be able to succed in life because im flat broke now but it was just a scam ur suppose to get the real information when u go to the weekend course! for like 1600$ it was totally WACK! im so proud of my canadian ppl tho , at this cemenar in t.o we gave rick such a hard time , he said prolly 10 X if we didnt act more into it that he would leave! good bye bye

SHAME ON CANADA !! For letting these HUSTLERS into our country!!

Myself and my girlfriend went to this seminar today and listened to the full sales pitch. The exact same as the pitch's mentioned above. (Black AMEX & Historical properties)

My girlfriend was ready to call Visa and up her limit to pay for the 2 day course.She's lucky she's with me or she would have been $2400 more into debt. I feel really bad for all the hopeless faces that looked like they could barely afford to get by, let alone waste $2400 to find out absolutely nothing!!

I spoke with one of the closer's about getting a deal and he dropped the price for me and my girlfriend by $1600. Just by asking. This got me thinking we should go home and research and glad we did or else we would have been screwed right now. I trully think it's pathetic that the Canadian Government would let DONALD TRUMP STEAL FROM OUR POOR!! Go ahead and steal from AMERICANS the way you've been doing it for years and made you a BILLIONAIRE!!

BUT GET THE HELL OUT OF CANADA!!

Jan. 9, 2007--My husband and I attended the seminar at the Holiday Inn in New York City. I too thought Rick was a great presenter (or may be performer is the better word). I especially loved his hip movements (but thought the waiving of his Black AmEx card to be totally tacky)! Anyway, my husband and I had no intention of paying a dime for a seminar and just went to hear what Trump had to say, and pick up the free book (which we never received). Although we did get useful information, especially about the tax credits for historical home renovations (although Rick presented it as free money from the govt, in reality its merely a tax credit). I know that because I'm a lawyer, but not many people understood that point (which Rick conveniently failed to mention, instead making it out like the govt was handing out thousands of dollars to any and everyone interested in buying and renovating pre-1936 homes!!)

All in all, while I'd recommend the freebie seminar if you have some free time to spare, I'd strongly recommend against investing in the weekend seminar. Also, I am disappointed to see the Donald stoop to such levels to get poor unsavvy people (especially those who can bearly afford it) to pay-$1500 a pop to help line his already bulging pockets!

I went to the seminar too at the Hotel in Pasadena and Rick Wiseman was speaking,, A very good actor,, and the black American express card he pulled out was to impress us.. boring stuff.. and then the pitch for the 1,500 buck to get the black folder.. another money pitch.. people that make money don't have time for this only people that want to make money from you do.. I think Trump is lowing his standards by doing this as he has been very successful in his lifetime and people admire his abilities.. He has a talent for Real Estate and you can't teach someone this in a 2 day seminar for 1,500 .. forget it .. read a book at the library... what theatre group is Rick Wiseman connected to..?? a great performance... especially with the swaying of the body routine and the hands on side of head to show people have blinders and the whipping out the Black American express card... what show is he performing in next.. love it rick babe...

I went to this one day seminar to learn the "Trump Way" but of course it is not all that free. I thought to myself if this was so easy why is Mr Wyman up there working for someone else. And why are all these people here if this really works. If Mr Trump want to give back to the community then do it free and help us low mid class people get ahead instead of using OPM to benefit himself. I do not buy into this Trump way, it may work but at what price? I walked away with some pieces of information that I think it was helpful and thought "outside the box" mmm if he could firgure it out I must be able to do it too. Think about it!

- The following comment is a cut & paste from another forum in reference to this article; Mike D.  

My husband and I both were taken by the great salesmanship of these people at the Trump Seminar, but what a dissapointment, it all turned out to be a gimmick of selling and more selling, the second day was mostly selling of their software to make it easier and better, which i think was about $1,000, then after they also starting on the selling of the "mentor program" to spend a few months with a mentor teaching you the actual selling process, and that was $6,000, which of course we did not buy as we were already $3,000 in the hole. Today a month later we get another call from another of their mentors to "help us out"...my husband and I looked at each other and smiled, sure enough after he found our credit cards were maxed out, and no money on our savings or checking accts, all of a sudden we were "not condidates for the new mentor program" he was going to offer us for $6,000. My lord, we could not beleiev it... it was incredible, needless to say we are going to pursue trying to get our money back even if in court.... Tks for lendin me an ear.... I needed that... LOL..

Has anyone bought trumps two day wealth building course and is it worth the 1900.00 for husband and wife. I bought the program for the two day course and 6months of phone training. I can still back out before the lunch of the first class. But if this is a valuable course I will take it.

Rick Wiseman didn't need any training from Mr. Trump. He previously worked with the National Grants Conference, which also promotes a weekend real estate traning seminar. It was basically the same thing. Rick's good and a great pick for Donald's new "Trump Way".