I read the one star reviews and laughed. You can definitely tell who is entitled and who isn't. Knowledge is valuable and sure, you could go online and get as much free information as possible. That's what we did/were doing. We were online trying to educate ourselves on how to get it done correctly. We didn't no any one successfully doing it, we didn't know any one doing it period. We had no background in real estate investing and were trying to soak up as much knowledge off YouTube or google as possible. Obviously, getting just enough knowledge to understand the concept but we lacked the confidence to apply it because we don't have the systems in place to run a business sufficiently and successfully cuz we're not doing this to fail. My husband signed us up for the free work shop and I was immediately interested in attending the 3 day workshop because I figured they were gonna give us some great knowledge at that weekend workshop, which they did! But once they offered to provide all the systems necessary to operate and perform as your own functional business, that's what really got me hyped. They built this machine, a vehicle of a business that they can teach me to drive and how to use and operate and I can use this business as a vehicle to get to places I've never been in my financial journey. I hope that was a good analogy cuz for the people that rated this business 1 star, it seems to me that you didn't get it, you didn't understand what they said they could do for you becuz not once did they say that they were gonna turn me into an over night success story and that I would magically become rich and wealthy and yada yada. They said they would teach me how to use their systems and and that if I applied them exactly the way they instructed, that they would work! That is it, that is all, they promised nothing more, nothing less. That is not a scam. That is open and honest. That is basically saying, "YOU HAVE TO WORK FOR IT BUT ITLL BE EASIER IF YOU DO IT OUR WAY" and the 1 star people have a problem with learning; they don't want do it. Didn't mean to make it personal, It just really twists my chichis when folks call me a sucker for believing something that clearly works. That's like saying I wasted my money franchising a McDonald's... read more

I joined FortuneBuilders years ago and was told I needed to form a Nevada LLC for rental property protection. I trusted their guidance, paid the annual fees for years, and only recently learned my property was never actually placed in the LLC. That means the structure they pushed offered zero protection and cost me hundreds a year for no reason. They never helped with the deed, never clarified mortgage restrictions, and never explained that an out-of-state LLC does nothing for a Tennessee property unless the title is actually transferred. I've now had to untangle everything and fix it myself. Do not trust this company, they are truly a scam. read more

This is a scam don't waste your money. They scammed me out of $25K and sent me to collections.

A scam and a shame. The first seminar is for free, then a second seminar (a whole weekend) that promises to give you some information for RE investing for $200. The speaker was bragging about his success, not providing any real information, and not allowing any questions. Then one by one they invite the attending people to a "private" interview in which they assess your fortune, your salaries, and your abilities to pay, and then they "offer" you a master's program (they compared themselves to Ivy League Universities) for the small amount of $50000. Really? I would like to see real reviews from people who took their master's program and how many of them are not completely broke now. read more

Total Scam! Don't giver you any valuable information. Keep saying "I will talk about that in more detail in a minute" but then never do. DON`T WASTE YOUR TIME!!!! read more

I just finished the 3 days seminar yesterday. As you all know by now from all the previous reviews, you will not know how to flip a house if you don't already know how to do it before coming to this seminar. A little bit of false advertisement. They just want to build their credibility to pitch you the Mater class which cost 30k - 50k. On the hand. If you are already start buying and flipping houses, you could pick up a lot of tips and valuable nuggets that you can actually implement to improve your Real Estate Investing business. These information they gave to impress you are valuable but just lost as entertainment for 80% -90% of the attendees. They will not able to do anything with it unless they get more support from the Master program or other sources. Hope this help if you thinking about attending the 3 days seminar. Happy Hunting For Deals, David read more

Took the free 2 hour course and the 3day paid course. 3 Day course: Pros- was very informative in regards to how mortgage loans work. Raising capital, the differences between loans that will finance your investment. There were plenty of tips involved in the presentation that can be of benefit to your finances. Cons- At the end of the day it's about business and money. Fortune Builders is no different. There was a lot of propaganda and sales to try and get you to join their 29k+ Mastery program. Overall they're very informative and I recommend to the person who wants to start thinking in a diff way of college+degree=$$$. The 3 day course is exactly what you pay for. read more

I enjoyed every bit of this class, Cole opened my eyes to so many different possibilities! This 3 day seminar was very informative, I can't wait to start my journey. My recommendation to anyone thinking about attending a class, GOOOOOOO have a open mind and enjoy! Thanks FB (Fortune Builders not Facebook lol) for trying to help us find financial freedom. Vannessa read more

I went to their free seminar in 2017 where it was basically a pitch to booking tickets to attend their 3-day real estate investing event, where it was a major discount of $199 to buy them. Then came the 3 day event at the Westin Dulles in Herndon where they made us sit there for 8-9 hours, with a 1 hour lunch break. Basically, it was just a bunch of "investors" and "entrepreneurs" talking and bragging about how their lives changed from flipping homes. Than Merril wasn't there lol. One of them said to the audience: "My Vietnamese mother hid money in rice, my Italian father hid money in pasta." Just sounded way too stereotypical to be real. When they weren't talking about how their lives changed from taking part of the mastery program, they would go (speed might I add) through a vague power point and breadcrumb everyone with little limericks. They intentionally designed it that way so some morons would actually buy the $30,000 or $50,000 "mastery" program thinking it would be more detailed(depending on the payment installations). I was 19, so I was very impressionable and dumb and got excited at the free seminar about a discount for tickets lol. My mother felt it was scammy so we didn't even attend on day 3. Fortune Builders is the Herbalife of real estate, in all honesty (gym duds IYKYK) You can learn how to wholesale or learn how to become a rehabbing investor for FREE on TikTok and YouTube. That content they want you to pay for over a yearly college tuition is the same shit you can learn online for FREE read more

382 filtered reviews to 122 reviews that show... that's very suspicious. I went to a Fortune Builders event in Los Angeles a few years ago. I'm really glad I went because I went home and Googled 'is Than Merrell a scam?' and came across the largest real estate forum online and learned everything I needed to know FOR FREE - Biggerpockets (I now own several multi-family properties and will buy many more). The event was sad - people throwing down money to attend the 3-day seminar (where they simply try to sell you more programs/seminars). And a lot of these people were desperate for success. I would love to know how many actually own investment properties now.... I did learn some basic information while attending the seminar - so it's worth going to get the free information but DON'T pay them a penny to learn things that are online for free (again, there's a very large real estate forum online where you can learn EVERYTHING for free - Biggerpockets). Also, the presenter kept saying Than Merrill would be there but of course the guy never showed up. The presentation reeked of inflated promises and snake oil salesmen. But they get 2-stars for the free information and for leading me to the BP website. read more

I feel so fortunate to be part of this incredible real estate mastery program. My husband AND I Joined THE mastery PROGRAM IN August 2015. We are trained in bootcamps that are held every month in a different state,our online school is incredible. We have webinars with current real estate investing tips. we are coached by very experienced, successful real estate investors every 2 weeks. We are set up to be successful . We belong to a group of people of excellence, with integrity, transparency, honesty. A growth mindset. Worth every penny of investment . They don't teach you this in business school ir anywhere else. read more

See all

The following review is for Fortune Builders' three-day seminar. I recently attended Fortune Builders' three-day seminar in Los Angeles, and am so happy I did! Ryan Carmody, a highly successful Fortune Builders student-turned-instructor, taught three full days of class, and did an outstanding job. The material he presented was geared toward providing students a high-level overview of the real estate business including: the investor mindset, why real estate is a compelling and important investment vehicle, the importance of developing and implementing business systems, marketing for deals, underwriting a deal, sources of capital, putting out offers, ways and means of adding value, elements of the redevelopment process, the distinction between different types of income, parlaying earned income into assets that generate passive and "legacy" income, and how ethically conducting business helps all participants in a transaction. This seminar is not deep, but topical, and provides students an understanding of the elementary components of the real estate business. Indeed, the seminar includes marketing for Fortune Builders' ongoing trademark "Mastery" educational and coaching products. The marketing is certainly not overdone, and given the relatively low price point of this seminar, I believe the marketing to be completely fair. Given the apparent substantial success of those Fortune Builders Mastery students that take massive action with their ongoing education, Fortune Builders Mastery educational products seem to me to be a legitimate path for those who may wish to develop themselves into bona fide real estate investors. In full disclosure, I did not purchase any of the Mastery products, but do see value in these educational and coaching products for certain aspiring real estate investors. In summary, Fortune Builders' three-day seminar, in a fun and interactive format, provides students the opportunity to see both a vision of what can be, and a pathway to get there. read more

My husband and I were having trouble with our "mountain house" that we were rehabbing. We heard Than's ad over the radio and we decided to check it out. We attended the free seminar and we learned about $500 (plus all our assets combined) worth of information that we would have not even known to ask about or known that we were risking. We paid the $197 and attended the 3 day Summit about 2 weeks later. Now, we went in with an attitude to learn and get out of our tough real estate situation. We got more than $200 worth of financial education learning and valuable (priceless) networking connections so investment-wise, we were ahead! We learned how to handle the basics of protecting ourselves and our assets and the future of our children. We got accepted into the Mastery program and so far, it has only been 3 weeks and I can say that my life has changed, we aren't worried about the "mountain house". We are provided with the knowledge and the tools to handle our rehab issues. AND we don't have to go out and do research or "trial and error" to figure out how things work. It is all taught to us so it really saves us time. My husband and I got to attend our "full Immersion" class, a week ago. We were blown away with the efficiency of figuring out how to determine the value of a couple homes we got to visit. "Home shopping" from an investors' point of view is so much different than shopping from a consumer's point of view! We learned so much from an expert in the industry. Yes, an expert -- someone who flips, rehabs, buys, sells, and has been around doing this year round. Not a "book knowledge" person teaching us "theories" on real estate-- but teaching us tested and tried FACTS that he implements in his own business everyday. We emerged from our immersion confident that we were part of a team, with a network of experts, who are ready to help us using their own knowledge and expertise in every part of this industry. I look forward to our first boot camp! ***In addition to all this, for years now, I've been volunteering and contributing what I can to causes locally and internationally year round and I am just excited to add that with building my real estate investment business, I can maximize my effectiveness and even help more people with their own real estate woes. That, making a difference in people's lives, priceless to me! Three weeks in, and I'm already helping those closest to me and I see them blossoming into confident homeowners. This fills my heart... The Honest Truth/ Disclaimer: Sadly, FortuneBuilders is not for everyone. If you go into the workshops with a chip on your shoulder and just look at everything in a negative light, that is what you'll go home with and this program won't work for you. If you think you have a better system, you'll be wasting your time. If you boast about your experience and your own know how, it's best that you just keep to what has been working for you. read more

My dad signed me up for this three day seminar in Burr Ridge, despite having fully rehabbed a four bedroom and two bedroom home! I walked in having read the reviews and if you are a newbie you can extract some information, but just go purchase a book and save yourself the time. Fortune Builders for a person with a little knowledge will not be impressed and if you are a person like me that asks questions you will smell scam a mile away. *the speakers that have all this ,"alleged," real estate experience do not provide you a last name or business cards (this is the age of technology just go Google the person and confirm and verify online. The people on stage were hired to play the role of ,"alleged," real estate moguls and they are all under 30..great performance guys! *I have NEVER attended a workshop and did not get a first and last name...and this,"experts, " will say we are not affiliated with fortune builders so we don't provide cards, but you should at the very least a last name. *the one speaker was said to have best selling real estate books, but when I inquired he said he would tell me later. I finally found a book on Amazon with four one star reviews. *I found one speaker who might have been 30 with businesses on LinkedIn in 1999 when she was 10, her ig page filled with travel pics, but nothing about her multi million dollar businesses nor the 54 schools (lol) she opened in third world countries, she was also associated with three different businesses with no information available about any. *these ,"alleged, " real estate moguls never shared a real example of any situation, project, just that they had all these deals going....when I went to speak to one she quickly shifted and said tell me about what brought you here! *the main speaker never completed one topic, everything was I will come back to this by Sunday, Sunday, Sunday, except for the varies types of corporations which you can Google the S type, C type and LLC..oh and SoleK. *we were promised a copy of the examples given of the system used to find and how to walk through it, but on Saturday there were no copies or no mention of it *THERE ARE TWO MASTERY PROGRAM PACKAGES ONE FOR $30,000.00 AND ONE FOR $50,000.00. The only system you need is to find is an honest agent (always, always, always check the comps in the area..that is where I dropped the ball and I trusted Enterprise Realty and Carolyn Washington and never checked the comps). The second thing needed for a successful system is a great real estate attorney and Attorney Karen Walker was amazing, she urged me to get an inspection, if I had listened to my attorney and spent the $400.00, I would have never rehabbed that property and not taken that hit when I sold it. The third item needed to have a successful system is a good general contractor, make certain you check the better business bureau, Yelp, Google reviews do as much research as you can before you retain and if you find a good one still check the status everyday by going over there to the property. I will update this post with the name of the book I read. In closing, Fortune Builders is a SCAM, why do you need to pay 30-50,000 and still have to pay for your property, general contractor, attorney and materials! read more

The place to learn about Real Estate! Cole Hatter is a master of his industry and has an art of explaining the practical and useful knowledge in the space. Be prepared to leave better than you came in and ready to take the action needed. read more

I just spent 3 days at the Sheraton Hotel in San Gabriel, CA. It cost me $200 and it was only to listen to an "infomercial@. The speaker gave very vague details on "how to" and pushed their $30,000 Mastery Program. They want to sell their Process and Systems package fir $30,000. I Googled many of their systems and found other programs for for a fraction of the cost. read more

I have been in FB for over 5 years now. At first I loved it. I learned a lot about being a real estate investor but they don't tell you how it is almost impossible to get your first house flipped. Unless you have a bunch of money. Good luck finding a lender that doesn't use up most if not all of your profits. (if you can find one that is willing to loan it to you). It is way overpriced and will keep costing you more than you thought (after paying an extraordinary amount for FB Mastery) Forget getting a website through Mind Protein. They will let it expire and you will have to pay for it again if you want your business email to work. I would immediately move your domain to another server because RealFlow is a terrible, really expensive software. There is so much information out there that is free. Do your research on YouTube or look up some Real Estate Investing online. Go to some webinars. Anything but spend that much on FB! 35k to 55k. Think about it. I wish I would have. read more

I learned some descent information at their 3 day course. But there's a catch of course! Then they try to sell you on Getting their 50k dollar student learning program... really bummed to see how much they focused on this. I feel I wasted hours and hours listening to them trying to make the sale. They are making so much money from people even though they claim to truly care.... it's sad so many people bought in. So many old people paying up there last saved money to join.. sickening. You can study this on your own if you are focused enough, you don't need to waste that kind of money when you could use that to invest in passive income in the future instead. I learned some stuff but mostly bummed there was a "catch." Wish they would of just kept it a actual Class like it was supposed to be! Thanks for wasting 3 days making sales pitches. read more

Other reviews call Fortunebuilders a SCAM or a CULT and after my experience at their event, I'd have to agree. Except I think it's even worse than that. What they do should be illegal. My finance signed us up for the FortuneBuilders 3 day seminar. We both work in mortgage and real estate and she figured that we could pick up some nuggets of info to use in our own business. We both knew that there would be a sales pitch, but we were totally unprepared for what happened next. About 3 hours into the first day, my jaw was on the FLOOR. NOT because I was learning anything useful but rather because I could not believe how brazen and obvious their sales pitch and brainwashing tactics were. Absolutely no content was being taught. The speaker (RyanGuy) was simply manipulating the audience and taking them on an emotional roller coaster to get the audience into a fragile state of mind. But I mean...how else do you get people to cash out their 401k or max out their credit cards? There is almost no content taught at the 3 day event. I mean...MAYBE a newbie might learn a few things, but anyone that has any experience in real estate won't learn a single thing. The 3 day event is simply a trap and a brainwashing session to get people to sign up for a $30,000-$60,000 coaching program. The fact that so many people can't see past this boggles my mind. I'm sure FortuneBuilders has some success stories because simply introducing some people to real estate is all it takes. The tragedy is that the FortuneBuilders model is to swindle people into spending their life savings on real estate coaching when they KNOW that most people will fail and be out thousands of dollars. What they do is unethical and should be illegal. Do yourself a favor and avoid this company at all costs. You won't learn anything useful at this 3 day event and based on what I saw, it's only a matter of time before they face the music much like some of the other seminar companies. If you really want to learn about real estate, go work for a real investment company or simply get your real estate license and find an established agent to work under. read more

scam scam scam scam. Do not waste your money!!! it is a scammm!!!! They give you a customer service number that goes straight to voicemail Everytime. I have called over 20 times now! I am not going to go into details, a step your money if you want to. THIS IS A SCAMMMMM read more

I would highly recommend to stay away from Fortune Builders. The free event just give you very very very little info. Just enough to make you think you should give them the benefit of the doubt and pay 300 for a 3 day workshop. When you are at the 3 day workshop you will receive piecemeal info in between of what is the actual reason for the workshop: their opportunity to use all their sales tactics to make you want to enroll in their "mastery program" with a cost of 30k for 6 months or 50k for 24 months. I wouldnt have felt so cheated if at least they would have tought something during the 3 day workshop. If you are willing to enter into the Mastery Program then go ahead and go, otherwise dont waste your time and money because you wont learn anything from the free event or the 3 day workshop. read more

Speaker "Jeremiah" was overbearing, a little too egotistical and borderline rude at times. We paid to learn information, but for some reason he got very confrontational when some people in the class were taking "too many notes" and wanted us instead to "get it". He actually got angry with one guy cause he saw him trying to write too many notes from what was on the screen. It was weird and embarrassing. Why show us PowerPoint slides if you don't want us taking notes about it? I had to take long bathroom trips or go outside and get some fresh air at times just to try to get through this. Left early everyday cause it was so painful to continue to listen to and there was barely any information worth anything that was actually taught. It was, in my estimation, about 2-3 hrs of information given stretched over three days with it designed for you to join the mastery program. No respect of attendee schedules: No schedules given, you are left to guess when breaks and lunchtimes are going to happen, and what subjects are going to be talked about. They go very cheap: Despite having been to hundreds of meetings at hotels, this is the only one I've attended with not even a cup of coffee! The obvious goal is to get you signed up for more: He says more than once on first day that they will only select few qualified people for the next level mastery program, but by the third day they are asking people who haven't interviewed yet to join. Continued marketing target: Since I didn't sign up for mastery, for a few weeks I was solicited by phone and email to join. Than/Paul: no shows, they play some general prerecorded video (maybe from years ago) that is probably used for all their 3 day seminars. Conclusion: This is such an obvious money grab. They should at least try to respect the attendees more with some light refreshments, send a schedule for the weekend and not talking down to us when we are trying to learn. read more

Complete total BS! Salespeople are the easiest to sell to, and make an easy mark. 1% anything useful, 99% sales pitch to get you to buy the program starts at $20K-$50K. Like three days of timeshare presentation. Long marathon days with same old stories and same old sales pitch I have seen over and over before. It was like an Amway meeting combined with Timeshare. Nod your head "you do see value in this don't you, and you do want this don't you? What's holding you back? Don't forget to raise your hand if you want to be rich. The build for enthusiasm was like any sales pump up and the rest was all down hill. The presenter sprinkled in some hard luck stories for the "bogues and credit challenged" in the audience. If you have any education at all in business and economics you'll see right through this. I did come away with some nuggets about raising money and creating shell corporation to hide assets. No graphics or media are provided as they are trying to protect intellectual property, so you are not getting anything at the seminar. During the seminar they take the sheep to the back of the room for a private caucus where they determine your creditworthiness and gullibility. read more

I went to the fortune builder seminar but they just trying to sell you another 3 days conference. Why don't they just teach us how to do it? The guy keeps telling us that his son has the money to buy Lamborghini. He keeps saying flip flip flip throughout the seminar. WASTE of time and money. read more

Just did the 3 day seminar and the only reason I'm giving 2 stars for the weekend is because 1-I did learn some info about real estate investing(I came in not knowing a thing) and 2-I learned some things about financial literacy and business, it was kind of like a crash intro course. 9am-6pm Fri, Sat and Sunday. Which as I'm sure you know is not enough to learn everything about the business. BUT they lose 3 stars for their relentless and aggressive/manipulative sales tactics to become a student in their Mastery program. This program which I'm sure has some perks is a hefty price of 30k-50k in tuition which I believe to be waaaaaay overpriced. The 30k is for 6 months and the 50k is for 24 months!!!!! I get the idea of having a "coach" in any career is beneficial but for that price I say do the work on your own, network, find mentors, and use that money to start your very own investments. It broke my heart to sit there and see so many families and individuals jump in and drink the koolaid at the opportunity to get an "interview" and "be accepted" into this program. One WHOLE day was dedicated to pitching the mastery program even I found myself getting a fear of missing out. I know what they're doing is not illegal but it sure is predatory and it was so sad to see. Think about how much money this company makes at each of these 3 day seminars which they have going on Simultaneously in other states. If they recruit just 50 people per location...do the Math... If anything do the 3 days and that is it. read more

For anyone who hears those commercials on the radio about an upcoming workshop by fortune builders, to learn how to flip houses, and has wondered, should I sign up for that? I am telling you, if you want to get into real estate investing... DO IT. I attended a 3-day Fortune Builders event in March of 2012, with John Steingraber (I apologize if i'm spelling his name wrong). He was great and I learned so much. but the price to sign up for the Mastery Course was more than I could afford (15K to 25K). It sounded like a LOT of money, which I didn't happen to have lying around. But luckily, the content John delivered made it totally worth it for me to do the 3 day event. I always meant to do a review for John and say what a great job he did. I was really grateful for what he taught us at that workshop, and I have used a few of his tips since then! When the commercials came on the radio again recently, I wrote down the number, wanting to sign up once more, as a refresher course - but before I got around to calling, a friend of mine (who knows I am interested in real estate) said, "I signed us up!" Sweet! We went to the introductory event at the San Mateo Marriott, which was free, and pretty good (I can't remember the speaker's name but he had a real "radio voice."). And at this event, we were invited to sign up for the 3 day workshop, which is about $200. Luckily, you can partner up with someone and split the cost, so we each got to get in for a hundred bucks (i did the same thing last time with a realtor friend). Our instructor for the 3-day event this weekend was Cole Hatter, who was freakin excellent, and delivered SO much content, it blew my mind. I kept thinking, I can't believe he is GIVING ALL THIS INFORMATION for just 100 bucks (a lot of people attended with a partner, so I think a lot of people were able to split it and pay $100 instead of $200). And I didn't even sign up for the Mastery course!!! Seriously, the price for what you get is SO LOW, I felt like I was stealing. The information they give at these events could turn out to save people $500,000 in the future. For a hundred bucks. I kept thinking, I can't believe they are giving us all this information whether or not we sign up for the course. It's like they really do want to "over deliver" and educate people. The content delivered this time was a little different from the last time. Even more relevant to this day and age of social media. And they covered topics like short sales, private investing, REOs, rehabbing / flipping properties, marketing and way more. Plus at the very end, Cole gave some "ninja tips" on negotiating. You can see Cole is really passionate about this stuff. Cole (whom I believe has flipped over 600 properties) has a lot of energy and spoke really fast because he had so much content to deliver, but he was very easy to follow and I could not believe how quickly the 3 days flew by. I appreciated that he spoke quickly because if he slowed it down, we'd be there way longer, and he was really good at staying on time, giving us our breaks on time, etc.. I got the impression somehow that this might be one of his final speaking gigs. If that is the case, I hope FB can give him more incentive to keep speaking because he was really freakin good. My hesitation for not taking the mastery program, when I took the first 3 day workshop, was money, yeah. I don't have an extra $15K-$25K to spare right now (I know, I have to think of it as an INVESTMENT.... but I still don't have it yet). Still, the other factor was, does this really work? Am I going to really make money doing this? What if I pay all this cash and never make a dime? Well I have to tell you, in the time between the last workshop and this one, I have seen they really DO have successful students who have flipped properties, in my area, and made a good amount of money. So, for anyone who is considering taking this course, I would recommend it, if you can afford it. If I had the money right now I would sign up in a SECOND. It seems like they walk the students through every step. Seriously. The software and technology they use nowadays to automate everything is freekin mindblowing. I know the idea of being an investor skeeves people out. I know it even skeeves me out, and my whole family too. They are generally considered greedy bastards who take advantage of others and just want to make a quick buck. But Cole did a really good job of reminding us the biggest and best reasons to be an investor. You can do great things with the money you earn. He really teaches a lot by example. Cole actually was able to go to Haiti and help people who needed medical attention after the earthquake. He helps families in Africa to build houses and get fresh drinking water. Huge thanks to Cole, and his Dad (my friend commented, "his dad must be so proud of him." I totally agreed). And thanks to ALL the Fortune Builders staff for making this a great event. So glad I went! read more

I am at a fortune builder's 3 day seminar, I paid 197 to be here. On their free event they sell you this seminar, I thought I would learn about real estate investing or at least something about it. Turns out, this seminar is also a framework to sell you their other programs. This is Day 2, half the day is already gone and the trainer Gerald Martin is still saying how he is going to make our dreams come true lol. There is No teaching of techniques whatsoever. Its all about how govt sucks, education sucks, how people want to be rich but they cant, they talk about the rat race. Its basically a trap to get everyone sign up for the outrageous mastery program they have. If you want to attend this event to learn about real estate, remember, there is no teaching. The only thing you will learn is why and how Fortune Builder is great and why you should pay to be their student. Ive paid for 3 day sales pitch. There are at least 1000 of people here, everyone paid to come and listen to why they should buy something from them. These guys are genious. Remember those people who try to sell you something and you slam the door at them? Well, FB makes you PAY to listen to their sales pitch. And they interview you to make it seem like its a BIG DEAL to get into their program but if you PAY, they gonna take you anyways. Fortune Builder is amazing, made a fool out of everyone by making them pay for it. I feel so bad for the audiences. The FB employee are all well settled familypeople, they talk about their kids and families and gets emotinally connected to the audience. 99% of the audiences have families. When the trainer talks about how their life was just as miserable as everyone else's, and now everything has changed because of the training they got from fortune builder, the audiences are bound to believe them. Maybe the Mastery program works, I don't know. But the way they made people pay to be on a 3 day sales pitch Aka seminar, I DO NOT like them. Its unethical. Personally, I wouldnt even recommend it to my worst enemies. Unfortunately, people who gets involved in such scams are the ones who do not ever do their research or read reviews :( read more

Much of the 3 day seminar is wasted on a hard sell for their outrageous "mastery" program for up to 35k (yes, thats thirty-five THOUSAND $) If you dont have that, they will coach you how to finance it or put it on credit cards. Oh, and they remind you its tax deductable. You don't have to worry, though, right? Your buddies Than and JD are gonna make you a "fortune", right? Oh, yes. The feaky cult like worship of these 3 has-been reality TV "stars" of a long cancelled show does not let up, either. Oh, for the ultimate in FB hubris- These cretins actually wasted alot of seminar time organizing a CANNED FOOD DRIVE to show how "compassionate" they were. The $197 paying patrons provide the cans, of course. Disgusting If you want to be a RE investor, EDUCATE YOURSELF online, with books, youtube videos etc. and join LOCAL RE investor groups. With a little money to invest and a few phone calls, real successful local brokers and agents may mentor you FOR FREE. Do all your homework before pulling the trigger on any big investment and remember: there are alot of sharks in the water (like FB) and if you are just starting out, you aint one of them. Basically an unconscionable money grab by polished grifters aimed at vulnerable rubes, most of whom DO NOT have the mental or financial resources to come anywhere NEAR real RE investing. SCAM SCAM SCAM. read more

My husband and I both went to the three day seminar. It as very informative and we learned a lot. Our presenter, Jeremiah Phillips, was very engaging. He had a way of speaking that made us feel like he was talking directly to us. We walked away from those three days with a lot more knowledge about real estate. The purpose of the seminar was to persuade people to join the Fortune Builders group. When we walked in the door, we had no intentions of actually joining the association. We just wanted to be educated . After spending three days listening to Jeremiah, we are now considering becoming part of the Fortune Builders' family. read more

We attended the 3-day seminar in San Antonio recently. It was half motivational talk and half informational. The informational portion was fantastic, but the event probably could have been consolidated to 1.5 days without the motivational part. The Mastery program was offered for the following prices at the seminar: $33,997 Diamond (includes 12 months of coaching) $24,997 Platinum (includes 6 months of coaching) $19,997 Gold (includes 3 months of coaching) A couple of days after the event, we received an email from a representative saying he had some information for us. We talked on the phone twice and during the second conversation he offered the program to us for $10,000-$15,000. When we told him that we had a much smaller amount of $$ to invest, he told us we were being consumer-minded and unless we were going to pay the 10k-15k, then basically we're wasting our time trying our hand at real estate. We don't want to wipe our accounts out and max our credit cards for this company; the gentleman was very friendly until we informed him we weren't going to put our accounts in a financially compromising situation. Potential buyers, do your homework on any company. read more

This is a complete rip-off and scam designed to take money from unsophisticated business opportunity seekers. They fill rooms of ill prepared and financially unqualified people to upsell their real estate flipping service. It's total and utter bs. Attendees are funnelled outside to be "interviewed" by janky sales reps who 'reverse take away' (interview) poor people into "mastery" which is another upsell program. They say they are 'only accepting __# of new students' and then have the audacity to charge upwards of $35 grand for info you can learn online for FREE. Again... this is info ANYONE who spends some time on Google can get for free without spending a dime... never mind going into debt for tens of thousand of dollars. Fact is: you CANNOT get financing for homes if you are broke (even if they try to explain their BS "wholesaling"). And for those who do have access to capital (or themselves have a lot of money) they are highly unlikely to be able to compete against professional and institutional real estate investment firms who live and breath this tough business. Institutional investors know what they are doing and will crush the individual business opportunity seeker who likely learned it from janky infomercial type scammers like "Fortune Builders". Again: Fortune Builders is simply a rehashed late night infomercial spread over a few days. These dbags are modern day snake oil salesmen and you should stay far away from their clutches. The only 'fortunes' that will be 'built' are for the owners of this seminar company. NOTE to the owners, presenters and sales reps for "Fortune Builders": Where's your compassion? There is a special place in hell waiting for you. You are hurting people, manipulating them to go into massive debt and lose their futures, retirement, kids college educations and lives, all so you can live your fraudulent lifestyle, which I assume is quite opulent. Are your proud of yourselves? Do you tell your friends and families how many of your students fall for your bs and lose everything? I assume not, because you can't possibly be proud of yourselves. Sure you talk the company line about 'helping people'... but you know deep down, in your heart, you are full of it. Shame on you. Karma will get you when you least expect it. Maybe you should try finding another job or line of work and become a decent human being. ZERO stars. read more

I attended the 3-day seminar with Cole Hatter in Irvine last weekend, and it was truly amazing! The seminar FAR exceeded my expectations, and I almost never say that about anything or anyone! You gain soooooo much information in 3 days for only $200, it feels like you're stealing from them! Yes, they do have the Mastery program, which is expensive (think investment, not cost), but there is no high pressure sales pitch at all. Yes, the "systems" they show you are part of the Mastery program, but they also show you how you can do this even if you don't sign up for the Mastery program. Everyone involved in the training this weekend was very caring, and everyone seemed genuinely interested in each and every person they spoke to. I don't think that everyone of them could fake that if they weren't really like that. I figure a good education costs a LOT, and you usually don't make 6 figures or more for a long time after graduating (if you can even find a job!). I see this as an investment in my and my family's future that is less expensive than a university education, but that pays off far sooner! I can't wait to join the Mastery program! read more

I went to the Fortune Builders 3 day event about 8 months back with Cole Hatter as the presenter. Yes, I am back so many months after to share my experience and lessons learned! First, let me tell you that your mere $200 buy you a lot of KNOWLEDGE that you can apply not only to real estate but any other business you are entertaining, and if I ever had a chance to put a price-tag on the knowledge acquired, insight and result (in my personal life and business), I would have have priced it at tens of thousands! (which I actually made after attending just the 3 days, I can imagine the result after continuous training that I WILL eventually go thru with FB!!) As I have said, I wasn't able to sign up for the continuous training, but using the skills learned at the event I was able to change my life and business 180 degrees! I am a small business owner, who have turned his construction business approximately 6-fold to be correct, just using the technics learned. Literally, the revenue has gone 6-fold! In just three days I was shown the other side of the coin! The third one! Yes, the Rib or the Edge! Yes, it is there! You just need to look at the things differently. Cole, with all his insight, motivation, and experience in a few hours time, changed the way I started looking at the things, spending my personal and family time and running my business! Even Though, I wasn't able to sign up for the continuous training due to my financial abilities. I grabbed all the knowledge of three days, and using multiple techniques, started applying what I learned. I met, literally, hundreds of new, interesting, successful and aspired people in the world or Real Estate Investing and Residential Redevelopment in the whole wide and long SF Bay Area, anywhere between Novato and Santa Cruz! I have acquired multiple new clients, equity partners, mentors, and just amazing people who shared the same interest in Real Estate as myself! These new people, events, beliefs and successes have completely changed my life in mere 8 months! I Know exactly what I want and WHY I want it! And now I know how to get it! I read reviews below, and see excited people typing up their emotions right after the event, some still in disbelief, being possibly discouraged by their abilities and Why's, and parking costs, lunch breaks and what-not. I see a lot of excitement in reviewers that had a light bulbs go in their mind, telling them that they can do so much more in their life, just because a person from the podium not only motivated them enough, but opened up new, unbeknown to them side of their character. But one I know for sure, I went to an event a long 8 months ago, and I've got the successful results to show, that even 3 day event can change the life of one forever, just like in my case! And let me add another NOT SO SMALL thing, out of hundreds of Real Estate Investors that I met in Bay Area, I saw a handful of super successful ones, with experience as low as 1 year and some up to 40 years in business. And what really jumped at me, that out of top say 10 guys doing deals in Bay Area, 4 were Fortune Builders alumni. And being in business only 1-4 years. THAT MY FRIENDS SAYS A LOT!!! Read again, 1-4 years of experience, and highest and most deals in entire 10mln+ people, 4mln+ houses San Francisco Bay Area! So Does Fortune Builders training work, ? Yes, and I see that it does on those vivid examples, (or those 4 are completely dumb-lucky!) Have I seen the Alumni that didn't succeed, YES! You know what they said? yes we bought the training, but we just don't have time going thru that.. That tells a lot! Don't expect anything to happen by itself, it takes Dedication, Effort and Persistence! We are a society who loves and needs comfort, but one just needs to get out of their confort zone, if they want to shake things up, or succeed (like in my case). Eventually I will find a way and ability to sign up for the program, but in the meantime I've found the way to work with Fortune Builders Alumni, and learn the ropes that way. It's not all, but that is a START for me! And may be, just may be, using the technics learned about Other-People's-Money, I will find a way to sign up for the program as well. Let's see! And,... learn your Why! Why you want to do that! Wake up with that idea each morning and go succeed! Don't take anything less! Peace! PS: and if you really need to refresh the motivation given to you by Cole Hatter or any other presenter from 3 day even, I suggest you check out Cole's Fearless Minds podcast on iTunes. Dude Rocks!!! (especially the one with Matt Theriault) read more

This review is after I recently attending the Fortune Builders free 2hr workshop and subsequent 3 day workshop. Before giving a complete review, I must stress that I had no misconceptions of being a real estate well oiled buying and selling machine once I completed said courseware, rather went into this courseware to learn more about real estate and to see if this company was indeed partnering up. Two things that sting me after going to the free and paid workshops are, the overflow of generic basic informational, and mentioning of time is money statements to the point of being neurotic.. The free seminar for me was better than the paid one minus the 197.00 dollar difference.. A Short story short.. Your time would be better spent reading any decent real estate book ordered online or at your bookstore then following up with a local mentor in your area.. Bottom line, not recommended! read more

Bf and I attended a three day real estate summit for $197 at LAX. Cole Hatter was the speaker. Parking was $10 with validation. It's best to arrive early because the parking lot gets full. On the second and third day, I had to park at the Marriott next door. I paid $10 at the Marriott for parking also. The Four Points had a limited lunch menu. Latitude 33 at the Marriott had better lunch options and service was much faster. On the first day, we went to Embassy Suites, but decided not to return because the service was much too slow. The summit was informational with phenomenal tips. I especially liked Adam who shared the nuts & bolts of asset protection. Hatter has tremendous energy, and is a phenomenal speaker. He's also a survivor in every sense of the word. He's absolutely incredible and a blessing to many. Hatter's daughter is truly adorable. Having said that, Hatter forced a captive audience to watch baby pictures NON-STOP throughout the ENTIRE course. It ate into time and money I invested. I resented it because I had to sit there for three entire days with brief intervals. It was incongruent to his teaching that time is everything. Mastery Program is pitched hard throughout the seminar. There are three levels: level 1 is about $15,000 level 2 is about $25,000 level 3 is about $35,000 Provident Trust has a Self Directed Retirement Plan, which allows you to invest in real estate with your retirement fund. There's annual flat rate of about $350+ and a set up fee of $50. The day after the summit, I was contacted by John A. from Fortune Builders in San Diego. He gave me instructions to watch two videos (45 minutes) and to answer a lengthy questionnaire. I thought he was a bit condescending when speaking with me. read more

We attended the free seminar and paid for the 3 day event back in late 2012. When attending the event we were skeptical that this could really help us in launching a real estate investing business. We signed up for the FortuneBuilders program in October of 2012 at the 3 day event. We launched our real estate business using the principles taught by the team at FortuneBuilders. We have been in the program for over 2 and 1/2 years and can't say thank you enough for the education we have received. We would absolutely not be where we are today with out the program. If you are looking at this program as a "get rich quick" plan you are wrong. This is an educational program just like attending college. If you do not put in the work you will not get results. Thank you to everyone on the FortuneBuilders team! read more

My husband and I were successful real estate investors since 2001. We first met Than at North Metro REIA in 2009 and appreciated his down to earth approach to real estate. We started going to the FortuneBuilders (FB) seminars and learned more ideas & techniques to implement the systems. We joined FB (and paid the significant tuition that comes with higher education) in 2010 and we have never looked back. We were able to recoup our investment in the first deal we did and have made much more since. They helped us get there faster than we could have ever done on our own. Now - first let me tell you that we worked hard and applied the knowledge and leveraged the systems. If you think you can do this without putting in the effort - DON'T join. If you want to grow your knowledge, and will apply the systems, use the tools provided, and surround yourself with people who have a growth mindset, who love to help their students everything from deal review to field experts and email support - this is a great organization and it works. We have trained with many of the top names in real estate, but by far FB is head and shoulders above the rest. After we finished our Mastery Training, we were asked to join their Coaching Staff in 2012 and we have enjoyed being a part of their team ever since. We have helped hundreds of students realize their dreams and I am thankful to be surrounded by a company that has significantly improved the lives and financial position of thousands of people. It is an honor to be a part of the FB family. read more

Fortune Builders in my mind is the best real estate education company in the country. I was lucky enough to be introduced to them when I was 21 years old. Ever since, I've been successful in my real estate investment business. I also started my own real estate networking group, the NJ Real Estate Social Network, and I've made passive income with income properties and also selling products on the internet. Thank you so much for continued support in my business! I highly recommend them to anyone in real estate or anyone looking to get started. There is no better company then them to lead you to success and they're just a great group of people! read more

I can't understand why people fall for this? Do they not scroll to the bottom and see the pile of one star reviews buried by yelp? These guys have made very little from flipping and a lot from selling these $15K BS packages. If you are going to pay for this, then what you should study is how they get people to pay for free information. Flipping a house is not a hard thing to do if you have a lot of cash to buy a home cash and hire a contractor, but as of now there is no money in in it because the flipping market is dead. There is no inventory of cheap houses in need of repair, no great hidden homes that are dirt cheap and need minor or even major repairs. It's all gone folks. Save your $200 and even your 15K and just buy one of the many or all of the books on flipping. Don't be a fool fall into the trap! If these guys were making a ton of money "flipping houses" do you really think they would be like, "Hey lets stop focusing on flipping houses and making all of this easy money and instead lets teach others to do it so we can have more competition and less house to buy for ourselves." No, it's more like "let's do a seminar system, call it fortune builders, charge people 15K and give them a folder with information you can google." Now that's a good way to make money. That is what it is folks! HERE'S ALL THE INFO YOU NEED: -Buy a house for cash and under market value while the market is moving up. -Do repairs to add some value and fix issues. -Sell for the the highest price possible and hope the market is still strong. -Pay all realtor fees, holding costs, repair costs, etc. -Pay taxes on short term gains if any. -What remains if any is your profit. Wholesaling? -Buy house for cash cheap. -Resell it to someone who wants it or wants to flip it. -Hope to make a little money. OPM Buy with other peoples money. -Good luck on this one. read more

****THIS REVIEW IS FOR THE FREE 2 HOUR INTRODUCTORY SESSION***** My family and I just attended the free 2 hour introductory event in Oakland, CA last night and we found it to be worth my investment of our time. The presentation was fresh, clean, on-point, entertaning and informational. Listening to the facilitator really got our creative juices flowing around real estate, finances, wealth, planning, strategies. Attending the session served as a reminder of our God-given right to freedom from systems (i.e. banks) designed to keep us in captivity of eternal debt using their self-serving "rules" and "guidelines". I went in knowing that there would be some upselling going on so, no surprise there. I have been to enough seminars to know how their systems work however I have no problem investing in myself if I can clearly see the potential ROI. I was pleasantly surprised at the low cost of the more in-depth 3 day seminar at only $197 for TWO people to attend. Again, it will be no surprise that there will be upselling during that weekend however we made the decision to attend and go in the right mindset to learn, absorb and connect with like-minded individuals. The $197 gets you one set of materials (book, CD-ROM) and two tickets. I will update my review my family attends the 3 day workshop next month. I'm happy with the information provided at the introductory session and look forward to new "nuggets" from the next level. read more