At a property option seminar I attended I was attracted to the concept of starting in real estate with little money down. The presenter sells a home study course and membership program. It is hard to get stats on success, but I expect that less than 10% of the students succeed. I usually check likes and subscribers on social media. Comments on youtube are enabled - that is good ! I have talked to two Knowledge staff members and they like options. Maybe its because there is not much money required nor any high risks to take. You invest your fee and your time and must skill up in talking to people. Essentially you do what real estate agents do, that is win clients and sell deals.
The oral delivery always had 2 parts. First the dream selling component. We may object to the style but still get mesmerized based on our own dreams for success. Just watch mentalist "Derren Browns episode fear and faith about the wonder drug RUMYODIN (your mind) on youtube. It shows the power of belief. The second component of the presentation explains the basics of "Property Options" very well. Without the hype Property Options is a legitimate and respectable strategy. Watch Harry Charalambous's videos.
3 day event outline
Day 1 Cashflow strategies. Make money from property on a regular basis without ever settling on it. Clever ways of using Options to produce anywhere from $10,000 to $74,000 over a 5 month period.
Day 2 Automatic Acquisition Plan that outlines how to use property for a comfortable retirement.
Day 3 Property Options. Real estate - residential, commercial, industrial, aged care and professional and how to find deals that are profitable.
Answers I sought
(1) What are options ?
(2) What does it take to succeed ?
(3) Is options right for me ?
(4) Which program should I use ?
(1) What are options ?
Property options are about being a middle man that looks for development opportunities and then matches sellers with buyers (developers / builders). In its simplest way this would mean google for a big back yard, find the owner online or knock at his door, lure him with a great sales price, get an option agreement signed, pay $500 and promise to do a Feaso / DA and find a buyer.
(2) What does it take to succeed ?
Research / find 100+ opportunities, secure (buy) the option to 1 by selling a dream as well as yourself (confidence / competence), then sell the option with or without DA (to Mark or anybody else). You will need to find the money for (a) the option, (b) the contract work unless it's supplied and (c) optional a DA unless you sell without. Skill set: Good training / Knowledge / Networking / Commitment / Skill / Power of persuation
(3) Is options right for me ?
In the words of Arnold Schwartzenegger
"If I listened to everyone who said NO I'd still be in the Austrian Alps yodelling".
Your call - Do your due diligence (DD) and take your time !
(4) Which program should I use ?
Your call ! Youtube searches show Mark has a strong presence in the Australian market with fresh content and a sizeable audience. His comment box is enabled without requiring moderation, which is a plus. Unfortunately only a few comments have been posted. Another possible unique advantage is that working with Massland means you can opt for profit share, with the advantage that you don't need to take risks.
Here is a video I like and I am surprised that there are not more comments for this video - Just 7 comments and 8 likes. 190 videos and 8429 views for this one after 1 year is pretty good I recon. Does 190 videos means 190 or more successful students ? Check out Mark's channel here. To keep the blog balanced I re-post Michaels input about Mark Roltons courses in the Student Input Section - I am glad to see positive evaluations for balance.
CONCLUSION
Always do your due diligence. Stage presenters often employ strong sales psychology and you will need to know yourself and decide whether his program really suits you. I am not aware of him being a columnist in a property magazine or being featured, so it may be hard to find solid information. Other wealth gurus like Dymphna Boholt who I respect give Mark credibility by association. Pricing is likely an issue for the masses, but not for well funded go-getters . Some players that wish to learn to master options may preferably opt to start in a syndicate or peer network.
If you still want to get involved in options, then try to hook up with a student or form a group. Check your budget and determine affordability. Those on tight budgets may buy second hand videos on ebay to get started. The presenter only accepts JV's for proposals with certain minimum Land sizes. If you find a smaller project he will refuse finance, but maybe somebody else may be happy to do a JV with you.
REQUEST FOR MORE FEEDBACK FROM STUDENTS
What will it take for students to be successful in options ?
Are you a student then I would love to hear from you.
MICHAELS POST (+)
I'll give you some non revealing figures based on one of the properties. Strike price of 1.2 million. The owners preferred to walk away from the deal with 3 properties (1 primary and 2 investments) which made it work better for both of us. Mark teaches in very infinite detail how to negotiate based on needs both through his courses and his dvd set which I got as a part of his Conclave course. DA we estimate around 150K so I am doing it as a JV with Mark as this being one of our first deals we don't have that much liquid cash available. My development skills are new - I started doing relocatable home renovations a year ago, found Mark's courses only a few months ago and never looked back. We took it to a higher level than most but Mark normally recommends to stay in your job until you double your yearly income. I had already left my job in search of more entrepreneurial stuff such as this, so I jumped in head first once I finished the bevvy of courses that I signed up for with him.
I am happy to motivate and inspire anyone who is serious about finding out what goes on at his courses - I'll even give out my mobile number so you can hear the sincerity. I'm that confident in his products and services. The only variable is the people on the other end of the screen and your ability to stick it out until that one deal comes along.
Profit on cost I would share but I think it is more information that you really need. Fact of the matter is that I'll be walking away with a couple of million dollars with no money down (because Massland bear all costs in this particular JV) which means I can find these deals again and use my then masses of money to fund them myself.
A practitioners groups experiences
reprinted from the comment section on this website
There have been a lot of comments posted about Mark Rolton, so I thought I'd add in mine. I never physically attended Mark's Course other than his free seminar, however I got together with a few people I met from another Property course and decided to give it a shot. Two of these people did Marks course and thought his method was good. I payed $1000 for the information from one of members, and the five of us set up a company and decided to give the options business a try.
Our group met about once a week and we all came out from the meeting with properties to search for and potential sellers to be contacted. To cut a long story short, we did the options business for about 2 years without success. The main issue we found was that people are conditioned to get their money straight away. Once we presented our options offer to the seller (at least to the ones that were interested) they eventually were either talked out of it through friends and family, or from expereinced property solicitors.
After a few knock backs of securing possible deals I got disillusioned about making money through call options. I asked myself is this way of making money really viable, and will succsess really come. If succsess did come through options it would take alot of time for very little money in return.
I eventually sold my shares off to the other company members as they didn't want to change their approach in making money from property. They wanted to continue doing options which I thought was a lose situation for us. I heard not long after I left the company that the rest of the members lost interest in options and started doing small splitter blocks.
The point I want to make here is that Call options are really a suckers deal for the seller, and anyone who has prime development property who signs a call option deed would have to be really stupid. Now I can say this because I've put into practice what Mark has taught, and its not as easy or rosy as he puts it.
People who have good development land aren't stupid, and if they don't know enough information about something they'll seek professional advise. And that's were people who partake in Mark's strategy come undone, because important questions get asked about the guarantee of a sale, and how much deposit will be paid.
Each to their own I say, but just be careful, do your DD and always go with your instinct, if it sounds shabby, or if the salesmen seems like he is not laying all the cards on the table, then walk away!