Jimmy Napier Real Estate Investing Offering Overview
First though I’ve gotta say there is a lot to be said for you…that you are here checking out this site.
We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit…That’s what my brotha’ from anotha’ motha’ Aristotle said.. wink.
so I’d tell you that success is totally within your reach if you have the gumption to stick to excellence.
So who am I and why am I putting pen to paper on Jimmy Napier?
First, I was a guy just like you…. dreaming of a six figure income (or at least a decent income) in real estate. My goal was to have 10 houses all paying me a net operating income of $1,000 per month. Do the math that’s $120,000 per year. Wouldn’t be bad for the son of an aviation engineer in Florida. It was my segue out of my life sucking job and into six figures of financial freedom and idolized independence.
I figured I wouldn’t have to report to anyone. Did it happen?
No, as fate would have it…the 2008 downturn in the market combined with an unhealthy dose of over-inflated over-zealous ego (you know… the “can’t fail” foolishness) sent me to the poor house, and when I say poor house, I mean living with relatives with my 3 kids all sleeping on mattresses on the floor and now ex-wife (another story, wink).
It wasn’t the end of the world, but it was the end of my world at the time.
Fast forward 7 years and enter a man named James.
You can see more from James here.
I found a way to generate the money I wanted by providing local lead generation for small to mid-sized businesses right here in my back yard. It’s pretty cool, and I love it.
I don’t know about you. I just wanted to be free like was I was when I was a teenager…you know, no care in the world. I didn’t want to have to be somewhere on time every day. I wanted to live, to breathe, to enjoy. I wanted to work to live not the other way around.
Quite frankly careers and earning enough money so often got in the way of living, and loving my life, but now it’s different. My work doesn’t feel like work and my customers rave about me. I always wanted to be raved about. LOL
A Closer Look at Jimmy Napier’s Real Estate Business
Is Jimmy a scammer? Nah, I don’t think so. Read the rest of the review for the good, bad and ugly.
Let’s bullet through his Bio.
Here’s a guy who has been on the planet for quite a few years and who has made a name for himself in the real estate investment world.
He reminds me a bit of Jay DeCima—another guru who has been around the block and has lots of experience to show for it.
Napier grew up in small-town Florida, in the panhandle. He was the son of sharecroppers. He worked for a large business before throwing off the yoke of Big Brother, so to speak, and becoming his own boss.
That was 1971 (44 years ago, but who’s counting?). He started out buying local properties, educated himself in real-estate investing, and, in 1973, opened his own real estate and mortgage investing firm.
He did well, and people began to pay attention and ask for his advice. He met the demand by writing a few books and conducting seminars, the latter of which he still does today.
So here you have a gentleman who has stuck with the industry for decades, albeit in different capacities.
Initially of course he was in the trenches, buying properties, doing deals, learning the ins and outs of all aspects financial, etc. As he gained knowledge, made a few mistakes, learned some lessons, and experienced success, he moved further into the education sector to pass on his hard-earned information to others.
For a price. Which isn’t a bad thing. This is capitalism (think Donald Trump), after all. Heck, if you work hard and learn a lot, why not sell what you’ve learned?
I checked out Napier’s offerings that are on the market.
As of this writing, he has four media items for sale on Amazon, although I should point out that they are all only available through third-party sellers, not Amazon itself. One item is Jimmy Napier’s Money $ Maker Home Study Course, Deluxe Edition, which can be yours in CASSETTE FORMAT for a mere $115.
It’s the only one of its kind for sale, and when that’s the case, the third-party seller can set the price wherever he or she wants to set it. Some of these sellers are just dreaming when they set their price. Does anyone even own an audio cassette player any more? I digress.
Also available on Amazon are
- 70 Cash Flow and Wealth Building Ideas, in CD format, for $199, and
- The Power of Negotiating, CD format, for $159 (Napier himself is the third-party seller for these products).
- Invest in Debt: The How-to Book on Buying Paper for Cash Flow is for sale in paperback book format, from multiple sellers on Amazon, with prices ranging from $23.95 for a new copy to $375 for a used copy. Yes, $375. The ridiculous spread has to do with pre-set re-pricing scripts, but that’s another topic.
The courses and books available for sale were published in 2013, 2004, 2002, and 1983 (that would be—surprise!—the course on cassette tape).
What Others are Saying About Jimmy Napier
My curiosity about the currency of the material led me to look more closely at the 2013 release. It is actually a “new version of the classic book.”
Two reviews were glowing.
Young Jedi said, “If you want to make money, get this book! . . . Your stock market friends will envy and hate you. Your enemies will fear and respect you. Women will want you. Life will be good!”
I almost bought the book on the spot. (Kidding.)
Another reviewer (Janice Aboard Seaweed, in 2013) wasn’t quite so enthusiastic.
She wrote, “Don’t be fooled like I was by the “updated” blurb about this book. The original copyright was 1994. On the page mine shows that and a 2013 date too. That is why I thought I was buying something that was current with the times now. Alas, that was not true!”
“For instance, in one chapter, buying Tax Certificates are extolled. And I quote from page 114: ‘These certificates are sold by bids which start at 18 percent and go down from there. In other words, the rate of interest is what you are bidding on. If someone bids 17 percent and no one bids anything higher, then the certificate is sold at that rate of interest.’” Seaweed Janice goes on: “So, I went online to the tax assessor’s office in various counties to see what the bids are. Be prepared for LESS THAN ONE PERCENT. And this is as of today 27 December 2013 — in the following Florida counties: Pinellas, Broward, Dade, Escambia, and Franklin. The rates are nowhere near the 18 percent quoted in this book.”
So there you have two reviews of that book on both ends of the spectrum.
Napier has eight other CD courses/presentations available for sale. For some reason, and this is something I really don’t understand, they are sold on Gary Johnston’s website instead of his own. The Products page on Napier’s website simply has a link to Johnston’s website.
On Napier’s Classes page, the two classes listed already occurred—this past September and April.
There isn’t any mention of his presentation in November in Cincinnati.
There’s a bit of a disconnect for me between Napier’s unarguable success and the mediocre quality of his website, including the fact that you have to jump to another investor’s website to purchase Napier’s products.
Does Napier not make enough money to pay a web-design firm (when you compare him to others like Joe Crump) to make him a decent site? Ok, that’s not really a question, and I’m really not trying to put Napier down, but you get where I’m going.
A polished website may not be high on Napier’s priority list, but still, this is 2015. Buyers will pass at least a modicum of judgement on a business or personality based on their web presence.
Napier’s is barebones, with no blog page, or gallery page, or any place where you can easily see his YouTube videos. For someone who is making income from the sale of products, it seems that a professional-looking website, with up-to-date products, would be a plus. Again, I’m not trying to bash Napier. Just pointing out some oddities that showed up in my research.
I could only find three videos by Napier on YouTube. Phil Pustejovsky is the guy that comes to mind when I think YouTube, although Andrew Cordle has done well too. They were all recorded at the same seminar in 2014.
Napier refers to the way he invests in real estate as the “Napier Method” and claims that thousands of students have studied and applied this method and gained financial independence. However, one reviewer described his methods as fundamental, not requiring of much expertise, and a reiteration of the “oft-repeated elements of real estate.” And another said, “He hovers too much on basic principles.”
Regarding debt-restructuring, Napier said that if you know how to structure debt, you can structure financing so that you pay small amounts of interest. If you are paying small amounts of interest, he says, you build equity, and as you build equity, more and more goes to principle.
When you’re free and clear, the money “will just pile up.”
On one of the videos, Napier tells the story of a woman in Tallahassee who has multiple sclerosis and is in an assisted-living facility. It costs her $4,700 per month to live there.
However, she can handle this, and her husband can live in their family home, because of their real estate investments. In 1982 they bought one investment property. Over the years they bought 16 more.
Now those 17 houses bring in enough in rent to cover their expenses.
Napier has a reputation for being a simple country boy, who is personable and connects well with his audiences.
He tells stories such as the one above that are uncomplicated and make the average person feel like they could achieve the same success. A reviewer on ProgramCritique wrote, “He has many followers mainly due to his simple and plain method of talking and teaching.”
Notwithstanding his allegedly over-basic content, he has won a number of awards through the years from industry peers and associations.
True, some were bestowed over three decades ago.
It would bolster a new investor’s assurance in the search for trustworthy mentors if Napier had some current awards. Still, he has more awards than some of the other investment gurus out there.
Jimmy Napier Take-Away
I have a hunch that Napier is winding down. I get this from the products that are available for sale (I haven’t been able to find anything really current) and the cues I’m picking up from his website. It’s not up to date, and again, there’s the thing about directing buyers to another site for his products.
However, he’s obviously still in the game. At the time of this writing, he’s doing a two-hour session at a real-estate investment event coming up in Cincinnati. He did several two-day seminars this year and last year.
Napier has many years of experience under his belt, and especially for the beginning investor, his live seminars are probably worthwhile. Plus, the cost is reasonable. His print and audio products are probably not a bad investment, as long as the buyer recognizes that some material might be dated.
Good luck, and I wish you success!
References:
- www.amazon.com
- www.programcritique.com
- www.jimmynapier.com
