Larry Goins: Can His Real Estate Investing Training Help You?
What’s up guys. Today I (the Real Estate Spy) wanted to give you the low down on Larry Goins.
It’s morning (here). My wife is still sleeping up stairs. These are the moments I love coming down the stairs, grabbing a cup of coffee and planning some time to hang out with you here online. Shhhh…don’t tell anyone, I played all day yesterday, so I figured this morning I might as well get a little something done.
So grab your coffee (or favorite drink) and hang with me for a little bit. Let’s have a discussion about Larry Goins.
Just in case you don’t know much about me, you can learn how I dropped a !$#% ton of cash into real estate and then lost everything here.
Unlike the gurus, I don’t claim to be an expert in real estate investing although I still do it (a little). I am just an average guy who ended up on the wrong end of the real estate market.
I decided to stop chasing big money and learn a better way to do life. My life changed when I found the right mentor (James), who taught me a better way.
First off Larry Goins has a great program and as much as I like hanging in South Carolina, >> I’M OUT! <<
Why?
….cause I decided to do what the gurus do instead of doing what they tell us “sheeple” to do.
This video explains everything. Meet James.
Many real estate gurus who offer video tutorials, instructional books, and advisory programs create amazing products but fail in the execution. Larry Goins stands apart from the crowd because of his organization’s dedication to content marketing—an essential facet of Internet marketing….what I do now thanks to James.
A great content marketing campaign engages a willing audience, entices readers to spread the word, and instills trust in viewers. It allows the marketer to successfully generate income, whether online or off.
Goins clearly recognizes the value of Internet marketing and uses it to his advantage. His website contains dozens of pages of in-depth, engaging content designed to convince visitors like you to buy his courses and to read his books. If you need an example of Internet marketing done right, start with Goins’s coaching and mentoring website.
What exactly does Larry Goins sell? How does he attract his audience? And what does this have to do with Internet marketing? Researching his approach to real estate investing reveals the answers to those questions.
Larry Goins’s Real Estate Investor Background and Biography
According to his About page, Larry Goins started investing in real estate 20 years ago. He’s based in Lake Wylie, South Carolina, where he joined the Charlotte chapter of the Metrolina Real Estate Investors Association and took the helm of President between 2003 and 2004.
From his website copy, he obviously believes in the integrity of his business and the value of real estate investments. He comes from a legitimate background in real estate, which gives him more credibility than many of his contemporaries in the industry.
Although he says he’s an active real estate developer, he seems to focus a great deal of time on the related offshoot of that career: Internet marketing. He’s created a business and a community around the sale of his tactics and theories, which range from Real Estate Day Trading to flipping and renting properties.
He’s selling the real estate investing process rather than real estate itself though he also participates in the latter. He makes his money by spreading his ideas and wisdom.
Goins serves as a guru for beginning real estate investors who prefer to conduct business from the comfort of their own homes rather than out in the field. Essentially, he’s turned real estate investing into an Internet marketing and capitalization strategy that uses online auction and classified sites to find viable properties.
Goins runs a separate company called Investors Rehab, Inc., which he uses to wholesale real estate properties at a rate of between 10 and 15 per month. Unlike many other real estate gurus, he continues to practice what he preaches, which makes him more trustworthy.
Larry Goins Ultimate Buying and Selling Machine and Property Analyzer
As mentioned above, Larry Goins takes Internet marketing seriously. While the subject matter all pertains to real estate investing, his style and delivery are reminiscent of affiliate marketing. Perhaps this comes from the multiple product and service offerings on his site. It’s a funnel approach. We have seen this style before.
For example, he sells training videos, books, online courses, and tickets to in-person events and conferences. Based on his blog, he remains active in his company (Goins Group, LLC) by regularly engaging his customers and offering in-person support.
He also markets an automated bidding software program that, he claims, reduces the time necessary to make offers on properties. Bid Blaster not only allows investors to “blast” offers to sellers, but it also tracks bids and creates usable metrics for the investor.
A Look at The Inner Circle
He’s also created an “inner circle” apprenticeship program that provides one-on-one mentoring to participants. In addition to his speaking gigs, conferences, and seminars, he meets with members of his inner circle to address their specific needs and interests.
Internet marketers of all stripes follow this same strategy. If you start an affiliate marketing business, for example, you don’t want to work with just one affiliate. You branch out to work with multiple businesses and networks to maximize the value of every hour you spend at work. You can learn this strategy and more with my Internet marketing program.
Goins also affiliates himself with hard money lenders.
In real estate, hard money loans supply not only the purchase price of a piece of property but also at least part of the capital required to rehab or remodel it. Think of it as a construction loan with a higher interest rate.
Real estate investors use hard money loans to obtain more capital on a short-term basis. Most hard money loans expire in less than 12 months, at which time the borrower either sells the property or converts it into a rental property and refinances it with a traditional lender.
By aligning himself with hard money lenders, Goins makes his business a one-stop shop for real estate investors. New investors can learn how to make money, automate the bidding process, obtain cash loans, and scale their businesses. They don’t have to look anywhere else to find the information they need.
When translated to Internet marketing, you eliminate physical property from the equation. However, you can follow Goins’s example by providing your readers with everything they need to make a purchasing decision, but you don’t have to come up with thousands of dollars in investment capital. That’s why Internet marketers often succeed where real estate investors fail.
REI Team of Professionals
Larry Goins also stands out from the real estate guru crowd because he surrounds himself with like-minded professionals. He’s not a one-man show; instead, he employs a team of people who support his cause and help him spread the word to the public.
Unfortunately, most people don’t have that kind of support. You might start a real estate investment career with a few dollars in the bank, but you probably don’t have enough liquidity to hire a team of experts to help you do your job.
Internet marketing, by contrast, doesn’t require a team. All it takes are hard work, dedication, and access to the Internet. If you possess those tools, you can succeed in this industry.
Real estate investing requires far more risk. You have to invest your hard-earned money in properties and hope you make a profit. When you put thousands (or even hundreds of thousands) of dollars on the line, you want reassurance that you’ll recoup your investment. Unfortunately, no guarantees exist.
Unfortunately, many real estate investors don’t realize this until they’ve already spent their savings. They chase the dream of endless money and expensive vacations, not realizing that purchasing the wrong property could completely destroy their efforts.
Internet marketing works differently. You don’t buy products or properties to sell; instead, you help other businesses sell their products and services. You create multiple streams of income without the hefty investment.
Goins’ Free Resources and Webinars
Most real estate gurus require you to fork over a credit card before they’ll supply you with useful information. Larry Goins again uses Internet and content marketing staples to buttress his business. He offers plenty of free resources to whet the appetites of new investors.
For example, you can download free real estate forms to ensure you have all the information required to conduct transactions. You can also visit the Articles section of his site to read free tips and advice, and he also offers a free webinar type video series.
While he might withhold crucial information or components from his free resources, he still provides something of value. In Internet marketing, that’s how marketers establish authority in their industries and gain loyalty from readers.
It’s how Internet marketers establish trust.
(photo credit: amazon)
A Look at Larry Goins Real Estate Day Trading and PDF
Although I can’t find the PDF, let’s look at his real estate day trading program.
You might have heard of the book Larry wrote entitled: Getting Started in Real Estate Day Trading. This book talks about finding, buying and selling real estate in one day. He also talks about this topic extensively in his seminar.
A Winning Philosophy:
One of Larry Goins’s most attractive qualities lies in his motto: “People and Principles Before Profit.” Throughout his content, he professes a belief in maintaining strong principles and caring about people rather than revenue.
In other words, Goins doesn’t view customers in terms of dollar signs. He sees them as human beings with their own sets of needs, desires, and values.
It’s an essential mindset for real estate investing, but it also translates to Internet marketing. If you care only about your next sale and about padding your bank account, savvy Internet readers will see right through the charade. They’ll lose faith in your enterprise and seek guidance from someone else.
SEO and call-to-action content matter for Internet marketing, but not as much as projecting an authentic voice and putting faces and values before revenue.
>>Not For the Faint of Heart
Larry Goins advocates a remote approach to real estate. He doesn’t recommend visiting properties in your community, walking through them with a Realtor, having them inspected, and making purchases based on your observations.
Instead, he advises real estate investors to purchase properties via the Internet—often sight unseen. You might find a listing on an auction site, such as eBay, or a classifieds site like Craigslist, and make an offer using Goins’s automated bidding software.
You don’t have to leave your home to invest in real estate if you use the Goins methodology. However, you could put yourself at serious risk.
When you can’t see a property—tour it, evaluate it, inspect it—you could purchase real estate that consumes more money than it provides. Pictures often prove deceptive since the seller can choose not to take images of unappealing aspects of the property.
For example, you can’t see moisture damage inside the walls of a home or a termite infestation that’s destroying the joists unless you visit it and inspect it.
Want to know about termite damage? I bought a house that looked great. It wasn’t til I opened up the walls that I found that I had to replace a load bearing wall. It was crazy. So, I have a bit of a beef with doing anything sight unseen.
Goins and others like him might enjoy incredible success with remote purchases. However, most people lack the risk capacity to take such leaps of faith.
That’s why Internet marketing offers so many advantages over real estate investing. A few dollars for a domain and web hosting constitute the only investment required to start making money. Cash flows to the marketer rather than away from him or her.
Some people, like Goins, enjoy real estate investing because they thrive on the danger. They enjoy the rush involved with purchasing a property when they don’t know how it will turn out.
If you don’t share their willingness to gamble with money, you might want to pursue a safer (but just as profitable) method of making money on the Internet.
It’s risky.
Larry Goins Scam? | Testimonials and Complaints Review
The Goins Group, LLC, enjoys an A+ rating with the Better Business Bureau. The company is accredited by the BBB and has closed just three complaints by responding to the people who filed them. The BBB reports no advertising or government-related issues with the Goins Group.
Several complaints against Larry Goins exist on various websites, such as Ripoff Report and Scams Galore. However, it’s almost impossible to operate in the real estate investment industry and never piss anyone off. The excellent BBB rating suggests that the Goins Group, LLC, operates above board.
Most of the online complaints deal with the process Goins advocates rather than his company’s business practices. In other words, they object to the strategy and methodology, but there are no complaints about deceptiveness or theft to suggest that Goins takes advantage of customers.
When consuming information about real estate investments, every individual must consider the quality of the material and the credibility of the source. This proves doubly true when purchasing content, whether it’s videos, books, or tickets to a seminar.
The Bottom Line
Larry Goins offers an exciting glimpse at the power of content marketing and the potential for Internet marketers to generate significant income without immense investments. Although he sells information related to real estate, Goins actually belongs to the legion of Internet marketing experts who capitalize on the many opportunities available online.
Alternatives to real estate investment exist. If you’re not sure you can handle the risks inherent to flipping houses, consider the laptop lifestyle model instead. Feel free to get in touch and schedule a call for a consultation.
If you are super skeptical, I understand. Just spend some time getting to know James, who taught me what I know.
