Re: Matt Bowman’s Lease option system - Posted by J.P. Vaughan
Posted by J.P. Vaughan on January 28, 2002 at 22:22:40:
This is a copy of the review I wrote after I declined to offer this material here. You can find the original post somewhere in the archives of the Main News Group. In all fairness, I have heard that Matt has added some additional material since I reviewed it. In my opinion, this does not change that fact that he didn’t know enough about this topic to include it in the first place, and it further underscores his lack of breadth on the topic.
Matt Bowman’s lease option course is a classic example of
the “blind leading the blind.”
This course adds absolutely nothing to the already existing
body of lease option literature. This course is touted as a
course for BEGINNERS, yet this is exactly the kind of
material that can get a beginner into trouble BIG TIME.
Matt’s lack of any significant real estate investing
experience is sorely evident throughout. And the biggest
problem is that Matt, as a beginner himself, just doesn’t
know what he doesn’t know.
This is precisely why we decided NOT to offer Matt’s
material on this site.
Here are some examples of really bad advice:
About title searches:
Matt states: “It is most times preferable to have the title
search done professionally at least on your first few deals.”
He also states at page 57: “It is possible to do a title
search by yourself by going to your local courthouse and
asking for the appropriate office to look up property records.
You can then ask a clerk there to show you how to look through
the records to check for outstanding liens.”
Is that REALLY “possible” for a beginner? Duh-uh. Ask an
eight-dollar-an-hour clerk to show you how to do a title
search? As an attorney (without expertise in this area), I
wouldn’t really trust my own title search. But a beginner
should trust the clerk?
What if the owner tries to sell the property behind your
back? Matt’s answer at pages 80-81:
About a Performance Mortgage:
“I have heard many investors say that they prevent this
from happening by getting a performance mortgage recorded
against the property…The reason I don’t even discuss
that is because I try to do everything I can to make the
lease option deal appear appealing to the seller…”
At page 84: “If you are trying to add an encumbrance to
their property by recording a performance mortgage, this
may be too much for the seller and they may decide not
to sign.”
About a Memorandum of Option:
“I do not record these memos as a standard practice. Again
the reason for that is to make this an easy sell to the
seller while basically protecting my interests.”
Let’s see, we have no performance mortgage, no memorandum
of option, so how is it exactly that Matt “basically
protects his interests”? And how is it exactly that a
stone-cold beginner will protect his or her interests?
Even MORE important, how do you protect the interests of
your tenant/buyer? What happens to them if the owner, the
IRS, or a judgment creditor puts an additional lien on the
property??? Can you say, “Oh, oh, lawsuit time”?
This is serious stuff, folks. And it’s downright dangerous.
Especially for beginners who don’t know any better.
Matt’s biggest concern, as demonstrated throughout this
material, is making it an “easy sell” to the owner and
locking up the deal at any cost. This is the classic case
of beginner as “motivated buyer.” It’s a surefire way to
get “creamed” in real estate.
You don’t succeed in real estate by being a motivated buyer.
You succeed by offering solutions to people who have a real
need to sell their property now. You succeed by becoming a
“problem solver.” You succeed by protecting your position
and interests, and the interests of your buyers, even if it
means losing the deal.
Matt Bowman is a nice young man who has very little real-life
real estate investing experience. We decided NOT to offer
his course here because it simply does not meet our standards.
J.P. Vaughan