Posted by TAT on May 07, 2005 at 11:30:40:
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What ever happened to… - Posted by Thurman
Posted by Thurman on May 01, 2005 at 13:20:29:
the real estate gurus of the 70’s, 80’s and 90’s?
Robert Allen is involved with internet marketing while Carlton Sheets and Russ Whitney are still marketing their real estate courses. However, what has happened to:
Albert Lowry, Jimmy Napier, Paul Simon, Tony Hoffman, Mike & Irene Milin, Wade Cook, Dave Del Dotto, Phil Drummond, Joe Land, Don Tauscher, Jack Miller, James Dykes, Ken Roberts, Albert Brown Jr., Donald Shamy, Dick Hamilton, Steve Thomas, Peter Blazer, John Childers, Mark Haroldsen, Peter Fortunado, Ed Beckley, and dozens of other gurus?
I have learn many great techniques and gain a wealth of knowledge from many of these people while reading their books, courses, and attending their real estate seminars all during the 70’s, 80’s, 90’s.
If you know the status of these real estate guru pioneers; please share.
Thanks!
Thurman
Re: What ever happened to… - Posted by Sean
Posted by Sean on May 02, 2005 at 14:17:52:
Albert Lowry
Still around, and basically doing his “retirement tour”. His course was offered at around $800 at a live event here not long ago.
Re: What ever happened to… - Posted by ken in sc
Posted by ken in sc on May 01, 2005 at 15:50:08:
Pete F. - still at it, saw him speak a month or so in Atlanta w/ Dyches Boddiford
Jimmy Napier - close to retired. Has a bus tour business. Still has a much RE.
Jack, John Schaub, Jimmy, and Pete will be in Vegas this fall.
Ken
Re: What ever happened to… - Posted by LeasePurchase
Posted by LeasePurchase on May 01, 2005 at 15:27:25:
Here is only what I’ve heard.
Albert Lowry - I believe he is still around
Tony Hoffman - Legal Troubles
Mike & Irene Milin - Still on TV with an Infomercial called The National Grant Conference.
Wade Cook - Still doing his Stock Trading Stuff
Dave Del Dotto - Went to Jail
Mark Haroldsen - Keeping a Low Profile but still goin at it. I bought a house from him a few years ago.
Ed Beckley - Went to Jail
Re: What ever happened to… - Posted by Jim in Michgan
Posted by Jim in Michgan on May 01, 2005 at 23:03:05:
I ran into Pete in Atlanta too…not sure if I met you or not Ken. Met a guy from SC named Joe though. Not many people compared to the regional events/classes, but lots of great people.
Jim
Dave Del Dotto… Interesting article. - Posted by AZinvestor
Posted by AZinvestor on May 04, 2005 at 17:16:29:
I did a search to find out what he was in jail for and found this artile.
Dave Del Dotto (Hawaii and Modesto, CA)? Former sheetrocker from Modesto who did infomercials featuring himself sitting on the beach in Hawaii. Del Dotto strikes me as the dumbest of the famous gurus. In one of the books he sold with his home-study course, he said to take advantage of a Farmers Home Administration loan. If you’re not a farmer, he said, get one to “front for you.” Many of the other gurus give similar advice. But Del Dotto is the only one I know dumb enough not to understand that the standard, get-rich-quick-guru way to deal with the issue is not to mention the farmer requirement. For the record, getting a farmer to front for you in a loan program that’s for farmers only is a felony. Del Dotto’s Modesto headquarters was foreclosed in the '90s.
The Wisconsin State Bureau of Consumer Protection published a Guide for Wisconsin TV stations which lists several “Questionable infomercials,” among them those of David Del Dotto.
In the 6/8/98 Newsweek, Jane Bryant Quinn said that Del Dotto had gone bankrupt. I still see him on TV, only now this one-time “real estate expert” is selling products unrelated to real estate.
The WA attorney general sued Dave Del Dotto and his Affordable Housing, Inc. The suit alleges Del Dotto made numerous misrepresentations about real estate investing, some of which violate a U.S. District Court order. It also accused him of acting as a broker without a license: he collects $500 deposits to be credited toward closing costs for a mortgage which he will help them get.
The court papers said Del Dotto was a principal in a firm that filed bankruptcy and has been the subject of repeated enforcement actions by regulators, including the FTC and the Insurance Commissioner of Hawaii. They also allege that he tells seminar students inaccurate information, i.e., that they can pocket the proceeds of government-insured home-improvement loans, that they can get mortgages for 1% to 3% less than less informed consumers, that his customers typically make a profit in real estate using his system, that you can get free-and-clear title to a house by simply paying back taxes of as little as $500, that it’s easy for people with bad credit to buy houses for nothing down, and that you can add $50,000 equity to a home by painting and adding carpet.
In short, WA says Del Dotto “charges high fees for information which is virtually worthless, outdated, and unethical.” WA authorities were seeking a restraining order to prevent Del Dotto from holding a seminar in the state. Court papers reveal previously unknown facts about Del Dotto: IRS placed a lien on his Hawaii house in 1993. In 1995, Hawaii sued him for nonpayment of $5,000,000 in loans. He filed for Chapter 7 personal bankruptcy, and his corporation filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 1995. In 1996, he agreed to pay a $200,000 fine to the FTC.
What’s new here is that government authorities have finally become appropriately aggressive in pursuing guys like Del Dotto. Unfortunately, the gurus seem to be ignoring the authorities to an extent, witness Del Dotto’s alleged ignoring of a previous federal court order. Another new development: many gurus have begun to structure their pitches so as to run afoul of securities and licensing laws.
Many investors originally came into real estate as a result of pitches from gurus like Del Dotto. Too many investors still have vestiges of those original pitches in their real-estate-investment programs.
I have to say… - Posted by michaela-ATL
Posted by michaela-ATL on May 04, 2005 at 18:25:06:
for all the stuff he may have done wrong, I will always be indebted to him. It was one of his late night infomercials, that led me to buy his books. It made me realize, that there is actually a business, that would allow me to combine my enjoyment of decorating with my ability to think and use my head.
Without him I’d still be in my previous life.
Michaela
Re: I have to say… - Posted by Brent_IL
Posted by Brent_IL on May 07, 2005 at 13:55:33:
I bought a bunch of his courses back in the day. From his first book, ?101 Purchase Offers That Sellers Can?t Refuse? I learned that there aren?t 101 variations or 100,001 possible offers. I learned that all possible offers, whether exotic or mundane, revolve around changes to the terms, or the collateral, or the cash component.
Now, it seems obvious, but then it was an epiphany. Dave Del Dotto gave me the freedom to construct offers that were limited only by my imagination with the belief that they would be accepted.
I?ll always be indebted to him for that.
Regardless of his fast-and-loose style, he sold eighty million dollars of a single course. No one before or since has done the same.