Thread: Check History of Real Estate Mentors and Gurus, Florida

I was contacted by an individual who had spent $15,000 on a seminar in Palm Beach only to find that his education was lacking after the purchase of a property at tax deed auction in Broward County. After the purchase he found that there were nearly $18,000 in code violations and liens, ooops. With a property value of $30,000 (he stated) and having paid $15,000 at auction and another $4,000 for a quiet title action he was already in the negative before the quiet title action was completed. My advice, do not let the attorney negotiate the lien for you, many times their hourly rate will negate whatever reduction the BOCC (Board Of County Commissioners) grants. In negotiating the lien yourself you will learn the steps necessary to present this in the future and you will recieve the full benefit of the reduction. Typically the BOCC will reduce the amount of liens.
The best idea is to not purchase properties whose liens exceed value.

I have found a discouraging number of people claiming to have great experience and knoweldge who do not. If someone is boasting they sold 7000 properties in Florida for 30% of value it takes about 2 minutes to check. It is always better to check before before writing a check, if you don't check the only one who will be putting profit in their pocket will be the guru who duped you.

Let's GO
Internet search “Florida Division of Corporations”, you can query statewide records for named persons who are agents , officers, partners, managing members, owners of a corporation. If the persons name appears in the registry the records returned will show position in company and contact info. Ohh Look there he is JK, the boaster guru, from Aaaa Inc in Broward County.

Internet search, “MyFlorida Official Records Search” to run a state wide search of the official records by name JK and by business entity, Aaaa Inc. If the business location in the Division records reflect Broward County, for example, you can restrict the MyFlorida query by county. Oh Look JK nor Aaaa have purchased a property tax deed yet he is the expert and guru. Once you have located a few counties in which they have purchased property write down the names of the counties, lets say Marion County again.

Run an internet search for, Broward County FL Clerk of Courts. Once the County Clerk of Courts Homespage is found you can locate a link for and query the county official records by the persons name and business entity. In most counties you can also see the documents of conveyance.

I received a call from someone in Mexico wanting to know my opinion on a seminar he was about to take on Florida foreclosure investing and auctions. Oppps the individual he had been talking to was not an officer, agent, owner or partner in a Florida Corporation and the guru personally had purchased a total of 4 properties over the course of 6 years-now that’s truly the markings of a guru. His claim was that he had been personally investing in Florida foreclosure auctions for 15 years and through his Florida Corporation for 5 years. FYI-He needs a better story such as I have invested in Florida reale estate for centuries but all of my transactions are through a trust and my name is not on the trust and the funds I draw from the trust go into my sister-in-laws name and I own a business but I am not a owner, agent, officer, member and I hold no stock in the company, it’s in my step sons name.

By The Way, I’m no guru, I’m not flashy and I’m not a marketer. When real estate investing is new to you, it is hard to obtain accurate info. If you have the desire to learn and invest in Florida real estate I have approximately 150 free pages and of the millions of US sites on the internet this is the only one where you will actually learn for free.