I hate that old saying, “those who can’t do, teach,” because I think it undervalues the enormously essential and challenging work that teachers do. However, when it comes to house flipping training, there’s unfortunately, a grain of truth to this cliché. Especially in Los Angeles, where the real estate market is so highly-priced and competitive, it seems like there are new real estate investment gurus, training programs, and clubs popping up every single day. And, based on their credentials, online reviews, and customer complaints, it seems like many of these “experts” are simply failed investors looking for an alternative way to make money off their experience.

As a new investor, how are you supposed to tell the difference between an actual real estate investment expert and a scammer? Let’s look at a few house flipping training options in Los Angeles so you can compare the pros and cons and choose the best real estate investment education.

Comparing House Flipping Training in Los Angeles

When you look at the available options for house flipping training in Los Angeles, you’ll notice they generally fall into a few different categories: clubs, seminars, and franchises. Let’s compare the pros and cons of the most popular training programs in each category.

Real Estate Investment Clubs

REI clubs can be found in every major city or region in America, including Los Angeles, but they’re not all created equally.  Some are genuine networking groups full of real estate investors at every experience level, with free monthly meetings and guest speakers and training. Others are nothing more than an expensive waste of time.

• Los Angeles Real Estate Investors Club, LLC

Los Angeles Real Estate Investors Club, or LAREIC, is California’s oldest and largest investor group. Anyone can join for free, and membership includes free monthly meetings, training, and vendor expos. For those who want additional training beyond the topics covered in the monthly events, there is a private mentorship program available for an additional cost. Or, you can sign up for a Gold Membership to access a Beginners Boot Camp, LAREIC University, mentorship, and other perks.

LAREIC is very up-front about what they offer, and they don’t over-promise fantastic results. Meetings are generally focused on one training or education topic, and that’s all you get for the month (unless you purchase a Gold Membership for $497 per year, or pay for additional training programs a la carte). You also get the opportunity to network with other real estate investors, which could potentially lead to some sort of mentoring or partnership relationship, but that’s not guaranteed.

Los Angeles Real Estate Investors Club is a legitimate and well-established networking group for local investors, and since a base membership is free, I definitely recommend checking them out. However, unless you already have a lot of experience and education in the field, you shouldn’t rely on LAREIC as your only source for house flipping training in Los Angeles.

House Flipping Seminars

House flipping seminars are everywhere in LA—you see ads for them posted on street corners, stuffed into mailboxes, and promoted on social media every day. It’s often free to sign up, and they promise huge earning potentials in return, which makes you think, “What do I have to lose?” At best, you’ll lose a few hours of your time; at worst, you could waste thousands of dollars on a scam.

To be honest, I couldn’t even choose one seminar to highlight for this blog post, because all the upcoming options I found were uniformly terrible. So instead, I’ll highlight the two biggest red flags to watch out for if you’re considering a house flipping seminar in Los Angeles:

• Red Flag 1 – They make big promises. Nobody can guarantee that you’ll be a successful house flipper, especially in a competitive market like LA. Suppose a seminar promises you a minimum income amount, or their website is full of flashy pictures of Rolex watches and Ferraris. In that case, they’re misleading you at best and actively trying to scam you at worst.
• Red Flag 2 – They gatekeep their “real” training. How can a “real estate guru” make money if they offer free seminars? Usually, it’s by holding most of the useful information back and making you pay for additional seminars or membership fees to gain access. The first free seminar is essentially one big advertisement for the real product, which you won’t find out until you’ve sat through 1-3 days of useless presentations. Then, you’ll get an extremely high-pressure sales pitch to unlock the next stage of training, which will give you slightly more information, after which you’ll get another sales pitch to get to the next level, and so on and so forth.

If something seems too good to be true, it almost certainly is. A real estate guru isn’t going to hand you the tools, training, and resources you need to succeed for free, even if they do know all the answers—which they likely don’t. Remember when I said, “those who can’t do, teach?” If someone spends all their time giving motivational speeches and selling books and training classes, that means they aren’t out finding deals and selling properties.

Buying a House Flipping Franchise

A house flipping franchise is essentially an independent business you can purchase from a real estate investment organization. In exchange for franchising and royalty fees, you get to use an established brand name, plus you get training and support from the parent company. There are good and bad options for house-flipping franchises like everything else on this list. However, as an LA-area investor and franchise owner myself, I think HomeVestors provides the industry’s best real estate investment training.

Get Comprehensive House Flipping Training in Los Angeles

HomeVestors® is a national franchise network of over 1,100 independently owned and operated locations in 47 states and D.C., including California. New investors get access to a week-long comprehensive training program in addition to the one-on-one mentorship and guidance of a HomeVestors® Development Agent. Your mentor will help you with the real, hands-on, nitty-gritty details of starting a house-flipping business in LA, including:

• Developing lead generation strategies to find cheap, distressed properties
• Understanding your options for financing your investments
• Marketing your business and standing out in this highly-competitive industry
• Negotiating with buyers and sellers and closing deals fast

HomeVestors® has helped franchisees sell over 140,000 homes since 1996, giving them a proven track record of success. Plus, you get even more value from your franchising fees with access to tools for property valuation, managing payments, and bills, and listing your homes nationwide.

If you want the best house-flipping training in Los Angeles, you need to contact HomeVestors® today!

Each franchise office is independently owned and operated