COMPLETENESS: Of the 22 methods listed, Beck's materials cover two very limited strategies - tax liens & deeds and foreclosures. But like most other gurus (with one exception, noted below), his materials seem to be purposely shy on enough detail to do anyone any good. Hence, the need to buy into his expensive mentoring.

COACH COST: Up to $15,000 or more

COACH QUALITY: His "Mentoring of America" is to be avoided at all costs. It has been alleged to drain credit card balances, and provide little, if any, mentoring of any value. Their mentors are not investors, so their ability to help anyone is minimal, at best. They are, it seems, only trained telephone operators. And this seems to be the basis of many of the complaints filed against Beck with the BBB. Again, "Mentoring of America" should be avoided at all costs. There is ZERO value in their mentoring, and the cost is prohibitive. Only two of the courses reviewed use real, practicing investors as coaches - Ron Legrand and Bill Vaughn

SUCCESS RATE: Extremely poor. When contacted by INSIDE EDITION, they were only able to produce a handful of "success stories", of customers who made from $500 to $32,900. That is laughable. Here is more from INSIDE EDITION'S expose...

BETTER BUSINESS BUREAU RATING: The Better Business Bureau gives John Beck an "F" rating - the worst rating they have, with complaints ranging from deceptive marketing practices, unauthorized credit card charges, misrepresentation, and false advertising concerning the offer's actual ability to generate profits as advertised. Many complaints allege the quality of mentoring services provided was not as represented (see below), or did not meet their expectations. Clients complain that mentors are inexperienced, unprofessional, or unavailable when needed. Others report services consisted of one phone call a week, that mentoring services provided by the company taught them very little, or they were unable to apply the materials for practical usage. In other cases, complaints included difficulty obtaining refunds; non delivery of merchandise; or that the company fails to honor their money back guarantee. Several complaints allege that after the initial purchase, the company re-contacts buyers by phone and uses high pressure sales tactics to sell additional high priced mentoring services.

OVERALL COST: The $39.95 "cost" is very deceptive. When you place an order, you probably will not realize that you have just signed up to have your card debited by another $39.95 every month. And that cost does not even include the mentoring, which starts at $2,000. And if you stop paying the $39.95/month, the materials you already purchased become virtually worthless, as all support is forfeited.

COMMENTS: Of all the programs we have carefully studied, only two should be avoided at ALL costs - and John Beck's is one of them. We found little of any value, and the cost prohibitive considering tax liens are incredibly simple and need very little instruction. In fact, it is so simple that "The Simple Man's Guide to Real Estate" by Bill Vaughn includes the entire tax lien program as a "freebie" with their course.

[ UPDATE:The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has filed a case with the US District Court for the Central District of California against the companies John Beck/Mentoring of America, John Beck Amazing Profits LLC & John Alexander LLC on fourteen (14) counts of deceptive or unfair acts and practices.

A BETTER, SOUND ALTERNATIVE:

Before risking hundreds, thousands or tens of thousands of dollars on Beck's or any other course, do yourself a favor and check out the most effective real estate investing course available, offered by IntelliBiz - "The Simple Man's Guide to Real Estate"^® course by reknowned investor Bill Vaughn (Bill developed the "Reverse Mortgage" now used by HUD and helped develop many of today's flipping strategies). Offered by a non-profit, it is affordable to all, and includes free coaching by investors who volunteer their services to assure your success. Real investors, not scripted telephone operators.

You get the entire course - the Guide, the contract software, (20) real estate related Bonus Books, audio CD set, Market Value Calculator and free 24/7 mentoring all for a fraction of the cost of any other course - nothing else to buy, no hidden costs, no monthly fees. And you can even download it immediately so you can start even before your hard copy arrives in the mail.

"The Simple Man's Guide to Real Estate" has the highest documented success rate of any real estate course so you will not need to buy any other courses or go to any expensive seminars or boot camps - you will be able to make money in real estate without any of those others.

If you are truly interested in really learning how to make money in real estate and receive the benefit of free, unlimited coaching, all at a price anyone can afford, "The Simple Man's Guide to Real Estate"^® is worth considering.