[All reviews are based primarily on the (6) most important considerations when choosing a real estate investing course. Sources for reviews include the Better Business Bureau, Attorneys General, FTC, customer input, and our personal review]

COMPLETENESS: Of the 22 methods listed, Mr. Kiyosaki's materials cover none in detail. Instead, his materials are general. He markets his books and DVD's and does seminars. Though he was earlier proven to be untruthful (there was no "rich dad", nor a "poor dad"), and many of the things he originally taught were illegal (such as insider trading), he still seems to have marketed himself well, and is considered an expert on financial matters - mostly by people who know little or nothing of financial matters. His books do cover a fair range of information, but they are primarily "hype", designed to get the reader all fired up, so they will then buy into his mentoring, which we suspect is expensive.

COACH COST: Unknown. Unless you sign up for more information on it, and get on his mailing list, he does not divulge the cost. So we suspect it is quite expensive.

COACH QUALITY: Unknown. See above. But given that many of the things he taught are either illegal or just plain wrong, we would not have much faith in any mentoring he might provide. Nor have we been able to determine who does the mentoring. It concerns us that such information is kept secret. Only two of the courses reviewed use real, practicing investors as coaches - Ron Legrand and Bill Vaughn's course. If coaching is important to you, those are the only two worth considering. And only Vaughn's course, "The Simple Man's Guide to Real Estate" provides the coaching for free, as it is offered by a non-profit.

SUCCESS RATE: Unknown. All normal sources of information indicate there are too few actual success stories to warrant further review or investigation.

BETTER BUSINESS BUREAU RATING: Satisfactory. There have only been 20 complaints filed in the last 36 months, which is better than most. Only two "gurus" have fewer complaints.

OVERALL COST: Unknown - varies between books, DVD's, seminars.

COMMENTS: When it comes to getting folks fired up to improve themselves, Kiyosaki is hard to beat. Other than that, however, we find little value in his materials. Look closely at his copyright page ("Rich Kid, Poor Kid") and you will discover Robert Kiyosaki's books are fictionalized, though he originally claimed they were true and autobiographical. Searches of records in areas where he claims to own a lot of real estate show only two properties, both in the Phoenix area. One was a very modest home where he lived until he published his first book. The second was an expensive home, that he bought for himself after he published that book. Sounds like he made no money before writing that book.

Robert Kiyosaki also claims to hold substantial interests in numerous companies, but there do not appear to be any records to substantiate this, either.

A BETTER, SOUND ALTERNATIVE:

Before risking hundreds, thousands or tens of thousands of dollars on Kiyosaki'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, including FREE mentoring - 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.