Nouveau Riche University

Tom   Roseville

10:46am on Saturday, October 24th, 2009 

Simple solution: Don't Do it. If you need a loan to sign up on something like this to make money, to me it means you have no business doing it. If you want to educate yourself, spend the 16,000 student loan in a real university. A real degree from an accredited school will give you more then becoming another MLM millionaire want-a-be.

Cash Flow or It   Midwest

3:19pm on Wednesday, September 23rd, 2009 

I have scrolled through a number of these posts and it's not difficult to separate the Nouveau "La-Rouchies" from the detractors. Based upon my exposure to Nouveau Riche so far, I'm going to join in with the detractors. I'm qualified to make this judgment based upon my background as a real estate investor and my discussions with NR personnel in the past, and my review of some of the NR material (R2E2 modules).

Some background: After college and the military my career since the mid '80s has been in finance, both in sales, investments, real estate finance. Earned an MBA in the mid '90s. I got into the real estate game rather late: I bought my first property, a condo, when I was 35. Three years later I located a foreclosure and flipped it 8 months later when I moved out of the area. I used that gain to buy my first house. In 2001 I started investing again and bought a lot and since then four additional rental houses (one since sold) using primarily bank financing. These are strictly buy and holds for the long term, and I have a professional management company manage the houses. All are located in a "landlord friendly" state (take note of this).

I first heard of NR in 2006 when someone tried to recruit me to sign up for their $16000 package. A few "red flags" went up immediately. 1). The woman told me that NR emphasized "education." I asked her how many investment properties she owned. Answer: none. She then had me talk to one of her coaches, who downplayed the $16000 investment. He told me that he had worked on many deals. "Where?" I asked. No answer. 2). The woman and her coach were both located in UT, which is notorious for not regulating telemarketing scams. This essentially killed any chance for NR to recruit me.

At that time, in '06, the real estate bubble was nearly ready to burst. Frankly, I thought it would have happened about 8-10 years earlier, but this was before I analyzed the real estate cycles compared to stock market cycles. This was one of the reasons I decided to get back into the market earlier in the decade. I bought my last house that year and sold it a year later since rents started to fall and it wouldn't cash flow. I've kept the others since I bought them much cheaper and they still produce income.

The fact that NR attracts salespeople more than investors due to the commission payouts on their products should tell you something. I couldn't get any concrete answers from any one of their people. An experienced investor will want to get an "education" from guess who: OTHER investors. Or from the school of hard knocks through hands on experience. (Of which there is NO substitute).

NR built their empire on the premise that the real estate market would continue appreciating. As we have seen, that market peaked in '06 and is continuing to decline. The real estate cycle is 16 years in duration, so we won't see values approach those levels again until well into the next decade.

About a month ago I saw a sign saying "real estate investor partner wanted." I called the number and left a message. A day later, over dinner at a restaurant, someone called my cell phone. Guess who he was with? Nouveau Riche !!

I told him that it was rather odd to be called at 9PM if he had a legit business. Why didn't he call during normal business hours? No answer. How about sending me an email with your information and real estate background? Never got it.

If you want to invest, now is a better time than 3 years ago since values have declined considerably...BUT you have to: 1) buy the property at a steep discount and 2) evaluate the cash flow potential of the property. The operating income of the property must make sense in relation to what you paid for it (cap rate). In some areas rents have declined due to excessive supply, and this means that the price you obtain the property must still be further discounted. And good luck getting financing: banks hate investors, and are cutting back because the value of the collateral has plummeted and they no longer trust appraisers.

I strongly agree with the statement that "education is crucial in investing." But there is a significant amount of information that can be obtained both online and in print media which will give you huge amounts of useful information for no cost.

I have purchased numerous "guru" real estate courses in the last ten years, But I only paid a fraction of their original cost. So should you. Some were giveaways; others I found on eBay (including R2E2); others I bought from disgruntled people I knew that just wanted to get rid of them. For an objective rating of the gurus that are out there, you should also try this site: www.johntreed.com

The Nouveau Riche 15 volume R2E2 "encyclopedia" will set you back cost you $3000 if you go through NR, but I got a complete set on eBay for pennies on the dollar. After reviewing the material, I would give it a "poor" rating because it certainly doesn't justify the cost. It is oriented toward novices and most of the information can be obtained through books and online with diligent research. Most of the workbooks are barely 20 pages in length and are not in depth enough compared to detailed books on the particular subject.

You can make money in real estate, but it is definitely not a get rich quick scheme; allow years for your efforts to really bear fruit, particularly if you are an investor; and enlist the help of professional managers to help you manage your properties effectively.

I'll close by saying this: there is one piece of advice that I did get from one guru program that I found DOES make sense: "Never invest your money with someone that has less experience than you do."

You'd be surprised how much ineptitude is out there. Don't feed it with your money. Good luck!

Eric   New York

12:59am on Tuesday, September 15th, 2009 

Preface: This review was intended for another site where I was supporting a guy named Dean who had been scammed by NRU and took the time to write about his experience. Unfortunately that site wasn't working and I didn't want my advice to go to waste so here it is:

I applaud Dean for taking the time to warn people about this terrible Pyramid scheme. I attended the info seminar and it sounded so great. Boy am I glad I took the time to research this BS first. This is going back a few years, and since then I have learned an amazing amount on real estate investing by reading about $75 worth of books. Most of them come from the "Rich Dad" series by Robert Kiyosaki. I am aware that he has critics as well, but consider this: you still get a lot of information from his books, (particularly the rich dad adviser series books on real estate investment) and it's a hell of a lot cheaper that the $16k NRU tuition. Further, if you don't want to spend money even for just a few books, get a library card and they're free. I would also recommend reading other authors to round out your knowledge/education. Plus there is no marketing element, it's all about real estate and not scamming other people. Here is a little simple math to support Dean's comments:

Someone signs up for NVU - 16k

They must sign up two people before they can begin collecting commission. They 3rd and 4th people that they sign up (if they can convince 4 people to part with 16k for this BS - and then live with themselves) will reimburse their original investment.

If you are keeping track we have FIVE people so far who have signed up.

Victims 2-5 now must each sign up four people to get back their investments.

That would be another 16 people.

Those 16 people must sign up 64 more people to get back their investments.

Again, if you are keeping track, at this point person #1 has made 64k of off people 2-16.

People #2-5 have made 64k off of people 6-64.

So yes, if you're willing to scam others out of there money this is a great idea for you. I have you have great marketing skills and no soul.

Right now however, people 17-64 will need to sign up another TWO HUNDRED AND FIFTY-SIX VICTIMS. Just to make back their original investment.

Please remember that the education part of this company is negligible and you can learn anything they teach from books at your local library.

Let me take this just a few steps further:

To make back their original investment the 256 must sign up 1,024; 1,024 must sign up 4,096; 4,096 must sign up 16,384;
16,384 must sign up 65,536
65,536 must sign up 262,144
262,144 must sign up 1,058,576

Once you reach one million people it's just ridiculous so I can stop, but think about this:

Once the one million victims are signed up about 65,000 people will have made about 64k apiece. Good for them, they are the lucky and/or soulless ones. They comprise 6% of our million people. Think you can make it to the 6%? If you CAN and WANT to... be my guest. I hate people like you. About a quarter million people, 25% or so, will have been lucky enough to make their money back my scamming others. I hope they didn't lose any money off of the investor concierge or whatever cause then they will be behind too. Which brings us to the 69% of the million -the 690,000 hard-working Americans- who are straight up victims, out $16,000.

I hope that this wasn't to unorganized and random for everyone to understand. You have been warned. Buy some books, save some money. Talk to a Realtor. Talk with your friends who invest. Join an investment club. Search the net for info on anything before you commit. Be safe. Thanks for your time.

Eric

BlackSoultan   LA

12:05pm on Wednesday, September 2nd, 2009 

This whole thing SCREAMS of a scam. Friend of mine just told me about their "business". When i asked her about it, I got a link, I'm like "oh, hell!" I've seen this before time and again as people tried to get me in some sort of marketing scheme. This is literally a cult. A financial cult. These groups are dealt with the same way religious cults are. Like those cults, the existence of them are "legal".

Step one: give a sales pitch that is stellar!
Step two: give the targets "a business" (it's not a business).
Step three: Make the target buy in for $X.00
Step four: The target then sells the same program.
Step five: The target gives a percentage of the sale of the program to the person who sold it to them.

What is also relevant is that there is a "product". This product is what keeps the scheme from being a ponzi scheme and only a pyramid scheme. (Ponzi's illegal, Pyramid is legal). The University (which meets at a hotel convention center usually) is also a revenue stream for the company. Every target that pays that much money to go to the school (which is about as much as a year at UCLA) has to think: what's the money for? A campus? No. Extensive faculty? No. Research grants? No. Pockets? Likely.

So tell me: why would anyone ever have to sell real estate if they can sell you hopes and dreams? These people are making a grip just by getting you to believe them. How about some of you -- i dunno -- take that 16k and put it down on a distressed property and then rent it out? Come to San Bernardino County. Houses that were 400k are now 160k. You can make a grip of money and buy house after house. They're all less than 5 years old with upgrades.

There. There's your education. Now pay me 16k. Hell, I got a REAL advanced degree from a school that doesn't advertise with an infomercial. Two sentences. Follow that general advice and you'll make tons of sustainable money.

JM   Los Angeles

1:41am on Wednesday, August 19th, 2009 

I rarely write in these blogs, but I am compelled to comment on some of the most ridiculous comments I have ever read. Where the heck do you some of you people come from, under a rock? If any of you have ever really researched how much ANY of the Gurus ultimately charge for less than half of the value of a Nouveau program, you would realize that the cost of a tuition @ Nouveau ($16,000) is for 2 (TWO) people for 2 (TWO) years, no upselling. (That's $4,000 per year, per person (including a video classroom,you can view online 24/7)and you can retake the classes physically as often as you like within that time, free) No Guru's program out there can touch that cost and value. Some are over $70K by the time they get through with your wallet and you still have not invested in any real estate because you still NEED just ONE more workshop @ another several thousand dollars. Just curious, but which one of those Gurus offers their students a means by which they can repay the cost of their education, or encourages entrepreneurship?
The CEO of Nouveau, Jim Piccolo was invited last year to sit on the White House Council for Financial Literacy along with Charles Schwab. I doubt he would have received that honored invitation if his company was a "scam".
I know a number of the Nouveau instructors personally and they are definitely, exactly who they say they are and make huge annual incomes in the business they teach. They sure don't make it by spending a few weeks a year teaching Nouveau students. I did not know them until I met them through Nouveau. Why don't you go get some of their names off the Nouveau website and do some honest research instead of discussing something you obviously have no knowledge about?
To those of you who spoke about the Investor Concierge, they tell you, upfront what kind of investment each property is and give you full disclosure on every property, PERIOD! If you don't understand the figures and disclosures they give you or listen to their advice, maybe you should get educated prior to investing? Don't complain about them when it's really your own ignorance. They are regulated by the FTC. As such they are treated like a franchise and are regulated by the Federal government.
I take issue with the statement by one of you that says Nouveau actually pays to have people write in with good comments. How much fluff can one have between their ears? I'm completely floored at some of the comments on this blog. It's obvious some of you know absolutely nothing about real estate, Nouveau Riche, real estate Guru programs or people in general. You wouldn't know a scam if it bit you in the behind. One of the first things Nouveau says is that they give you the tools, but you must do the work.
Nouveau has over 25,000 members, nationwide. I have yet to find one member say they ever regret joining. It seems the people that like to talk negatively about it are usually not members.
I have been investing in real estate for over 30 years and have had a real estate license for over 25 of those years. If I would have had the education years ago that I now have from Nouveau, I would be exceedingly wealthier today. With what I have learned in the last 2 years, I now know how to make money in real estate today, even in this market. Good luck to all you nay-sayers and keep working that J.O.B. I'll be one of those individuals with the knowledge it takes to buy your forclosed home with none of my own money or credit, after you lose your job and don't know what to do because you depended on that JOB, your employer, a company you have no control over, and didn't learn financial literacy.
FYI: I am not a Nouveau Riche employee, nor was I paid anything to write this! I'm simply sick and tired of uneducated individuals bashing a company that actually has an affordable,(compared to numerous other programs) worthwhile product that has changed a huge number of lives for the better, including my own.

Jingle Male   California

10:54am on Sunday, August 16th, 2009 

Nouveau Riche is the best scam I have ever seen. I personally know three people who have been seriously fleeced by NRU. They paid the tuition, followed the advice, worked with Investor Concierge and here are the results:

They have dropped over $25,000 in cash, they own Pac Man properties they have to feed each month with $275 to $800/mon (assuming they are occupied, which is another problem) and the recourse loan amounts exceed the asset values by over $50,000 to $80,000.

They have no way out and NRU has ruined their lives. One is ready to file BK shortly and all three, who once had a zest for life, are now walking zombies. It is sad.

I report this information so others will not be scammed by NRU and will know the real risks. I have no hidden agenda, nor do I for another MLM scam. I am a hard working person with a regular job which I enjoy and make a very good living.

jackie   ut

12:33pm on Wednesday, August 5th, 2009

I have read most of the comments on this page. I have been looking into NR and have not yet made up my mind. But one thing I have noticed, so far there has been no pressure and no promises of easy money. That is probably different depending on who is giving the information. I really find it rather disgusting though that a lot of the nay sayers are bashing the intellect of those that go with the company. So far the people I have met have been a good mix. Some very highly educated and some not. However, most of them have been very intellectually capable. So, educated snobs stop bashing people that don't agree with you. By the way I am very educated, a masters plus 90 over my years. Plus many years of work experience. I like the idea of learning more. Whether or not I decide to go with this program is yet to be seen. But I would like to see some fact and statistics in some of these comments, both sides.

Nat Turner   Chicago

7:18pm on Sunday, July 19th, 2009 

I read these comments and I think to myself that this country is really screwed up and that is why %5 of the population makes %95 of the money out there it is because they continue to go for their dreams they continue to work hard through the ups and downs. Let me ask you negative bloggers a question how much do you make now A wise person once told me why in the hell would you listen to someone that is broke if this system is such an scam and as bad as you say it is why bother why did you even go to a seminar I assume you went because your current occupation is'nt working out like you wanted it to right so the people you sold you the dream of going to college getting a good job are scammers also huh. I am not enrolled in Nouveau Riche but I am looking into and I probably will enroll I am currently a Manager for a marketing company now and for those who sit on here and blog and talk down I have one thing to say WELCOME TO SUCCESS do you think becoming an millionaire is easy you have to work and any entrepreneur can understand that do you think the world didnt make fun of Tom when he had an idea of creating an website to interact with people online or better yet do you think that any Millionaire or billionaire today didnt have someone calling them crazy on their way to the top it's sad to see the mind state that you negative people are in and it hurts me.

Rose   California

12:28am on Saturday, July 18th, 2009 

My fiancee was so suckered into this program he failed to discuss it with me. He jumped into a car with other desperate-low self esteem people and drove down to Arizona to the "University" at the Radison Hotel. Thanks to you all now I know how much he gambled for this quick rich scam. He told me about the meetings and concept. My instinct tried to halt him from taking this leap off a cliff. All this takes is good common sense, tenacity and library card to learn this material. I am heart broken and feel NR helped in contributing to our now broken relationship. These are challenging times and people are becoming desperate...its so very sad that their master trickery (Steve Clegg) seduce my fiancee away from me. These seducers are masters at their game and finding low self0esteem victims that are low in luck.

James   Chicago

12:05am on Saturday, June 20th, 2009 

If the program is so successful and people can and do make so much money then why does it cost so much?

Why have so many people spending so much money or getting into debt to pay for such a successful program?

Using the Investor Concierge program prospective clients could be taught the program using the online methods and use the level 1 concierge service to make the money to pay for the full $16000 education instead of requiring them to pay for it up front and taking all the risk themselves.

The recruiters could still get their 50% cut.

My point is this, this program is hyped up so much yet the company takes zero risk with who they teach the program to and require the students to take 100% of the risk on a non-accredited program (its not accredited as was told to me by Scott the regional manager in Chicago).

If the program had some accreditation which allowed for better financing other than a personal loan with a cosigner then maybe I would think more of it. Or if the company were to implement a pay as you go plan, say to pay for each class individually and you can have the concierge access as you are taking the class instead of requiring you to pay for the entire set of courses up front.

No college that I know of requires you to pay for 4 years up front, you pay as you take the classes.

That is what really makes this look like a scam to me. If it worked so well, they wouldn't need to charge up front, they could rely on the quality of their teaching to prove the system and collect the money from the successful students who make money while going thru the courses.

Mark   Location unknown

6:04pm on Monday, June 8th, 2009 

I went to a few of their meetings and all they talked about was the selling of tuition packages. The people teaching the class were super salesman and they could talk... and sell. Of course these people almost cult leader like are going to make money, that in nutshell does not validate that you will.

I have been in commercial investment banking for 5 years and double majored at an accredited university in business development and market theory. (I am a registered investment banker with the sec) I kept asking for information about the content that NRU provides, and nothing. I felt bad for some of the people in the meeting because they have been going to these meetings for years and have not made a dime or shown that they had real estate knowledge. They also seem more determined than a homeless person searching for food to be succesful. This to me seemed like a bad sign.

Only two of the mentors and one student seemed to have knowledge on real estate and the market(out of 100 people I spoke with). So the connections aspect of the program seemed low.

It is what it is, they will teach you to be salesman and they will offer basic tools to flip a house or two, but like anything else to be on the top you have to be good at what you do. A good investor starts young and has success fast if you are old and looking to get into investing it will be very hard for you. A good investor is always self made.

The one thing that really bothered me… is that 80% of the tuition was turned into commission. With this structure the classes will be out dated and the education has to be horrible. I believe there is a educational law as well regulating the offering of commission with the selling of tuition. That is why this school will never be accredited.

Sarah   Seattle, WA

11:59am on Sunday, May 31st, 2009 

Quoting Wallace:

"I feel that Nouveau Riche University is an awesome vehicle to financial freedom but like any business it takes work and a willingness to not let anything come in the way of you and your success."

You mean like honesty? My husband got dragged to one of those meetings and they suggested he apply for financial aid at a real college and use the money for Nouveau Riche. You don't need $16,000 to learn about real estate investment. A library card will do.

A friend of ours has poured money into it and is singing its praises even though he has made no money other than the marketing side of it (reeling other suckers in).

In short, it's a get rich quick scheme. Stay away. I wish I had investigated this earlier, before our friend jumped in. Maybe I could have stopped him from going further into debt.

Jake   Spokane Wa

3:29pm on Friday, May 29th, 2009

I am not involved with NR but I am a business man. 50% of all business' fail in the first year and 80% fail within 5 years. If $20000.00 is the cost of receiving an education to began a business that is pretty darn cheap! I own a national service franchise that cost $50k to begin and 5% of my gross for life and on top of that I still have to do the work or like 80% of business "I" will fail the franchise however will go on. Does that make it a scam? So if you are interested in NR or any other vehicle for creating income and opportunity my advice would be not to listen to what these surveys have to say simply because statistically 80% of all business wont make it past 5 years and 100% of all business finds itself in trouble at some time. I'm in my business for my 14th year and if I stop minding my own business I stil will fail. So go out listen to every opportunity you can when one fires you up go for stay fired up (yes pep rallies help) and rate yourself a 10 every day over half of success is determined buy attitude!

Your clue to success   Wyoming

12:30pm on Thursday, May 21st, 2009 

Why do some of you people judge the education without experiencing it? why does'nt anybody mention value of taking a tuition partner for free? why do you negative people try to seduce people into believing that this education is not worth it because "you negatives" are too LAZY to accomplish success with the valuable information NR provides. Your vision is distorted and blocked by pennies. I saved over 30K on my taxes and have accumulated over 3 million in real estate Partially because of NR. The main reason is because of applied information by me. The problem with most of you negatives is that you have a lack of self worth, self esteem etc. You will never be successful in what you get involved in with those issues, so don't take away "OPPORTUNITY" from those who will recieve value and success because of something other people believe in.

Steve   Orange County, CA

5:29pm on Wednesday, May 13th, 2009 

The program is a scam, but then most of the so called "gurus" in real estate are nothing but scam artists. Do you really believe that Marshall Redick or Carlton Sheets or other "gurus" are actually doing any deals for the last 20 years? They "teach" BS, and 99% of their income comes from seminars, endorsements, referral fees, while they are passing out obsolete information. NRU is the same, I met bunch of these guys, some of them made money when you had to be the supidest of stupids not to make money, but they still have no clue how to do it, but they still are trying to teach you techniques of the boom market at $16K a pop pretending that the market is still the same.

peter   delaware

9:54pm on Tuesday, May 12th, 2009 

i went to a couple of their "seminars". they don't teach you anything as far as real estate, they only brag about how much money they made or you can make if you join the "university", but i doubt any one of the "teachers" ever bought or sold an investment property. it's a scam! it's a pyramid! you only make money when you recruit other people and they pay $16,000 to take the course. what course? real estate courses are never going to be that high, if you really want to learn about real estate.

Dave   Virginia

2:26pm on Monday, May 11th, 2009 

A friend of mine has been hinting to me about a new found investment opportunity she has been involved in and has started sending me a little bit of information about what it is. Once I took a look at the testimonial videos I googled the name and found this review. In 2000 I had been recruited into a MLM company called Nikken. There products were impressive and I could see why everyone was a cheerleader for the company. I bought all the stuff and sold a few of the products. What I have learned is that any of the MLM companies may work for some people and may not for others. It may work fine for a type A personality like the promoters that get in your face to SELL SELL SELL but if you aren't that type this may not be the type of business you want to be in. It might be good for a husband and wife team that can to it 24/7 but if you are a busy single person you may not have the time to put in. Remember your efforts are making others money. You are at the bottom and they are above you. When asked to come up with a list of 100 family, friends, co-workers and everyone from your mechanic to people in your church I felt like I was about to alienate them because I had to SELL SELL SELL. If you are not good at selling than this will not work for you. I had a friend that got me into this and her whole being was wrapped up in marketing her business in this and it became very annoying very quickly and I don't talk to her anymore.

I have now been getting called more by my friend that is involved in NR and I feel that I am about to get invited to waste a sunny weekend sitting in a hotel conference room listening to the cheerleading and recruiting of new disciples to this religion and I hope I can hold back the soon to be never ending harassment I am sure to get by declining. I still have a closet full of Nikken sample products I spent $2000 for and have no talent for selling anything. I am not about to spend one of my precious Saturday afternoons in one of these seminars designed to get me to fork out many thousands of dollars. I will not go to this and I wish my friend well but I am sure that in a year when I ask her how much profit did she make and how much did she invest in NR I am sure that she may not be so enthusiastic then. Many things that are taught in MLM are designed to pump you up and there are pros in there that will keep the energy flowing to get you out there SELL SELL SELL and that's what they do. Some personality types are fine with this and no doubt have done well but for most people they end up getting guilted into signing up by their "Friend" who got guilted into signing up by their "Friend". This is what it's all about. Yes, you might make some money but the ones putting on the "Free" meeting are the ones making the real money. You have to "Believe" in the system and if it is not profitable for you than you need to work harder at it and always harder to become successful because you obviously aren't believing hard enough. You have to go to the meetings, recruit others to join, work hard at it, motivate your recruits and believe that they will make you rich. There is of course some truth in this and what they tell you, but like all MLM's you are joining a religion or a cult and you must "BELIEVE"! Only when you Believe hard enough will your reward come.

Kou   Fort Hood, TX

2:37am on Thursday, May 7th, 2009 

We all know that the RIGHT education is the key to being successful. Real Estate have been proven time after time to be very successful at creating wealth and successes. NR ISN'T a scam. Jim Piccolo, who sat at the white house to discuss the nation's business future with other millionaires, created NR to help those who needed a change in their life. Those that are welling to applied the knowledges given. Those that are persistent. Those that wanted to spend time with their families. The school will teach you how to calculate risk and success. It's up to you to applied it. Or I should say that the college will teach you real estates investing. It's YOU who need to go out and applied the knowledges. NR is a community of investors, you will need to network with everyone and share deals. Investor Concierge is optional, you don't have to use it. Also, if you think 16k is a lot, you might want to think hard about it. How much did you spent just trying to get your bachelor degree? All that money just to end up working for someone? Or 16k to get the right knowledges to work for yourself, control you time and freedom? You decide. There is an entrepreneur saying, "it's not how much it cost, but how much you are going to make out of it". If you don't have an entrepreneur mindset, don't join. But go out and do something, doesn't have to be real estate investing. But, do something for yourself, your family, your future. I am a Real Estate Investor and I recommend Nouveau Riche.

Les   Canada

2:20pm on Friday, April 24th, 2009 

My two nieces now have almost two years involvement with this company - their investment to date is upwards of 20k and lots and lots of meetings/training sessions. Total income derived from real estate sales or like ventures = 0. They still live at home and talk highly of the company while their parents support them???

Jason   Seattle

2:46pm on Wednesday, April 22nd, 2009 

My dad always told me you are who you hang out with. After reading these reviews, I can separate the positive ones from the negative ones fairly easily... you either took the program and are happy, or you went to a meeting and felt like you were scammed into an MLM session and are unhappy. After meeting many people in person who are succesful and perfectly content with their investment, reason tells me that there must be something good that comes out of this program. Please don't bash it simply because you didn't like the seminar. And to the guy who thinks that their is an "internet campaign" budget, where is your proof? Further, I wouldn't blame them as they need to have some response to all the negative reviewers out their constantly turning people off to the program, when they themselves have never taken the program. In the end, it's simply an education, results may vary (that's up to you). If you paid and didn't like the education, that is one thing. But please don't judge if you haven't even taken it. Finally, the person who wrote the column about Nouveau called it an MLM, for which he needs to do his due diligence and learn the difference between MLM and "network marketing" or "direct sales". The sales side of this is the later and is structured like commissions that are payed in the insurance and mortgage industry. MLM is Amway.

John   Seattle

4:50pm on Monday, April 20th, 2009 

NR apparently offers classes on how to patronize and condescend. After having ones ass handed to them, I find it suspect and a bit "churchy" to offer any kind of gracious salutation in return. I'm sure you NR's out there will forgive me for my negative mindset but the whole NR thing smells of roasted nuts. Please, wish me well in my poor, lazy pursuit to make a buck doing something other than praying upon peoples ignorance, hopes, misfortune, and fear.
Nothing more than legal thievery.

Ashley Thompson   Billings, MT

10:02pm on Tuesday, April 7th, 2009 

BOTTOM LINE! How can a college be a scam? Only if they don't teach you what they promised to teach, right? If they teach you but you don't apply it...that's not their fault right? In response to a comment left previously, "why would millionaire investors teach at a college?" DUH! If you were a real estate investor, made millions finding investors with money, credit and talent. Is there anywhere else you would rather be? DUH! They are surrounded by people with perfect credit and if they forked over 21k to be there then they most likely have some cash too. So why not teach them what you know and potentially develop thousands of partnerships. Also Piccolo, the CEO, owns The Mortgage Store, One Accounting and PIU. So of course he tries to obtain each investor as customers of those particular services as well. Well if not successful they wouldn’t make very good clients of those services, right? It truly is a win win situation. Of course they want you to be successful and they give you every possible tool to do that. The money is well spent at Nouveau Riche! I promise! Everyone on here that has a negative comment has not attended the college, I have. I am curious to know how one can evaluate something they have never been to or participated in?

RealEstatePro   Utah

2:59pm on Friday, April 3rd, 2009 

The BEST advice they gave in their seminar was to go to the REAL PRO’s when you want advice. People who have REALLY been there, done that.

Here’s the TRUTH! This program gives a person some motivation to get into real estate investing. There are other groups out there doing the same thing. You attend the meeting and pay $3,995 to join. Then they give you some reading materials and put you through three days of teaching you the ropes. They give you a list of web sites to go to to search out properties. Then you still don’t feel strong enough to go it alone so you then pay an additional $10,000 and they will give you a years worth of support for as many homes as you want to buy and sell.

I’m a Real Estate Counsellor. I have a Real Estate license and act as a Realtor. I work with several banks, financial advisers and lenders. I have sold millions of dollars worth of homes. I invest in Real Estate. Here are a few things to consider.

They claim that you can do this TAX FREE. But you’d better know the laws. Tax free is only for properties that sell every two years. So, you have to keep the property for two years and you have to live in it for that time (you can’t rent it out) to get the tax “exempt” equity from your home. An investment property is different. It is taxed based on your income level. If you sell it in under a year your tax could be 28% however if you sell it in over a year your tax could be 15%. Either way you are allowed to keep 5%, yep ONLY 5%, as tax free. Therefore they will try to tell you to take it easy and only do a few homes at first. You will find yourself “rolling” the money into another home and you will discover that if you don’t then you will pay dearly at the end of the year.

A bank will hire a Realtor to sell a home, even if it’s NOT on the MLS it will be represented by a Realtor. The Realtor had to pass a national and state test in contracts and law that is why they are trusted by the banks. So you will deal with a Realtor in a short sale situation anyway.

I suggest that you keep your $15,000 in your own pocket and hire a Realtor and a licensed Financial Advisor. The Realtor and the Financial Advisor will agree to only get paid when you do. No risk there. You can do this but you don’t need to lose $15,000 for a few books and some flash-in-the-pan hype.

I have all the websites that the students of these programs paid 1,000’s for and I didn’t pay a dime for them.

This is like a religion to these people. They have the truth, you'll see.

charles   Los angeles

10:53am on Friday, April 3rd, 2009 

I thought that I was invited to come join or work for an investors millionaire company, I was not even given the name of the company, when I arrived and sit for the presentation is when I found out the name Nouveau Riche. I was listening to their presentation, for an opportunity in my life and was really trying to convince myself it was a good thing, but deep inside me especially after the presentation was over and ask, and my questions were not clearly answer, It all seemed desperate Marketing tactics,?? Multilevel marketing??? Pyramid,. And the price $16,000.00??? and to boot it would take more than a year? properties in their portfolio just a few??? and to attend the University with professors that are millionaire investors..?? That alone "click" Why would the so call millionaire investors teach, at a university when Investors make more on their time working up on their investing??..... I bought my first property without going and spending hardly no amount of money or skills with only $2,800.00 on my first house, and there after with no cash up front what so ever, and deals in great areas, especially right now, and I have not spend not even $5,000.00 out of pocket, And have learn quiet a bit in the process, and have gotten a lot of information from other's such real estate agents, brokers, investors, even Commercial information... The person that invited me to the Nouveau Rich intro was nice at the beginning and after the presentation had all the attention from his upline, yet no one was able to tell me how much money they had spend or made, they would give me the round around, finally the one that invited me said he was not certified yet but to call his upline?? That did it for me... Now he is cold and distant because I didn't signed up and I found out he has to be practically every week or so for the so call presentations and to continue to bring in more people luckly for him someone will be "stupid"enough to signed... I feel great education doesn't hide ... yes if one wants to achieve things in life all is possible and we can attract in life for what we look for... the money spend in this scam could easily be spend on properties, even if you do not have the knowledge,.. even if it means buying re-tail through a real estate agent "you do not pay the commission to them the seller does" all you need to pay is the cost of your loan...to me going to this presentation it seems like going to the "slaughter house" I will continue to spend my money on my investments and getting informed "getting my hands on and acquiring information in the process" that is what I call invaluable education.. Get This.. is not about been educated.. Is all about been informed 100%

Andrew   Fl

7:23am on Thursday, April 2nd, 2009 

Beware, as soon as this comment is posted, someone associated with NRU will post and say how great it is. Through business and personal associations, I have known many people taken in by the Nouveau Riche scam. Granted, they all mean well and are just looking to better themselves and succeed, but there is a common denominator among them all: they aren't the brightest individuals, they aren't educated, and they certainly aren't proactive enough to research such a "great deal" before jumping in. They simply listen to the info provided them in the pep rallies and then tell you what a fantastic opportunity YOU are missing out on by being skeptical. Fast forward a year, each and every one of these individuals is cash poor, making no progress with the company, and some have even taken out second mortgages or exhausted retirement funds in the allusive search for the big break NRU promises.

Ron Haluczak   St. Charles, IL

7:01pm on Sunday, March 29th, 2009 

As with any business, this will take work. If you are able and willing to learn, you can succeed.

Any honest person who fails at this will tell you that they themselves are the reason they did not succeed.

People wash out of every college and occupation every year. That does not make college a scam. You need to choose wisely for yourself. But I realize it is always nice to have someone or something else to blame for one's failures.

I am building a team of real estate professionals to help those we sell the education to impliment the training they receive.

This can and does make people rich. I hope you choose wisely for yourself.

Ron

Wallace Hobbs   Philadelphia

6:16pm on Wednesday, March 11th, 2009 

Nouveau Riche worked for me and it works if your willing to work it. Thats just the fact of the mater.

I feel that Nouveau Riche University is an awesome vehicle to financial freedom but like any business it takes work and a willingness to not let anything come in the way of you and your success.

I have read how many people would not or could not make Nouveau Riche University work for them.

The Instructors of Nouveau Riche University have stated to not just me but the whole groups of over 2000 people that this business is not for everyone and that it will take hard work and diligence.

I also want to make it clear, that this is and investment college, and what do most if not all good investors know? It is investing will have risks and its up to you not the University to calculate those risks and move accordingly.

With the help of the team I was able to put $32,000 Cash into my pocket and buy 4 income producing properties in my very first year. That was in 2004.

I am now a full time Real Estate Investor and run a Millionaire Real Estate Group with over 1500 like minded investors. We are in the top 5% of all Real Estate Professionals.

Was it a lot of hard work? Were their Risk Involved? Did my family and friends, tell me I was crazy and not to get involved in Real Estate? Were there times I wanted to quit?

YES!

I am so glad I stuck with it because my families future is now set.

So thank you Nouveau Riche for giving me BiggerPockets and allowing my American Dream to come true.

Unk   California

2:28pm on Friday, March 6th, 2009 

I recently went to a NRU meeting. First off, I was tricked into going there. I thought they needed people to help them research investments. Shame on me for that one! (if it is so good, why do you have to trick people?) I have Real Estate experience and I've been researching them on-line and I can't agree more with it being a scam. I just don't see how after calculating vacancy factors, unexpected repairs, and the cost to dump a bad investment, can be profitable. Specially if today's market values are STILL DECLINING due to job losses! So If I buy a property with $20k in equity I can lose it in a matter of days. Most of the investors I've worked with ask for properties that that have a minimum of 20% equity. In case they need to dump it, they could absorb the costs. Not to mention if there is a high vacancy factor in the area where you plan to buy through NRU. I'll be the first to tell you, that there are many local deals available, and any well established top producing Real Estate agent would be more than happy to help you make money. Most of them come across so many opportunities that they can't handle and are willing to make a little money off of it by passing on the opportunity to you. At least you know that up front. Good luck to all!

Interested?   CA

6:41am on Monday, March 2nd, 2009

I've read through the comments here looking for information. In particular, RECENT information, especially now that the economy has nearly collapsed for many people.

Ron, you say it has worked for you, and it is real. I have the concern that the NRU classes are given in intensive format, and there is some discrepancy between 4 times or 6 times a year. An intensive I attended last weekend said 4 times a year. I do home the classes are more informative than the "intensive" I attended, which was very much like a sales rally - pep rally. This would be a complete TURN OFF to most of the people that I have known over the years. Yes, I agree it seems geared to get people out of their chairs and to act.

I want to learn more. Can you list some references on the web for further research?

Thank you.

Ron Haluczak   Saint Charles, IL

11:51am on Thursday, February 26th, 2009 

Nouveau Riche is the best real estate investor education available today. I am glad I did my due diligence and separated facts from UNEDUCATED opinion.

Just like Law School & Medical School, people wash out and fail. Does that make Harvard a scam?
If you don't want to be a doctor, don't go to medical school! But if you do want to become a doctor, go to the best school you can. Same thing with Real Estate Investing. However, if you are not capable of putting your education to use, don't waste your time or money.

Nouveau Riche absolutely works if YOU do!

Who am I to judge? I have been a Real Estate Investor for over 20 years, I own a mortgage company, I have owned numberous business over the years, I was a news editor at WLS-TV in Chicago and Producer for ABC News.

John   Wisconsin

2:02am on Tuesday, February 24th, 2009

About 4 months ago my friends brother joined NRU. He had taken real estate classes at a local school, where his instructor had introduced NRU to him. He Payed for the full Package (which cost more then $20,000) then headed for Arizona for class. When he returned he was so pumped he talked his brother into being his tuition partner. They have been working on shortsales and have yet to make a dime, but have been talking a great deal about a few prospects they have.
Last weekend I went to a NRU Intensive Workshop with them. It was very interesting to say the least. It seemed like a brain washing workshop more then anything. I didn't buy anything but a few beers afterward.
You see these two are like brothers to me and I hope the best for them. But I have mouths to feed and cannot take that kind of risk, and will not till I see them make there tuition back. One thing I know about these two guys is that if the (Product) NRU sells is not a total scam, they will SUCCEED. I also know that I will post honest writings about this matter, telling there progress and/or failure.

P.S.
I will never FLIP BURGERS DMITRY!!!!!

Mark   Miami, FL

7:55am on Friday, February 13th, 2009 

A friend of mine convinced me to attend one of the information meetings and since I respect his viewpoint, attended.
Well the first thing that came to mind when the meeting started was that it sounded and looked more like a church revival than anything else.
Every time I wanted to ask questions, they would always shut me down & tell me that I'd get a chance to answer all my questions during a one on one - how about if another person wanted to hear this answer as wel???
In any case, at one point I'd had enough. I asked everyone who was up front to answer me 3 questions: How long they had been with NR? How much money they were making a month? and what was their education background...
Wasn't it funny when they all looked at each other and finally one "brainiac" told me that these were pretty much personal questions!!!
It was fun to see that I wasn't the only one who ran out of there - my friend told me afterward that 10 peoples left at the same time I did...
For anyone that wants to "get rich" the NR way, I'd suggest you research who runs NR via the internet; some of these guys don't even have a high school diploma but they can sure sell you anything!!
I read many comments of how NR changed their lives and they are now making "so much money" but they don't mention an amount or any other pertinent info... It wouldn't surprise me that its all the same person writing different entries using a different name...
NR is nothing more than a disguised ponzi scheme...Run as fast as you can!!!

Will   Arizona

5:49pm on Friday, January 30th, 2009 

Some NR people blame those who didn't take responsibility for their success. They never talk about the promises NR doesn't keep. I wanted to believe that what I heard was really true. Only after it was too late did I begin to realize how much exaggeration these people are capable of. Their favorite candidate is the guy who just got laid off and has a severance package. The stories they tell have to be good enough for them to get part of that severance package. As soon as your money is in their bank account they'll hardly remember your name.

D Dixon   Arizona

9:29am on Friday, January 30th, 2009 

BEWARE!!!! All the positive feedback given on this, and many other, sites is PAID FOR by Nouveau Riche! There are actual funds on their books allocated just for this purpose, under the guise of Internet Campaigning.
Yes, this "college" provides you with the basics for all types of real estate investing, but at an astronomical price. Alot of their ideas to "help get you started" will drain you of all your savings and equity, placing you with all the other people out there in debt up to their eyeballs and losing everything they have. From an insider standpoint, employees of the company are told how much the CEO wants you to succeed, yet if you try to get ahead within the company, they will beat you down and ignore you.
This IS MLM at its finest. Run the other way!

Dmitry   Chicago, IL

2:03pm on Tuesday, January 27th, 2009 

Wow, it never stops to amaze me how 2 people can view the same information and based on their previous experiences and mindset judge it completely differently! Presently at 23 years old I was able to quit my job which I wholeheartedly hated and before I even graduate college, I already own 3 companies - all due to the education that I received from Nouveau AND took action on ! For people that criticize it - you either didn't take time to properly research it or didn't take action on it. How you do one thing is how you do everything. With that approach you won't succeed at anything in life but it's ok, because we require people to cut our grass and flip our burgers. :) Let the truth prevail and if you hate what I'm saying then.... YOU BE RIGHT, I'LL BE RICH!! Love you all!

Andrew Gerhardt   Roselle, IL

10:31pm on Thursday, January 22nd, 2009 

From the looks of it if people follow their natural instinct toward an opportunity they are skeptical. The late night guru's have assisted with that, most of their students never even making a Real Estate deal and spending upward of $50,000. Most regular Colleges teach you to have a job. Nouveau Riche teaches you how to become an Entrepreneur, and not that but a successful Entrepreneur that has multiple income opportunities. If anyone ever experienced the College (I have), they would learn that actual certified practitioners that are certified Millionaires in their field are the instructors. Classes include many financial oriented classes level 100-400 like a College. I learned that once you earn money you can invest it into self-directed investments that can return huge gains tax-free. So before you become skeptical, really look at what Nouveau Riche teaches. Their education is phenominal, and the marketing side of the business is just another way of earning income. I myself have created Real Estate deals without any previous knowledge earning $370,000 in less than 6 months time. How? By following my education and securing Creative Financing for a builder who needed $4 Million, and another project that required $27 million in financing. It was that simple.

Amanda   Miami

9:22am on Friday, January 16th, 2009 

I met with someone last week, I read magazine articles and liked what I saw and so I attended a meeting last night; and am going to attend marketing training tomorrow to find out a bit more about it...However, so far it does look good and does look to be legit.

NO one has said a word other than, they offer you the tools to become successful -- not that you are going to be rich quick. And, every person I spoke to was very frank and said, you get out what you put into it. I think for some people (including any business owner out there) the educational side of things would be very beneficial -- you have to remember, we're all encouraged to go to college and get a degree; and then get a masters, etc -- but are we EVER guaranteed that will mean we'll get or keep a job or a huge salary? No, but we're supposedly given the tools to make that happen for ourselves.

AND, I have not been pressured or told that I MUST buy the educational tools myself or anything like that, either -- they offer incentives so you do; but it is not necessary and no one has been pushing things at me. (yet)

I am still evaluating them, and once I see what tomorrow has to bring I'll know more -- but, I do have to say right now, that people shouldn't be so quick to shout SCAM! You need to do your due diligence and find out what is right for you individually, as it will be different for every person. I'm a very skeptical individual and not easily swayed on things such as this -- and that's why I am ensuring I'm not buying on emotion -- good or bad and doing my research!

And for some of you, that said you've seen people blow through $$ and whatnot to invest in the company & not themselves and they haven't earned a dime -- well to be personally honest, those individuals sound as if they thought that buying $10K or $20K of educational product would magically make them rich and they'd never have to lift a finger to make that happen (I have not seen a claim like that from the company at all) -- And, if someone thinks like that, they'd be better off taking that money and buying lottery tickets to increase their odds...STUPID!

Anyways, I'll find out more tomorrow.

My biggest concern to be honest is that it's some type of "cult" -- but again more info tomorrow.

Brandon Curtis   Albuquerque, NM

1:30pm on Thursday, December 11th, 2008 

I first heard of this outfit after responding to a job post on Craig's List for a real estate investor seeking help. I thought, by the text, that a developer/investor needed
a local or site salesperson/leasing agent. I'm a real estate agent and a former commercial mortgage manager so I thought the ad was for a job for a person of my skill sets.

I got an e-mail asking me to view some Web video. Right then, I felt something was wrong. Why
would I have to watch some Web video for a job unless it was a part of some interactive training module some companies use for new hires.

I opened it up and within seconds smelled a scam. The "Nouveau Riche University" logo popped up and the narrator had some story about an unrewarding job with a firm about to do layoffs or something and how he had to be in biz for himself (sounded like an Amway meets porno narration).

I closed the window. I e-mailed the guy and asked what the specific tasks and requisites were. No reply.

Then I researched and learned that this company is a double dipper: They buy properties in distressed areas, likely through various
LLCs or their local agents; then use the "university" element to recruit people, whom they will "help" find investor properties; just happen to be the company's inventory. This is
similar to the movie BOILER ROOM in which JT Marlin's brokers sell stocks belonging to firm's owner and his friends. When the owner and his buddies clean up, no need to keep inflated stock price; stock crashes.

From what I have read, NR gives a rent subsidy to renter out of investor's down payment or get it rolled into loan.

After the subsidy is gone, what happens? After all, once the new mortgage is signed, that concludes both NR's interest in and liability for
that property.

I have read that they also have posted signs on cars saying "Want to Make $10k a month? Ask me how."

Well, having a commercial real estate background, I did some cash flow analysis on a shopping center that has as two of its tenants
Starbucks and Keva Juice; asking price is $2,666,000.

None of my calculations added up to
$10k per month. Here they are, using
3 tiers: A full price offer with 20% down; a 90% offer with 20% down and an 85% offer with 20% down.

I used a fairly low interest rate, the
10 year Treasury plus 2 percent and
the standard 20 year amortization period of a commercial loan.

Full price offer: $2,666,000
Loan: $2,132,800: 80% LTV
Rate: 5 percent: 10 year Treasury +200 basis points or 2 percent: margin: percentage lender adds to Index rate in order to set effective interest rate; creates lender’s profit from loan: 1 basis point =1/100 of 1%
Amortization: 20 years
Monthly Payment: $14,075.54
Monthly Net Operating Income (income after operating costs-taxes, insurance, etc, but before
Mortgage debt payment): 15,086
Monthly Cash flow: $1,011: Money left over after paying monthly mortgage payment

90% offer
Loan: $1,919,520: 80% LTV
Rate: 5%: see above
Amortization: 20 years
Monthly payment: $12,668
Monthly Cash flow: $2,418

85% offer
Loan: $1,812,880: 80% LTV
Rate: 5%: See above
Amortization: 20 years
Monthly mortgage: $11,964
Monthly cash flow: $3,122

The highest montly cash flow is
just over $3,000. This is on a shopping center with two name brand tenants and where the landlord can pass through quite a few costs
to the renters in the form of the
net lease, in which a tenant pays
a portion of taxes, insurance,
management and utilities in addition to
the base rent.

Plus, commercial leases tend to be longer; usually 3-5 years.

With that said, how can one make
$10k a month in residential investments? The rents are considerably lower the landlord is responsible for upkeep, water/heating/cooling, taxes and insurance. The tenant pays only a flat rent. Any eviction action must conform to state owner-resident acts which often includes legal costs. I did a general calculation of a residential rental property of $125,000; 100 percent financing;5.75% rate; 30 year amortization. The total annual payments would be, just on the mortgage, $8,052. Just using
the numbers from my own city, property taxes are generally (varies by subdivision and area) $2,000 per year. Insurance, just using $100 per month and the utility bills and water bills come out to
$200 per month.

So, to cover a $671 mortgage per month, owner would have to rent out at $871 at least, which is
$10,452 total income. Then subtract water/utilities of $2,400 per year; taxes of $2,000 per year and insurance of $1200 per year: This adds up to $4,852 cash flow for the YEAR; $404 per month.

Unless one owns multiple rentals free and clear or very little debt or owns a large retail/shopping center anchored by a Raley's or
Target or a regional mall a la Northpark Mall in Dallas, it is possible but highly unlikely to clear $10k of cash flow per month doing real estate investing.

Plus, having a convict for a founder (CEO, founder Jim Piccolo was convicted of felony insurance fraud in 1991-92; later reduced to a misdemeanor; was reportedly involved
in another MLM scheme, TruDynamics)
and a co-founder who came from
Amway (Bob Snyder) and one can smell a scam like a fart in a car.

Dave II   SD, Cal

8:21pm on Monday, December 8th, 2008 

I really like Nouveau Riche. Obviously I'm a member. It's kinda funny that a lot of the anti-nouveau people are always bashing on those that like the program for "saying the same thing." things like, "it works if you don't quit." and "we can't drag you to success." but sorry guys.. the reason we say that isn't because we're "shills" or "programed." It's because it's true! I mean if Person A came into the program, took classes then didn't apply, is that the fault of the program? or if Person B came in, tried to market, but had no sales skills, and then quit marketing because sales is actually hard, is that the fault of the program? If a person wants to be successful in this program they just need to keep going. You have to be willing to fail and stand up. You can't plan on being perfect, you need to be OK with just being good and willing to take rejection. Good is good enough as long as you stay consistent.

Working Real Estate is a business. Working the Marketing is a business. If you're tied to the SD (San Diego) market or the OC (Orange County) market you see one thing that the successful people all have in common - they work very VERY hard. So much success on both sides of the coin in those markets. I know people that have left Nouveau in other parts of the country to join these markets because of the network that has grown there. This is a BUSINESS opportunity, not a get rich quick opportunity. You have to work it like a business, and if it turns out to be harder than you expected or your game plan ends up being a dead end, then you need to change your plan, change your direction, and keep working.

So here I go "saying the same thing" all over again, but to those that say that Nouveau doesn't work - I'm very sorry but you're wrong. You didn't work. Or if you did work, you didn't work hard enough. Regardless, Nouveau isn't supposed to work, you are. It's such an outstanding program if you just get in and don't quit. You get to learn about investing in Real Estate, you get to enroll people into the school, and believe me, when you start being successful at both you don't blink for a moment about what you're doing for a living.

a warning to new students and marketers: DO NOT COME INTO THE PROGRAM EXPECTING TO MAKE MONEY OVER NIGHT (though some people do.)

If you want to be in Real Estate, and you want to enroll people as a way of making more income, be prepared to work hard. Very hard. The good news is is that it gets easier and easier as you get going.. it doesn't stay hard forever. These are all skills that need to be learned, but once you've got them you've got them - ya, follow? To take that one step further, the skills you learn trying to market really aide you in your Real Estate, too. Objection handling, negotiations, just talking to people with confidence, they're used in both. My advice to anyone is even if you're not planning on doing the marketing take some sales training classes. They will do so much for your business.

Me, personally, it took me 7 months to have any results. Honestly, I thought I was going to be making money in a couple months. But when I realized it was going to be tougher for me (because I'm me, and you are you, and my results do not determine yours) I took a step back, took a deep breath, bought a whole lot of sales training books, and really dug into the community and education. Well, I now am working on my third deal, and I have three people enrolled. It took A LOT of work but it's paying off - I have results, and I'm training my new team proudly and giving them realistic expectations while not programing them to expect fast OR slow results. Everyone is given the same speech.. "this is a business, be prepared to work, do not expect to quit your job immediately, and if you're successful overnight don't forget to thank God."

Bottom line, if you want to learn to invest and want to make money inside of a community this program is outstanding. Direct sales in an interesting beast, but learning it has been the most amazing trip down personal development lane. I have so much further to go, but the business skills I've had to teach myself along the way; the discipline, and the organization, has probably been the most rewarding side result I could have ever asked for. I wasn't expecting these lessons, I really wasn't.

If you're looking at Nouveau as the possible next big step in your life, please join. Do so with realistic expectations, and sign the line while telling yourself that you will not quit. What you gain by not quitting is definitely not measured in dollars alone. And if you have the ability, plug-in to the OC marketplace; it's ridiculous what they're building up there.

Rossie   Arizona

4:08pm on Monday, December 1st, 2008 

I went to my fist meeting on 11/20/08, first hour was really boring, some dude was talking about how well he has done and made so much money and talked about the school. I almost fell asleep and couldn't wait for it to get over with. the second half went so much better a young guy former engineer went up and talked about the marketing side of this school, well that right up my alley, he was more upbeat and I could relate to him. Towards the end the brought up another old dude from Hawaii that had his own language and again I couldn't understand him, so he decided to bring up some people that recently joined and tell us some hard luck stories. I left and didn't think anything about it and of course my mentor is blowing up my phone and wanting me to join. I could care less about the school but I might do it for the marketing side of it.

Chris   Florida

8:56pm on Sunday, November 30th, 2008 

Disgusting program. A family friend of ours ran his elderly father's entire savings into the ground under the naïve assumption that he could get rich quick. A group of low class con artists tapping into the pool of uneducated idiots with a need for instant gratification.stupid is as stupid does.

Jerry   Hawaii

8:35pm on Wednesday, November 26th, 2008 

Not surprisingly, there seems to be a lot more negative comments here than positive. But it's not because it's a true reflection of Nouveau Riche - it's because it's a reflection of the prevailing ignorance in our society & people's need to make excuses rather than accept responsibility for their own lives & success (or lack thereof.) I've been with NR for almost 2 years and I've already grown my net worth to over $2M - not from marketing of NR, but through the education. True, it's not for everyone - simply because it isn't magic. You just can't help people who don't want to help themselves. There will always be people who expect life to hand everything to them on a silver platter - and if their lives don't turn out that way, will choose to make themselves feel better by focusing on whatever negatives they can find. Just like losing weight, getting healthy, or anything else - it's usually pretty simple - but success or failure comes down to what a person has inside. Believe what you want to. It's your life.

Wallace Hobbs   Philadelphia

2:06pm on Monday, November 17th, 2008 

There are ratings and comments from actual students on Nouveau Riche on this Real Estate Investing site Millionaire REal Estate Group

Just google Millionaire Real Estate Group to find the Nouveau Riche comments, I did

Les   Edmonton

1:40pm on Monday, November 3rd, 2008

Ooops, did I say that 'Dean' entered a 5 star rating on several different occasions, - I meant 'Dave'.

Les   Edmonton

1:38pm on Monday, November 3rd, 2008

Whoever is managing these web site - I would suggest that 'Program Ratings' on your web site be set up so that individuals can only vote once. I've noticed that a few people (i.e., Dean) has rated NR a '5 star' program on several different occasions (sounds like a NR tactic). That will skew your overall results. Although there have been approximately 42 entries, in actuality, there have only been about 35 different people enter a comment. I have previously left my rating and will not do it again.

Matt Simmons   Boise, ID

1:34pm on Monday, October 27th, 2008 

A close friend of mine joined NR back in February 2008. Within the first month he said that him and his “mentor” were already working with families to help them from being foreclosed on. He was bragging to me that these short sale deals would go through in a few months and that he was going to buy a new Truck when the deals went through because his mentor was going to split the profits with him. My friend was out test driving new trucks and talking about how easy it was to do real estate “deals,” so I went to a meeting with him. I was really pumped after going and just about joined but couldn’t justify paying 20K for seminars. Luckily I didn’t sign up because none of the real estate deals worked out for my friend. He then switched his tactics to marketing NR to make back his 20K. He put flyers on cars, set up a 1-800 number and tried to get his friends to join but he was unsuccessful at that as well. It is now October and he currently does not do anything associated with NR. His first few months he spent hours treating it like a full time job he even shared an office with his mentor. However his mentors and himself were unsuccessful at making any money from short sales. Yet the mentors get up and bag about how much money they are making at the weekly meetings. This is a scam and I am so grateful I didn’t sign up to lose $20,000.

Rick   Dallas, Tx

10:45pm on Sunday, October 26th, 2008 

If you are in the briefing for 10 min you can feel the crap starting to rise to about knee level. They try to convince you that they are in the business of "Helping People". They get up and share poorly scripted stories about one another that end teary eyed and then they clap for each other. It is truly sickening. They all brag about how they have made it from rags to riches and how they can do it for you out of the goodness of their heart. Oh yeah, and they would also like a check for between 8 and 20 thousand dollars. Yes that's right, for $20,000.00 you and someone else can fly to Arizona on your own dime and stay in a hotel on your own dime to take real estate classes that I am sure can not be found in the state you already live in. Keep in mind during this briefing there is not one single time that they allow the audience to ask questions out loud. They talk nonstop, show charts, graphs, movies, pictures, bla bla bla and tell you that if you have questions you can ask them to one of the supreme beings after it is over as not to arouse any concerns in the minds of all of us in the audience to dumb to conjure up thoughts of our own. People please think it over before giving your money to these people. They make their money by getting you to sign up for the class. Why if they want you to join so bad out of the goodness of their heart does the person that referred you to the seminar get half the money you paid to the school. If it cost you $20,000.00 for the class the generous soul that referred you gets $10,000.00. Doesn't that seem like an awful lot of money just for referring you to the class. They are not making money from investing and if they are you and a couple of others just bought the house for them. Well why didn't I think of that sooner. I can just lie to other people to get them to pay for my house and then when I sell it, IT'S A 100% PROFIT. I'll bet you wouldn't join though if they just came out and told you that now would you.

John   Victorville, Ca

7:58pm on Monday, September 29th, 2008 

NR is the best thing that has happened to me and the people around me. I have turned more money in a month then I could even think about doing in my job. I have seen people make their annual income from their previous jobs in one month. I have seen people in their in their first couple months do $50,000 dollar months. I’m not making this up, some people learn faster than others. I can tell you for sure, if you were in the business and it didn't work. I wasn't NR that didn't work, you didn't work. This is the most amazing program out their. Real estate is the most lucrative industry out their. No matter what your system is there's always some people that will never do anything in the business. Most people are used to people telling them what to do in a job. We create business owners and real estate investors, if you can't transform from a employee its on you. I am so blessed to be a part of NR and I really don't appreciate anybody saying how they feel about something they have never been a part of. I have seen many people do transactions after their first college. Believe it or not, its true. If anybody is considering it, go to every event and talk to as many people you can that are involved with us. Not people that think they know what they are talking about. Its so amazing, thank you for reading and I hope all of you much success.

Les   Edmonton

12:49pm on Monday, September 15th, 2008 

I have some rather young (and perhaps vulnerable) neices who have been involved with NR for a long long time - perhaps a year or more. They have invested a lot of money - perhaps over 10k or more. They referred to themselves as 'real estate investors' yet they have not invested any money into real estate but rather into the company itself(NR). Fortunately, they live at home because they can really not afford to live on their own. I noticed how they are easily impressed with the idea of meeting milionnaires which required travelling to another state (Arizona) at their expense. I don't know what the outcome will be but they appear to have 'stars in their eyes' and 'empty pockets'. Although the educational experience may boost their self-confidence, at the end of the day, it does not pay the bills. Increased self confidence may help them do better in other jobs however if they do not make any money with NR and eventually leave not having sold any real estate andmade money, I wonder what that will do their self-confidence. I may be wrong but I have heard that NR will lend people money to take their courses. I couldn't imagine being saddled with a loan, no money in your pocket, and feeling down becuase you did not become one of those elite millionaires. In the long run, I'm not so sure that being a millionaire brings happiness either! It would be interesting to know what percentage of their graduates come in as 'paupers' and leave the same way after a year or two and 10-16 K in debt.

Dave   CA

4:50pm on Friday, September 12th, 2008 

oops.. sorry.. my last comment should have been five stars. Also, a point that I forgot to make is that the instructors, all 24 of them, are all active investors who have each made millions of dollars doing whatever class it is they teach. Our wholesale instructor made 25 million in quarter, our multifamily instructor makes 150k a month in apartments, etc. etc.

I'm really sorry that NR didn't work out for you Dean, but to me it seems that you're way too focused on the shortcomings rather than the positives. At no point did you try to compare what you get vs. what you might get elsewhere, you fail to recognize that some people just don't learn by going out and buying books. There's many different types of people that want what NR offers, and just because it's not right for you, doesn't mean it's not right for others.

If people are marketed to inappropriately then i'm sorry about the tactics they used, but in the end, the education is very good, the community is amazing, people that come in with no real estate experience do leave and have successful careers, and those people that want to do the marketing who have a sales background or are willing to learn no matter how long it takes them (the benefits are there to keep trying) then NR offers an amazing home.

There are no secrets in real estate, there is only experience and education. there is simply no way that the information given by our instructors could be called bad. it puts new investors on the right path to success, it puts seasoned investor in the path of information they may not have had before on new subjects, and it puts every one of the members in the largest community of investors in the country.

Good luck in whatever you do, Dean. Hope you find what you're looking for.

Dave   CA

4:28pm on Friday, September 12th, 2008

point by point to Dean

The Company

you:
1. Piccolo and Bob "the General" Snyder, the founders of NRU, have MARKETING backgrounds. Look it up. They have no prior experience with real estate investing before NRU.

me:
Right. Which is why they don't actually teach the classes or did they write the information. They hired a staff and hired instructors.

you:
2. As a consequence of Number 1, NRU is primarily a MARKETING business. You can call it whatever you want, direct marketing, MLM, a pyramid scheme, a ponzi scheme, there may not be a perfect term, but it contains aspects of all of these concepts.

me:
Absolutely, it's an opportunity. That was never made secret. There are people that market, there are people that do real estate, there are people that do both. As an ISA for the company (independent student advisor) it's completely up to you how you want to get involved and how you run your own business.. just like any other sales organization.

you:
3. Real estate investing and education is an ancillary part of NRU. It is the "product" that they sell, but it might as well be long-distance phone plans, an internet web-based business, vitamins, or make-up.

me:
correct and incorrect. The education is good. Just as some might only want to take their herbalife vitamins others might want to sell them. But you're correct in the comparison on the business model is the same. It's not integral though, it's up to the person who decides that they want to try NR if they want to sell.

you:
4. NRU's success is a direct product of the real estate mania this country has experienced over the past 7 years, not anything inherently great about the company’s products or services.

me:
I disagree with this one. While the popularity of Real Estate definitely would have added, the products themselves are good. The information is equal if not better to any other product out there.

Dave   CA

4:27pm on Friday, September 12th, 2008

you:
The “Education”

5. For $16,000, you really don’t get very much. You receive a certain number of “college” credits that expire after two years, but the catch is that you have to fly to Arizona to use them and you can only do that four times a year for a one-week period each time. There is an on-line option, but it is sub-par for a variety of reasons.

me:
I disagree with this one. At 16,000 you get 120 hours of NR hours. One full day class will equal 6 hours, half days equal 3 hours. At 120 hours you can take all of the 36 classes that are offered. Colleges are actually 6 times a year, not four. at each college you have six days of classes (mon-sat.) so if you have the ability to come to every single college (12) during your two year tuition, that's 72 full days of school. That's a lot of time being embedded in either classes or the community. you just might get a bit of education or meet an investor or two.

you:
6. The courses are amateur hour and taught in seminar-fashion. They may dazzle people who don’t have a college degree, but will offer little to those who are generally versed in basic real estate and financial concepts. The educational materials are photocopied, hand-bound booklets, sometimes just an outline of the power point presentation. The instructors appear to be knowledgeable in their field, but they are mainly interested in consulting fees and fees for other services that they offer to NRU members (not altruism as many NRU shills would like you to believe).

me:
While some of the teachers will let you know that they have a business in the subject that they teach, they don't do anything else but offer their card at the end. Don't get me wrong, that bothered me a bit, too.. but anyone with business knowledge knows that that's also good networking. As for amateur hour, I don't think so. With as much info as there is on each subject I will give it to you that information is condensed and there's more under the surface, but at no point do I think that NR promised to teach you everything there is to know on every single subject. That's would just be impossible. As far as the quality of the "books" are concerned. What were you expecting? They're reference materials, some are awesome, some are a little more than a review of what you went through in class. Either way they're helpful and they're included in the cost.

you:
7. NRU does not “teach” you anything you can’t learn by spending a few dollars on Amazon.com. There are no secret tips to learn that haven’t been published in the hundreds of real estate books you can buy on your own.

me:
Do you know how many books on Real Estate that I have that have never been opened? How many books have you bought that you've never read? That's a model that doesn't work. NRU has their "home study" course, the r2e2 as they call it, and I've made it through about 6 of the 15 volumes and I've been a student for 7 months. It cost $3500, you think that I'd have at least listen to it all, out of obligation if nothing else. You can scoff all day and say things like "well that's your fault," but that's the same that i can say about why NR wasn't successful for you. Carlton Sheets, Robert Kiyosaki, Robert Allen, all of the information peddlers have systems that don't work.. they sell you books that you don't read, and you end up alone without a community, out $29.99, with one more book on your shelf.

you:
8. The “education” is primarily a vehicle for the direct marketing aspect of NRU, just as Investor’s Concierge is there to give members credibility when they market the course. The Concierge, however, is also another mechanism by which NRU extracts additional money from its students. More on this later.

me:
You already made this point. Selling the education is a way for people to make extra money, but the education is good enough to sell at that price point by itself. $16,000 and you're done, no upselling like in the Robert Allen, Robery Kiyosaki models. Have you even compared what you get with NR vs. what you get in those programs?

you:
Real Estate as an Investment Class


9. In marketing the tuition, a great deal of emphasis is placed on how real estate can make you rich. There is little or no information on how risky investing in real estate can be. At the “briefings” (the 2-hour presentation designed to lure new members), the presenter will talk a lot about how great real estate is because of the availability of leverage and certain tax benefits. At several briefings I went to, the presenter would literally make the representation that real estate prices only go up. Finally, the presenter will talk about how terrible it is to work for a corporation and how useless a college education is (ala Robert Kiyosaki). This usually manifests itself in the form of derisive acronyms, such as JOB, which stands for “Just Over Broke”, or how only NRU can give you an MBA that’s worth anything, a “Massive Bank Account” (crowd usually goes wild here).

me:
you went to several briefings? why would you have attended serveral if you weren't marketing and trying to take guests? sounds to me like you failed at marketing and now you're pissed.

Isn't it terrible to work for a corporation? I don't think anything at an NR presentation is misrepresenting the state of the current economic situation we're facing. And in every presentation it mentions that for as much money as you can make you can lose in Real Estate. I personally feel it's more risky to buy a book off of amazon and then trying to invest, but that's what you'd rather have people do? At least at NR you'll meet seasoned investors that you can then pick up the phone and call. If you're not networking at NR then you're wasting a huge opportunity. Did you try and tap into the network at college at all? There is a massive network of investors that don't do the marketing, you'll typically find them in the higher level classes, or over at Margaritaville after school is don... read more »

Dave   CA

4:26pm on Friday, September 12th, 2008

you:
11. We will likely never experience again in our lifetimes the type of appreciation in residential real estate that we have seen these past few years. There are several reasons that this is very likely to be the case: reversion to the mean, unsustainable public/private debt burdens, massive transfer of wealth to developing nations, slowing economic growth, an aging population, greater regulation in the financial sector, etc.

me:
I'm not understanding what this has to do with your debate on NR, but you're probably correct. When we bottom out completely and start ramping up, it will be a very slow and gradual build.

you:
12. Historically, residential real estate prices have appreciated at the rate of inflation.

me:
Correct. 6% appreciation per year is average. When you see double digit appreciation for any extended period of time, run for the hills because the crash is coming.

you:
13. Real estate, like any other asset class, carries risks that are commensurate with the returns you are likely to generate. For example, leverage is great in good times, but people are quickly learning how easy it is for your equity to get wiped out a result of relatively small declines in home prices.

me:
Neat. If you buy well and have a renter in place, your equity can go out the window and you still have a profiting property. If your only game was appreciation then you were a speculator like all the rest.

you:
14. Investor Concierge deals are generally market-rate deals, but they are advertised to NRU students as amazing deals that generate positive cash flow. There are other sites that break this down, but generally speaking, the appraisals are usually 2-3 pages long and contain nothing more than a broker's opinion of value, the financing is almost always interest only or neg-am, the rents are inflated, and the only way you get "positive cash flow" is if you include certain seller incentives like pre-paid HOA or guaranteed rent, most of which will expire within 2 years. Additionally, maintenance and vacancy will almost immediately eat away at the $100 of positive cash-flow a month you get. NRU members hate talking about the details of the Investor Concierge deals.

me:
Concierge deals can be good, but they can suck. Agreed. You need to be careful on buying property, whether it's through NR or not. I've heard some horror stories of some of the concierge deals.. but you hear those everywhere. Like you said, there's risks in real estate so you need to be aware of those risks and be prepared for the worst. Just because they come through NR does not equal a guarantee. you say that they're "almost always interest only" .. ummm, why not change the terms? you know that you don't have to take the loan that's listed on the property right? just like you don't have to use their managment company or their mortgage company. it's your property, you choose your loan, etc. if the deal doesn't cash flow on your terms then don't do the deal.

Dave   CA

3:40pm on Wednesday, September 10th, 2008 

(cont'd)
you:
15. Typically, there are only 15-20 available properties on the Concierge at any given time, so the pickins are slim. NRU encourages you to “reserve” a property you like as soon as you see it online, because it could get snatched up by someone else unless you do. The non-refundable fee for reserving a property is $350.

me:
15 to 20 is a lot more than the deals that most new investors have available to them on a given day, which I would assume would be closer to zero. And yes, there is a 350 dollar fee if you reserve then back out. It's to stop people from getting trigger happy then backing out. It used to be an issue. They highlight that fee in the presentation and isn't in the fine print somewhere.

you:
16. Investor Concierge deals are mainly located in historically depressed or undeveloped, sub-urban or rural real estate markets, you will generally not find properties on the system in established, urban markets. These properties are likely to experience declines in this market and will not likely appreciate much at all when the economy recovers.

me:
Again, the concierge is training wheels. It helps you learn on a deal that's already set up. Do your due diligence. And again, investing is risky, and not for everyone. In the beginning, while just getting started, any new investor should be gun shy, not trigger happy. This system allows a new investor to learn how to investigate properties and then make an educated decision. If you're just accepting that a property is good on the concierge and clicking on buy then you're not being very smart.

you:
17. Anyone who has purchased a deal off of Investor’s Concierge over the last two years has either lost all of their equity or is underwater. This is a terrifying prospect for many people in NRU because at the briefings, many of them go up to the front and brag about how they have bought 5, 10, 15 or even 20 properties over the past few months. Many of these people are going to have to walk away from their homes in the coming years, which will destroy their credit and eat up any ponzi money they made from the marketing.

me:
Anyone? kind of a bold claim. But if they bought using an interest only loan, then they're in the same boat as anyone that bought outside of the concierge. the market slipped, i don't see how that's the concierge's fault.

you:
The Marketing

18. The real estate investing component of NRU is used mainly to support the primary business of the company which is selling tuition packages. There are three options which cost different amounts, but most people are pressured to purchase the “Regent’s” packing together with the “Encyclopedia”, which total almost $20,000. There are certain commission and tuition-related perks you get for buying the most expensive package.

me:
The community has plenty of non-marketing investors. Ask around at any college and it's about 60% non-marketers. Commission and tuition "perks" as you put them are in place because of the business opportunity. If you've looked into opportunities at all then you know that those are an integral part of the model and are actually quite beneficial. I won't go into them here.

you:
19. The commission system is what really drives NRU. NRU members can get a 50% commission for each package they sell, so sometimes that amounts to nearly $10,000 a pop, and there is an added wrinkle that causes that number to multiply very quickly if people you sign up also, in turn, sign up additional students. The mathematics make the commission structure extremely lucrative IF YOU ARE GOOD AT SALES. This is hook that gets most people to fork over the money.

me:
The "added wrinkle" is the same as your "perk" .. they're called training sales and those are being passed to your mentor as you're getting certified to sell. So what that means is that when you're done training, anyone you sign up that's going to market needs to pass you their training sales. It's a leverage component inherent in any opportunity company. That's the business model and it's very lucrative for anyone that choose to participate and is successful. That's not everyone - many people wont' make a dime.

Dave   CA

3:37pm on Wednesday, September 10th, 2008 

(cont'd)
you:
20. Most people are unsuccessful at selling tuition packages. It’s akin to trying to sell a used car, except you would probably get more value from a junker than the “education” that NRU offers. It’s obvious why the “education” NRU offers is not worth $20,000, most of that needs to go subsidize the commission system, which is needed to lubricate the entire NRU machinery.

me:
True. most are unsuccessful at selling. Not everyone is a salesman and it takes training.

but again, the education is good, as good as anyone else that's selling you information for profit. I've bought books from Amazon that are no more in depth than an NR class. If you were under the impression that NR was going to be able to teach you everything there is to know about investing then you simply had your hopes too high. With over 20,000 people in the community coming from every state in the country, how are they possibly supposed to teach you everything. Every state is different. California eviction laws are drastically different than Texas. So believe it or not, you'll still need to do more learning outside of NR. To call it "junker" is ridiculous. Because stack up what you get with NR - the community, the education, coaches, community real estate calls, and depending on where you're at the country, access to thousands of experienced investors within ear shot, and you won't find another program in the country that comes close for less that 50k. I'm a reasonable man, if you show it to me, I'll listen. That 20k goes very very far. I really can't stress the importance of surrounding yourself with people that are already doing it. If you go buy books from Amazon who the heck are you going to ask when you have questions? Believe me, you'll have a ton.

you:
21. The commission system places a lot of pressure on NRU members to sell, sell, sell. This is how all the top “producers” have made most of their money. This also creates a massive conflict of interest. More on this later.

me:
I personally have never been pressured to sell sell sell anything. The marketing portion is totally optional to the student. If that's what they're coming into the community to do they very well have some harsh realities handed to them. And you're right, the top "producers" make a fortune. Upwards of 1-2 million a year.

you:
22. The direct marketing aspect of NRU preys on the greed and naiveté of all sorts of people, but mainly lower-middle class individuals, young people just starting out, and real estate agents/brokers, many of whom don’t have a lot of education and work crappy jobs that they aren’t happy with.

me:
Also true, though "preys" is subjective. If someone is sold on the idea of selling then they dealt with a good marketer. You can debate this point all you want, but that's what salesmen do. There's really no ethics implications there. The donut store will sell to a fat guy, and the TV will sell you shoes you don't need, but a sale is a sale, and if the customer wants it, why would you stop him from buy it.

you:
23. NRU is tied in with the likes of Robert Kiyosaki and “The Secret”. I’m not going to bore you with the analysis, but try Google and you will find plenty of critiques.

me:
If by tied in you mean in the same industry.. sort of. It's like wealth management meets personal development. A lot of good come out of these programs, as do a lot of dashed dreams. Again, if you really want to be successful, just choose to be, then work your ass off.

But speaking of Robert Kiyosaki have you ever even looked at his pricing? It's like upwards of 65k.. robert allen 34k. Robert Allen gives you five three day boot camps and one 2 day field training for that. That's only 15 days.. NR gives you 72 if you maximize your college availability. Robert Allens info is no better than NR's. That's really the bottom line, and if you do your research you'll see that what you get at NR exceeds most other programs for the price. I will agree though that NR attracts some bad apples because of the marketing, but if you're looking for info, and you're going to pay for it rather than going to the library or Amazon, it's the best program out there.

you:
Conflicts of Interest

24. NRU generates tremendous income directly from its students. They make money not only from the tuition, but also from marketing materials and services, credit services, mortgage brokerage services, accounting and legal services, special seminars, Investor Concierge transactions, all of which cost extra, and they’re not cheap. You also have to pay for lodging and the plane ticket to get to the college. All of the NRU instructors also offer consulting deals and other professional services, which also cost extra. The $16,000 for the Regent’s tuition only buys you “college” credits, you get NOTHING ELSE. You even have to buy the forms and brochures you need to sign up people for NRU. I take that back, you do get a tote bag, but it looks ridiculous.

me:
Marketing materials cost money. If you decide to market then you're taking advantage of the business opportunity. Can we all agree that running a business has expenses? Do you know of a business that doesn't? You said, "they're not cheap." Actually, they are. If you do any comparison to what it would cost to generate the same materials on your own you can see they're quite cheap. No one is debating that there's costs to running the business side, but if you're just going for the school you don't incur those. If you're marketing you sign everyone up through an online process, you don't pay for those forms. maybe it was that way when you were attending but not now.

OMG you have to pay for a plane ticket? when you went to college did you have to pay for you trip there? what about your dorm or appartmen? If you know of a school that pays for your travel and lodging I'd love to hear about it.

you:
25. NRU members are supposed to be “mentors” to the new members who they sign up... read more »

Dave   CA

3:36pm on Wednesday, September 10th, 2008 

you:
27. The most distasteful defense of NRU to me is that “it’s not for everyone, but it worked for me”. It may be that there are some people who are successful and make lots of money in NRU, but the system cannot support a situation where most of the people in NRU make tons of money. This is the inherent, mathematical limitations of these types of marketing structures. I’m sure someone smarter than me can prove this. Likewise, the real estate market cannot support most people in NRU making money in residential real estate investing. Case in point is the short sale strategy, which NRU shills tout as the way to make money in a down market. Well, there is so much competition in short sales right now, and even more with each “college” I suppose, that short sale investors are bidding up pre-foreclosures pretty much to market. These fundamental concepts virtually guaranty that only a small minority of 28. NRU members will make any money either from the marketing or the real estate investing, and REQUIRE everyone else to fail in order for the system to sustain itself. This is the biggest conflict of interest of them all and lends to NRU’s reputation as a “scam”.

me:
So I guess i'm confused, because I don't think anyone said that you're all going to be a raving successes just by enrolling. I know plenty of people that spent well over a 100k on their traditional educations that amounted to nothing, too. But because NR has a business opportunity built into it's model, somehow it's supposed to guarantee the success of everyone of it's members? Where is it written that by coming to school you'll be successful. I could be accepted to med school - that doesn't automatically make me a doctor. NR can not simply produce a qualified investor just because they come and take classes. Plenty of people come to NR, try, and fail. that doesn't make it the fault of NR. Those people either gave up, quit, changed their mind, or simply didn't have what it took. That's the same in everything, not everyone that tries will succeed. There's risks in real estate, there's risks in life. Some people's eyes simply get too big.

What I do know is that about 50-60% of the NR students at least try to do a deal. Which in comparison to Robert Allen's 5% is pretty dang good. So what's the difference? The community. When i was first starting to learn investing I wouldn't have been able to do my first few deals as quickly and as efficiently as i did without the community. They provided local contracts, forms, advice, recommendations for title companies, and many times just told me what the next step was. It's a community, and you pay to be in it. How you decide to spend your time there is up to you. But to say that all they do is market is a gross misrepresentation of the company. Spend 20k and buy an education, or spend 20k and buy a business opportunity. It's really up to you how you use it.

you:
Conclusion

NRU is a marketing business that encourages and monetarily incentivizes its members to use high-pressure sales tactics to sell a highly expensive real estate “education” package with questionable value to unsophisticated people with the lure of quick money and unlimited riches in real estate. Success in NRU is highly dependent on (1) a booming real estate market and/or (2) a unique talent in sales and marketing. What makes NRU so insidious is that it plays on the fear and greed of ordinary people, often friends and family, most of whom will go bankrupt by following NRU investment strategies during a severe and sustained real estate down turn such as the one we are experiencing now, and most of whom will fail in selling the tuition package because they lack the sales and marketing expertise, which is further exacerbated by a declining real estate market. Taken as whole, NRU may be perfectly legal, but many people will feel like they were cheated out of thousands of dollars by someone they trusted. If after reading this, you are still interested then by all means sign up. But just be prepared to live with it if at some point you find yourself either financially bankrupt, morally bankrupt, or even worse, both.

me:
What you decide to do with this company is really up to you. Find me a better program at a better price and I'll be glad to listen. If you don't want to participate in the marketing - don't. If you want the education and access to the largest nationwide network of investors in the country, then join nouveau riche and take full advantage of the opportunity and people that become available to you. You pay for that opportunity, and many people do want to try the business side. It's a great model and very lucrative for the successful, but weigh your options before jumping in. I know you think this sounds trite and cliche, but you could have produced massive results from just taking advantage of the already successful investors in NR. If you really felt that the education was that below you, then you should have started networking with people that are at your level. To me it sounds like the marketing side of the company was enough to put you into this negative place, but you knew it was there before you gave them your money. Sounds like you're a victim of your own lack of research and not of the school.

Jeremy   Fontana, CA

4:39am on Saturday, September 6th, 2008

Im not a memeber nor students of NR but Im 24 years old, having nothing going for me and have my biggest dream and that's to live in Mexico. I was contacted by one of the NR members at the mall I secure and he's gotten me very interested in the program, however I fear what people say that its a waste of money, that right now is not the time to inves so and and so on. Im just skeptical, it sounds great although it is pricey and Iv never been god with numbers of math.. How can you become a member if you cant pay for the school and whats the percentage of people who actually do this a accomplish their dreams and goals?

Ryan   Seattle

12:10pm on Friday, September 5th, 2008 

Thinking about Nouveau Riche? Read on. I am an above average college grad. I have a degree in Finance and Economics. I work full time as an operations manager for a global commodities company and I make great money.

I was surfing craigslist one day in search of a real estate investment professional that was in need of help. Mind you I was looking to become somewhat of an apprentice to this person. I found a post that seemed to fit my needs very well so I responded. After a phone call I thought I was in. We scheduled to meet at his "office" the following Tuesday.

Imagine my surprise and chagrin when the "office" I showed up to was an empty space; an old house converted into a meeting space. The guy I talked to originally said we had to wait for his "partner."

The partner was a real gem; he wasted an hour of my time explaining an MLM disguised as an investment opportunity that I've seen dozens of times while searching for summer work as a college student. When I asked the first guy, my initial contact, how long he'd been doing this he said he started about a month and a half ago. I asked how many "team-members" he had recruited in that time. None. No income for a month and a half. That was all the talking he did. His "partner" gave the whole pitch, I said thanks but no thanks and left.

Go through and read some of these posts. You'll notice a difference in the relative level of intelligence between those who criticize NR and those who hold it up as gospel.

Learn from Dean's mistakes; don't buy into this program unless you are willing to drag anybody down at any cost. If you are interested in making money as a real estate investor, go get a degree in finance, or, if you don't have the resources for that, get yourself some books. Learn about the risky side of the business. You can and will lose your ass if you don't know how to manage money or don't fully understand financial instruments.

Good luck and Godspeed.

Mike   Florida

1:05pm on Wednesday, September 3rd, 2008 

the following statements have been taken from PYRAMIDSCHEME.ORG

The weak and the vulnerable are set upon with trickery, loopholes in laws and psychological manipulation.
The disguises, rationalizations and defenses have a similar ring. Perpetrators claim they are uplifting people, setting them free, creating new opportunity, and teaching them a new and better way to live and prosper.
As in all such abuses of the past, huge amounts of money are spread to peddle influence, stave off regulation, and maintain the false portrayal of legitimacy.

Mike   Florida

1:04pm on Wednesday, September 3rd, 2008 

Dean,
Your thoughts and sincerity are truly appreciated. You stated clear and concise facts and researched information. No one has refuted your statements intelligently.

jacky   miami

10:47pm on Saturday, August 23rd, 2008 

i am Realtor, these meetings are not professional.
re need marketing, no victims, this network will make richer only the heads of the pyramid, not you who want to join today, like any other proffesion, pick up someone withh Experience to take from, not to pay any guru high. good luck.

Lori   Orlando

12:37pm on Friday, August 15th, 2008 

Dean,

Please share the details of your real esate holdings and your accomplishments? Nouveau Riche offers everyone that walks trought the door the oppurtunity to do something with thier life.How a person choses to follow through with this is up to each one.Anyone seeking information from any company or sminar is there for one reason, "an oppurtunity" We all deserve this.
I truly feel you have been burnt before and this is understandable, i myself have been there.Nouveau Riche is awesome and will work, if you work hard and beleive in yourself and know you can do anything if you want it bad enough.
Give yourself a chance and i believe you can do anything you set your mind to and just maybe, be prove that you are very wrong about Nouveau Riche.I have faith in you Dean, and i don't even know you, just like i did,nt know anything about Nouveau Riche.
Kind regards,
Lori

Jess   sacramento

7:14pm on Thursday, August 14th, 2008 

I am going to try and make this as an objective comments seeing as though i only invested my time in NR and not the 1700 dollars my "mentor" wanted me to.
I have studied many business plans, MLMs and network maketing. my "mentor" stated that it was not a MLM but direct sales. after he drew the flow chart of selling the education, it strangely occurred to me that this that that aspect of the business was an MLM, but the difference is that there is no residual income. I think what dean said was right and for lack of a better term the NR is a scam. I would like someone who has made 6 figures with this program. and i would like to ask them how long they've been in NR and how much money they had to invest in it.
Now truth be told I am all about financial outflow where you have to spend money to make money. but 1000's of dollars is ridiculous for an education that is not accredited.
now my mentor spent most of our interview talking about things totally unrelated to the business and some of his marketing strategies borderes on barbaric, which includes using craigslist and fake $20 bills with his phone number on it stating that a person can make up to 20k a month. lol that shouts credibility right?
anyway i would just like to recomend some books that will help your entreprenaurialship: the four hour work week and rich dad poor dad

Savvy Businessman   Chicago

10:34pm on Saturday, July 5th, 2008 

There are many things lacking in Nouveau Rihce education. They over promise and under deliver. Their 2-Day Intensives are nothing more than Sales Tactics to get peoople to spend more money.

You will pick up information from their college, but in my opinion, you only get the "Gist" of most topics, and after completing their "college," most people are lost as to wehre to get started and what to do. And most people who invest $20,000 will not make money in real estate after going through Nouveau Riche. There will always be exceptions to the rule.

Most people who claim they make money, do so through selling the education and recruiting others into the company. They don't do it through real estate.

Dean   Los Angeles

9:57am on Friday, June 20th, 2008 

I really hope that anyone thinking of joining NRU reads these posts. All these NRU hacks trolling for marks online say the same thing, so I think it's great that they're posting here. What is truly telling is none of them are able to directly refute any of the points I made in my original post. In fact, none of them even try. I get the same response over and over again. You guys are like robots, can't you even tell? Do any of you have a single independent thought? The only thing I'm reading is what they tell you at NRU and in the Secret:

"You get what you put into it."
"It worked for me, it can work for you."
"Real estate is the best investment ever."
"If NRU is a scam, then any business is a scam."
"If NRU is a scam, then all education is a scam."
"The reason you fail is because of your attitude."

I'm not even going to bother responding to any of this garbage. These are not arguments to join NRU and they are non-responsive to my original post. These are pithy marketing lines that they teach you in NRU. I really really hope everything reading these posts see them for what they are. When one does any due diligence on something, you need to focus one the critics more than the cheerleaders. The cheerleaders have something to sell you, you need to question their motives.

Solo   Hollywood

12:35pm on Wednesday, June 11th, 2008 

Dean, it seems that due to your bad experience you want to make other people believe that they can't succeed in this program. Maybe the reason you have not received any proof from anyone on their deals is because they are out making deals while you focus on your failure. You are trying to make people think if I can't why can you, instead of if you can why cant I. The only reason I came to this site was because I am kind of new to it and wanted some feedback. It seems the only people who have anything bad to say about it are people who wanted instant results, well I am willing to sacrifice and work as hard as possible before I determine my opinion so if you already have a bad opinion is probably because you didnt try hard enough. Like they taught me, "if you think you can or cant you are probably right".

Jeremy   Chicago

7:53am on Saturday, June 7th, 2008 

How can anyone say something is a scam when there are 25000 participants nationwide saying tremendous things about Nouveau Riche? My real estate investment business would not be where it is today without NR. The education and contacts are tremendously helpful.

If you let the Internet determine what you do and dont do in live, then you are will be miserable and misinformed your whole life. Think about it. Anyone can write anything they want out here.

Don't knock it till you have tried it and try hard for 6-12 months and there is NO WAY you can!

Mike   illinois

9:52am on Friday, June 6th, 2008 

i know this needs to be said so i will say it. Dean if you spent half your time changing your attitude and trying to show people what NRU is about and let them make their own decisions you would have done a lot better in our community. As the secret says, because i know you like to bring it up, act negative and you will attract more negative things into your life. I got to tell you dean i do not know you but just reading your blogs this morning you don't seem like the happiest person. Say what you want to say about us dean because we know what were doing and where were going. Take care.

Utah   USA

2:10pm on Wednesday, May 28th, 2008 

I find it hilarious that one company bashes another and are participating in the same rituals. You are both selling your own ideas. One may work for one person and not another. I find that many different ideas are what you need to have. No two investments are the same. No two people are the same, so every deal varies. Do your research. Make an educated decision about any courses or group you choose to deal with. All have some truth…check them out

Tom   Ohio

11:23am on Tuesday, May 27th, 2008 

I will try and be objective with my comments since I have not wasted my money on this program. I am a real estate investor who has learned through local and national mentors as well as many great books from libraries and personal collections. All this education has been done at little or no cost to me. My investing is doing very well right now because I do the market research to find the best locations to buy property. I can tell you that the locations where the concierge will lead you are not great locations right now. Most of those markets are overvalues and are experiencing corrections or will be soon. The only market of worth, from what I have read, might be Cincinnati, OH. In this market you may get cash flow, but your annual appreciation will be dismal. The economy in most of the state is not good right now.
I am sure that some of the education that comes out of a program like this is good, but for the cost there are much better ways. I currently have a young, naïve brother-in-law that is being pressured hard to join and I just hope he will listen to me first. The way to make money in real estate is to invest in real estate, not in marketing of an “educational” program.
One other note. I noticed that there are a lot of affiliated groups, mortgage lenders, property managers, accounting groups, etc. I would hope that members are not pushed into using these services as I have often found that if you price around you can find much better deals. Most of the best loan programs I have ever used have been at small local bank in the city in which I am buying the real estate. Also, a good, experienced property manager is worth their weight in gold.
Just a few thoughts. I am sure that there are people that succeed and fail at this just like any other venture, I just believe there are much better and more cost effective ways of accomplishing the same goal.

Nicole   California

9:12pm on Friday, May 23rd, 2008 

I too was contacted about a "networking opportunity" only to be confined to a chair to listen to an hour-long sales presentation which would only impress those who have no concept of conducting their own independent research on the company.
THEN the "recruiter" called me at 10:00 pm to follow up! A little late in the evening???
C'mon! Just be honest and say that it's a training program!
I'm sure this company can be effective for those who are really willing to work at it, but their marketing techniques are unscrupulous and that says a lot about them.

7 yr. Realtor   Las Vegas

10:06pm on Saturday, May 17th, 2008 

I joined NR about 10 months ago. Having studied R.E. investing and working as a Realtor for many years prior, I was entriqued by the concept. After attending 2 weeks of classes and putting 6 months hard work into Short Sales etc. I will never return to the NR school! It is simpy "NOT" worth the money. I also concur with the majority of what Dean said on his post. Here in Vegas, there are a lot of poser's acting like R.E. Investors. The market has changed dramatically and it is really a buy & hold (long) strategy to see any significant appreciation gain. Additionally, REO's (Bank owned properties) are abundant and much cheaper than most of the short sales. Don't waste your time and money trying to buy short sales from the bank!

You can buy and read some good books, apply yourself and acquire a bargain properties without the NR hype in this foreclosure market!!!

Ray   Denver, Co

2:54pm on Wednesday, May 14th, 2008 

It is true what people are saying the program works if you are willing to work itself. If you expect to go into any business and make a ton of money without working you aren't very smart. In Nouveau Riche you are not pushed into anything they are just offering you an opportunity!

Michael   Ca

2:13am on Wednesday, May 14th, 2008 

First off I would like to know who here doubting and slamming Nouveau Riche are actual investors. I get a kick out of most of you who spend time insulting vehicles whom others have the most faith in. I would love to hear how successful you have been in the investment realm and explain to me how you managed to achieve this success. I can only assume if you have invested that you needed a teacher that helped you. Everyone here is slamming the education. If you must then lets slam ALL education. I find it hillarious how our society stamps this thought in our head from the time that we are children that its important to get an education. Okay thats great. We go to school to learn to get a JOB. Then we go to college to get a better JOB. You want to talk about ridiculous curriculum. Like the great Henry Ford said. He only chose to focus on the type of schooling that was important to his success in the field that he loved. History was not of importance to him. Why so that one day someone can ask a question about a time frame and he could answer it? To him and many of us its a waiste of time. However I bet that all of you slamming Nouveau Riche feel that the traditional education i.e CSU are of the best. To me they are the scam. The success rate of a student of a typical college is under 50%. All of you educated direllics feel free to google that fact. So based on the economic situation that we are in doesnt it ring funny that all of these people in college are going after jobs. Besides there is a problem still with unemployment and company downsizes. I have many friends who have degrees who find themselves working from the bottom in hopes to get to the top. Its funny to me that a hard working individual without the education can get to that same spot without the education. I also went to college for 2.5 years. I didnt like it. It does teach to follow through with something. I just fealt that the information wasnt practical to my success. However when you focuss on a field of study like investing. Well then hey go out there and apply the knowledge and you will find yourself successful. I have been in real estate for 4 years. I am an investment planner. I have dealt with many people and have experienced many things. I am also 3 months into Nouveau Riche and have had a spectacular time. The teachings are right on and its all up to the individual. If you don't have a WHY for what you do then by default you are insane. Real Estate has and always will be the best investment anyone can make. Dont take my word for it. Go ask some of the best teachers around. They are the ones in their sixties or seveties. They will tell you that the best thing they did was buy that house. Millionares are not a product of what happend in the past 4 years. Real estate has produced them for years. The 80s is known as the largest distribution of wealth in real esate. Guess what. Those exact words are beeing echoed. So knowledge is power when applied. So quit taking time from your life to slam something that didnt work for you. Be happy for those who are willing to take risk whom have a desire to change their lives. How do you claim to have the right to steel dreams and hope from people by posting negative information. Lets argue!!! Tell me what you do and Im sure that I can find all sorts of downsides on what you do. The reality is that not everyone sees eye to eye. Don't force someone to stare through yours.

Dean   Los Angeles, CA

4:01pm on Tuesday, May 13th, 2008 

Ron, do you even listen to yourself? I am stunned at NRU's ability to turn people into drones, do you even understand what you are saying? It's mindless drivel. NRU INCENTIVES its members to scam others AND misleads people into thinking real estate is the path to unlimited riches. I don't see anything positive in it at all. Please do me favor and call each of your marks and ask them exactly how NRU has worked for them. If you can still participate in this corrupt organization after that, well, I guess you really do belong there.

Also, please give us the details of your real estate holdings, including acquisition price and date, type of property, and location. Prove to us the real estate genius NRU has made you. I've made this challenge all over the internet, no one has yet to step up. I wonder why, maybe it will take too long to make up this information and have it actually check out.

Ron Haluczak   Chicago

7:12pm on Friday, May 9th, 2008 

Hi Dean:

I ABSLOUTELY believe in personal responsibility and I do not believe in taking advantage of people. I'm am certain not all NR Reps share my views, but they should if they share our company's vision. I do warn MY prospects not to think that buying into this program alone will make them successful and I do whatever I can to HELP them grow and succeed. It will take work. With all of the assistance and training availabe through NR, there is no reason why any average person can't raise themselves up if they are dedicated and willing to do the work.

At least you admit that Nouveau Riche does offer tools that can and do make people wealthy.

You need to look at yourself. Are those of us who are successful SO much better than you? I don't think so. You need to change your focus and your attitude. Perhaps you need a better mentor.

Feel free to call me on my cell at 630-688-4552. Perhaps I can help you.

I am glad that I was able to see past the negativity of bloggers like you and make my own educated decision for I would have missed out on a great opportunity.

I wish you the best Dean. NR is not for everybody and I hope you find your passion, whatever it may be. It is at that point that you will be able to focus on positives and move forward.

Good Luck,

Ron

Dean   Los Angeles, CA

2:00pm on Thursday, May 8th, 2008 

Ron, rather than another sales pitch (we've all seen those already c'mon), why don't you respond to my arguments? I think they are pretty compelling. I did not argue that NRU has not made a few people very wealthy, my point is that it comes at the expense of many others who simply are not capable of doing the same, either because they don't have the sales expertise or any business acumen. In fact, mathematically, you can't have everyone succeed, let's be honest here. This is why "the Secret" is such a scam, it let's people like Ron blame people's failures on those people, even though he was the one who oversold them on a basket of lemons. Let's take some responsibility here Ron, would you sell glasses to a blind guy!

Ron Haluczak   Chicago

6:54pm on Tuesday, May 6th, 2008 

SOUR GRAPES! Here is the absolute true about Nouveau Riche. It will not work, if YOU don't!
I have been a real estate investor for over 20 years, own $3 million dollars of real esate and I own a mortgage company, Approved Mortgage Loans, Inc. in the Chicago area, which does alot of investor mortgages. I have a BA and a BS. I have been a TV news editor and producer. Hopefully you realize that I am well qualified to share my opinion. I have attend 2 colleges thus far and I find the education extremely valuable for ME. I am currently working on deals as a directly result of the education I recieved from NRU. With all of my experience, I whole heartedly endorse Nouveau Riche's education.
I too almost dismissed this as being a too good to be true scam. I too looked at blogs and posts by losers who thought they could get rich quick without putting the work in. I am very glad to be part of Nouveau Riche and I have certain gotten more value for my money than I expected. NO, I AM NOT A CORPORATE PLANT. Look up my name at the Illinois Office of Banks and Real Estate. Email me at ron@approvedmtgloans.com or call me at 630-688-4552. If you are not working with anyone already, I would love the chance to see if my team is a good fit for you. Here's why I wasted my time posting this - I needed to help balance the scale. I had a very sharp prospect who was scared off by UNQUALIFIED OPINIONS posted here. She had the opportunity to change her life forever, but she fell victim to Sour Grapes.
Don't let a blogged opinion make up your mind. Get the facts! Bottom line, if you are not going to be a doctor, don't go to medical school! Get it? Some people just don't have what it takes.
Be honest with YOURSELF. Call me if I can help.
Good Luck! Ron Haluczak 630-688-4552

Dean   Los Angeles, CA

6:20pm on Friday, May 2nd, 2008 

As a preface, I joined NRU by purchasing the “Regent’s” package, I went to the "college", I tried to recruit, I have analyzed the Investor's Concierge deals, I went to the briefings, I have heard the likes of Piccolo, Snyder, Cheri Tree, Kecia and all the other NRU hacks speak, and I’ve met and talked to many NRU "students". So please don't tell me I don't know what I'm talking about. Here is my assessment of NRU. I have tried my best to be fair. For those of you familiar with NRU, this outline follows the “EPIC” presentation some of you may have been subject to.

The Company

1. Piccolo and Bob "the General" Snyder, the founders of NRU, have MARKETING backgrounds. Look it up. They have no prior experience with real estate investing before NRU.

2. As a consequence of Number 1, NRU is primarily a MARKETING business. You can call it whatever you want, direct marketing, MLM, a pyramid scheme, a ponzi scheme, there may not be a perfect term, but it contains aspects of all of these concepts.

3. Real estate investing and education is an ancillary part of NRU. It is the "product" that they sell, but it might as well be long-distance phone plans, an internet web-based business, vitamins, or make-up.

4. NRU's success is a direct product of the real estate mania this country has experienced over the past 7 years, not anything inherently great about the company’s products or services.

The “Education”

5. For $16,000, you really don’t get very much. You receive a certain number of “college” credits that expire after two years, but the catch is that you have to fly to Arizona to use them and you can only do that four times a year for a one-week period each time. There is an on-line option, but it is sub-par for a variety of reasons.

6. The courses are amateur hour and taught in seminar-fashion. They may dazzle people who don’t have a college degree, but will offer little to those who are generally versed in basic real estate and financial concepts. The educational materials are photocopied, hand-bound booklets, sometimes just an outline of the power point presentation. The instructors appear to be knowledgeable in their field, but they are mainly interested in consulting fees and fees for other services that they offer to NRU members (not altruism as many NRU shills would like you to believe).

7. NRU does not “teach” you anything you can’t learn by spending a few dollars on Amazon.com. There are no secret tips to learn that haven’t been published in the hundreds of real estate books you can buy on your own.

8. The “education” is primarily a vehicle for the direct marketing aspect of NRU, just as Investor’s Concierge is there to give members credibility when they market the course. The Concierge, however, is also another mechanism by which NRU extracts additional money from its students. More on this later.

Real Estate as an Investment Class

9. In marketing the tuition, a great deal of emphasis is placed on how real estate can make you rich. There is little or no information on how risky investing in real estate can be. At the “briefings” (the 2-hour presentation designed to lure new members), the presenter will talk a lot about how great real estate is because of the availability of leverage and certain tax benefits. At several briefings I went to, the presenter would literally make the representation that real estate prices only go up. Finally, the presenter will talk about how terrible it is to work for a corporation and how useless a college education is (ala Robert Kiyosaki). This usually manifests itself in the form of derisive acronyms, such as JOB, which stands for “Just Over Broke”, or how only NRU can give you an MBA that’s worth anything, a “Massive Bank Account” (crowd usually goes wild here).

10. NRU never mentions the special risks inherent in residential real estate investing, such as problem tenants, financing and interest rate risk, structural and environmental risks associated with housing, the cost of maintenance, the prospect of asset depreciation or declining rents, and the risk of litigation including from eviction and foreclosure. Bottom line, investing in residential real estate is very risky and comes with a host of hazards you would not find in other asset classes. NRU discounts all of this and presents real estate as a perpetual money tree.

11. We will likely never experience again in our lifetimes the type of appreciation in residential real estate that we have seen these past few years. There are several reasons that this is very likely to be the case: reversion to the mean, unsustainable public/private debt burdens, massive transfer of wealth to developing nations, slowing economic growth, an aging population, greater regulation in the financial sector, etc.

12. Historically, residential real estate prices have appreciated at the rate of inflation.

13. Real estate, like any other asset class, carries risks that are commensurate with the returns you are likely to generate. For example, leverage is great in good times, but people are quickly learning how easy it is for your equity to get wiped out a result of relatively small declines in home prices.

14. Investor Concierge deals are generally market-rate deals, but they are advertised to NRU students as amazing deals that generate positive cash flow. There are other sites that break this down, but generally speaking, the appraisals are usually 2-3 pages long and contain nothing more than a broker's opinion of value, the financing is almost always interest only or neg-am, the rents are inflated, and the only way you get "positive cash flow" is if you include certain seller incentives like pre-paid HOA or guaranteed rent, most of which will expire within 2 years. Additionally, maintenance and vacancy will almost immediately eat away at the $100 of positive cash-flow a month you get. NRU members hate talking about the details of t... read more »

AB   CA

2:16pm on Tuesday, April 29th, 2008 

I can not stand anyone who misleads, not inform, why they are calling. I want to warn the general public my experience with this company.

I wrote to their compliance department.

Management,

For someone who is not employed and placing my resume on several job web sites in hopes of finding work, I find your recruiter Tom Garcia to be unprofessional. Tom called me from 916-671-0252 at 1:52 Pacific time to sale me his version of how to rope someone into the hype of your product!!!!!.

To prey on someone who is looking for work by leading the conversation as if he is going to offer the caller a job, and then after approximately 10 to 15 minutes on the phone asking the person questions about their job experience from their resume, and then lead the conversation, by stating we are looking for people who want to think outside of the box, (your still believing the caller is a business who is going to offer you a job), and then to find out he is marketing their product line.... The recruiter did not announce; I found your personal info on a web-site and the info was your resume, I'm not offering you a job I'm trying to keep mine, would you be interested in blah blah blah. No, we will use any stalking, misconception, approach on someone who wants a job!! Is this how your company informs your sales force to market your business?

I see no difference from this approach as to car jacking.... You see on the news about companies, individuals, that prey on people when they are in need. Such as the elderly who believe that slick Sales Big Mouths who informs the little or person, how to invest and then take the elderly finances so they can be homeless. Or someone that follows a person to an ATM with the intent of robbery, now your company is going to stalk people on the Internet looking for work, and then interview them to get their hopes up during a time when the economy is at a low. Your NO BETTER.......I will be warning others about your marketing approach. Perhaps your recruiters can stand outside of the unemployment offices nationwide and imply they want to look at your resume while all along your the big bad wolf in disguise.

Angry in CA.

Craig Rubin   CA

9:41pm on Monday, April 21st, 2008 

I am thinking about becoming an rep for the school...I went and visited it because the meetings make it sound too good to be true. It certainly wasn't making millionaires overnight, but it was teaching people to make money in various markets, how to better handle retirement accounts and all of the people who I spoke with seemed happy to be there. I spoke with about 40 people.
Craig Rubin

Kris   Ft. lauderdale, FL

9:01am on Friday, April 18th, 2008 

Nouveau Riche has changed our lives. We love the education, and the marketing and customer service side is excellent also. We know many others doing successful real estate deals and also making big bucks on the marketing side. Their system works if you put time, effort and heart into it, and if you believe in what you are doing. The community of people is excellent, and people really do help each other all the time. The founders actually are extremely wealthy and were sick of rip-off schemes so they decided to start the company and create other millionaires. By the way, the university has just become licensed and degree-granting. Check it out for yourself, anywhere in the US. We have over 20,000 nationwide who are involved.

Matt   Washington State

8:26pm on Wednesday, April 2nd, 2008 

Nouveau Riche is excellent. The quality of the education, I feel, is very, very good. The instructors practice the strategy that they teach, so if it's wholesales, they do wholesales and if short-sales, then they are short-sales investors. They are primarily investors themselves and freely give Nouveau students their business cards to contact later. Is $16,000 a lot of money? Yes and no. We're talking Real Estate here. You can lose WAY more than $16k if you don't know what you're doing. Besides, the alternative is Real Estate seminars, which are $1000's themselves. My brother paid $8000 to a very well known Seminar company to learn one single strategy. And I've met others who've paid $$30,000 or more to Seminar companies. I'm not here to talk trash, but I do want to point out that investing in Real Estate education is not cheap, unless you go to the School of Hard Knocks, or know an investor who will teach you free.

Prior to attending Nouveau Riche, I was not an investor and now I am. I have an LLC in my state and my company holds property now. I've seen the education for myself, and I can say I'm impressed. I started going to the live week-long college events in April '07, primarily for the education and decided to also Market for the company in January '08. I feel very confident in that decision, because my experience with Nouveau has been great.

People can always find a reason to complain if they want to. If it's actually not legitimate, that's one thing; but that is not the case here. You make of it what you want, but the education and the company are the real deal in my experience. I've been very happy with it.

Vin   Nevada

2:58am on Monday, March 31st, 2008 

This program is terrible. I made the mistake of purchasing this program and the courses are sub-par. Don't buy into this hype. So many people I know regret the decision of "clicking a mouse, and buying a house". They have been let down by the Investor Concierge and have problem houses with no tenants. These are not great properties. The only course that was at all interesting and informative was the Multi-Family course. I did learn something from this class, but what was taught is not worth the high price tag. Luckily, I have a disposable income that I can use toward investing and have made money by partnering with REAL real estate investors. Nouveau Riche is full of tattooed trash that thinks they too can live the lives of the rich and famous. Students of Nouveau Riche can't even tell the difference between "your" and your're"...see below. Almost all of the ISA's in Las Vegas aren't making any money in the marketing, nor are they making money in investments (beause they were too busy purchasing Hummer's instead of investing in properties). Now they are all hurting and waiting on their next buck while pushing this crap on unsuspecting victims. I am ashamed that I laid the money down for this travesty, but I am happy to say that it was a lesson learned and I am doing well. I have more than made up the loss. Do not get sucked into Nouveau Riche. Find a local realtor that knows your market and work with this person. They will be a wealth of information to you. Use the money to buy a property and do things on your own. Take it from me...someone who has experienced this. Take this warning seriously so you won't be another non-success story. These people have no investment properties and only make money in marketing. They are not true real estate investors. If driving an obnoxious Hummer and wearing a suit from Banana Republic makes you an investor then the world is in a lot of trouble. Take a look at the team 212 leadership in Southern Nevada and Southern California. Ask these people how many properties they have. Then ask them how much they make in marketing and what they spend their money on. The are truly new money..."Oh wow, I made some money in marketing now I can buy a $30,000 watch and lie to people about my investments while speaking at the Thursday night briefings." Terrible.

P.S. I worked very hard at this program but was not given the right tools. Took the wholesaling class and the instructor didn't even go over the contract process. That is the biggest part!

Tee   Hawaii

1:16am on Monday, March 17th, 2008 

The instructors at the college are very well informed because they are in the field that they are teaching. It gives each and everyone of the students the education in real estate investing that no other school could offer. The highest level of education is $16,000 for 120 hrs of schooling, in which you have 2 years to redeem. How many of us would rather go to school for a week instead of 4 years for $16,000? And what college leaves you with the knowledge of how to invest and also have the opportunity to call upon their teachers for assistance in their deals, NONE! They have properties listed on the investor concierge with a property manager to manage the properties in other states. The concierge lists all details of information for the student to review and apply what they learned in their classes. But some people get so excited about the opportunity of owning a property that they just jump into the idea instead of reviewing every detail listed.
I believe in this system and the opportunity it has to offer and I know I have to work hard to get things done. Go Nouveau Riche!

Jason   Alexandria

10:03pm on Monday, March 10th, 2008 

The program is a scam. The founder is a convicted felon. Do a google search on his name if you need to confirm this.

Keoni   Los Angles, CA

3:51pm on Thursday, December 20th, 2007 

it works if your willing to work it
nouveau riche university is an awesome vehicle to financial freedom but like any business it takes work and a willingness to not let anything come in the way of you and your success. i can see how many people wouldn't or coulden't make Nouveau Riche University work for them. however the teachers of Nouveau Riche University have stated to not just me but the whole groups of over 2000 people that this business is not for everyone and that it will take hard work and diligence. also a other point they make clear is that this is and investment collage, and what do most if not all good investors know? investing will have risks and its up to you not the university to calculate those risks and move accordingly. in closing i must say i love this company and plan on using it as a stepping stone to feature success