Seminar red flags
Free real estate seminars are often the first step of a sales funnel that ends with coaching packages costing tens of thousands of dollars. Federal and state regulators have shut several of them down. This lesson walks through those court cases so you can see how the schemes worked, spot the pattern and keep your money for actual deals.
What you’ll learn
- How the free event, paid workshop and coaching upsell funnel works.
- The warning signs regulators found again and again.
- How to recognize pressure to borrow and compare financing options, costs and risks for your own situation.
- Where to check a company and where to report one.
How the funnel works
The cases the FTC brought follow the same steps:
- A free event, often advertised with a TV personality from a house-flipping show.
- A three-day workshop for about $1,000 to $2,000, sold as a “beginner” course.
- At the workshop, a pitch for “advanced training,” coaching or a mentorship costing up to $30,000 to $41,000 more.
- Promises that you can do deals with “other people’s money” or through a private funding network, which makes the price of the coaching seem small.
Most of the time in these events was spent selling the next step, not teaching how to buy property.
What happened to the people who paid
| Case | What regulators found | Outcome |
|---|---|---|
| Nudge and Response Marketing (FTC case filed 2019) | Free events led to workshops of about $1,000 and coaching or advanced training that the FTC said could cost as much as $30,000 more. In a survey cited by the FTC, more than 95% of seminar customers paid the company more than they made from real estate deals. | In 2023, the people who ran the companies agreed to pay $15 million and were banned from selling money-making opportunities. The celebrities who promoted it paid $1.7 million. |
| Zurixx (FTC case filed 2019) | Workshops cost $1,997 and add-ons up to $41,297. Presenters told people to open new credit cards or raise their limits, and to list a higher income than they earned. To get some refunds, people had to promise not to post bad reviews or contact regulators. | Settled in 2022. In 2024 the FTC mailed more than $12 million in refunds to 25,563 people. |
In both cases the regulators found that most buyers never made back what they paid for the training.
Warning signs
- Promises of big, quick or “guaranteed” profits, or deals with little risk, time or effort.
- A “secret” or “proven” system you can only learn by paying for the next level.
- Pressure to buy today: a special price that ends when the event does.
- Being told to raise your credit card limits, open new cards, or take money from a home equity line or retirement account.
- Being asked to list a higher income than you earn on a credit application.
- Ads with famous people and photos of a rich lifestyle instead of details on how deals really work.
- A refund that comes with a promise not to post reviews or complain to regulators.
- Courses that sell wholesaling, “driving for dollars” or surplus-funds recovery as a business you can start with no money. These depend on contacting owners in distress, or former owners after a tax or foreclosure sale. DeedOwl doesn’t help with that. If you want a property, buy from the official seller: the county, the trustee, the court or the bank that owns it.
If someone says you can earn a lot with little or no risk, the FTC says that’s probably a scam.
Evaluate financing without sales pressure
Home equity, a HELOC or a cash-out refinance can fit some people and not others. Your situation, finances and risk tolerance decide it. Before you borrow for any deal, check these four things:
- Compare all options relevant to you against your current income, debts, savings, cash reserves, loan costs and ability to make the payments.
- Consider what you could lose if the investment goes wrong, repairs cost more, income falls or payments rise. Borrowing against your home can put it at risk if you cannot repay.
- Decide whether that possible loss fits your risk tolerance, responsibilities and long-term financial plans.
- Evaluate alternative ways to fund or repay the purchase if your first plan fails. Confirm their costs, approval requirements and timing: another loan, a refinance or a sale may not be available when you need it.
Pressure to borrow for training, coaching or an auction deposit is a warning sign about the seller, not about any loan. Credit card interest has averaged about 21% a year since 2023 (Federal Reserve G.19), and you owe the debt whether or not a deal happens. If a 401(k) loan isn’t repaid on schedule, it’s treated as a withdrawal: you owe income tax on it, and you may also owe a 10% early-withdrawal tax if you’re under 59½ (IRS).
Most forced sales, including tax sales and trustee’s sales, require cash or certified funds soon after the auction. Most also don’t refund your money if the property has problems. Check the payment deadline and consider how a loss would affect your finances before you bid.
Seek advice from qualified professionals about financial matters, investments, taxes and legal obligations before you borrow or commit money. Evaluate the options relevant to you and make the decision that best fits your individual situation.
Everything you need to start is free: county sale rules, public records, the lessons on this site, and your library.
Check a company and report it
Before you pay anyone, search the company’s name along with the word “complaint,” “lawsuit” or “FTC.” Ask for the refund policy in writing and read it before the event ends.
- FTC: report fraud: Report a seminar, coaching program or investment scam to the Federal Trade Commission.
- Nevada Attorney General: file a consumer complaint: Nevada’s Bureau of Consumer Protection takes complaints about businesses.
- California Attorney General: consumer complaint against a business: File a complaint about a business in California.
- Arizona Attorney General: consumer complaint: File a consumer fraud complaint in Arizona.
- Utah Division of Consumer Protection: Utah’s agency that brought the seminar cases with the FTC. It takes complaints from Utah residents and about Utah businesses.
- Texas Attorney General: file a consumer complaint: File a consumer complaint about a business in Texas.
Put it into practice
Before you pay for any course, search the company’s name with “FTC” and “complaint”. Then read the refund policy in writing.
Key terms
- Upsell
- A pitch to buy a more expensive product after you’ve bought a cheaper one.
- Earnings claim
- A statement about how much money you can make. The law requires it to be truthful and backed by evidence.
- Gag clause
- A contract term that stops you from posting reviews or complaining.
Sources
- FTC: FTC acts to shut down companies operating a real estate seminar scheme (2019)
- FTC: suit leads to $16.7 million judgment against principals and celebrity endorsers (2023)
- FTC: action against a company using celebrity endorsements and bogus earnings claims (Zurixx, 2019)
- FTC: more than $12 million in refunds to people harmed by Zurixx (2024)
- FTC: yet another real estate seminar scam
- FTC: investment scams
- Federal Reserve: consumer credit (G.19), credit card interest rates
- IRS: retirement plan loans
Last reviewed 2026-10-05.