REAL ESTATE INVESTOR CONSULTING PROGRAM

Purpose The goal of The TurnKey Investor’s Consulting Program is to assist those students who want to go beyond my books, audio programs, manuals, and seminars to receive personalized consulting, coaching, and mentoring in their real estate investing and portfolio-building endeavors.  My goal is to make you self-sufficient, self-reliant, and self-confident in your abilities within a reasonable period of time and to go out and profitably build your own real estate investment portfolio.  Part of this process is coming up with a reasonable and workable 120-day action plan.

Time Frame of Program

I believe most people need a period of 3-6 months to "get started" and another 3-6 months of "real-life experience" to become totally self-sufficient.  However, it will be your choice whether I consult with you once or whether we have an ongoing business relationship. The goal is not to consult with me indefinitely.  My goal is to help you become independent as quickly as possible and then have you move on to greener pastures.  I want you to be self-sufficient, self-reliant, and self-confident real estate investors and portfolio-builders.  When that happens, you will either leave on your own or I will let you go.  When you reach this point, our interactions and relationship will evolve into a different one. This Consulting Program will be in existence for a limited time. I have committed to this project for the rest of 2008. It is uncertain if I will continue it in 2009.

Expectations from Consulting Program

Despite many requests over the years, I have been reluctant and concerned about leading a Consulting Program for many reasons.  Unlike many coaching and mentorship programs available, I personally never want to feel obligated to work with individuals that I do not like or individuals that do not stand a good chance of success.  There are also some personality traits that I find difficult to tolerate and work with and so I avoid people who have them.  This has to be a productive experience for everyone involved.  There has to be reasonable expectations.  Probably the biggest mental obstacle I have to overcome is being able to give enough of my time in a way that does not overwhelm my own personal schedule but also be of sufficient service to my students.  I have elected to do this in a controlled manner.

I also want to discuss the issue of personal responsibility. As a consultant, I am your advisor, instructor, and even a business coach. But I cannot be held responsible for your results. I will do my best to give you the best advice and guidance possible but I am not an investor in your market. And my personality and the way I do things are often my style that may or may not work for you. It is ultimately up to you to adapt the advice and information I give you to your personal situation, circumstance, and local market. I am not a "miracle worker" because I don't do any of the work. You do. You have to do ALL the work. If you do understand this, we will get along fabulously. I don't like to work with people who always like to blame others for their own results. We are all responsible for our own results in life.

I will only take on a number of students that I feel my schedule will comfortably accommodate.  Beginning students of real estate investing require the most time and work and also have the greatest chance of failure.  To that, I reserve the right to “fire” any client at any time if I feel we cannot make a successful go of it.

The First 30-Days For New Students

The first 30-days of this new relationship will be the most intense and challenging.  It will likely be the bulk of our initial discussions.  You have to get to know me.  Most importantly, I have to get to know you, your situation, your background, and circumstances.  It is the period of time with the most uncertainty and most work.  For any new students I have not worked with, the largest commitment that I will allow is 30-days.  It is our probationary period to see if we will be a good fit for ongoing consultations if you so desire it.

If you do not like me, my style, or my program, you will only be charged the initial 30-day consultation fees.  If I do not want to work with you or you do not do your learning assignments in a satisfactory way, I will elect not to consult with you any longer than the first 30-days.  Essentially, we will have to earn each other’s respect and right to continue the business relationship.

Application & Interview Process

I determine the clients I want to work with.  As such, all consulting clients must submit a written application.  You are not obligated to disclose anything you are not comfortable with.  But the less information I have, the less inclined I will be to work with you and ultimately the less I can help or be of service to you.  For most of you, I have never seen or met you.  I am meeting you cold off of the Internet and perhaps a phone conversation.  And so, it is absolutely essential I know what background, resources, and talents you have to my job well.  The more information you provide about yourself, your background, and your situation, the better I can help you. I require a filled application and a short telephone interview.  I want you to succeed.  I won’t accept money or spend time with those that I cannot reasonably help succeed.

There are no singular factors in my decision to accept someone.  I evaluate each individual application holistically on its own merits.  Ideally, I am looking for clients that I believe I can be successful with.   I look at their past record of achievement, their real estate education, their credit situation, their overall financial standing, their expectations, and their overall desire to create successful results. 

I look for optimism, maturity, confidence, self-reliance, initiative, flexibility, willingness to listen, willingness to accept constructive feedback and criticism, assertiveness, and creativity.  These are traits necessary to take my information and advice to adopt it to their individual situations and marketplace.

I also look for indications of unhealthy amounts of self-sabotage, immaturity, cynicism, negativity, passiveness, aggressiveness, rigidness, dependency, addictiveness, and self-esteem.   Any advice or information I provide will not be able to overcome unhealthy amounts of these traits.  You will require someone better qualified than me to help you.

I Cannot Be Your Friend

Please know that during this process, I cannot be your friend.  I am your advisor.  I want it known upfront that I will not invest with you and you cannot invest with me. It does not mean we cannot one day change the working relationship but for the short-term, we cannot muddy the relationship.  Everyone needs to know their role for this to work smoothly and professionally.

While I will be respectful to you and give you every reasonable consideration, I will not spend lots of times on pleasantries, small talk, and excuses.  Your time is valuable and so is mine.  I will be taking a “Dr. Phil” approach and say things diplomatically but always very directly.  Anything I say or advise you is in the spirit of constructive criticism and feedback, not personal attacks.  If you are especially susceptible or unaccustomed to constructive criticism and direct feedback, please do not apply to this program.  I do not want to be the one to “break you in”.  This is one reason why I will not accept any students who have not already bought and read one of my books or listened to one of my audio programs.  You have to get a realistic sense of my style.

Required Learning and Assignments

In this consulting program, you will be put through a learning program in addition to a consultation program.  You will be required to complete certain reading, listening, and research assignments.  I will guide you through the process of learning and the learning assignments as we come up with a customized, reasonable, and workable 120-day action plan.  You will be held accountable to your promises. One you have your customized 120-day action plan, you can elect to continue consult with me or go on your own.

Consultation Sessions

I will be recording all consultation sessions for my own private records.  I want to recall and access the advice and guidance I provide you. I will also be taking notes on your sessions within a file I create for you.  With some exceptions, each individual consultation session will be no longer than 30-minutes.  (Don’t worry, you will not be penalized if we occasionally go over in minutes.  Likewise, if we make good progress and run out of things to discuss, the session may fall under 30-minutes.  This is an honor system.)

I will make every effort to give you my full and undivided attention during our phone sessions but I reserve the right to reschedule if I am interrupted with a business or personal emergency.  You will be informed if I expect to be interrupted during our sessions.

The Sales Pitch

I won’t do a hard-core sales pitch but I will do the obligatory one in a very unorthodox way.

1. What would be the cost of your making mistakes that lead to unexpected and unforeseen expenses?
2. What would be the cost of your making mistakes that lead to a loss of anticipated income and profits?
3. What is the opportunity cost of losing a good deal?
4. What is the opportunity cost of gaining a great deal?
5. What is it worth to shave your learning curve by one year, 6 months, or 1 month and to not have to learn every lesson the hard way?
6. What would it cost to hire an attorney or other similar expert on an hourly basis that fully understood real estate investment portfolio issues?
7. How many real estate investors or instructors have made it their business to study and teach the building and management of real estate investment portfolios?
8. How many real estate investors or instructors have their actual business systems shown wide open to the public?
9. How many real estate investors or instructors sell their materials on Amazon.com or with the National Association of Realtors?
10. How many real estate investors or instructors are #1 in their local area for the niche they chose?
11. How many real estate investors or instructors have repeatedly and successfully self-represented their cases and the contracts and documents they use in the court system?
12. How many real estate investors or instructors do you know have created a successful brand in their local area without paying a franchise?

That is my entire sales pitch.  The answers are self-explanatory.  You decide if this is worth getting into.

This Consulting Program will be in existence for a limited time. I have committed to this project for the rest of 2008. It is uncertain if I will continue it in 2009.

You may contact Matthew at 706.565.5090 or you can email him at .

You can also find Matthew at MatthewChan.com.

© 2004-2008 Matthew S. Chan. All rights reserved.