Armondo Montelongo review: Fraud and scam 14

Ummm you should be glad it was only $30.00! I live in FL and saw that he was doing "Free" Seminars all over the country. Like you I really liked his "Flip this House" show so my daughter and I called, the closest free seminar was in Atlanta. We drove to the seminar(which was not free for us because we had to drive 5 hrs. and stay in a hotel, however that was our choice). We were under the impression from his commercial that he would be there... he was NOT. This "Free" seminar was to talk you into a 3 day school that was WORTH $6, 000.00 a person however they were doing a GREAT deal since it was the first one they were going to do in Atlanta and so the discounted cost was $1, 495.00 and you could bring your partner! The girl doing the "Free" seminar said "Oh, by the last day most people are closing their first deal"! Well we took the bait, went to Atlanta for 3 days, and once again Armondo wasnt there however one of his "Power Teams" was. I won't say we didn't learn a lot, we did however the things they promised in the first "Free" seminar was once again offered if we took the "Armondo Montelongo Bus Tour and One Year Mentoring Program" for...$30, 000.00. That's right THIRTY THOUSAND DOLLARS! And this was the discounted price from $36, 000.00. To make matters worse at the end of the second day when the guy who was teaching the class told us the cost he said "If you don't have the money, we're not interested and those of you who aren't interested at all are STUPID LOSERS and you need to just GO HOME!"(I am NOT kidding, those were his words!) Needless to say it wasn't what we were expecting. The bus tour may be great but I didn't have $30, 000.00 and after the seminar and the class not providing the info I felt they had promised, I was concerned that even if I had the $30, 000.00 would I really get what they promised on the "Bus Tour". I understand business and how it works, but this was NOT good business. We have definitely lost the respect we once had for him.

I absolutely agree! Same experience. EVERYTHING is misleading. Even the material they give out at the course! The "instructors" tell you that they don't even use that material for the class. They go from their own materials...thererfore allyou have from the class are your notes, if you can write fast enough. In our case the class was in Houston. He did actually show up for about 15 minutes on the 2nd day, then supposedly took us to "lunch with Armando" (sort of a working lunch & learn)of which he was there for about 2minutes. I suspect he did the lunch thing, ti was obviously a last minute thing, because there were a lot of rumblings as to why he wasn't there and many unhappy people that felt the same way that we were all mislead. After lunch he showed his face then the instructors came up with some contrived story that Veronica wasn't feeling well and oh, gee, "you have to leave Armondo?" What baloney, she looked and acted perfectly fine earlier when she showed up for a minute with their son. It was all just for show. I agree with TDBM, this guy is such an obvious phoney, and we really felt like fools that we ever gave this guy ANY money!

Anytime anyone tells you that you can get rich quick with little or no investment, it should send up red flags. As far as his book and lectures go, why would anyone want to share their secret to making money with the whole world? Hmmm, could it be to bilk suckers out of more money? There's an old saying, "Those that can do, those that can't teach." Flip this House makes it look so easy. What the show doesn't tell you is all the up front costs and hassles you have to go through to get those properties. Sure, they tell you what he paid for the house but what they don't tell you is that the majority of the homes he purchases are often in foreclosure, short sale or bank owned. This translates to buying the house as is. That means the condition of the house is questionable and you're taking a big risk because the house may be in bad enough shape to be condemned rather than rehabbbed. I'd never want to work for Armondo--he's like the worst hot head on the face of the earth. The man doesn't want to listen when his wife tries to tell him that you can't just slap a coat of paint on rotting cabinets and call it good, you have to tear old crappy stuff out and replace it. Would you really want a house that this man rehabbed without her input? He doesn't want to waste his money putting anything of quality into the home--as long as it's clean, has new carpteting/flooring and a fresh coat of paint then everyone should be begging to buy one of his homes. Well, you can spray paint a terd gold but at the end of the day all you have is a gold plated piece of crap. No wonder he's being investigated for Realestate fraud and facing jail time.

WOW! I just saw his infomercial and was thinking about getting tickets to the seminar. The ad says you don't need ANY mony at all.
Thank you for your comments. You saved me from being duped.

My neighbor signed up for one of Armondo's free seminars in Seaside, California on the 20th of January 2011. He asked me if my wife and I would like to go along. We decided to go just to see what it was all about. We sat through about an hour and a half listening to this sales pitch about how we could become millionaires by following Armondo's "How to Buy and Sell Real Estates using now money of your own." There were about 16 or 18 people there and they said there were only two positions left for the upcoming 3 Day Training Seminar and that it would only cost $1497.00 after they gave a deep, deep discount. I didn't buy any of their B.S. We got up at the end of the seminar and started walking out the door and the Speaker who's name was Paul (last name ended with an "ski") started making snide remarks such as..."Do you see those people walking out the door?" "Do you know what they will be doing tomorrow?" "They will be going back to their JOBS." A real smart [censor]! Little did he know that I was aready twice retired and my wife is retired also. I wanted to go back inside and knock his stupid looking block off. I knew before going into this seminar that it would be a scam and that they would be trying to get money out of me or anyone else there. I am not sure if anyone actually signed up for their 3 day training seminar or not. I hope not. People are having a hard enough time making it these days without these "[censor] sucking" rats trying to take your money with promises of wealth. I hope they get theirs in the end by having to go to jail for fraud.

They ALL operate the same way. They promised you the "world of riches" in a infomercial, they pull you in like an innocent puppy, to a free one day seminar. There they use professionals to convince you to spend a "small" amount of money, usually around $1500, in a 3 day "intensive" seminar where they will shoot for the big one of around $30, 000. Basically they are con-artists who hide behind the small disclaimers of "results may vary". They should be prosecuted for misleading people, taking their money using human behavior psychology knowing that is it not cutoff for 99% of the people and they still go and take their hard to earned money.

I am writing here because I did the bus tour and you are not going to get the truth about Armondo from people who only went to the $1500 work shop. Yes its true the 3 day work shop for $1500 is not going to give you what you need to become profitable in real estate flipping. I was turned off by the amount of time promoting the bus tour and the hard sell that you had to come up with the bus tour money before the end of the 3 day work shop or face a 2 year ban. But after speaking with other people in the class who signed up for the bus tour I wanted to go. So I asked my wife who did the $1500 weekend with me if I could use $10K I had given her for dental work she really needs and will be put off for about 6 months. My price was $12, 500 since I was not bringing my wife along which was half what many paid for themselves I gather. The Armondo team is not the most organized and this actually worked to my advantage because when I called in to finalize my bus tour the Armondo team member asked if I wanted to bring a partner along because they had no idea I paid half price and so my wife and I went for $12, 500 total.

I am also writing this because once I signed up for the bus tour I started having buyers remorse and was trying to find negative comments form people who had done the bus tour confirming
my fear that I had just wasted a total of $14K. THERE ARE NO NEGATIVE COMMENTS ON THE INTERNET FROM ANYONE WHO HAS COMPLETED THE BUS TOUR AS FAR AS I CAN SEE.
The only info I could find was on the Armondo web site and that of course would be glowing praise for the bus tour. But I was encouraged that I could not find one iota of negativiity about the bus tour despite pages of Armondo bashing concerning the $1500 weekend.

So the bus tour is a potentially life changing experience. No they are not going to hand you the deals, the lenders, etc. They will give you all the tools you need and the opportunity to meet potential lenders among the people you do the bus tour with. So if you can find a deal and they are out there with 1 million forclosures in 2010 and even more this year, someone on that bus tour will lend you 10% if you give them half the profits. You get the balance of the money from hard money lenders and they reccomend some. Make that first deal and you are on your way. A good deal of the weekend is spent undoing the negative beliefs we all have about money and ourselves. When you here the testimony of people that have done recent bus tours and already are making the cost of the bus tour back many time over you will be encouraged that you can do this and his system does in fact work.

I just completed the bus tour last weekend whch had 460 people on it and those willing to lend had almost $10, 000, 000 to lend. So Armondo made like $30, 000, 000 flipping houses last year. Here is an opportunity to learn from a master. Is Warren Buffet or Donald Trump giving any 3 day workshops to teach you how to get rich? Do they have a mission to teach others? Armondo has a sysytem that his students have made hundreds of millions of $ following and you have an opportunity to learn it but you'll have to take a chance and go against tremendous negativity to find out.

Sounds like the last comments were written by Armondo himself. A bus tour? Come on people...there is a sucker born every minute! Go the the library, take a class at a community college, look up assessed values of homes, sales and data trends in your community, visit with lenders in your community, walk your own neighborhoods. Contact contractors, intern for free...moral of the story is roll up your sleeves and start doing! A bus tour? Sitting on a bus, shelling out cash and visiting with someone for a day does not make a millionaire! Even if you could spend a day with Donald Trump or Warren Buffet, it is only application of knowledge that creates success. Believe in yourself not gimmicks. Armondo is a gimmick, he is trying to make you believe he is the gateway to your your success. Wrong, you are the gateway to your sucess and the last place to seek advice is from someone who does not have your best interest at heart and does not make themselves available to you without significant cash. You are being used, you are a means to an end, which equals CASH in his pockets.

I agree with jeremiahcc regarding it sounding like something Armondo would say. I just completed the 3 day "class" in Dearborn Michigan, and realized after the first few hours that this was nothing more than a high powered sales pitch to sell you more "educational opportunities". (Bus tours, access to the "hyper markets" in other states. etc.) Coincidentally, some of the very same buzz words and catch phrases like "life changing", references to Warren Buffet and Donald Trump, and the all-telling fact that previous poster "waxonwaxoff" used as his display name the same reference to the movie "Karate Kid" that was mentioned by our "mentor/salesperson" makes me agree with "jeremiahcc" that it sounds suspiciously like someone within the organization posted this. Guess they didn't think that people were paying much attention to the cute cultural references that were sprinked thoroughout the entire three day program. Tip of the day: if you are going to post something, make sure that you don't mention anything that might make folks think that you might be affiliated with the people who are being complained about. I found that nothing they said in the 3 day class wasn't anything you couldn't get at your public library or through other sources. Save your money and take a real estate class for less than $300.00. Continuing education is also available at a much better rate than $40, 000!

Thank you for your comments. I just printed out my tickets. I was dreading the 2 hour drive. I also had a hard time believing his "get rich quick" promise. Thanks to your comments I will not have to waste a day of my life traveling and listening to lies. I can use it in more productive way.

call the attorney general of florida and file an official complain w/ them and the better biz bureau and internet fraud division. Also contact your bank, credit card company, if they have your info they can possibly make other charges. These ppl will rot in hell, I hope. I know how you feel, being ripped off is a horrible violation, and I hope the ppl behind this get put in jail. God bless you.

I went to one seminar in va for what was 3 days, Ionly went one day because i had what i needed .I purchased the books and read them before the class so i was hearing what i already studied. I took what i learned and put it to work and am better off for it .I guess you ha ve to know when you have what you need and roll with it. If your looking for someone to hold your hand then you need to take a good look at your self and maybe figure out that this isnt for you.

its like anything else

I actually attended Armondo's flip your house training just today. I lasted till lunch at which time I left and did not return. Fortunately for me I had no money invested, but my friend that I went with is out $1, 495.00. The icing on the cake for me was the little "SO CALLED MOCK WORKSHEET" we were all given as a practice sheet. Name, phone number, net worth, annual net worth, bank accounts, home owner status, type of work, you credit score, how many credit cards you have and there limits and balances. And by the way, the speaker says, we will collect these from you when you are done just so we can review how you did on them. I can't remember the heading but I scratched out the heading and gave it my own title, "PRESCREEN APPLICATION FOR $40, 000.00 STUDENT LOAN. And on my form I answered the questions as such, Name--- Minnie Mouse, Phone number 1-800-WTF-YPAC, (you people are crazy). Net worth- no I don't use a net for my worth. I just answered random dumb crap, after all that is what they were feeding us. I was disgusted and I would seriously like to put an end to this mans scam. This man and the people working for him are the lowest of low. If you haven't already done so people, please don't get involvedwith this scam! Bobbie