Armando Montelongo Bus Tour, One Year Later

It's been over a year since I took part in an Armando Montelongo bus tour and OMG-They have managed their growing pains very well.

I was on the 2nd ever bus tour put on by Armando - there were 2 buses at that time.  We went on a few more bus tours, and by last December there was some growth, but they really hadn't gained the traction I saw this past weekend.

In the last year, they have grown to exceed the capacity of the local charter bus market (they ordered 10 buses but only 9 showed up), been thrown out of the local Convention Center (they worked out their issues and are now welcomed back, with scrutiny), and have motivated thousands of people to extend beyond their comfort zone and take advantage of a market where historically, has proven to facilitate the largest transfer of wealth.  Armando has again, inspired over 475 people to reach deeper within themselves to take the steps required to leverage real estate as a wealth building strategy in these challenging times.

One thing we all have to remember, and Armando himself speaks this from the stage, this is a business.  There will be challenges, there will be surprises.  Can you do this with no money down?  Yes.  Can you accelerate significant growth in your IRA? Yes.  Can you identify the most profitable deals? Yes.  Can you achieve massive wealth? Yes. Will your hard money lender back out right before closing sometimes? Yes.  Will your contractor not pay their subs sometimes?  Yes. Will there be surprises on the condition of the property you just bought? Yes.  Will there be others trying to take advantage of you sometimes? Yes. Is this business easy? No.  Can you become wealthy? Yes.

As you've read in this blog, we have encountered many challenges.  I call it a learning experience and move on.  Some, unfortunately call it a road block and give up.  Armando knows this and uses that weekend to extend you  past your comfort zone so you know not to give up.  It was a crazy weekend with long hours - but some people have walked out of their with their lives changed forever.

I am not paid to write this report - so I give you a critical review of the the Armando Montelongo Seminar - the differences between last year and this.

The Good:

• Great use of media clips and visualization techniques to show people how to push past their fears.


• Excellent positioning for everyone to feel as if they were accepted and respected by each other, strangers and all.


• Critical learnings and strategies to move past those that put up road blocks are priceless. (RE agents, family, friends, doubters.)


• Excellent budgeting basics in construction costs.


• Solid strategies for making offers on foreclosed properties while staying safe, and quickly identifying profits.


• Continued encouragement for the audience to be independent.


• Improved consistency of messaging and position regarding real estate.  THIS IS HUGE! (Can you believe right after my first bus tour the RE agent he recommended told me my offers on properties weren't high enough even though I used Armando's numbers, and his construction guy said the prices are higher in California than in Texas, and Armando taught Texas prices?)  They now ALL have the same message and students won't get hit by conflicting messages from his partners.

Areas for Improvement:

• In the old days, Armando would stay up to 1AM to teach real estate - Now it's up to 3AM.  Too late for me anyway.


• Sundays used to break early enough for some good networking with other investors - now the seminar pushes people to exhaustion - I used to get a lot out of those times we could network after the seminar in the past.


• Remove (or severely limit the time) all sales pitches from partnering companies.  A 10 minute session on Indiana properties, asset protection, self-directed IRA's or any other complementary offerings should be enough to entice the audience to visit the vendor area for those that are interested - and reduce the total seminar hours.

All in all, there were great improvements and excellent adaptation to their accelerated growth.  They have recruited some of the best talent to streamline and improve their teachings, solidify their messaging and arm the audience to go forth and prosper.  That's my plan anyway!