Massland seminar - Mark Rolton

Great to see this thread on Somersoft. Just checked it out after the last round of seminar promotions.

Long live Somersoft!!
 
I saw the thread bumped. Like the Evil Dead there is no killing it- and the spruikers never die.
They stab them with their steely knives but they still can't kill the beast
 
I had signed up for Mark Rolton's course a couple of years ago and quickly asked a refund when I received the course materials. The CDs and books in the package were all general concepts and recordings of previous seminars. There was more advertising and self promotion than real useful information about how to use real estate options. Other people may have a different opinion, but I personally did not think the package was value for money. Refund was quick and easy, no questions asked.
 
mine wasn't! they still haven't refunded me so im telling every man and his dog about the better ways to secure property without the need for SD and it s all normal ways, no options contracts.

options are so 2001, and my first post in this thread still stands.
 
A lot of gurus will earn much more money from selling seminars than they ever have from what they teach.

Example, $5000 per person, multiplied by 100 students = $500,000 for 1 seminar in 1 city.

Repeat that in Melbourne, Adelaide, Brisbane, Sydney, Perth, etc and you can estimate how much they make.

How about 2 seminars in each city per year? Wow! That's $1 million each city! THey can make at least $5 million per year.
 
Cherie Barbers course is $5000 + and I read somewhere she gets 300 - 400 people each seminar 4 or times per year..but she seem legit though
 
Cherie Barbers course is $5000 + and I read somewhere she gets 300 - 400 people each seminar 4 or times per year..but she seem legit though

Just curious
For 5000, does she teach you everything about doing a Reno from a cosmetic touch up to a full On rebuild basically

And does she tell you how to get good tradies or does she basically say "use ours" and makes a further cut?

I may have the wrong impression of her but I thought she was one of the better spruikers however I did see the today tonight disaster story a year or so ago
 
Just curious
For 5000, does she teach you everything about doing a Reno from a cosmetic touch up to a full On rebuild basically

And does she tell you how to get good tradies or does she basically say "use ours" and makes a further cut?

I may have the wrong impression of her but I thought she was one of the better spruikers however I did see the today tonight disaster story a year or so ago

One of the better spruikers :eek:
 
Cherie Barbers course is $5000 + and I read somewhere she gets 300 - 400 people each seminar 4 or times per year..but she seem legit though

I have watched her on the living room a few times.Sorry................what a lot of S^%$ comes out of her mouth. :(
 
Just curious
For 5000, does she teach you everything about doing a Reno from a cosmetic touch up to a full On rebuild basically

And does she tell you how to get good tradies or does she basically say "use ours" and makes a further cut?

I may have the wrong impression of her but I thought she was one of the better spruikers however I did see the today tonight disaster story a year or so ago

She does sound legit.I have never been to her course. Check her you tube videos. She does structural renos bur states start with the basic cosmetic renos. For a reno and flip type of thing her course might be good.

I think Beachgurl has been to her course and is apply her techniques to a current reno from what I remember reading in a post.

There is a video on her website its about 90 mins...I thought it was useful..got some good tips

Your self being an experienced renovator might know a lot of this stuff..but then again a course like hers might take your reenovating to the next level

I like the way she goes about cosmetic reno's, if you do the DD, they seem to get results. Like buy a $300000 prop that needs reno, spend $30000 on reno and walk away with $50 - 60k profit after all costs for example

http://www.youtube.com/user/renovatingforprofit/videos

http://www.youtube.com/user/TGREvents

But at the end of the day..what she teaches is already available and noting beats hands on experience.
 
I think Beachgurl has been to her course and is apply her techniques to a current reno from what I remember reading in a post.

Yep, I'm up to my 3rd reno this year since doing her course. The first was using her techniques to renovate and sell an existing IP, the second a buy/reno/hold and the one I settled on a week ago will be a buy/reno/sell.

She does give tradies details out but I've never used them. She doesn't receive a cut. She has a trade group system where some companies give discounts to anyone who has done her course. Some of those suppliers are not the best value but a lot are great and having the affiliation can increase turnaround times.

For a legal-bod with an office job I learnt a huge amount. For the more trade related, maybe not so much.
 
So glad that I came across Somersoft!

Hi all,

I am for all intensive purposes at ultimate newbie status!

This is obviously my first post and came about after attending Mark Roltons free seminar yesterday.

I'm embarrassed to say that I fell into the category of high emotions... low intelligence. Fortunately though, after calming down I went home and started doing some research which ultimately brought me here. As mentioned previously, I had to trawl through several pages of results before anything but glowing endorsements appeared.

Anyway... I basically just wanted to say thanks for taking the time to write these posts and alert potential suckers (me) to the true nature of this scheme. Very much appreciated!

On a personal level I am a firefighter with QLD Fire and Rescue service. I have a good job with a steady income and a small amount of savings. I have never owned a property but I would love to make a start. Absolutely any advice on property or even helpful reading material would be a huge help.

If nothing else... thanks very much for saving me 6k and potentially much more!
 
ACCC has a role to play in Mark Rolton type shysters

when you have 400 people in a room at $5k a head and pushing $15 and $25K 'mentoring' programs.. are you really even a developer at that point? Or just a seminar spruiker saying your'e a developer

Well said Matt.
First timer here folks, but this stuff really gets my back up so thought I might jump in with my 0.02c.

My observation has been this; when you see the spruikers (for property or shares) start taking out full page newspaper ads, a boom is imminent. They run the seminars to generate cash so they can capitalise on the boom. These shysters do know a thing or two about their professed area of expertise, but there's no way on earth they will tell you their most closely guarded secrets in a seminar. Not for $5k or $25k or the $2M they make running a single seminar with 400 suckers - er, sorry... investors.

Consider this, Mark Rolton is currently flogging a series of 21 'free' seminars around Australia. By most accounts in this forum, he then up-sells to a paid seminar which attracts around 400 attendees. The paid seminars are reportedly $5k a pop, so that's (400 X $5000) X 21 = $42,000,000. Yep $42M. Oh, and that's just in March!

Even if you deduct costs of say $10M, that leaves him with $32M with which to fund his real estate ventures. And that's without counting any residual JV types tentacles he has with each of the 8,400 attendees. If he makes only $1000 out of the extras that rakes him in an extra $8.4M. With a kitty like that, it's not hard to grow that money. Remember, that's only now - in March. If he does it 2 more times this year then triple these figures.

So, my question is this; does he make more money from his real estate deals or his seminars? I strongly suggest it's the latter and if you think this is entirely plausible and logical, then you should run a mile from him and anyone else like him.

The number one key ingredient that all these spruikers share is - charisma. They can sell ice to Eskimos and make their prospects believe they have the only supply of it on earth.

What really irks me is that consumer protection authorities in Australia like the ACCC do nothing to shut these criminals down. All they would have to do is to enforce the 'false advertising' law and extend it by adding that no one can up-sell to a paid seminar at any type of teaser (free or small fee) seminar and doing so will earn the perpetrators mandatory jail time and loss of any financial services or related licenses they may hold. This would kill them off entirely, because they'd have to start off with the real price of the seminar up front. Which would instantly wipe out 95% of their enrolments. They are clearly exploiting the word 'free' and this attracts exactly the kind of desperate clientele they are after. Who are then easily manipulated by the promise of more. It should be a crime, simple as that.

Until the ACCC enforces laws like this, Australians will continue to lose untold millions every year. It's fine to say buyer beware, do your own due diligence, they're all suckers etc. But these are real people, who in many cases don't have the means or intelligence to grow their wealth. They should be protected from sharks - and from themselves. After all, ACCC exists for 'consumer protection'. Would be nice if they started doing that.
 
Mark Rolton, you can't fool Google.

A representative of Infolink IT posted on the forum (under the name of Paul Klerck), explaining the relationship between these websites and Massland Property Development - they are a search engine optimisation company and Massland are their clients:
...It does make one wonder about the integrity of companies who, instead of engaging with critics, try and manipulate them via deceptive practices.

Couldn't agree more Sim.
One of the websites that Mark Rolton has obviously financed shamelessly plonks himself at #2 on the Australian rich list. Just under the twice bankrupt (and currently being pursued by ASIC) Craig Gore who despite being bankrupt, lives in a $1300 per week waterfront house on - you guessed it - the Gold Coast.

The practice of creating multiple websites to try to fabricate respectability is absolutely deplorable. My business is in web development and I would never host or build a website for anyone that couldn't prove what they are saying no matter how much cash they threw at me because it would only sully my good reputation eventually. The buck has to stop somewhere and I'd rather pass on dubious clients than make a quick buck. Shame on the web company that built and/or hosts this site. You, along with your client Mark Rolton have no integrity whatsoever. Avoid both like the plague.

By the way, the web company hasn't done a very good job with their SEO either because if it had, Mark Rolton wouldn't need to take out full page ads in major newspapers to sell his seminars - the website would get found organically on Google. But Google is smarter than that and knows when people are telling pork-pies. For example; Google sees the text claiming Mark Rolton is #2 on the Australian rich list. It then looks for corroborating evidence to validate that claim. Since it can't find any (unless it's from another Rolton sham site), it gives that site zero credibility, which is what it deserves. This in-turn means Google bumps it down to the bottom of the list and makes it hard to find Rolton's site among reputable peers.

Well done Google, suck eggs Rolton. You can't fool Google. :D
 
OMG MARK ROLTON Massland mistake??

Ok so I just got home from his seminar tonight, and we were so enthusiastic about it, newbies on the block of investing, and I signed up for the part payment plan.
Came home and ran a search and found you guys and this thread.
Totally gut wrenched now, BUT THANKS to you all I can ring them in the morning an CANCEL it. dammit feeling bummed I didn't get that last box of goodies now ( one box left and me another lady signed up and I let her take it )

[deleted incitement to commit copyright infringement]
 
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Feel like a complete sucker.

#glad I have revived this thread and hopefully anybody else who attended Mark Rolton's seminar finds this and cancels their membership as well.

I too always check Austaila's Rich List and am puzzled as why I cannot see his name. Lesson learnt.

THANKS AGAIN FORUM for saving me 6K. :D
 
Ok so I just got home from his seminar tonight, and we were so enthusiastic about it, newbies on the block of investing, and I signed up for the part payment plan.
Came home and ran a search and found you guys and this thread.
Totally gut wrenched now, BUT THANKS to you all I can ring them in the morning an CANCEL it. dammit feeling bummed I didn't get that last box of goodies now ( one box left and me another lady signed up and I let her take it )

I took the course years ago and can't believe the ACCC hasn't caught up with them. I just put it down as part of my education. In regards to the Options Contract, all I can say is that it probably won't work outside of Gold Coast/Brisbane but don't quote me on that. I just went with what the lawyer said at the time where I was advised that ist most likely won't work in Victoria. Any property lawyer can/should be able to create an options contract which you'll need anyway. When it comes to contracts, I'd rather pay to make sure it's properly done than a copied one with no assurance that it'll pass.

From my experience, it's not as easy as they claim it to be (using options). I know people that use options but they invest time and money to make the deal happen. They invest time in gaining the trust of the owners which can take a looong time. I know somebody that invested 5 years going back and forth with the owners and that was 5 years ago and the project hasn't started yet.

I'll give you an example in regards to money. Let's say a particular area has been rezoned. What happens is the value of the property (land) goes up, naturally council rates go up, so all of a sudden land owners had to fork out extra money to maintain/keep their property. The developers I know does put the property (land) under options contract and pay for the rates at the duration of the contract while they arrange the DA, etc. How much do they pay for the options? Probably $1, but the real cost is outside that contract, say paying the rates which could be $10k- $20 pa or more. Also the cost of getting the DA done which could be substantial hence the options contract.

However, some people do get lucky and strike a deal. I don't know anybody personally that had been lucky, just hearsay. I do know people and know of people that had been unsuccessful using the strategy though. But I know a lot of developers that had a certain level of success because they know their craft, understood the deal and managed their risk properly.

I did get some of my money back cause I sold the DVDs and used the rpdata access as much as possible.

My 2 cents.
 
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