Steve Navra - Guru or Ghost?

[pelos]

Help

I have heard a lot about Steve Navra and his strategies from several people. I have read the handouts and materials he has as part of his two day seminar, and I am quite impressed with what I have seen and heard.

HOWEVER, when my "baby" sister came back from one of his recent seminars, stary eyed and gaga over Steve and his strategies, I decided to investigate Steve and his cronies a little further to establish if he is indeed all above board and genuine or just another ghost who will disappear into the ether along with the hard earned cash of the gullible.

BUT, how does one do emperical research in this regard? Where are the good folk who have ostensibly entrusted their hard earned dollars to Steve and have been handsomly rewarded for their faith? Or where are the folks who entrusted their hard earned dollars to Steve and are right now licking their wounds?

If you are out there - PLEASE SPEAK TO ME.

 

[Mike]

Hi Pelos,

What exactly do you want to know?

Do you want to know if Steve Navra's operation is legal or do want to know whether investors capital is safe and that they are receiving a return?

If you ask a specific question you have a better chance of getting a response. General questions usually don't get a very good response.

Regards, Mike

 

[agent007]

_________________________________________________
I decided to investigate Steve and his cronies a little further to establish if he is indeed all above board and genuine or just another ghost who will disappear into the ether along with the hard earned cash of the gullible.
___________________________________________________

I went to Steve's seminar and he never asked for any ones money. Neither he tried to sale a particular service, property or equity. I found the info very good value for money!. In fact, I reckon that with the price he charges he either breaks even or does a very little profit.

I really don't understand the nature of your question since, -as said-, he doesn't ask for participants money. You are free to impement the ideas and way of thinking he teaches in they way you so please.

Regards, James

PS. Have no associations with Steve or his businesses.

 

[geoffw]

pelos,

I've done the mandatory course. And done the private consultation.

The result of the consultation, for us, was "you're doing everything well. Ask us in twelve months".

That says something about his integrity (imho).

But I hope that does not mean that we are not"clients" when itcomes to his share fund launch!

 

[Phil_H]

Hiya pelos, and welcome to the forum.

I doubt you will get the answers you are looking for in here...but you may get some PM's , and I would be interested to see what you come up with.

Why not go to the source and ask...better still..$286 buy's you a weekend of food and meeting other investors...and asking Steve all the questions you want.

Cheers

Phil

 

[pelos]

Hi all,

Thanks for the response so far. Mike, you made a good point about asking a specific querstion, so here goes:

Is the investors capital is safe and that they are receiving a return?

Steve relies heavily on the property appreciating by 5% annually, recently anyone could have just about bought anything and made that +, How about the folk who have been with Steve for longer? - Is anybody NOT happy with their association with Steve??

Pelos

 

[Jude H]

Hi pelos,

Steve used to offer his client list to people so that you could check him out that way but with the privacy laws now in force that is now not legal.

About the only way to find out from the horses mouth so to speak is the way you have done it. But, be aware that some people on this forum would have no intention of divulging this type of information on a public forum or to you personally because they don't know you. Please do not construe this silence to mean that no one utilises his company or that his methods do not work. I know of people on this forum who have been able to further their portfolios because of Steve.

My husband and I saw Steve way back before he even got popular. We remain friends and still we do not yet need to do business with him.

However, come the fund launch, I will most certainly be dropping a penny or three into it.

Pelos you are right to question Steve and what he does. You see the problem you are having (imho) is that you can't figure out why he does what he does, for nix in a lot of cases.

Believe me I have certainly wondered. Then as I've gotten to know Steve better over the years it becomes patently obvious that he does it because he is one of the good guys. Problem we are left with is that because there are so few of them left in the world we are naturally suspicious of them when they do pop up.

Regards
Jude



geoffw,

As you have read above we are in the same boat as you. No problem if you don't receive an invite.....gatecrash!!

 

[Mr Ed]

Pelos,

I suppose it is good to be cautious, and this forum definitely urges us to do your “research” and “due diligence”. Is Steve a Ghost IMHO “NO”. Is he a Guru well that is for a matter of opinion and I won’t give him that status just yet. (see how the share fund goes)

When I attended his course he didn’t hide anything… I mean he told us his back ground where he lived and worked and the like.

No holes bared.

Heck he even told us that when he came to Australia that he worked for a two tiered marketing company on a speaker basis. So Steve I believe has nothing to hide, his laundry is out… and so far it’s clean…

His methods of investing meet the logic test and you are under no obligation to use them however if you are time strapped and prefer the hands off approach then he may have something for you.

Mr Ed.

PS If you are looking for dirt here you may have difficulty as he is well known to us all and a few of the forumites are his personal friends. Do post anything that you find as I’m sure he will respond in a positive manner.

 

[pelos]

thanks for the responses so far.
Excuse my ignorance but what is IMHO and PM's.

thanks, Pelos

 

[geoffw]

IMHO = In My Humble Opinion

PM in this forum can mean either Property Manager or Private Mail- in this thread, it means the second.

 

[NigelW]

Originally posted by pelos
Help

I have heard a lot about Steve Navra and his strategies from several people. I have read the handouts and materials he has as part of his two day seminar, and I am quite impressed with what I have seen and heard.

HOWEVER, when my "baby" sister came back from one of his recent seminars, stary eyed and gaga over Steve and his strategies, I decided to investigate Steve and his cronies a little further to establish if he is indeed all above board and genuine or just another ghost who will disappear into the ether along with the hard earned cash of the gullible.

BUT, how does one do emperical research in this regard? Where are the good folk who have ostensibly entrusted their hard earned dollars to Steve and have been handsomly rewarded for their faith? Or where are the folks who entrusted their hard earned dollars to Steve and are right now licking their wounds?

If you are out there - PLEASE SPEAK TO ME.

Why don't you call the office of Navra Financial Services and ask to speak to someone there? Look at the website www.navra.com.au

Privacy act issues will probably prevent them from giving you people to speak to without consent...

 

[Alan H]

Pelos,

I think the questions you ask are very valid and I'm sure Steve would be the first to agree.

I remember the first time I met Steve at a couple of hour talk at Darling Harbour a few years ago he said that:

1. With Property Investment you are on your own!
2. Checkout what everyone has to say in this industry........and that includes me!

So far from being offended, I'm sure Steve would be the first to agree that what you are doing is a damn good idea.......and personally, if I had a 'baby sister' I'd be doing exactly the same thing.

Now while I must personally admit to thinking Steve is an ok kind of guy and have done business with him, I'll try and be as impartial as possible as I've always believed this Forum is an incredibly valuable source of information........especially for those new to IP. Personally, some of the comments from members of this Forum have been invaluable to me.

Ok. So how did I initially do my 'Due Dilligence' on this Steve Navra character before I even went to his talk? I actually emailed a couple of people whose opinions I respected and asked them what they thought of this guy. Being the careful types of people I had emailed they put plenty of disclaimers on their comments but all came back giving Steve a 'clean bill of health'.

Someone mentioned that Steve used to provide a copy of his Client List and you could phone any of them to discuss their dealings with him. I must admit I never did this, and to be honest, I guess from your point of view you could ask "Well, would anyone necessarily leave names on the list that may be detrimental?" and while I have no reason to believe names would have been 'removed' I guess I could understand that type of comment from someone making initial queries.

A common reaction from many people who initially attend Steve's Course is absolute amazement in that they may walk into this Course thinking they may have to 'work' for another 40 years and in some cases walk out believing they can retire in 10 years.........and on top of that there's a Share Fund that may return Berkshire Hatherway type returns!!! This can all be pretty mind blowing as some can feel they've just met Kerry Packer and he's asked you to help spend his money!! Possibly this is where your sister is at presently? Cloud 9?

In my opinion, whether all or none of what Steve has on offer is useful will depend on the individual and their particular circumstances.

As a general rule, if someone were to win the lottery, I'd advise they didn't decide how to spend it all in the first few days. In the case of some of Steve's products/services I'd also recommend that the individual spends time and fully understands all the pros and cons for their own individual circumstances before they make any big decisions. ie. not necessarily while they are still on 'Cloud 9'. Simple, sensible due dilligence.

Nigel mentioned that he never felt 'pressure' was applied and I'd also have to agree with that comment.

Personally, I'm not sure I like the term 'guru' for anyone in that at least for me, it implies a total acceptance of information without any personal questioning and I'm not sure that is ever good.

As to whether Steve has a whole lot of Client's who have become very wealthy using his methodologies I would have to say I personally couldn't comment as I probably only know a few and therefore that would hardly be comprehensive.

Steve is a fascinating guy and whether or not you choose to do business with him, I think most would say that spending a bit of time with him is time well spent.

Now, in line with my previous comments about qualifiers I received from others, my comments are simply my own opinions based on a couple of years experience. DON"T just rely on my comments as I'm simply a 'tag' on an Internet Forum, but rather continue doing exactly what your doing........making enquiries from as many sources as possible. The area of Investment Property is one that involves many hundreds of thousands of dollars.........it's amazing how many people spend more time choosing clothing than investigating properties/advisers/investment structures/loans.

Good luck Pelos. Your sister has a good brother!

 

[DaleGG]

Hi

I've thought about this, and, decided to say publicly what I say to my clients privately - AND, some of this is what I have told Steve and his staff to their faces.

Steve has some great knowledge to impart and your sister will not be misled by following a lot of it. Especially, and particularly, if she follows your example and does her due dilligence, and thinks about the issues before acting.

I have never seen anyone worse off for attending Steve's seminars or acting on his advice.

However, I have yet to see any clients actually benefit from that experience either, despite a couple of different clients who have started in that direction. It is too early to tell and the jury is still out accordingly.

Based on feedback from a couple of different clients who have dealt with Steve, my only real concern is the recommendation to buy certain properties where I would question the judgement of doing so. Perhaps this is the "old" Steve and improvements have been made to the selection choice since . . .

For what it is worth, I do recommend that clients attend Steve's seminars and talk to his advisors - if, and only if, they have an open and enquiring mind.

I hope this helps.

Dale

 

[always_learning]

Originally posted by DaleGG


For what it is worth, I do recommend that clients attend Steve's seminars and talk to his advisors - if, and only if, they have an open and enquiring mind.

That is interesting quote. Some points from me.

• Buy, hold, pay down debt, building up equity, slowly building up cash flow from a rising rent market (over years) and the effects of reduction in principle and capital gains is a time proven yet conservative approach to property investment.
• The above lets face it takes at least 2 decades to execute to achieve a reasonable "exit" from wage-slavery. Ie. if you are 20 years old you can be a freeman (or freewoman) at 40. Strangely enough very few people even execute this conservative strategy.
• Some people like me sit around thinking, I donft really want to wait 20years, I know there is no such thing as "get-rich-quick", but 20 years, thatfs slow.
• I have not yet been (although I would if I was in Australia) to a Steve Navra course. He appears to have some interesting ideas, views and strategies that I think could be used by me in some way to help progress my plans.
• So rhetorically "Please put your hand up if you donft have a open and enquiring mind?".
• I guess most who are reading this donft have there hands up. Descriptions such as inflexible and dull seem to be always belonging on the list of qualities and attributes of others.
• Exposing yourself to the ideas and views of others so vital and a core aspect living a good-life, success etc.
• Stealing from Jim Rohn, "Let the decisions you make, be the product of your own conclusions". Exposure yourself to all the ideas and information you can, then perform reasonable due diligence, you must trust, but not blindly. Ask yourself the question "if this goes bad" who is to blame? If your answer is "not me" or "me, because I was stupid to trust Mr X's plan", then I question if you have done enough of your own work and thinking.

Personally I would love to see three or four people post saying "I used this idea, strategy of Steve's and the results over the past 5 years have been nothing less than excellent".

With the information from this forum, I read a near universally repeated statement from the attendees, each reports that they come away feeling better and wiser for the experience, some almost go so far as to say that it was like a light being turned on in a dark room; that is good enough for me, I would to go and hear what he has to say.

 

[perky29]

Hello,
The way I figure it, $286 is a small price to pay. After reading Steve's posts about cash bonds and other topics on this site over the last few months and hearing other people's comments - I booked in to the Sydney July course a couple of weeks ago....and looking forward to it.
Even if most of Steve's ideas cannot be used by me at this point in time, I can plan/steer myself better knowing what is out there....

 

[Bill.L]

Is Steve a guru or a ghost? Not that relevant question to me.

A guru in the markets is someone that has an un-questioned following. Steve fits that bill, but that does not mean much as there have been many guru's in the past that have led their followers to the poor house!!

Even though I disagree with Steve's approach to share investing I will admit that his property advice seems pretty good to me (re rental reality) though I do take Dale's comments onboard.

I don't think he is a ghost as he keeps responding to questions on this forum, though decorum would probably prevent him replying to this thread.

bye

P.S. I definately have no association with nor have been to any of Steve Navra's weekends.

 

[Jamie]

Originally posted by Bill.L
Even though I disagree with Steve's approach to share investing

P.S. I definately have no association with nor have been to any of Steve Navra's weekends.

Hi Bill,

How can you disagree with Steves approach to shares when you have neither been to his seminar nor used his share trading software?

Just a thought,

Jamie

 

[pelos]

Hi all,

Thanks for the replies so far.

What I am hearing up to now is that no one (or at least no one replying) has much information about the effectiveness or ineffectiveness of the strategy Steve outlines.

Dale, I take your point that it might be too early for some of the people you know who have not been implementing the strategies long enough to see a result, I however look forward to hearing from anyone who has actually implemented the suggested strategies far enough in the past to comment on the results to date - good or bad.

If this avenue proves fruitless, how else would one suggest I do further due diligence?

Thanks,
Pelos

 

[Steve Navra]

Originally posted by pelos

What I am hearing up to now is that no one (or at least no one replying) has much information about the effectiveness or ineffectiveness of the strategy Steve outlines.

Hi Pelos,

Please refer to my thread "0.85% Guru & 99.15% Ghost"

To answer your question:

I regularly hold 'cocktail' evenings for my clients in each city and you will meet and can discuss with any of the clients the level of succes they have achieved. (And yes I am proud to say that many of my clients have in fact built Million Dollar ++ portfolios using my methodology.)

The catch is that you have to be a client to get invited!!

HOWEVER:
Another way to get to chat with my clients is to attend one of the Share Launches, for the majority of these attendees will be the sophisticated clients.
Details and dates will appear in Meeting Point on Friday.

I really don't know what they will tell you, but they will all be there for a reason . . . so you can judge for yourself.

Regards,

Steve

 

[pelos]

Hi Steve,

Thank you for your reply.

I will introduce myself when we meet.

Pelos