Some of Us Still Think They Can Get Rich Quick from the Real Estate Bubble

By Joseph Huff-Hannon, New York Press. Posted May 2, 2009.

When I later ask one of the other attendees, a Caribbean woman named Dolores, if she doesn't find it a bit troubling that the program is banking on the financial ruin of other homeowners, she changes the subject.

After the question-and-answer period while small groups of attendees are gangpressed to the back of the room for the hard sellI approach a few people in the hallway outside to get their take on the workshop.

"It's beautiful, pure genius," says Clay, a gentleman with an accent who sat to my left during the presentation, and who was still deliberating on whether to drop the $3,000 for the three-day seminar.

Although Dave -- whose snores carried across the room as he dozed off a few times during the workshop -- wasn't prepared to hand over his credit card just yet, he was impressed all the same. "Like, wow, the guy just says things, and you know he knows what he's talking about."

I do find a slight skeptic in Pete Valdez, an elderly man from Queens who urges that I attend other seminars and don't commit "just yet."

It's frankly amazing, and quite depressing, that in this era of information overflow, so many people still employ so little due diligence when tempted by propositions that fit the dictionary definition of "too good to be true." One of the first hits for a quick Google search on the Robert Allen Institute is at ripoffreport.com, a site dedicated to complaints about frauds, scams and unscrupulous businesses. Here you will find a long and sad list of people from all over the country who also had hopes of learning how to house-flip their way to millionaire status.

"They take your money and then won't give it back, even though they promise you a refund if you don't succeed," reports Patti, of Elmwood Park, Illinois. "I personally put $15,000 on my credit card, under the idea of making that money back with my first house deal, that hasn't happened and won't happen anytime soon. Now I can't even get a loan for a house because I have too much debt, and I'm in a hole so deep I can't get out."

"I have gone in to debt with my credit cards and wasted the little money I had in the bank account, and my family's money as well," reports Andres from Dallas, Texas. "The Robert Allen Institute has put my family and I through so much stress I don't know what else to do anymore!"

Then again, maybe this isn't so surprising, after all human behavior is driven as much or more by emotion and wishful thinking than informed decision-making, despite what we often tell ourselves. And given the collapsing economy, I wonder how many attendees of the "real estate riches" workshop at the Roosevelt Hotel are worried about keeping up on their own mortgage payments, or how many are only a few months away from foreclosure themselves.

Or perhaps they're just looking for a little good news. I did notice that many of the people leaving the seminar seemed energized and invigorated, their confidence restored in the miracle making abilities of our laissez faire system despite all the negative news. And in this bold new era, who can blame them for not wanting to be left behind. While Flip This House continues to air on A&E to a devoted following, the way things are going, maybe it's only a matter of time before some plucky TV producer launches Flip or be Flipped, the newest cutthroat reality show for the Great Recession.

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