Commercial Real Estate? by Cherif Medawar

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  1. profile image53
    TheMiz7posted 15 years ago

    Smoke and mirrors or does the means justify the ends??


    The reason I happen to bring up this topic is I was able to attend a workshop by The Institute of Commercial Real Estate by Cherif Medawar. After a lil more digging around I did find mixed reviews regarding his workshops. Despite the mixed reviews 3-15k is a lot to ask anyone to shovel out at the end of a fairy-tale 1 1/2 hr presentation, don't you think?

    1. profile image50
      Federika Leonposted 15 years agoin reply to this

      Not sure what this Miz7 guy is sayoing!? He did some digging around and found out such and such..
      First you verify is Commercial real estate real?
      Do they have a training company that offers the Tenants and a true live Traiining for income producing properties?
      Do I want to do this type of work (commercial real estate)?
      Can I afford the training?
      What is their refund policy?
      All the rest and what people post is BS.
      First of all I do not want to go to a 4 year school to learn what I can get done in one year with a seminar company.
      Second, I don"t care what anyone says, I MUST be the judge so I always attend to know for myself.
      Third, I don;t care also when people complain about not getting a refund. Pay by credit card and dispute the charge if they don't refund. How can any company not refund you when the law is on your side (Federal Law gives you 3 days right of rescission and ALL credit cards refund especially that this particualr company run by Cherif Medawar offers a full one year refund in writing!)
      I am not telling you all this so you can go and join them. You and a couple other people here seem to only believe in free trainings. Then good luck to you and your loser buddies because the value from what I have personally verified is also worth nothing especially in the field of commercial real estate.
      I say Kudos for ICRE company and what they do and am glad people like you are out there because you will never compete in the real world!

    2. profile image50
      Federika Leonposted 15 years agoin reply to this

      If 3K to learn how to do commercial real estate investing in too much for you Let me know what I got from the training:
      Not only how to find properties that make financial sense, but how to increase the value both in income and in price. Cherif Medawar, through his Institute of Commercial Real Estate is doing training worldwide and gives you access to thousands of Tenants (where they want to go and the size of spaces they want etc.), The on going training includes in the fee on line interviews and trainings with well known attorneys, and a real network of thousands of active qualified investors, along with acces to the most aggressive lenders, a forum for memebrs to discuss matters etc.
      No fairy tale there and yes in 1.5 hours he gets dozens of people to sign u8p and enroll for years and keep reneweing because of the results they get. After all he guarantees the results in writing.

  2. Mark Knowles profile image57
    Mark Knowlesposted 15 years ago

    Who wrote the reviews is probably a good question.

    Only you know if the money you spent was worth it.

  3. firetown profile image61
    firetownposted 15 years ago

    Can you get me more info on that workshop? Link?

  4. profile image48
    Ceaserposted 15 years ago

    Commercial real estate is no pie in the sky. I've taken their training after a 2 hour presentation. The best part is the Founder Cherif Medawar has a patent on his system. I checked it out on line and his company has a great website that gives the memebrs access to the retailers looking for space.
    I've held land and residential properties for years waiting for appreciation, and the training have transformed the way I do real estate literally 100%.
    I wish Medawar was around 20 years ago when I started.
    I will tell you however that I did not pay for the $15K field mentorship but I stayed in touch with the lady that paid for it (she is an attorney and she said that it worked great for her) She went to Texas and got a deal no money down on an apartment building at 10% Cap) Apartment buildings are just not my gig and that is also a choice I made while listeing to Cherif Medawar's DVD set, which is also a value added.
    To each his own and this was a great investment for me.

    1. profile image50
      The Victorposted 15 years agoin reply to this

      Hi I'm  almost getting this course-trainig for 3000 but I want to get more info, anyways I'm looking for people that know more than me in Real Estate for to learn and share information, tips, articles etc.... My name is Victor and I'm in California (starting in this career as real estate investor) thanks and good luck

      Commercial real estate is no pie in the sky. I've taken their training after a 2 hour presentation. The best part is the Founder Cherif Medawar has a patent on his system. I checked it out on line and his company has a great website that gives the memebrs access to the retailers looking for space.
      I've held land and residential properties for years waiting for appreciation, and the training have transformed the way I do real estate literally 100%.
      I wish Medawar was around 20 years ago when I started.
      I will tell you however that I did not pay for the $15K field mentorship but I stayed in touch with the lady that paid for it (she is an attorney and she said that it worked great for her) She went to Texas and got a deal no money down on an apartment building at 10% Cap) Apartment buildings are just not my gig and that is also a choice I made while listeing to Cherif Medawar's DVD set, which is also a value added.
      To each his own and this was a great investment for me.

  5. profile image49
    luv2investposted 15 years ago

    I just attended a 3 day seminar by ICRE. It was interesting, you do get some basic information about commercial RE. However, they donot get into any details about different things that they talk about in their 2-1/2 hour free presentation that Cherif made.
    I would only recommend this to anyone, if you have $3k that you can part with and won't miss it. Take it as an introductory course to commercial RE. Last day and a half they try to sell you to join this one on one coaching for about $14K, which I did not join since I personally did not see any value. Remember, it is your money and you are the only one that cares for it more than anyone else. Spend it wisely.
    Take what they say with a grain of salt.

  6. profile image50
    samzellotposted 15 years ago

    Commercial Real Estate “Seminar”. Knowledge is power. But if you unwittingly accept information on a topic you don’t know much about that same power can be used effectively against you.  One must temper the natural human emotion of ego and hope and put it into perspective before taking the claims and “Knowledge” of seminars like The Institute of Commercial Real Estate by Cherif Medawar as truth. Truth mixed lie often looks like the truth from a distance.  Rule 1) Google the names and see what you find good and bad, fake vs. real comments YOU DECIDE.  2) Go the website of the seminar.  In this case the Google Page Rank has a of 1 of 10.  There is no excuse (that is truthful) that can explain such miserable rankings. 3) Institute of what? Is this group offing a true accreditation or a title like Realtor, CCIM, or SIOR? or a private pat on the back for your fees 4) In the Monday July 18, 2008 San Diego News a full page ad made to look like an article makes some strong claims but not one statistic or verifiable quote. Lets take a look at them.  A) Commercial Real Estate is showing solid fundamentals in many markets, rents are going up and supply is under control.  Lets see vacancy rates in office and retail are increasing at an alarming rate because of the real estate bust that put the industry out of business (can pay rent) large and small from large lenders, mortgage firms, real estate firms, construction companies, title companies, insurance. There is no new tenants to take the vacancy and most companies are DOWNSIZING!!! Population is growing fast?  Babyboomers are the largest portion of our population.  They are not having more kids and they will not be around forever so that demographic will actually drop our population in the coming years (in that age segment).  This statement is semi true at a 2% increase every year for 50 years would be 100% or double. This is the slowest projection in US history and economically a 2% growth adjusted for inflation is,… well flat? Spin Spin Spin. Most families have two children you do the math don’t have this guy do it for you B) Largest owner of Historical properties in the US and wow the US territories too?  There is no index, report, poll or anywhere it is an improvable claim (the perfect claim to make). Historical property is the perhaps the worst type of commercial real estate to own in fact “Deals” are made to get rid of them with “creative financing” low downs and high returns to the unwitting buyer because of the following: 1) Historic form here on out “Old” means repairs, lots of them (tenants pay for maintenance NOT repairs unless it’s a NNN Lease don’t be tricked, know the exact difference)  2) Old means outdated layout and costly to reconfigure to current uses 3) Old means outdated power, water, internet, phone etc. 4) Old means ADA (American Disabilities Act) compliance is expensive if not physically impossible to comply with such as bigger bathroom doors and stalls, ramps and elevators. 4A) ADA you say grandfather clause (he says actually) your wrong (or Guru tells you some half true answer) American truth say lawsuit, there are people who fill hundreds of lawsuits rightful or not just to old buildings for settlements to avoid legal cost from the owners.  5) Asbestos & Lead paint abatement.  Enough said there.  The “Guru’s” boastful claim is convincing to those who are learning, laughable for those in the know.  For those convinced in this type of seminar “training” this is a posting you will unfortunately hit you 12 months from now. Need proof? Look at what you’re doing for work now. Is there a seminar book or secrets short cuts to what you know? Probably not because Commercial Real Estate is learned trade just like anything else, no more special, just a bit more rare. Because it is rare and like any rare thing very little is written on the subject relative to residential real estate. This guy is preying upon that void of in accessible knowledge to the tune of $2,000 - $15,000.  More proof. Find any office or retail building near the seminar location, call the sign if there is vacant space in that office, retail, industrial building and ask that agent if he has heard of Cherif Medawar or “ICRE”, no? ask ANY Commercial agent or commercial property management anywhere.  Like anything reputation is important. You be the judge. Be smart America, create your own hope and try to avoid buying it. Like love, hope and secrets are not for sale at any price.  (PS I’m sorry I didn’t proof this but I really feel like I had to put a second opinion out there among tons of the fake hype ads this guys is flooding the net with)

    1. profile image50
      Federika Leonposted 15 years agoin reply to this

      Here is real loser by the name of SamZellot, trying to cpy the name of Sa,m Zell the Billionaire in commercial real estate. His entire post shows how ignorant he is:
      "Call any sign on a commercial property and ask the realtor if they heard of Cherif Medawar"
      Guess what they only heard of Donald Trump and maybe Sam Zell. Does this mean they are the only two people doing deals in a Trillion Dollar industry??
      This guy sounds like a jealous guy who can;'t even get a residential property.
      I attended the training of the Institute of commercial real estate and it was fantastic. I am also happy to report that I am on my second deal.
      I want to be clear on one thing, the reason Cherif Medawar buys Historical Buildings is the tax advantages. Okay, so maybe he is not into restoring the legendary beauty of old buildings and he is into the bottom line profits. Guess what? so is every other big company that goes green. They save the environment AND they bring more money to the bottom line.
      If a company that educates others offend you then you are on the wrong website and are living in the wrong country!

  7. profile image55
    kaitlyneposted 15 years ago

    if you want to know the information about top ten real estate school go through my hub page gives lot of information and whats your opinion about real estate market please post comments on my hub page thank you

  8. Reealjrd profile image59
    Reealjrdposted 15 years ago

    I have read all the threads post. Some have attended a seminar, some know about real state etc. etc. etc........ Can any body explain me more about real state i want to invest .

  9. profile image49
    galatseaposted 15 years ago

    We attended Cherif Medawar's three day Institute of Commercial Real Estate course this weekend. We payed $3000 for the privallege of attending, but we walked out at 10 am on the third day.

    My husband and I have 8 investment properties, I wouldn't say we are expert, but we have some background knowledge going in. We have also been to A LOT of these type of seminars.

    My thoughts of the course:
    Day 1:  You don't learn any thing for the whole morning, just a load of motivational rubbish. The presenters, had large egos (as is common in these things) and did their best to belittle the participants. (as is also common)

    - In the afternoon we stared actually learning stuff. The information was well put together and thought out. It is delivered in a traditional lecture style format, so it is hard to retain as much as when it is taught interactively with hands on excercises.

    Day 2: Day 2 was quite good, it actually started on time and we learned lots of stuff. The presenters had us individually complete an analysis on a property as a test. Out of the room of may be 30 people, only 2 or 3 got it right and every one else had to stand up at the wall of shame. The exercise was far more complicated than the previous examples that we had been shown, so you had to be pretty smart to figure the catches out.

    - Day 2 ended an hour late because they spent the last hour in a "bonus session" .... huge sales pitch to buy their products. Which included $15 k for a three day mentoring program.

    Day 3: Day 3 began late. Suddenly every thing clicked into place. Every thing we had done had been designed to get us to buy more of their products. We had spent $3k for the privillage of having the option of spending up to $15k more with them. The presenter Stephen Libman began with another really, really long tirade on motivation instead of actually getting to the point with the stuff we were supposed to be learning on the agenda. They were running an hour behind, talking about nothing and we knew that they were going to have "1 on 1" sessions with every one that day. (Read: sales session) This wasn't accounted for in the agenda, meaning that more useful parts of the agenda would be left out. We decided that it wansn't the best use of our time that day. So we left.

    The most telling thing, was that despite the fact that we stood up, took our many coats (it's cold) and bags and obviously left. Neither of the other two presenters who were not presenting at the time followed us to ask us if any thing was wrong or for feedback. We were out side for a few minutes getting the rest of our clothes on, so there was plenty of time.

    My feelings of the course, are that the information is definitely useful. If you have never been to one of these things before and are terrified of trying then it would probably be good for you. But don't buy into their claptrap that you can't do it your self, and you need to buy their overpriced programs.

    Remember - If the presenters were really making as much money as they say they are, they wouldn't be teaching for a living would they!

    Our presenters:
    Steven Libman - A professional motivational speaker (just google him). He seems to spend a lot of time teaching many topics for someone who is a Real Estate gruru. He goes off on tangents a LOT and whas what finaly drove us away. - a LOT of hot air.

    Eddie Hasan - I liked Eddie a lot, again, remember he is also a teacher. But less so, I suspect that he does a lot of real estate. He may be the closest you get to "the real deal" on these courses.

    Conclusion: Take the course if you can afford the money, be prepared to put up with a lot of "off agenda" clap trap. Realise that they are there to make money off you. Don't feel that this is the only way that you will succeed in Commerical Real Estate. There are many good books on the subject that will give you as much information as you get here, and there are other computer programs on the market that do the same stuff as their stuff for a fraction of the price.

    1. profile image52
      Bobo7posted 15 years agoin reply to this
  10. profile image52
    Bobo7posted 15 years ago

    I attended the same course ( Dec 19-21/08 Vancouver) and I agree with your assessment in large part. However, because my real estate experience has been in the residential sector, I found the info provided at the course valuable to me. It has opened my eyes to the great potential of commercial real estate.

    So much so that I am seriously considering doing the $15k mentoring program. However, I am torn as some knowledgeable people have told me that Very few people actually succeed  and things are not as simple and straightforward as the instructors seem to make them out to be. (The comments are in general about real estate courses - not necessarily about this particular one)  Any more thoughts on the Mentoring program will be greatly appreciated - especially from someone who has done it.

    you mentioned that there are some books and software that provide the same info as they provide for a lot less money. Can you direct me to these sources?


    Many thanks.

    1. profile image49
      merz320posted 15 years agoin reply to this

      Did you get any of the info you asked for? I am interested in learning more about the commercial estate. Also, did you find much use of the course you took?

      Many thanks

  11. Mark Knowles profile image57
    Mark Knowlesposted 15 years ago

    lol

    Come on guys. No one believes this garbage. Pie in the sky? lol More like spam in the sky....

    The commercial real estate sector is in real trouble. Most commercial real estate funds have been frozen - who knows how long for. 5 years? I doubt we will see a recovery in commercial real estate within that time frame.

    Certainly not worth trying to con people into one of these classes or DVD collections.

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