Did They Get Rich Quickly? Not Really

At a time when housing prices are doubling in some areas, people also are flocking to the professional real estate industry. Membership at the National Association of Realtors has soared from about 715,000 in 1998 to almost a million last year.

The Allen institute says 1,200 students a month are paying for classes, at $1,200 to several thousand dollars a pop.

Whitney spokesman Whitaker said 35,000 students a month are taking free or paid investing classes of all types offered by the company, compared with 24,000 a month a year ago.

About 12,000 students paid for classes in the first nine months of 2003, compared with about 7,200 in the same period a year earlier, according to the Whitney company's latest filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission

The result has been big sales for Whitney, the SEC filing shows. The company's revenue for the nine months was $54.3 million, an increase of almost 16 percent from 2002. However, expenses increased even more sharply, so the company posted a loss of $6.5 million for the period.

The other seminar firms are privately held and thus do not report financial results.

Whitney charges $1,790 for the real estate training camps associated with founder Russ Whitney's ads and $1,590 for the Cash-Flow Generator Workshops once associated with another longtime pitchman, Ron LeGrand. Whitney last November bought the assets of Success Development Inc., a Jacksonville, Fla., company that ran the Cash-Flow classes in Washington a year ago. Whitney obtained Success Development for Whitney stock valued at $1 million.

None of the 14 workshop participants who attended the three-day Allen seminar in Crystal City with Bahjat and who agreed to be interviewed have become millionaires, they said. Most laughed when asked.

Most generally blamed themselves, not the teachers or the institute. They said they did not follow through in studying or practicing the techniques. None tried the no-cash-down techniques recommended in the classes.

The five who praised the program said they had good credit, plus assets to draw on for investments, in contrast to the emphasis in promotional materials on the potential the programs hold for those without cash or credit.

When asked how many millionaires Allen had created since a year ago, Kilsheimer referred a reporter to the Web site www.millionairehalloffame.com. That site, covering the Allen Institute's Enlightened Millionaire program, listed 42 names. "Which is not to say that all of these millionaires have come right out of Robert Allen training, because some of them have used other business ventures to succeed," Kilsheimer said.

It is not clear how long Allen has been vowing to create 1,000 millionaires. The ad in both The Post and last week's New York Times had the same language: "I promised my publisher I'd create 1,000 millionaires in time to promote my new system on various top nationwide television and radio shows across the country." Kilsheimer said the ad had been used for about a year, but was similar to ads used in the past for other motivational programs offered by the institute.

The ad outlined the first challenge Allen says he took, in 1981, to go to San Francisco without his wallet and with $100 for living expenses, and "in 72 hours, I'll buy an excellent piece of property, using none of my own money."

The ad says that 57 hours later, "I had taken title to seven properties, generating assets worth $722,000."