Complaint Review: First Real Estate Team Virginia Swanson - Glendale California

We have a very high success rate helping our students buy property creatively and we are proud of them. 

Millionaire Academy is not Homes and Units Network and I understand Pam Konyk will be being sued by Millionaire Academy for slander.  I am one of the teachers there.

It seems that if you put in anyone of note into Ripoff, you will find people saying negative things about them.  You might want to check this out.  Put in some other real estate mentors and you will find quite a few negative remarks.

Even if you go to google and put in Ripoff report, Ed Magedson (the creator of Ripoff), you will find negative things too.

No company is going to make everyone happy, especially if they have hundreds of students/clients  as we do.

It would be important to look at the overall picture and see the general success rate of their clientelle.

We have a very high success rate as compared to others and we are  proud of this.

Millionaire Academy is a hands-on Mentoring program that is really is hands-on.  We are in the trenches with our students helping them to financial success and working with them daily to help them into property purchases.  They can come in, they can call, they can email.  We even provide them with properties from our property division  We also get them corporate credit up to $100,000.

We have the team of people to help them, we do not send them out to find a team, as others do, we have the team of financing specialists, accountants, property management, construction, appraisal, inspection and property stagers and much more.

Most of all we have a huge number of happy students.

REGARDING THE OTHER REPORTS LISTED HERE:
They are probalby written by Pam Konyk and/ or her cronies
As far as James and Jacklyn go I have never heard of them.  I can only assume they are created entities.

PAM KONYK TO BE SUED. 4 YEARS AGO SHE HAD A COMPLAINT. 4 YEARS AGO SHE GOT OTHERS TO COMPLAIN TOO. 4 YEARS AGO SHE AND THE OTHERS HAD THEIR DAY IN SMALL CLAIMS COURT. IF YOU LOOK AT THE COURT CASES YOU WILL SEE THE SAME PEOPLE TOOK ME/MY COMPANY TO COURT TWICE EACH, ON A CLEVER SCHEME TO GET MORE MONEY OUT OF THE COMPANY. PAM KONYCK WAS AT EVERY COURT CASE. WE DIDN'T ?LOOSE' THESE COURT CASES ? PAM KONYK AND FRIENDS WERE MOSTLY AWARDED PARTIAL REFUNDS WHICH THEY HAVE RECEIVED 4 YEARS AGO. PAM KONYK AND FRIENDS HAD EACH WRITTEN SUCCESS STORIES SHOWING THEIR LIKING OF THE COURSES WHICH THEY TOOK AT MY COMPANY, HOMES AND UNITS NETWORK. I CAN SHOW THEM TO ANYONE WHO WOULD LIKE TO SEE THEM. AS FAR AS THE PROPERTY GOES, SHE BACKED OUT WITHOUT EVEN A PHONE CALL TO US. WHICH LOST US SIGNIFICANT MONIES. HAD SHE LET US KNOW, WE COULD HAVE SOLVED HER PROBLEMS AND DOUBTS. THEN SHE WENT TO THE BETTER BUSINESS BUREAU AND MADE SURE OUR ?B' RATING WE HAD BECAME AN ?F'. 4 YEARS LATER SHE IS STILL SLANDERING MY NAME. WHAT WOULD BE THE REASON FOR SOMEONE TO CONTINUALLY ATTACK? I AM PERSONALLY GOING TO SUE HER FOR $800,000. IN SUPERIOR COURT AND I UNDERSTAND MILLIONAIRE ACADEMY IS GOING TO SUE HER ALSO. SHE WILL BE RECEIVING THE SUMMONS IN A FEW WEEKS. THIS WILL BE A SEPARATE ACTION WITH DIFFERENT ATTORNEYS SINCE WE ARE DIFFERENT COMPANIES. REGARDING THE OTHER REPORTS LISTED HERE: 3 are written by Pam Konyk 3 are positive 3 are from an 'Ex Employee' I have never heard of. These were written by Pam or............ I HAVE MANY HAPPY STUDENTS, HUNDREDS OF TESTIMONIALS AND I AM PROUD OF THEM AND MY REPUTATION. I CAN SHOW THEM TO ANYONE. I ALSO HAVE MANY VIDEOS OF HAPPY STUDENTS, WHICH ANYONE CAN SEE. THE HANDS ON MENTORING PROGRAM WE OFFER HERE AT MILLIONAIRE ACADEMY IS FANTASTIC. ANY ONE OF OUR STUDENTS WILL VERIFY THIS. WE KNOW THE LOCAL REAL ESTATE MARKET AND HOLD OUR STUDENT'S HANDS THROUGH THEIR REAL ESTATE PURCHASES. OUR TRAINING IS EXTENSIVE AND THOROUGH AND WE ARE WITH THEM FOR LIFE. YOU CAN FIND A LIST OF OUR INSTRUCTORS AND COURSES AT millionaireacademy.com

Greengrrl Glad you found this and saved yourself some grief. If you go to the interview, you might want to alert other candidates to do some research too.

In doing my research... I AM HORRIFIED at the results of my search into this company, and also their website... WOW (it's horrible and badly put together.. I would never give any company $6k with a website that looks like that).. well... I guess that goes without saying, you really need to DO YOUR RESEARCH before you get into anything like this... I am supposed to have an interview this week... I answered the ad they posted (Millionaire Academy) on Craigslist. I am posting BOTH the ad and the response I got from this company.. RED FLAGS went up when I recieved a response for an interview at 2am on a Sunday morning... what company checks their e-mail at 2am?....it seems as if they are moving to the COMMERCIAL sector of things ... WOW: Commercial /Assistant (Glendale, California) Reply to: [email protected] [?] Date: 2008-12-07, 5:25AM PST I NEED A GO GETTER! Real estate investment company is expanding into Commercial purchases! Busy Executive Manager looking for a personal assistant with commercial experience, for the new commercial division, who will work closely and help with the startup functions, plus evaluate and supervise commercial property investments. Job description: 1. You will need to find and evaluate commercial properties, establish real estate values and submit for review 2. You will be talking to many business owners to arrange signing of various relevant sale and lease contracts for submittal to our attorney. 3. You will organize these documents for submittal to escrow and to our CPA and bookkeeper. 4. You will supervise commercial transactions 5. You will also be a personal assistant to the Executive Manager. Needed You will need: To multitask big time Extensive experience required in: Excel and spreadsheets Looking for commercial properties on the internet or The Internet Computers and their programs Various programs such as ACT Personal assistant 2 years or more Musts: Must like challenges Must be quick Must be thick skinned Must be outgoing Must be personable Strong personality encouraged Must have a college degree Must have excellent communication skills Must have references Must be able to travel Assertiveness a must Must be positive You will need your own laptop Benefits: 1. You will get real estate courses worth over $20,000. as a benefit at no cost 2. We will give you a cell phone. 3. To start $20. per hour (40 hours or more a week) 4. Bonuses given on the profits of every commercial deal from $5,000. $10,000. Hourly rate of $20.00., per hour is a STARTING rate * Location: Glendale, California * Compensation: $70,000. to start, plus other benefits - see 'benefits' * Principals only. Recruiters, please don't contact this job poster. * Please, no phone calls about this job! * Please do not contact job poster about other services, products or commercial interests. PostingID: 948302620 ------------------ Here is the response I got, after I submitted my resume + detailed cover letter: RE: Commercial /Assistant (Glendale, California)? From: [email protected] Sent: Sun 12/14/08 1:48 AM To: xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Hi Thank you for responding to our Craigs List ad We have read your email and would like to see you. We are interviewing people next week on Wednesday morning 10-12AM, December 17, 08. If this is suitable for you, please write back and give us what time specifically, with your telephone number beside the time you would like. We will call you and schedule a specific time on Wednesday morning. Please put your name in the subject line as follows: name - commercial/personal assistant. In your reply email please state specifically the commercial property experience you have had. When you write back, please include your resume in the body of the email so we can see it quickly. If this is not a good time for you, please tell us what time is. We can also make an appointment available after 2 PM and up til 5PM on Wenesday, Thursday or Friday. We will need to make a specific appointment in amongst other appointments. Please review the Craigs list ad below to further make sure you feel you are a good fit. If you stil feel you are a good fit, then we will look forward to hearing from you. Kindest regards Ruth

New information: Homes and Units Network has changed it's staff and the name of the company to Millionaire Academy website: http://www.millionaireacademy.com/Services.html Virginia Swanson is now going as Virginia Kaufman, her maiden name. predictably, her email is [email protected] Same tactics, same materials and same high pressure sales and rip offs. Same thing but with a different name and business, she can start all over again doing what she's done for years - rip people off. Buyer BEWARE. Not much has changed!

Jacklyn I could not agree more with your report and I am sorry you had to endure being employed by Virginia. You must be mistaking me for someone else. I was always respectful and it took me a while to realize I had been taken advantage of because when I began, I knew absolutely nothing about real estate investing. I had always liked the employees that were there such as Robert Hawkins, Marcia Perkins, Maribel and Angela. When I realized what a scam it was, I did gain contempt for Virginia and followed through taking her to court to the very end. I felt sorry for the employees and her daughter Tosca for having a Mother like that. I have never met you Jacklyn but I thank you for filing your report which I hope warns people away from this scam.

all, As an ex employee, i have a lot to say about the state of their business affairs. many clients were lied to about financing and available properties. i watched as customers, one by one, fell into the high pressure schemes of homes and units. the ones that fell victim were the students that couldnt afford the program but bought into it anyway. virginia always gave them hope. there were a couple of rich customers that gave virginia a lot of money for investments and she gave all her attention to those lucky few that bought and sold pricy properties. on the real estate front, the company made kick backs from both ends. they were paid both by the student for the builder or real estate agent with the property and were also compensated by the real estate agent and/or builder. some funds were done under the table. a large part of why the company was structured the way it was is because virginia is an avid scientologist and by definition a bit cooky. the staff had to constantly endure scientology teachings and quickly left the company. no one left on good terms, ever. only someone with such poor leadership and managerial skills could gather up a group of employees so insane as she did. i never met a jessica and she probably doesnt exist. just a tactic to clean up the image of an already tarnished reputation. pam, from what i can recall, you werent the nicest of people at any point in your relationship with homes and units. Your contempt for Virginia was clear and understandable, what i never understood is why you were so angered by her employees. after all, we all had a job to do and a family to feed. i have nothing good to say about my employment at homes and units, except that it was the most morally corrupted company i have witnessed first hand.

All, I worked for Virginia, helping her students with the financing. I found that very few of her students were able to qualify for investment financing, which is why I left. The real estate market has changed. Prices are dropping, and the availability of financing investment property at 100% now requires the buyer to be very well qualified. Anyone this qualified would never be suckered in by the high pressure tactics Virginia uses. Let me explain: Purchase price $300,000 Monthly PITI payment $2,650 Reserve $31,800 Closing costs $8,000 Required cash $39,800 In order to qualify for an investor loan with 100% financing, the few companies I use for this program require 12 months of reserve. If you don't know what reserves are, it is cash, in the bank for at least 3 months. If this student Virginia tried to con could not come up with the $6,000 for the discounted price, the same one she has been using for everyone for the last five to ten years, how would she have ever been able to afford the $40,000 necessary? I did not include in this the $1,000 finders fee Virginia takes from each student for each property she gives to you If you want to test an individual, check their background. Virginia has now dropped the website homesandunits.com. On her new site, 1strealestateteam.com, she has herself listed as having 25 years worth of experience. On the website for her clubs, and they are her clubs, investing-in-real-estate-clubs.com, she has only 15 years listed. I have seen these numbers fluctuate between 20 and 30 years in the past. If she cannot get her experience figured out, then how qualified is she really? Virginia has been sued successfully numerous times in small claims court. In all cases I know about, the student received partial, if not all of a refund. I strongly suspect that the student responding to the thread is non-existent, another figment of Virginia's imagination. I do not know of any student with this success. What all of us would like is for this student to come forward, name, address, and a verifiable list of the property they bought. James - Anaheim, California U.S.A.