Complaint Review: Equinaire - Covina California

I attended a seminar where kwame granderson spoke at end of 2010 and if I would have followed his advice I would have lost my equity and my retirement money. How can a lawyer pretend to know where the market is heading and set up so many companies to hide behind them. What happened to decency and honor? He was peddling some multilevel set up, some special trust he invented (never tested in a court of law) acting like a know it all advising people what to do (as a lawyer that could be a liability) and the conclusion is he is trying to find bird dogs for funds. He said don't bird dog properties for other people you should raise capital. Well, he is trying to get us, the audience to be bird dogs for investors instead of properties! And then he wants us to bring him this capital for a piece of the profit. He has no risk but we are the ones responsible for the outcome A sly way to solicit money and sooner or later his clever methods will catch up with all the companies he is hiding behind.

Ken, I don't understand the "scam" accusations. I have been to their informational seminars, spoke to and asked questions directly of Kwame and others within the company, and, although, I think some of their ideas are flawed, I, at no time, got the feeling of being "scammed." My impression of them, was, they were very professional, seemed to really care about what they do and their clients' success, etc. I got a good feeling from them, in general. It is true, that their concept does not appear to be unique, but that does not make it a scam. I do like their "one-stop shop" model. They seem like a trustworthy company and therefore, I have no problem, with them making money for all their services (agent services, finance, repair/construction, and property management). I have no personal experience with their services, but I would feel comfortable with trying them, if I had no alternatives, or lacked experience. There is no problem with a company making money for it's services, although, I do think you need to check them out and make sure any company you do business with is upstanding and can deliver what they say. NOW MY CONCERNS: I DON'T'T AGREE with their buying strategies and some of their business model. I have looked at some of the recent deals on their website, at various times. From my research, I have found very few that could be considered a true deal. Some of the appraisals they have/had posted, appeared to be pushing values toward the higher side, as compared to the sales I found, around that same time period. But, my feeling is that was more a function of the specific Appraiser, rather than Equinaire. To their credit a couple of the deals appeared to be okay, but not worthy of an informed, educated, experienced real estate investor, in this market, as they present themselves to be. This was proven, as many, probably ALL, of these properties (the 7-9 that I have scene on their site, at various times) and their areas, have drastically declined in value, and currently, either have no equity or negative equity. I do feel bad for their clients, who thought they bought great deals, only to find, unfortunately, they were not great deals or have now declined in value, or maybe they don't realize any of that yet. I remember when I went to their seminar, last year, Kwame was really pushing the Inland Empire, due to the affordability and the fact that they have fallen in values already and are good deals (at that time). Unfortunately, I think either his data and conclusions were either, false or incomplete, as proven by the current market. I don't think this was intentional, and I think it takes alot to present those types of opinions, when you feel responsible, somewhat, for others people's well-being, so I do admire him for that. But, I knew of other experienced people, that researched the data and conditions, and could clearly see the continuing market crash that was to come, and still is, by the way. Based on my data, we have a ways to go in this declining market. Of course, this is area specific, but the Inland Empire, where Equinaire was concentrating, is ground zero. Example, last month, of all the sales within one of the cities there, 95% of them were REO's, or bank-owned properties! We are in the midst of the most volatile California real estate market in history, this is no time for arm-chair investing, with companies who aren't fully informed. Bottomline here, the Buyer is ultimately responsible for their own actions, so if I was putting thousands of dollars into an investment, I would want to get as informed as I could. But, I don't feel Equinaire is a scam, just may not have the best strategy.

First rebuttal is from an employee of Equinaire! Of course they are always going to say good things about the company they work for. The second rebuttal is from an "regular" people just like you and me. Good thing that I had been invited to other company's seminar before, and has a pretty good knowledge of real estate, multi-level marketing, direct marketing, etc. Most of the "regular" people will be amazed by what the comany can offer, they will always say something like, why people cannot become real estate investors, and the reason is usually: afraid, lack of knowledge, lack of confidence, don't have good deals, don't know where to find deals, etc.(you get the idea). Then they will say thing like, what if they can take out all those barriers away from you, will be want to be a real estate investors now? In the couple seminars I went to, I seen most people at this point will be amazed and start to show their interest. By reading over the first rebuttal(employee), she just mentioned things I said earlier "they are one stop solution". what's funny is the two rebuttals is very defensive and try to say how good the comany is. BUT ALL MY QUESTIONS ARE NOT ANSWERED!! 1) What makes Equinaire different from Nouveau Riche University? because I been to both seminars and their concepts are very very similar to a point that you can say it's the same. My biggest concern is that after my research on both companies, I found out that Nouveau Riche was founded in year 2000 with this concept, and Equinaire is founded in year 2003. So, perhaps Equinaire was found by using other company's ideas beause Nouveau Riche didn't start in California after 2004, but Equinaire was quick enough to register other company's ideas as their own trademark, because like Pam mentioned in her rebuttal, the founder is a Lawyer and maybe that's why he knows all the loopholes of the law. 2) If you google search, you can find that they post a lot of job offering, all sales and marketer jobs which simply want you to go out and get people to their seminar and recruit membership, and this is how these sales/marketers makes their 6 figure income as they said in their employment ad. 3) The question of "Risk" has not being answered, too! By using all their in-house services, what's their risk? Probably none, but your risks include everything such as your membership money, your credit, your mortgage, etc. and they make all the money from start: your membership/education fee, your mortgage/refinance fee, tenant-placement fee, property management fee, just to name a few. 4) This is a new questions, with the real estate market going down, how can you promise with a "guarantee" that each of the property Equinaire provide will have at least $100,000 build-in equity. This is ridiculous and impossible in th market today, and they are still making this kind of "Guarantee". The reasons that I post this report is that I don't want other "average" people like you and me spend all your money to join these kind of scam company (Be very cautious about Equinaire and Nouveau Riche). I personally think that if you want to pay for education, that's ok, but when somebody gets a cut from the money(membership or education fee), IT IS WRONG! NO SALES/MARKETERS SHOULD MAKE COMMISSIONS OFF OF OTHER PEOPLE'S MEMBERSHIP/EDUCATION FEE, PERIOD!) Also enspecially in this kind of economy today, where there are so many people unemployed and desperate of looking to make money, and they will fall for it! For the 2nd rebuttal consumer! My comments to you is that you cannot tell other people how good the company is unless you really applied what you learned and turn it into reality(owning your own investment properties, building your portfolio). My point of view on the founder of Equinaire that has multi-million dollars portfolio is that he was at the right time building his portfolio(approx. between year 2000-2006). Still very very skeptical on Equinaire and Nouveau Riche. One must copy one another's idea! and if what I think is true that Equinaire tooks other's (Nouveau Riche) idea and register as their own patented trademark, then how can you tell other people that Equinaire is a trust worthy company? IT'S PLAGIARISM!!!! Ken5521

I have been a member of Equinaire since approximately 2006. Considering that I am not currently in a financial position to invest in real estate, I anticipate that at some time in the future I will be. I paid the membership fee for Equinqaire, however, because of a need for resources that Equinaire - due to their combined companies - were able to provide concerning my current residential property situation. Equinaire, and more particularly Kwame and his company, have been, and continue to be, an invaluable resource for me. I have needed financial/real estate advice and all has been given without question - AT NO CHARGE TO ME. Kwame, and many of his other associates and employees have taken much of their extremely valuable time, and have made time in their crazy schedules to help me and my father with what has turned out to be a financial challenge for my family, and I cannot thank Kwame or his staff enough. Everyone with whom I have spoken has offered their professional expertise, and all have been above-board with no other motive than to provide their assistance. Further, the beauty of Equinaire - when I am in a position to invest my time and money in acquiring a real estate portfoilo - is that it is a one-stop solution for investors. Equinaire provides its expertise in acquiring, managing, maintaining, financing, advising, and educating the investor on the principles of investing, leaving the investor more time to acquire wealth while reducing the headaches of property ownership in the process. No dealing with 5 or 6 unrelated companies. Your portfolio is all online to access, and everyone knows what is happening with your property at any given time. In addition, I have attended more informational seminars, which are also included in the membership fee, that educate the investor on structuring real estate transactions in such ways that can potentially save the investor thousands of dollars, just in the way the transaction is profiled. Folks, most of this information is stuff you can only be privy to if you were a student at an Ivy League College. Equinaire's and Kwame's main focus is educating the investor, and educating the average folk - like me - to THINK like an investor. Now, where else can you be taught that? I can only assume that if you think Equinare is a scam that you are out to make a quick buck without taking any time or effort to do so. If that's the case, Equinaire may not be for you. However, if you are looking to learn and be involved in your investments, they provide everything you need to help you become a successful investor. You're dead wrong about Equinaire if you believe they are a scam. I am living proof that it is not. .... What more do you need? Lisa V., Proud and Thankful Equinaire Member

I was shocked to read your report of the Equinaire seminar. It seems like you've been burned by a real estate transaction in the past and are not very informed on the elements/fees associated with basic transactions and services. It is a fact that real estate investing is a safe and successful way of creating wealth with the right strategy. Equinaire offers a one-stop solution for people who don't have the time or the knowledge for real estate investing. Because of their relationships and purchasing power, they are able to secure better deals that the average person. Equinaire will find deals for you they guarantee $100,000 or more below market. You either accept the deal or not. You don't pay into a fund YOU OWN THE PROPERTIES. Equinaire is providing you with deals that you would not find on your own or through your realtor. They don't charge huge fees. There are many levels of participation, based on an individual's needs. These fees are normal or below-average for the services provided. Kwame J. Granderson has an outstanding reputation and all of his companies have received an excellent rating from the Better Business Bureau. What makes me upset is that you are suggesting that Equinaire lacks integrity. This is absolutely untrue. Mr. Granderson's goal is to educate consumers on the entire home buying process. In fact, he recently authored a series of brochures called the Real Estate Smart Guides: Homebuyer Series designed to clearly explain everything from qualifying for a loan to structuring the right insurance policy. This series helps people become comfortable with real estate terms, explain mortgage options, and make people aware of the pitfalls homeowners face when signing document that they don't understand. Mr. Granderson is also a very successful attorney. If you have any concerns about Equinaire, I suggest you contact him directly before making unfair and inaccurate accusations.