This company is a Scam - Beware of Equinaire Inc
March 24, 2008
Filed under Company or Business, People
This company is a scam, and also a copycat by duplicating other company’s concept and ideas! I receive calls from this company called “Equinaire” few weeks ago, and attend one of their seminar. It is all scam. They claim they are no multi-level marketing company, but want you to pay a huge membership fee in order to start “Building Your Wealth”. Then they will show you how to refinance your own home and take out the equity to use it on buying other real estate for investment. I did some research and found out that all the companies and services you are using is all owned by their CEO “Kwame Granderson”. Think about it, all the risk is upon you, not them. You pay the membership fee to join their program, then you provide your house for refinance using their “in house” mortgage which they will make fees on it, then you’re stirring into the direction of buying property they provide, and once again, using their “in house” mortgage. Finally, you are a landlord, then you need a good property management company to find tenant for you and management the property for you. There are fees to pay again. So everyone, be cautious and be aware, they are making all the commission and fees from you, and you’re taking all the risks including taking out the equity of your home which will increase your monthly mortgage payment, and getting another mortgage for the property you buy from them.
Another funny thing I found out about is that their “Weath building” concept is very very similar to another company called “Nouveau Riche” and “Real Market Expert”, and Equinaire Inc. actually register this concept as their trademark. You gotta to know that Nouveau Riche came out with this idea in year 2000, but Equinaire was founded in year 2003. So this is not their original ideas, Equinaire is stolen ideas from other company, too.
This post was submitted by 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.