If you’re looking for a thorough Lifestyles Unlimited Review, you’re in the right place.
It’s likely that if you’re considering a membership with Lifestyles Unlimited, you’re looking for:
- A stream of leveraged income
- To build assets and wealth
- More time freedom
- More location freedom
- For something to pass down to future generations to help them have a better life
- To build a solid retirement or financial freedom that enables you to CHOOSE to work
You might also enjoy studying the real estate market, improving your local community, offering housing to others, or the process of renovating or building properties. The real estate industry is one of the oldest industries we have, and it’s provided an opportunity for wealth-building for centuries. You may know that and you’re here to choose where you should get the education and support to capitalize on that opportunity.
Lifestyles Unlimited has created a program to teach you how to run a real estate investing business, and it’s likely you’re reading this review because you want to decide whether this program will give you a good return on your invested time and money. When my husband and I joined years ago, we were also concerned about whether it would be a good investment for us, and I plan to share with you the facts so you’ll be able to make that decision much easier.
In this Lifestyles Unlimited review, I will give you:
- What it is
- How it works
- Pros and Cons
- What it does well and what it does not
- What others are saying (good and bad)
- My Recommendation
- And, Alternatives (in case you want to do some comparison shopping)
Who is Del Walmsey?
In a recent post, I did a bio of Del Walmsley and compiled some quotes by him to help motivate you in your business growth journey. Del Walmsley is a multimillionaire real estate investor, but he didn’t start out that way.
At one point, he describes working a job he didn’t enjoy and trying to figure out how to change his life. He decided real estate was a good vehicle to build a passive income portfolio that could enable him to have more time and lifestyle freedom.
He calculated how many rental properties he’d need to own to replace his job, and he followed thru to build a portfolio of rental properties. Within a few years, Walmsley replaced his job, and felt alot of satisfaction from his decisions. Now, he’s added much more property into his portfolio: both residential single-family properties and multi-family properties.
He decided in 1990 to start a mentoring group to show other people how they could build a real estate portfolio. He called the mentoring group “Lifestyles Unlimited” because the idea behind it was to teach real estate investors (and even those who are aspiring to become real estate investors) how to use real estate to give more lifestyle freedom. In addition to Lifestyles, Walmsley also hosts a radio show, has a blog, and has videos that can give you insight into the philosophies and strategies taught thru the mentorship group.
What is Lifestyles Unlimited? An Overview
The mission at Lifestyles Unlimited is “To teach our members how to supplement or replace their earned income with passive income, thereby reducing their dependence on jobs, pensions, social security, and savings programs like IRAs and 401(k)s.” In keeping with their mission, they’ve built a highly engaged and supportive group of people with common goals that meet regularly.
They have their own curriculum where you can learn active investment strategies and passive investment strategies, they host case studies regularly where you can learn from the experiences of other real estate investors (and even visit their properties), they have road trips where you get on a bus with vendors (like general contracting companies, hard money lendors, traditional lendors, home appraisers, and others) to get hands on mentorship to help you decide what’s a good property for investment, what potential costs to get the property marketable may be, what lending terms may be, and who you may want to work with on the project.
I’ve personally seen investors who are new to real estate investing earn very high returns on their investment in their properties because of the step-by-step and “hand holding-style” mentorship that’s offered. They may start out on road trips or attending case studies, then if they’re disciplined and aquire the habits of successful real estate investors (that are taught in Lifestyles), they’re able to invest more and more independently and earn lots of money!
How Does Lifestyles Unlimited Work?
One of the key components of Lifestyles Unlimited is the networking and mentorship, which is why my opinion is that the most valuable components are the events. Before becoming a member of Lifestyles, you’ll want to look thru your schedule and carve out time you’ll be able to commit to going to the events, taking the classes, and interacting with others.
You’ll be able to network with investors at varying ranges of success: some are just getting started and some have become extremely wealthy thru real estate investing. Attending the events will give you the opportunity to learn from the Lifestyles curriculum and to get more ideas of how you can apply the strategies by networking with others.
How Do I Get Started with Lifestyles Unlimited?
To get started with Lifestyles Unlimited, you simply complete an online web form with your name and demographic information, then check out. If you see the value in the annual financial freedom program membership, then you might also consider the multi-family membership or other options they don’t have a streamlined checkout for on the website.
Who is Lifestyles Unlimited For?
Lifestyles Unlimited is not for everyone, so I don’t want to make it sound that way. I’ve seen people who have good experiences and those who have not, and I’ve been able to identify some traits to separate those who “fit” versus those who don’t. Lifestyles works for:
- People who are interested in investing in their education for the long term dividends. Others I’ve seen that join looking for instant gratification are sorely disappointed. It’s not a “get rich quick” scheme, and you have to master the craft of identifying good markets, working with good vendors, and it doesn’t always happen instantly.
- For those who want a retirement plan
- For those who value time and lifestyle freedom
- For those who value quality support, relationships, and education over price
- Those who have money to invest in properties or credit that enables them to buy real estate
- Those who want to network and learn from the experiences of other real estate investors
- Those who would appreciate the volume discounts Lifestyles extends to their members
- and, Those who appreciate working with vendors who specialize in working with investors
Lifestyles Unlimited Tools & Training
Lifestyles offers training to those interested in single-family real estate and multi-family real estate. They teach best practices that help you:
- Make home improvements that give you high returns on your money spent
- How to prioritize improvements so they work for you budget
- What materials are perceived better than others
- How to put your home on the market
- and more…
Lifestyles Unlimited Support
The staff at Lifestyles Unlimited are very responsive and their available on Monday thru Fridays and sometimes on the weekends. If you have questions or concerns about programs or even as your working on your real estate project, you can get help by calling or emailing.
What Does Lifestyles Unlimited Do Well
- They provide lots of valuable information
- They host events that build highly engaged communities
- They are distributed throughout Texas, and advise specific to your locality
- They mentor you thru the situations so you can learn from people more experienced than you are
What Doesn’t Lifestyles Unlimited Do Well
- They don’t have digital course options for people who don’t live local to a Lifestyles group
Lifestyles Unlimited Review Roundup
When you’re looking for a Lifestyles Unlimited Review, there is a clear monopoly of positive feedback. Here is what the Google Search Results look like at the time of this writing:
Even though there aren’t many reviews, I can share the summary of the ones I did find as well as a summary of what other members I’ve met say that’s good and bad.
Common Positive Feedback
- Many members tried real estate without mentorship and lost money “trying”. They say their new-found knowledge from Lifestyles made them much more able to get high returns on their properties
- Lifestyles also provides mentorship to the vendors and many of them really appreciate interacting with the investors, mentors, and learning from the program as a whole
Common Negative Feedback
- The price is high
- You don’t need to pay so much for what you get
- Some people complain about Walmsley’s philosophical stances. For example, he’s pro debt as long as it’s managed responsibly and he’s strongly against Dave Ramsey’s views on this because he teaches you should have no debt.
- Some people have had experiences with taxes that are inconsistent with the “no tax” stances taught in the program
Most Helpful Positive Lifestyles Unlimited Review
I just got back from the two day seminar in Houston, been wanting to go for years and after losing 17K on my last flip I decided it was time to pay the $750.00 and go.
If you know nothing about real estate I’d say it’s well worth the $750.00. If you know as much as I do I’d say its well worth the $750.00 as well.
They have a Quest program that is awesome!
They have a vendor list that is very good and you can call in for a year and get your questions answered.
The first day is all about how to buy rental houses and do well with them and I did learn a thing or two.
After spending 16 hours with a multi millionaire who I have been listening to on the radio for over five years I would have to say Del is an honest and very nice man. He really does care and will tell you the truth about everything. I could go on for hours about the respect I now have for him but trust me he is NOT in it for your $750.00!! I really think he does care about people and want’s to share with you his success.
They do offer upgrades IF you have the money AND it would be best for YOU. I wanted to go with the $7,000.00 upgrade for single family because I just don’t have time to do all the legwork to find the good deals but he WOULD NOT let me! He told me to keep my money and use it for a rental house. I was shocked.
Anyways I really admire him and think the two day and all the perks that come with it are well worth it and I would do it again in a second.
If you all have any questions and I can help feel free to ask. I am NOT a “shill” as you can see how long I have been a pro member on here.
David Soest, Bigger Pockets reviewer
Most Helpful Negative Lifestyles Unlimited Review
I’m a PIG (Preferred Investor Group at $18k) member at Lifestyles Unlimited for 2 years. I did one SF buy and hold deal before joining. I’ve closed 17 SF deals since then – 6 flips, 9 buy and holds and 3 rehabs in progress. Every deal has been successful – $30k average profit on $170k average selling price on flips. The buy and holds average about 30% return on cash the way Lifestyles calculates it. Lifestyles had little to do with my success. EVERY deal I’ve done went against Lifestyles teachings!
Ironically, I only learned one fact due to my Lifestyles Unlimited membership that really helped me. Lifestyles does not teach this and it would take money out of their pockets if they did. That one fact came from one of Lifestyles’ successful real estate agents. After looking at about 40 properties with him and not landing any deals (most of them I offered full price cash), he told me how he sells his investment properties. He uses a flat listing broker for the MLSlisting to avoid half of the real estate commissions. I did this on my flips and saved about $5k per flip which totals $30k savings so far! I have no need for an agent to “help” me sell and get between me and the buyer’s agent to hinder communication.
On the buy and hold, there are many good teachings at Lifestyles. But most is common sense from my vantage point. I agree with far more than I would disagree with. Here are some “watch-outs” that I disagree with:
– “All the passive income from rental properties is tax free” says Del repeatedly. This is not true. Some passive income is tax deferred due to depreciation, but all of this will be taxed when the property is sold. Saying the income is tax free is repeated by underlings too, all a major way to sell. (A 1031 exchange may also delay the taxes but they will finally come due. Very few people actually make use of 1031 exchanges.)
– “you have a Capital Gain before selling a property” says Del repeatedly. This is not true. It is another selling trick. A Capital Gain (or loss) can only occur after selling a property. Many Lifestyles’ case studies show a small amount of equity gain after purchase and rehab, but upon selling and paying selling costs the “gain” turns into a Capital Loss. In other words, selling costs do not cover what is literally celebrated as a gain prior to the selling. To be fair, it is better to buy a property a little under market value than at or above market value. I buy rental properties at a price under market value so that, if immediately sold, I can pay selling costs and have a Capital Gain, not loss. Two great teachings of Del’s that I like: One is “never have a deal loss” and another is “don’t speculate on property appreciating”. Lifestyles teaching about obtaining free cash flow return on investment is very good. The vast majority of SF deals offered by Lifestyles agents to members must appreciate before any capital gain can be realized. Otherwise, the cash flow must go on for years to make many of the deals winners.
– Lots of people that join Lifestyles for SF don’t have much money. All the SF teaching is aimed at them. Lots of people joining Lifestyles SF now have a significant amount of money to invest. There is NO SF teaching aimed specifically to help them. Goals, needs, and actions can change significantly depending on how much money one has and what stage of life they are in. Teaching should accommodate this.
For multifamily investing Lifestyles is the only game in town worth joining for the average investor. At this point the Lifestyles company is mainly trying to build (pushing) the multifamily side of things, which is its strong suit. The single-family side is MUCH weaker than the multifamily side. Most people should avoid the $10k cost for single family investing.
The vendors are so-so. There are some worth having, but many are overpriced.
Robert Haney, Bigger Pockets reviewer
Lifestyles Unlimited Price
My Final Opinion of Lifestyles Unlimited
My husband and I have been vendors for the last 3-4 years. We appreciate being around high-quality people who are ambitious, goal-oriented, and very knowledgeable about real estate and other professional matters. Since engaging at Lifestyles in San Antonio and in Austin, we’ve been able to participate in and witness many well-done renovations.
I think if you’re going into mastery of any career field, it’s important to surround yourself with very knowledgeable people who are willing to share tips and advice to expedite your learning curve. From our experience, Lifestyles has expedited the learning curve for many of the investors we’ve seen there. If you’re looking to learn how to invest in real estate to replace an earned income, I’d confidently recommend joining Lifestyles Unlimited.
Top Alternatives
If you’re still in the market for:
- Opportunities to leverage your time and money
- Ways to positively impact others
- Time, lifestyle, and location freedom
- Alternative assets you can build to generate high returns
- And, another opportunity many investors are getting into to build their portfolios and build wealth
I’d recommend investing into digital real estate: building websites, monetizing them, and making high returns from them. Like physical real estate, you can buy and hold, fix and flip, build from scratch, and create large authority sites. The #1 place I’d recommend to learn how to build digital real estate is Wealthy Affiliate, and you can see a brief comparison of the demand for both programs according to Google here:
You can get my free e-course “The Business Growth Framework””, 7 days of private message coaching, and lots of training to test it out and see if you like when you sign up here. In addition to my coaching and training, here is what’s included:
VERDICT: Recommended
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Lifestyles Unlimited
Pros
- The program has lots of success stories and proof to substantiate their student success and claims
- High level of customer satisfaction
- Newbie-friendly while still being valuable for advanced investors
- A highly engaged, family-like community
- Lots of support, events, their own curriculum, and options to get help
Cons
- No digital course options for investors who aren't local
- You may not agree with personal opinions or philosophies of Walmsley
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