Customer Reviews

Bailout Riches!: How Everyday Investors Can Make a Fortune Buying Bad Loans for Pennies on the Dollar

5 star:		(23)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(8)

 

 

As with any person or organization (church or business) that has achieved any measure of success you will be able to find plenty of negative if you google or yahoo it enough. As a person, I don't care if Bill Bartmann wears a halo or if he rips babies from the womb and eats them whole. I bought the book (through a Brian Tracy joint promotion) in order to use it as a blueprint to wealth and that blueprint hasn't worked.

I like Bartmann's straight forward writing style and his occasional use of humor. I was nearly in the floor laughing at times.

As for the substance, I would call this book a "how did" rather than a "how to". The world has out grown the method.

Bartmann is correct when discouraging the reader from approaching branches of large banks. I actually manage a branch of one of the nation's top 10 banks and Bill is right - you would spend horrid amounts of time getting to someone "in charge" and when you did finally break through you probably wouldn't get anything out of it.

Otherwise, I have discovered through actually utilizing the information in the book that the system Bartmann used 15-20 years ago is now an anachronism. For example, one of the local banks in my town garnishes the wages of charge off DDA and delinquent consumer loan customers. They don't send the delinquent accounts to collection agencies, they keep hammering away until they find a payroll check to garnish. No room for me in that scenario. Another local bank sells the accounts to a collection agency and afterwards the accounts are never seen again - the accounts never return to the bank once the primary collector get hold of them.

At present, I have approached 5 banks - 3 in northeast Oklahoma (Bartmann's homeland) and 2 in northwest Arkansas - using Bartmann's system. So far, I am 0-for-5. I will try a few more however, in this day and age it's pretty easy to quickly run out of local, home town banks to visit. Granted, 5 isn't an incredible sampling, but it's probably 5 more than many of the reviewers here have attempted. Besides, who's going to adopt a new system they read about in a book and visit 53 banks until they find one that will bite?

Final summary: reading how Bartmann amassed his fortune makes for an intriguing read and as a banker I found his explanation of bank operations refreshing and some times hilarious. However it is my experience, vast or minimal that may be, that the system that worked for Bartmann years ago may not work to the same degree today. I wouldn't in 100 years throw around terms like "scam" or "rip-off" but I will use "impractical".

Bill talks about how he became a billionaire in 1998, but leaves out something very important. What happened after 1998? I'll tell you. His company went bankrupt due to fraud. I do not know the full details about it, but I know he had something like 120 multi-million dollar creditors which stinks of some kind of half business half ponzi scheme, but again...i do not know the details of the fraud and I am not claiming that is was ponzi, only that is what it looks like to me.

If I could ask Bartmann a question, it would be "If you had made a billion dollars from this business, why dont you do it again? Why waste time writing books and giving seminars(which is not as profitable)? Why not get back into something you know about instead of doing books and seminars about how you USED to be a billionaire?"

Let me be clear that in his book he never says he lost all that money. He says in his book he made a billion dollars (although I'm not sure that he did, only that GS said his company was worth a billion, not sure he ever had a billion in cash or that his net profit ever totalled 1 billion from his business) I had to do a little searching on my own to find out he lost it all.

If you want to be inspired though, its a decent read. But dont think that this "blueprint" for making money will make you money.

Does anyone find it odd that every review (save one) was written on the same day (June 2nd 2009)? This usually suggests a collaborative effort from a specific group of people working to hype the book up.

His story and marketing is manipulative as he was only a BILLIONAIRE ON PAPER. HE NEVER ACTUALLY HAD THE MONEY, IT WAS JUST IN THE VALUE OF HIS COMPANY.

Yes, he went to the Fortune 400 list, only to lose all of his money and go bankrupt shortly after. If this guy was such a savvy businessman, HOW DID HE LOSE A BILLION DOLLARS?

Its not like he has a story of Trump who went from 900+million in the hole back to Billionaire. He is now having to use his story and motivational speaking skills just to get his wealth back.

If you google Bill and his history, you will find the story of an egomaniac who appears to feel empowered by his wealth and nothing else. That is how he defines himself.
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The book may be useful if you plan on calling people to collect on bad debts, but following this person as a motivational speaker? A quick review of his past and character would likely change your mind.

I found the information contained in Bill Bartmann's book is big on hype and small on substance! Very disappointing, comming from a man who considers himself a billionare expert on the subject. Bartmann's book publisher asks on the inside book jacket of his book that if his ideas work so well, why would he share them? Sadly, he doesn't! I found the information contained in his book to be very general and incomplete, especially on sources of purchasing debt. I have a feeling though that if anyone reading Bartmann's book feels like I do, he'll be glad to sell you one of his seminars on the business, in a city near you! The bonus materials he claims to offer to "only readers of his book", on a website, which I hoped would provide better information on the business, has yet to be provided. Really got the feeling that he's only interested in making another billion dollars selling books and seminars, instead of providing more than general information on the debt investment business.

As a publisher I received an advanced copy of "Bailout Riches", with the publishers hopes that I would publish an excerpt or review in my magazine. Truth be told, the title made every cynical red flag go off in my brain. However, as I know and respect the author, Bill Bartmann, I tried to keep an open mind as I started reading. Here are my 3 main takeaways, if you're considering purchasing this title: 1) The detail and substance of the book belie the "get rich quick" title; 2) I don't understand why the author would put in all of the step by step information he sells in his expensive $20,000 seminars; 3) Learning how to work with collection agencies so I could outsource the grunt work of collecting on the bad debt owed to the banks (I do have a day job after all) so I could passively make money from this business opportunity, has me seriously considering jumping in and doing it myself.

No doubt it's a well thought out book, from a guy who knows an extraordinary amount about government bailouts, banks and bad debt collection. It does an admirable job providing a detailed roadmap for "the rest of us," non-financial gurus, to take advantage of a business opportunity that by any standard is immense.

Larry Genkin
Publisher
Blogger & Podcaster Magazine

Don't waste your money. This isn't a business for the average joe/jill. YOu better have 6-7 figures to play with the big guys like him. Everyday Investors are not going to make a fortune unless they write a book like this too.

I let this book sit for a couple of weeks before actually openning it and reading it. At first, I thought it was another one of those get rich quick bull @#$&, but I thought I would try to follow the steps outlined and see what happens.
After about a month, I have actually begun to make money!!! It is insane, absolutely clever... And so easy to make money if you follow the steps exactly as outlined in the book.
In short, get it... And if you are serious about sticking to it, you will make a lot of extra cash.

I got my copy of Bill's book when it first came out in May, and have read the whole thing. It is truly a manual on how to profit from this poor economy. If anyone can teach the process of buying bad debt and collecting it, Bill Bartmann's the guy. After all, he is the one that turned a home based business ("beginning at his kitchen table" as he writes in the book) into a multi-billion dollar company. Even through the adversity of a business partner whose wrong doings caused the collapse of the company, Bill stood strong and was acquitted of all charges. Bill is now sharing what he learned during the financial crisis of the 1980s (in this book and at his live events) with those that want to take advantage of the opportunity that is available today. That's generous of a man who could easily retire and just spend time with his grandchildren.

I understand the book shot to No. 1 because of free bonuses that were offered to those that purchased the book on June 2. I wish I had waited, but I saw Bill on the Fox Business Network and wanted to get the book as soon as it came out.

If you purchase this book, you need to understand that buying bad debt and collecting on it is not an easy, get-rich-quick scheme. It's simple, but it does take work and an understanding of the business to get started. If you are wanting to start a new business and are looking for a great opportunity in this current economic climate, then you should read "Bailout Riches" and devote your attention to learning the steps laid out in this book.

Started reading the book, but cant help but think its just another get rich quick book by another hoodwink author trying to promote a scam driven idea. Many people are still dazed and desperate for answers and opportunites in this nutty economy. As a result, I am sure the author will have many takers for this book that offers information and concepts that very few will have the knowledge, money, time or fortitude to capitalize on, which is the concept of purchasing bad debt. The idea of buying bad debt is not for novices and should not be portrayed as a mass opporunity for every desperate house wife or uneployed grocery bagger as a ligitimate business opportunity. Selling Snake Oil for profit has been around for many years - dont belive all you read and be cautious of people who sell "the opprtunity", because if it was so great, they would be doing it themselves and not telling everyboy their secerets! So if you choose to read, best wishes and Booya from the "Carpetbagger". FYI, I chose this name because I am a former millionaire that was demoted to the bowls of society by the fiscal decisions and policies of our wonderful leader and his cast of "to big to fail" and "small enough to bankrupt" money spending mongers!

I am so glad that I only spent six dollars on this book. It is ridiculous. It is written so poorly that I can hardly read another line. More fluff than content. The Author spends more time telling you how miserable he was when he was broke and an alcoholic, and less time giving you any useful information. The Author writes like a thug, and brags over and over about how he had a billion-dollar company. Yes, he HAD a billion-dollar company, but what happened to it?

This book borders on being silly. There is no solid content, and if you follow his advice on how to approach banks to try and buy their bad loans you will be laughed out of the place! I have worked in the finance arena since 1993, and I can tell you that this guy is no more than a glorified bill collector. If you want to start collection agency this book might have a few suggestions worth looking at. Otherwise, save your money and time and look elsewhere.

My gut told me not to buy this book when I first looked at it. I should have listened to my gut. If you still insist on trying it out, at least buy it used so that you won't be throwing too much of you hard-earned money out of the window.