This is a sensitive subject.
On the one hand, education is absolutely vital to be successful in property inesvting. Not only in the tangible aspects of investing such as the responsibilities of being a landlord or the economics of yields, return on investment and the like but also some of the intangibles such as the right kind of thinking, goal setting & developing an instinct of what's a good or bad deal.
But on the other hand, there are loads of trainers and so-called 'gurus' out there - some are good and so not-so good. In fact the not-so-good ones can be downright crooks ready to literally steal your money. But does the existence of the bad ones mean we should not invest in education? I would say not and the reasons are that a) there is much to learn and it is better to learn from those who have 'been there and done that' and; b) some educators also act as mentors that will hold you to account to your actions and this can be invaluable especially when starting out with little foundation in goal-oriented, persistent, wealth creating techniques.
The mantra has always got be - do your own due diligence with any training programme/provider first. Check on the forums, google the provider, ask to speak to people that have completed training and ask them for a warts and all assessment of the experience and especially their results, check that the techniques being presented are both legal and ethical and importantly make sure that the approach fits in with your own personality and most crucially your values.
I spent around 4-5 years 'tyre-kicking' before I became an active investor. Whilst this is not necessarilly the most comendable argument against procrastination, it did allow me to research and learn much over this time period. I have been scammed and cheated since becoming active but I have managed to limit the impact and damage caused by these scammers. Very importantly I have learnt from these experiences also.
One of my favourite sayings is: experience is learning from your own mistakes, whilst wisdom is learning from other people's mistakes. It is good to be experienced but better to be wise but you just need to watch out for the bears in the woods along the way!
My advice is to get yourself educated but start slow and start with the free or low cost material that exists in books and on the property forums. Take it slow and don't allow the emotion of someone 'selling the dream' to talk you into parting with hundreds or thousands of pounds so easilly. Perhaps surprisingly, I do not say don't ever spend money with the gurus - they may well be right for you and me at some stage - what I am saying is do your background checks first and do not be rushed.
Source & credits: The Telegraph