During the heat of the housing boom, real estate infomercials became ubiquitous, promising (typically uneducated) late night TV viewers easy money in the sexy universe of real estate investments. The most notable and easily identifiable real estate guru was Carleton H. Sheets of Professional Education Institute (PEI), who offered largely superficial real estate investment “courses” which were said to equip purchasers with the information needed to succeed in the industry. As the housing bubble expanded, creating the illusion that real estate was an error proof investment, so did enrollment in these uninformative real estate investment programs. Predictably, as the housing bubble deflated, the real estate infomercials followed suit.

first tuesday take: When the tide goes out, you see who was swimming naked.

Re: “When the Real Estate Game Cost $9.95 from the New York Times