The Preachers of Easy Pickings

Yet some students succeeded and even became no-money-down gurus in their own right. Ten years ago, Ed Beckley of Fairfield, Iowa, was a high school business teacher earning $8,700 a year when he decided to borrow a few hundred dollars from friends for a real estate course. Beckley went on to earn a small fortune from his investments and then took to the airwaves to spread the word. Shows like Beckley's The Millionaire Maker have become ubiquitous during late-night and weekend hours, when the real estate experts can often buy TV time at heavy discounts. The programs, which are actually 30- or 60-minute commercials, are made to resemble short documentaries.

Many of the no-money-down preachers flaunt their new riches as if to convince their audiences that the formulas really work. They pose for pictures in front of their spoils: Rolls-Royces, swimming pools and palatial Sunbelt homes. On his wrist Del Dotto sports a solid gold Roman coin surrounded by a halo of diamonds, and a rival named Tony Hoffman wears a dollar-sign-shaped diamond ring.

The gurus generally offer money-back guarantees on their information packages, and their financing schemes apparently remain within the law. But in at least one state, California, the department of real estate has issued warnings to brokers, advising them to avoid such deals. Reason: authorities think no-money-down arrangements can pose hazards to the seller, who could face foreclosure if an overextended buyer fails to keep up with payments.

Some no-money-down students get frustrated and give up. Says Andrew Doner, a 39-year-old Los Angeles mechanic: "I wasted eight months and hundreds of dollars trying to make a no-money-down deal. With all the tapes I listened to, I could have learned a foreign language." But others have an almost religious faith in their teachers. Says Ronald Leach, a burly 34-year-old San Francisco carpenter: "This is my third seminar, and I'm about to close my first deal. Give me a few years, and I'll be selling these cassettes myself." Look out, world: here comes another get-rich guru. --By Stephen Koepp. Reported by Jon D. Hull/Los Angeles and Arturo Yañez/Chicago