Freedom Mentor is a real estate investment educational company by Phil Pustejovsky. It offers an apprenticeship program in which you will receive mentorship for a share of the profits. The 50/50 profit-sharing apprenticeship comes with access to Phil's advice and resources. You will be guided through buying, selling, and flipping houses.

Freedom Mentor reviews are mixed. Positive reviews highlight the comprehensive training and the valuable insights Phil provides. Apprentices appreciate the detailed videos, resources, and the structured approach. However, some reviews point out the high cost of the program and the 50/50 profit-sharing. A few former apprentices also complained about the lack of transparency. The complaints were specifically about the upfront costs and commitments. Beginners also found real estate investing more challenging than anticipated.

In this article, you will discover all about Freedom Mentor and its apprentice program. I will also showcase some reviews and success stories. Finally, I will discuss real estate investment and less risky alternatives.

Pros and Cons of Phil Pustejovsky and His Apprentice Program

Does Phil Pustejovsky Take 50% of Your Profits While You Do The Hard Work?

The Freedom Mentor Apprentice requires you to share 50% of your profits and pay Phil up to $100,000. So when you’ve reached $200,000 in profits, half of it will have went to Phil’s bank account. In a sense, the entire program costs at least $103,000 (plus $197 payments each month). Of course, it’s over a period of time and you’ll still be able to earn and keep thousands of dollars in the process. But is this really fair? Should you give up six figures in profits to join Phil Pustejovsky’s apprentice program?

“The payoff for workers is clear: 91 percent of apprentices find employment after completing their program, and their average starting wage is above $60,000. Because of these positive results, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) has invested $265 million since 2015 to expand apprenticeships.”

Apprenticeships work well that millions are spent creating more apprenticeship programs for businesses. After apprenticeship, students end up with greater problem-solving skills, more flexibility, and can lead themselves.

So what’s the problem with apprenticeships? The major issue is reduced initial pay. Typically, your wages start low and go up till you complete the apprenticeship, which usually takes 1-6 years. At that point, you’re fully trained and get the standard wage. And this can be compared to Phil Pustejovsky’s Freedom Mentor apprentice program.

The Freedom Mentor Apprentice Program is Similar to Other Proven Apprenticeships

In a sense, the 50% cut Phil gets is like the reduced wages any other apprenticeship would give. It covers education (similar to paying for college) while also providing in-field experience. But unlike paying for college, you don’t accrue any debt while getting educated. And you also don’t experience the trial-by-fire aspect of working all by yourself. Both good things. 

So clearly, the extra 50% cut makes sense in a way. But does 50% of your sales up to $100,000 make sense? That means if you earn $200,000, Phil will get $100,000 of it. Consider this - one student named Jared added $300,000 to his bank account over two years while apprenticing with Phil. That means Jared earned at least 400k in total, gave Phil 100k as his cut, and had 300k leftover for himself. This averages out to 150k per year over 2 years.

Does that earnings seem fair to you? Additionally, Jared’s already met the $100,000 mark, so he doesn’t need to split the money any more. At that rate, he’s earning roughly $200,000 every single year. From this perspective, the 50% cut doesn’t seem so bad.

But that’s ONLY if you can make it work. It’s highly unlikely most students break six-figures so quickly. And that means some degree of luck is involved. In the case that you’re only making 50k-100k every year from real estate deals, that 50% is going to hurt a lot more. Basically, the quicker you can make big money from the apprenticeship, the less the 50% cut matters. It only matters when you’re not making much money to begin with and progress is slow.

What Are the Freedom Mentor Reviews?

Most people say good things about Phil Pustejovsky online. They talk about him helping them quit their 9-5 jobs. Or how humble he is. Or how he’s honest about how hard but worthwhile real estate investing is. I’ll share a few examples I found below.

“Luke doesn’t share any numbers but generally shares his results. He left his corporate job since he made enough money closing real estate deals. And he’s upfront about the hard work involved with Phil’s program.”

“Nicole has closed almost two deals after 7 months in Phil’s Apprentice program. She found Phil through his Youtube content and is happy after following up and joining Phil’s team.

“Dung is one of the top performing students as he earned half a million dollars in the Freedom Mentor Apprentice Program. His full review goes on to praise Phil and his team and also talks about his hopeful future. It’s pretty generic but feels unscripted at least.

On the other hand, there were a couple complaints as well. These complaints were a bit odd but I’ll leave it to you to see how credible they are.

So Kat wanted out but was locked in by the contract she agreed to. She didn’t like that there was not even space for discussion and was aggrieved enough to leave this one-star review. See Phil’s team’s reply below:

According to Phil’s team, this person actually earned $103,933.17 while under the Freedom Mentor Apprentice Program. Such detailed and specific numbers makes it more believable as well. If this is true, then what’s likely happening is Kat learned enough to go solo, so she wanted to stop giving Phil’s team 50% of the profits. What do you think?

Kevin is upset because he couldn’t find and close any real estate investing leads. Without leads, there’s no deals. And without deals, there’s no profits. So Kevin found himself not making any progress in the Apprentice program at all. He goes on further:

So Kevin felt on his own when it came to leads. He was given “some” info but not enough for him to become successful. Well, if the staff can’t help then maybe his fellow students can, right? Not exactly:

That’s pretty interesting - students can’t speak with each other? What could Phil and his team possibly say about this and all the other claims by Kevin? Let’s see:

So Kevin didn’t follow the program’s instructions to the letter. In fact, his lack of success was odd since he was apprenticing under a good time for the real estate industry. But what about the hard-to-get leads?

So, technically speaking, there are millions of leads out there. It’s a matter of working to find them. Fair enough. But it seems this lack of effort on Kevin’s part led to a lack of willingness to share good leads with Kevin. Phil would rather give those leads to student’s who’ve proven they’re willing to put in the effort. And that probably means they’re actually finding leads and trying to close deals with them. As for the students not being allowed to speak with each other, here’s what Phil’s team had to say about it:

“...we as mentors have to be incredibly careful about allowing bad advice to creep in and ruin a deal. Our mentees need to get their wisdom from our mentors, not other Apprentices. Otherwise, it can be a situation of the blind leading the blind…”

And that’s the whole deal with Kevin. What do you think? Is he right about Phil not providing leads or being helpful? Or is Phil right about Kevin not working hard and looking for handouts? Personally, I lean towards Phil being in the right based on the amount of good reviews. But you should make your own choice.

Keep in mind these negative reviews are the exception. 95% of the reviews I’ve seen are positive regarding Phil and the Freedom Mentor Apprentice Program. I did see some people bashing the 50% cut factor on various discussion boards. But these were from people who hadn’t taken the course themselves. The actual students seem to be largely happy with the program.

Brian Busch: The Journey From Being a Learner To a Teacher 

Brian Busch's Background and Story

Brian Busch started investing in real estate during the tough years of 2008-2009. Despite the difficulties, he became very successful thanks to great mentors. Busch later chose to become a mentor and teacher himself. The support he received as a student inspired him, including guidance during difficult times. Busch overcame challenges and bad habits and now enjoys helping others learn the real estate business. 

How Brian Busch’s Business is Doing Today

Brian Busch was once Phil's student in the Freedom Mentor Apprentice program. His real estate success and unique teaching approach qualified him to mentor in FMA. He is a natural problem-solver and helps new students navigate real estate challenges.

Lessons Brian Busch Learned on the Biggest Challenges He Faced

Patience and Persistence: Brian Busch learned the importance of being patient and persistent, especially when guiding beginners through their initial real estate deals.

Quality Over Quantity: He emphasized the importance of focusing on quality rather than quantity in real estate deals. He teaches students to be selective and to spot profitable opportunities.

Continuous Learning and Adaptability: He highlights the need for ongoing learning and adapting to market changes. Brian values real-world experiences over theories shared on podcasts or articles.

Fundamentals and Creativity: Brian notes the importance of following principles and using creativity to solve problems in the current real estate market.

What's not mentioned in the interview: It wasn't mentioned how much beginners need to start real estate investing. According to recent statistics, you need at least $40k to purchase a property in the United States. If you are planning to flip the property, you need an additional budget for renovation, which is usually 10% of the purchase price. So, if you're planning to flip a house you bought for $100k, you need at least $110k upfront capital to cover the cost of the property plus renovation. Taxes and other legal fees are not yet included. 

Is Real Estate Investment Still Relevant in 2024?

Real estate investment is still a good long-term path. It offers “passive” income once you’ve settled the details of a real estate deal. Although you still need to watch and maintain your properties). And it can be very lucrative if you invest well. For example, a single flip can get you six figures if all goes according to plan. 

However, keep in mind that real estate investing is a TOUGH business. It’s a competitive and unforgiving field that’s hard to navigate on your own. According to Entrepreneur, in April 2021, 74.3% of offers involved bidding wars. Imagine being a newbie trying to get a great flip only to compete with seasoned vets on ¾ of all of them. You’d have to lose out on profits just to stay in the game. 

So if you’re interested in real estate investment, be prepared for a potentially lucrative but long and difficult journey.

Risks Involved With Real Estate Investing?

There are three major problems with real estate investing. One, you need capital. Many don’t have several thousands of dollars on hand to spend, so connections are absolutely necessary. Two, it requires an enormous amount of knowledge and experience. And three, it can be unpredictable. Imagine you buy a house to flip and determine it’ll take only 6 months to flip. But 3 months in a pipe bursts and floods the basement. You missed a cracked pipeline during your initial assessment. And during construction, it broke completely. Now, you’ve got new expenses and your deadline needs to be pushed out. This completely changes your annual profits for the worst.

Basically, real estate investing is VERY hard when you’re first starting out. If you don’t have someone guiding your decisions and actions, you’re likely to make little to no profit in at least your first year.

Digital Real Estate VS Real Estate

Real estate and digital real estate offer lucrative investments but differ in requirements and risks.

Overall, traditional real estate needs significant capital and knowledge, while digital real estate is a low-cost, high-reward alternative with its own challenges.

Ways to Make Money in Digital Real Estate

To make money with digital real estate by owning your digital property, consider several strategies. Local lead generation involves creating and ranking websites to generate leads for local businesses, which you own and sell for profit.

Buying and flipping domains allows you to profit from the difference. Monetizing social media accounts and YouTube channels involves building or buying accounts and channels, then generating income through ads, sponsored posts, and affiliate marketing.

Selling digital products, such as e-books, courses, and software, allows you to create and own the products, earning revenue from each sale. Finally, creating membership sites that offer exclusive content or services for a monthly fee provides you with recurring income.

My Recommended Digital Real Estate Business Model

Local lead generation is my recommended digital real estate business model. It creates predictable passive income using the rank and rent method. By ranking your site using SEO, you rent it out to local businesses for the leads it generates. You do not need to buy or sell anything or even run any marketing. Compared to the high entry barrier of real estate investing, you can start with as little as $500.

Because of the digital nature of this business, the maintenance costs could be as low as $30 a month. There are hundreds of niches and thousands of areas to choose your market. This means you'll only be outranking a handful of sites. With traditional real estate investment, you are competing with other investors and realtors. This means it often comes down to offering the best prices, which can hurt your profit margins.

Scaling a real estate investment business means putting in more time and money. Scaling a real estate investment is as simple as repeating the rank and rent process. You don't need to hire people like property managers, cold callers, and marketing agencies. This means you can scale while keeping your cost and risks low. Due to the passive nature of the business, you can scale as much as you want without losing time. This is why local lead generation is my recommendation for creating financial freedom.