Phil Pustejovsky is a successful real estate investor, mentor, and coach in North America. He owns a popular real estate YouTube channel called Phil Pustejovsky, which has 326k subscribers. And he is also the bestselling author of two classics in the real estate niche:

• How to Be a Real Estate Investor  
• Real Estate Investing Gone Bad: 21 True Stories of What NOT To Do When Investing In Real Estate And Flipping Houses

He's also been featured on all the most important news outlets dealing with entrepreneurship, like Inc, Business Insider, Yahoo Finance, and Entrepreneur. What he teaches is similar to Local Lead Generation since they both deal with a type of "real estate" (in this case, it's physical VS digital real estate). So we'll also be able to compare Freedom Mentor with another viable business model (Local Lead Generation) and see how they compare.

So in this Phil Pustejovsky review, we’ll be discussing his flagship Freedom Mentor course, the Apprentice Program. And we’ll also be touching on his controversial 50/50 split requirement and see if it’s a fair business expense. Plus, we’ll go over:

• Who is Phil Pustejovsky?
• What are People Saying About Phil Pustejovsky Online?
• Is Phil Pustejovsky a scam or Legit?
• What is the Freedom Mentor Apprentice Program?
• How Do You Make Money With the Freedom Mentor Apprentice Program?
• What Does the Freedom Mentor Apprentice Program Come with?
• What's the Pre Apprentice program?
  
• What Are the Risks of Real Estate Investing?
• Is Real Estate Investing Still Worth it In 2022?

Pros & 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 for real estate investing?

“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 so well that millions of dollars are spent creating more apprenticeship programs for businesses. The reason is students end up with greater problem-solving skills, more flexibility, and can lead themselves more effectively with their work after apprenticeship. 

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. If that bothers you, I would suggest Local Lead Generation if you want an easier way to earn money without splitting your profits 50/50.

Who is Phil Pustejovksy?

During this time, Phil submitted dozens of resumes to get a better job. Eventually, he landed a job working commercial HVAC sales for the Trane company. But Phil was quickly bored of the work. He was even caught napping on the job. However, his interest in success and real estate stayed strong. In his spare time, he read many books about becoming wealthy. And a major pattern he noticed was real estate was always suggested as a great source of wealth. This reinforced his desire to become wealthy and pursue real estate. About 6 months of working with the Trane company, he had a major disagreement with his boss. This led to Phil quitting the job entirely. Now he had the opportunity to pursue real estate full time.

How Phil Pustejovsky Broke into Real Estate Investing

But his dreams didn't work out as planned. He quickly learned that successfully completing even one real estate deal was harder than he imagined. Eventually, he was completely broke and without a home to live in. He was forced to live in his truck and eat canned beans for a whole month. At his very worst, he was parked in a gas station with no gas and no money. With nothing left, Phil prayed and said,“God, if there is a God, please get me out of this mess. And if you do, I will be on your team for the rest of my life. I will be your biggest cheerleader and tell everyone about you.” Little did he know that a few miracles would occur that’d change his life forever.

While trying to broker a deal with an investor, Phil had no choice but to bring out his sob-story to try and close it. He was that desperate. Although this didn’t work, the investor was inspired by Phil, who literally went homeless pursuing real estate - despite having a Mechanical Engineering degree. He offered to mentor and advise Phil as he was a real estate investor with decades of experience behind him. The catch was he had to split any profits he made 50/50 with him.

Soon after, Phil had a chance to close a $10,000 deal. But first, he went to his new mentor, who advised him and set up a deal where Phil got $3,000 and the mentor got $7,000 for the apprenticeship. With the advice his new mentor provided him, Phil ended up getting $56,000 in net profits from what he thought was a $10,000 deal. At this point, Phil finally understood the power of real estate.

How Freedom Mentor Began

Now that Phil finally had some cash and house over his head, he decided to fulfill the promise he made while praying. On 11/28/2004, Phil was baptized at the Thompson Station Church. He started teaching Sunday school classes. And he even met Monica there, who he would date and eventually marry. And to celebrate their marriage, they decided on a trip to Hawaii for their honeymoon.

But before the trip even occurred, the airline they got tickets from went out of business. So they chose to head to Florida instead, the only other sunny place they could think of. During the flight, Phil was inspired by the thousands of tiny homes he could see. He wondered how he could work deals all across the country. That’s when he realized his path to success, mentorship, could be used nationally as well. On the back of a Southwest Airlines napkin, after many iterations, he decided on the name “Freedom Mentor” for this new idea. His goal was to create freedom for other people by mentoring them in real estate. 

To grow this new business, he started writing blog posts and quickly moved to Youtube videos. One video in particular, Secret to Flipping Houses, generated hundreds of thousands of views. This success pushed Phil to focus most of his content marketing on Youtube, which led to his current situation.

Today, Phil Pustejovsky is a popular Youtuber with over 326k subscribers, a published real estate author, and even shared the stage with wealth expert Robert Kiyosaki.

What are People Saying About Phil Pustejovsky Online?

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 Phil Pustejovsky a Scam or Legit?

Phil Pustejovsky is not a scam. His Youtube channel is full of helpful real estate investing advice. He’s got free courses full of great information. And he’s got multiple testimonials touting his apprentice program. He’s definitely a legit businessman and real estate investing expert.

What is the Freedom Mentor Apprentice Program?

The Freedom Mentor Apprentice Program is a real estate investing mentorship. It’s designed to help you grow your real estate investing knowledge, find properties to buy and sell, and improve your deal-closing abilities. The major plus to the program is you get Phil’s guiding hand directing you at all moments. And not only are you given access to Phil, you get access to his staff and legal team for tips and advice. They will also draft contracts for you to increase the chances you can buy or sell properties successfully.

Who is the Freedom Mentor Apprentice Program For?

• People who can work real estate full time. Even a single real estate investment involves countless hours of work. It’s not for the faint of heart.
• People who want to take their real estate investing skills to the next level. If you’ve already dabbled but only achieved mediocre success, this program might give you the motivation and direction to get better deals and grow your income.
• People who are coachable and/or work best with someone guiding them every step of the way.

What does the Freedom Mentor Apprentice Program Cost?

The Freedom Mentor Apprentice Program costs $3,000-$10,000 up front. There’s also a $197 monthly fee. On top of which, you’ll also need to split 50% of all profits up to $100,000. You’re essentially paying them a share of your profits up till you hit the $200,000 mark. Once you’ve reached that point, they’ll have taken $100,000 of their share (over time, not all at once), which is 50% of $200,000.

Even compared to another real estate investing course we reviewed, which came out to about $38,997, this is expensive.

How Do You Make Money With the Freedom Mentor Apprentice Program?

The Freedom Mentor Apprentice Program helps you make money by coaching you to close real estate deals. By getting top-level advice at every stage of finding and closing real estate deals, your chances of closing deals grows immensely.

Do Students of the Freedom Mentor Apprentice Program Actually Make Money?

There’s several dozens of testimonials proving the Freedom Mentor Apprentice Program makes money. I’ve already mentioned a few up above. But here’s two more that provide specific numbers.

“Michele earned $88,932 after four months in the apprenticeship.”

“Joe struggled to succeed in real estate by himself. But after working with Phil and his team, he made over $15,000 on his first deal.”

What Does the Freedom Mentor Apprentice Program Include?

The sales page for the Freedom Mentor Program doesn’t explicitly state what the program comes with. Instead, there are vague promises to financial intelligence, more time, more confidence, more freedom, and so on. But there’s another program called the Pre-Apprentice program which lists every feature out on its sales page (more details in the next section). This program likely offers everything in the mentorship but only lasts for a month at a cheaper cost. Every feature is listed below:

• 4 weekly calls with Phil Pustejosky
• A Fast Track Success Blueprint
• Access to funding resources (e.g. hard money lenders, transactional funders, and private money sources)
• A Proof of Funds letter that “proves” you have the funds to buy property
• ePartner Real Estate Online Software to easily manage real estate deals
• A personalized website for attracting real estate leads
• An All-In-One SuperCourse, a Core Training Audio Series, and the Quick Start Video Series for mastering real estate investing
• Access to the Knowledge Center (basically a private collection of real estate investor content)
• Connections to Phil Pusejosky’s Preferred Vendor Network
• A Business Strategy Session to guide your real estate goals

What's the Pre Apprentice program?

The Pre Apprentice program was a 30-day program intended to help you understand what the full mentorship involved. It only cost $997 compared to the $3,000 - $10,000 complete Apprentice program. And it came with all the features listed above (e.g. 4 weekly calls with Phil, etc.). But the sales page is no longer easily found on Phil’s website. I clicked around everywhere on Phil's website and couldn’t find it all. The only way I could find it was by typing “freedom mentor pre apprentice” on Google and getting it that way. So he might still be offering it but he’s certainly not promoting it right now.

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. Between finding leads, negotiation skills, the ability to recognize any potential problems with houses (e.g. pipelines, termites, etc.), you’re going to learn many things through education and trial and error. 

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 (something a newbie is likely to do) and during construction it broke completely. Now, you’ve got new expenses and your deadline needs to be pushed out, which 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.

Is Real Estate Investment Still Relevant in 2022?

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 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 of 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.

Conclusion

When it comes to learning real estate investing, the Freedom Mentor Apprentice Program is a great way to go. Not only do you get a library of tools and information to make real estate investing easier, you also get direct guidance from Phil and his experienced team. 

However, the high sign-up cost, the ongoing monthly fees, AND the 50/50 split up to $100,000 is a hefty investment. And if you decide that real estate isn’t for you, there are no refunds. You’re either all-in or all-out. So if you decide to join this program, make sure you’re 110% committed and ready for the long haul.

Why Local Lead Generation is a Powerful Alternative to Real Estate Investing

Although real estate investing can be incredibly lucrative, it’s a hard industry to break into. I’d say the #1 reason Phil’s Freedom Mentor program is so effective in the first place is because real estate practically requires somebody to hold your hand to succeed at all. Between finding/creating real estate offers, closing deals, and property maintenance, you’ve got an entire company’s worth of skills being done by one person - you! So in this industry, there’s no such thing as part time. There’s only full time and overtime.

That’s one reason I love sharing Local Lead Generation with people. It’s relatively simple to do and requires far less time, skill, and effort to make a steady and passive income than something like real estate investing. The major skill required is making a website, which serves as a digital “property” you own. Nowadays, I can make a complete and “rentable” website in about a day. And once it’s done, I barely need to maintain it as it’s just a basic website. Afterward, I do some research to find a business to “rent” it out to. And once that’s all settled, I’ve got a new client worth roughly $500 - $1,500 monthly.