GREG PINNEO

I just wanted to post what I know to be the truth. I am seeing a lot of mud fly around and I just want to set the record straight. I felt so strongly about it that I have set up a new account to comment here.

I have known Greg for about 19 years. I met him while I was in my first year of college. I was the very first guy to ever sign up for his class at Seattle Pacific University. I was one of the first 7 guys to work in his Real Estate company. So I think I am qualified. (And no I don't get paid for this!)

A little about my background before I met Greg; I am a mixed racial individual (black-white-hispanic) from a poor family and a broken home. Greg was kind enough to teach me what he knew about real estate, even though he was already a multi-millionaire and I was kind of a punk kid. However, I wanted to learn and he wanted to teach. I had a rough exterior for Edmonds, WA. I grew up in New York and California. My mother OD'd and died from drugs when I was 7, and my father was in prison, which is how I ended up in Seattle, WA. When I met Greg, I was fresh out of high school and trying to change my life away from the more negative things that I was involved with. Greg gave me a lot of hope and and encouragement to try to reach my potential in business and in life! Meeting this individual has had a profound effect on every area of my life!

I have truly thanked God for meeting Greg. Who knows how I would have ended up if I had not met him? I bought my first real estate investment with Greg as my partner. Again, he was already rich and I was not. I am now a Principal of an Investment Banking firm. Lately, Real Estate has been how our firm generates cash, as discounted REO and mortgage paper are the only things we can move in the markets. These days, I use the lessons I learned from Greg daily. Not just technical Real Estate, but also philosophical. So many of my colleagues are underwater or out of business. We are coming off our worst quarter ever and about to rebound with our best. If "waking up early and staying late" (shades of Greg if you know him) are bad qualities then I am guilty. I know this is not a complicted thing to realize, but who actually does it?

I was there the day the FBI came around, it was too bad how that happened. I knew the Agent (we will call him MN) in our office who caused the incident. He was a good friend of mine as we were the 2 youngest guys in the office. I can honestly say that the main reason Greg got into hot water was he tried to go to bat for MN, who had really lied to the bank! Had Greg just sold the kid down the river, Greg would have walked. Instead he tried to do what Greg does; he did the brave thing as opposed to the easy thing. He would not leave his friend out to twist. Greg was doing such an excellent job defending that case that 2 years into the deal the Govt. got frustrated. They approached MN and got him to testify against Greg; in New York we call them RATS! Hard to believe, but I saw it with my own two eyes. There really were alot of people who wrote letters on behalf of Greg at sentencing. I was one of them. A sad day indeed.

We used to always tease Greg about becomming a seminar guy. However, I think anyone who has ever worked with Greg would agree that he does have some things worth teaching. It has been my experience that people hold Greg to this weird standard. Like he is supposed to be perfect. At the end of the day, he is only a man. We all make mistakes and have our shortcomings. Greg is a fierce competitor and he wins at the things he does more often then he loses. Its like watching a sports figure who finally loses. As much as they have their fans they also have their critics. When they finally lose, the critics finally have their 2 cents to pitch in. No one wins 100% of the time. What we appreciate (or despise) about people like this is that they have mastered something. In my mind it does not matter if it is boxing or basket weaving, but to watch people who are talented and to give them thier recognition is a refleciton of who we are. I have watched Greg change lives; mine especially. I have also watched people learn Greg's material and then spit venom at the guy. They are entitled to their opinion. NO ONE who really knows the guy can disagree with this: there is something different about Greg. Something special. There is a talent there that cannot be denied.

When it comes to making money in real estate, he is very real. He can show you HUD-1's and drive you around property after property where he made money. Alot of the stuff that he did in downtown Edmonds, WA he built. Up at 4 AM on the jobsite, leaves at midnite. There is the real secret, hard work and dedication. That is unrealistic for alot of people. I am glad I learned this from him, as I do business all over the world now and the time difference is 8 hours in China and 11 in Dubai. I wake up at 3 AM to take phone calls and have no problem with it. I realize I am lucky enough to be employed at this point, doing something that I love!

What I have usually found in the people who spit venom at Greg is that they either have had a bad experience with real estate "Guru's" which I can agree, most of these guys are full of BS! I had listened to alot of these guys as a teenager and was pretty disillusioned by the time I met Greg. (Does anyone remember Tom Vu on his rented yacht and model girls?) Another group are insecure and hate to see someone do what they cannot. They despise others because it reminds them of thier own shortcomings in some way. The worst critics of Greg are those that competed against Greg and probably lost. Again, no one wins them all, but champions have a high win:loss ratio. Greg is a champion in alot of ways. Maybe there are some other categories I did not mention, but that covers most of them.

Personally, I hope he quits teaching Real Estate. It creates alot more competition for me! I know he makes plenty of money as an investor and could probably make more if he did not take the time to try to teach turkeys to fly! I deal with fund managers at name brand hedge funds and PE funds, Wall Street guys, etc. Most of them cannot hold a candle to Greg in critical investment decision making or work ethic. The nice thing about Greg is that he has found his niche and refuses to deviate. He could be doing the big commercial deals, in towns all over the country, but is happy to do 1-4 units in good locations around Seattle. I would say he has mastered that technique. It is a true pleasure to watch a master operate and if you are ever lucky enough to see Greg or buy his material I highly recommend it.

It has been my pleasure to be counted as one of Greg's friends. It was definitely a defining moment in my life to become acquainted with him. I am sorry if that has not been your experience with him; you are missing out on something special. At the very least he is one of the funniest guys I have ever met. He sees the world in a very peculiar way and if you get a chance to learn about this different way of seeing things, I recommend it. If you never buy any real estate, the different way of seeing the world is worth the money in and of itself. You may find mastery and excellence in other areas of life as a result of meeting this guy. If you are unhappy with your situation in life, like I was as a teenager, meeting someone who has really been there and done it is always helpful. It gives you a glimpse into what is possible if you just allow yourself to stop being cynical and beleive in your own hopes. Isn't there some guy about to be President with that message, despite the obvious obstacles? What is that worth? For me it has meant a career with millions of dollars attached. It has meant a life that is designed and not lived by default. I have had my own ups and downs, but because what I was taught, I always have a way to make it back up.

I wish good fortune to all who read this. I am really hoping you find in your life whatever brought you to this site. Maybe you think I am some nut job, but I just wanted to post my thoughts on the truth. If Greg was not a good guy, I would have wrote that too. Trust me!

Cheers,

Asa