Correction Note:

Even when we get something wrong we don’t take the content down. That being said, Steve Moran got this one really wrong. Today Gene and RAL are valued partners. They are helping thousands of people care for tens of thousands of older people. If you are thinking about working with RAL I would highly recommend it.

You can read my ops I got this wrong article HERE.

By Steve Moran

A couple of days ago a reader sent me a link to an organization called The Residential Assisted Living Academy, based in Phoenix, Arizona. According to the website, in a three-day class — that only costs around $5,000 — you will learn how to make your fortune owning or operating board-and-care-style assisted living.

The site and the academy is run by Gene Guarino who — according to his site  — is “a leading national expert on senior housing issues.” 

Stop The Press

So I went digging and here is what I did — and did not — discover:

  • I was a little surprised that I had never heard of this leading national expert. I am a long way from knowing everyone in the industry; however, I believe I know, or at least know of, most of the industry leaders. Most concerning of all was that after finding him on LinkedIn, not only was I not connected with him, I was not connected with a single person he was connected with. (This suggests no one else in the industry knows this “expert” either.)

  • I reached out to the Arizona Assisted Living Association and he is not a member, nor had they ever heard of him. (I would note that they do not allow into membership small providers.)

  • According to his website, he owns three of these homes; however, he does not list the name of his three communities. Odd. I could not find the names of those “facilities“ (his term, not mine), yet it would obviously be interesting to see what they are and how they are doing. If he is as successful as he promotes himself to be . . . wouldn’t these be an asset to his testimony?

  • After spending some time on his website it is clear his entire pitch is “Get Rich On Seniors.” Just one, two, or a few communities. There seems to be no awareness that these seniors are people who need care, respect, and love.

  • He seems to also have been involved in other Get-Rich-Quick schemes.

  • In a Youtube video he created, he claims this can all be done putting in 4 or 5 hours per week.

Frustration

He makes it sound like such an easy path to wealth and financial security when we all know it is not. I don’t think what he is doing is illegal, and truthfully — I don’t even think it should be illegal. I do think we need to shine the light of day on these schemes. This is wrong and it will put seniors in danger when folks find it is a lot harder to fill the community and to find team members.

This quote from his website encapsulates what’s wrong with what he is doing:

“Expert Gene Guarino has done it successfully, over and over, creating a wave of immediate positive cash flow.”

It is all about making money. I will note that in one of his videos, he talks about “doing good while doing well.” This is a concept I fully support, but aside from this, essentially everything else he says is entirely about the money.

I sent a request for more information via their web form and have not yet heard back. I did call their number and asked the woman who answered about him being “a leading national expert on senior housing issues.” She told me that since he was the only one in the whole country leading training classes like this, it qualifies him as an expert in these senior homes that are not “big boxes”.

Serious Damage

If this were some “flip houses in a day or week” get-rich-quick-and-easy offering, I would shrug my shoulders and figure buyer beware. But the scary part is that this is being promoted as an easy way to make money . . . on the backs of frail seniors.

This is not good.