Tony Hoffman was not the most well liked person in the real estate world.

The main reason people got hot under the collar about Tony Hoffman was that the advice he gave was said to have almost been immoral. For example, he suggested that real estate investors threaten to back out of a purchase at the last minute, to try and squeeze the seller into offering a better deal.

Hoffman was a real estate guru in the 1980s who wrote the book, “How to Negotiate Successfully in Real Estate”. He also ran seminars on how to buy properties with no money down, but he stopped doing them in the late ’80s. At one time he had plans to become governor of California. That plan didn’t materialize, and the last I heard he was doing TV infomercials on household gadgets.

One of the techniques Mr. Hoffman suggested was for investors to use the recommended purchase contract in his book, or have one specially printed. This form was called the “Standard Real Estate Purchase Contract”, but in reality, there is no such thing as a standard contract. Many states have required wording and some states demand that you use a state-approved form. Hoffman’s form is full of “get out clauses” for the buyer, so that he can pull out of the purchase if he wants, while tying the seller to the deal.

Tony Hoffman’s company, National Superstar Inc., filed for bankruptcy in 1986. So I guess his own advice wasn’t working.