9/5/10: Alternative Strategies in Today’s Economy – Insider Secrets for Lower Legal Bills
Just as injuries are a part of a professional athlete’s life, so too are legal altercations a part of a real estate investor’s life. You do everything you can to avoid them, but when they come up it’s always smart to get professional help.
Unfortunately, like doctors, lawyers don’t come cheap. So it’s important to make sure the cure doesn’t make the injury worse.
To help unravel the mystery of motivating your lawyer to take your case without you having to write a blank check, we invited an experienced real estate attorney into the studio to share his insider secrets for lower legal bills.
In the radio gym helping us work out this heavy issue:
- Head coach and host, Robert Helms
- Athletic supporter, Russell Gray
- Special guest and attorney, Jeff Lerman
Join us for yet another exercise in broadcast excellence and discover how you can trim inches off a bloated legal bill!
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8/29/10: Public or Private Pool? The New Rules for Accredited Investing
Honey, they shrunk my net worth!
In case you haven’t heard, the financial reform bill redefines who qualifies as an accredited investor. So, if you like to pool your money with other people’s money so you can get in on bigger deals, there are some new rules to play by.
And if you’re syndicating deals now, then you REALLY need to listen up – because the new rules are effective IMMEDIATELY!
Diving into the deep end of The Real Estate Guys™ pool to discuss the ramifications for real estate investors:
- Your host and lifeguard, Robert Helms
- Your co-host and wading pool watcher, Russell Gray
- Cannonball champion, the Godfather of Real Estate, Bob Helms
OMG! OPM is r BFF. TDM rulz!
Sorry. Too much time at the teen pool. Back to the topic at hand…
Our friend and real estate attorney Jeff Lerman sent us an important update about something buried in the 2,300 pages of the financial reform bill: Congress decided to change the definition of “accredited investor” so that you can’t count your home equity in your net worth. Maybe it’s a good time to do it since so few people have any home equity any way.
Public pools can get crowded. It's sometimes hard to find a unique opportunity.
But for those of us who like to invest in private placements - and even more importantly, those who like to have people invest in our private placements – the new definition just demoted a lot of investors. They’ve effectively been kicked out of the private pool and are now only allowed to swim in public securities. You know, the ones run by the fine folks on Wall Street and “supervised” by the SEC. We’re feeling safer already.
What’s really amazing is the new rules went into effect immediately. That means if you were in the middle of getting into a deal or putting one together, nothing is grandfathered. So you could have good faith money in a deal based on capital pledges from people who were qualified to invest and poof! Now those people are unqualified and you’re scrambling to find replacement money before you lose your opportunity – or worse, your earnest money.
We’re guessing the folks who decided to do this have never put a deal together. But, perhaps just a little too much of our opinion is showing. Sorry, we’ll throw a towel around ourselves.
A big thanks for Jeff for bringing this to our attention. It’s changes like this that keep us subscribed to all of our newsletters, podcasts and blogs. You never know (especially now) when the winds of change are going to blow across the game board and shuffle things around. But when they do, you can count on The Real Estate Guys™ and our network of experts to let you know – and to help you adjust and adapt. So be sure you’re subscribed to everything and keep your eyes and ears open!
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8/22/10: What is Your Risk Paradigm? A Life or Debt Decision
Protecting your money in today’s highly uncertain economy is surely very challenging. Remember when real estate equity and bank accounts were considered among the SAFEST places to keep your savings? Today, real estate equity has disappeared – and for many people even getting access to whatever equity they still have is next to impossible. Boy, do we miss those equity lines of credit with their checkbooks and debit cards!
And even though you can still write checks on your cash deposits at a bank, with record bank failures even that old saying “sure as money in the bank” seems a little outdated. Add horribly low interest rates and, to compound the injury, taxes on your meager interest earnings, it’s enough to make you wonder what this financial world is coming to.
Well, we have good news. There’s a new way to look at an old product – one that is time tested and has survived its fair share of economic turmoil. And we got such a positive response to our first foray into this topic, we decided to re-visit it with a new guest.
In the radio lifeboat for another voyage into broadcasting brilliance:
- Host and head lifeguard, Robert Helms
- Co-host and lifeboat inflater, Russell Gray
- Seasoned sailer of stormy economic seas, the Godfather of Real Estate, Bob Helms
- Special guest, “infinite banking” expert, Patrick Donohoe
Right out of the gate we need to set the table, which is no small task with the lifeboat bobbing on the waves: what does life insurance have to do with real estate investing? Think about what a bank account has to do with real estate investing and you’re on the right track. But unlike a bank account, our guest explains that certain types of life insurance – thought greatly misunderstood – offer far greater flexibility than bank accounts. And though they aren’t FDIC insured, insurance companies are arguably more stable and conservatively run. Unlike banks right now, you don’t hear a lot about record number of life insurance companies failing.
We also address why so many CONSUMER financial gurus are down on cash value life insurance, yet corporations like Wells Fargo and Wal-Mart buy tons of it. Could it be there are BUSINESS purposes that make it very useful for BUSINESS people? We say all the time that real estate investing is a business, so it makes good sense to see how businesses are using this financial tool. For example, how’d you like you to take a tax deduction for making a deposit in your bank account? Hmmm….that’s an interesting concept! What about getting a loan against your equity without having to qualify? Try doing that with a property! And unlike property, the value isn’t determined by market forces, so your equity doesn’t disappear in a market downturn.
The point of this episode is that insurance can do a lot more than manage risk and pay a benefit. Our job is to expose you to some of the possibilities. Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to explore those possibilities, learn how to use this powerful tool, and decide when and where to use it to advance your real estate investing program. It seems the economic storm isn’t over yet, so it might be a good idea to know how to operate the lifeboat. It’s a matter of life and debt.
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8/15/10: How Capitalism Will Save Us – An Interview with Steve Forbes
The Real Estate Guys™ sit down and talk with Steve Forbes about jobs, the economy and real estate.
We don’t know about you, but any time a billionaire, a CEO of a major company, a best selling author or a legit presidential candidate is willing to sit down and chat, our response is always, “Yes!”. In this case, our special guest for this episode, Steve Forbes, is ALL of those things wrapped into one. So we’re super jazzed to bring this exclusive interview to you.
In the broadcast booth at the Freedom Fest conference in Las Vegas:
- Your Host and interviewer extraordinaire, Robert Helms
- The just-happy-to-be-here Co-host, Russell Gray
- Special guest, Forbes Magazine CEO, Steve Forbes
Mr. Forbes was the keynote speaker at the Freedom Fest conference and remained in attendance for the entire event. In spite of a recent neck surgery, he was very accommodating and so Robert was able to sit down with Mr. Forbes for an impromptu interview.
Steve Forbes with Russ and Robert at Freedom Fest. Russ wrestled Steve into doing the interview, which broke Russ' glasses and injured Steve's neck. But the interview went well and we were all smiles afterwards.
We decided to ask him about his latest book, Why Capitalism Will Save Us – Why Free People and Free Markets are the Best Answer in Today’s Economy. Mr. Forbes’ thesis is that too much government is bad for business because it increases costs, diminishes productivity and takes too many resources away from creating jobs for an ever-growing population. He calls for “sensible rules of the road” to provide a basic framework in which free people can conduct business. Of course, the great debate is over what’s “sensible”. His position is that less is more.
What we’re really interested in is jobs. Jobs are where our tenants get their rent money. It’s where home buyers get the income stream to make the mortgage payments that prop up the property values that create passive equity. Jobs are near the top of our due diligence check list when evaluating a market to invest in. It’s one of the reasons we like Dallas right now. Among U.S. markets, it’s doing pretty well. Ironically, another great job market is Washington DC, but if there’s a changing of the guard over the next couple of elections, that could change. But we digress…
So Mr. Forbes shares his thoughts on the economy, job creation and the role of government in real estate, specifically Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. In his position as the CEO and editor-in-chief of Forbes Magazine, he gets to talk with many of people who shape, interpret and respond to public policy. We really enjoyed our time with him and hope you will too!
On a side note, Steve Forbes is the nicest billionaire we’ve ever interviewed. Actually, he’s the only billionaire we’ve ever interviewed. But he’s still a very nice guy. So, if you’re a billionaire and want to come on the show and be nice to us, just give us a call. Our door is always open. 
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Let’s Go to Beautiful Belize!
Quick! Before you let your summer end, squeeze in just one more FUN trip! And to make sure you have no guilt about having going, let’s make it an EDUCATIONAL trip designed to ENHANCE YOUR INVESTMENT KNOWLEDGE. Now that sounds like a REALLY GREAT IDEA!
Do you feel the sand in your toes and the warm ocean breeze? No. Because this is only a picture. But we did when we took it. And so can you when you join us in Belize!
Here are SEVEN REASONS to join The Real Estate Guys™ on the next FIELD TRIP TO BELIZE:
- Belize is warm, beautiful, friendly and fun. Much better than looking at fixer uppers in Detroit or Oakland.
- Belize is still a largely undiscovered country. Imagine getting to Hawaii or the Bahamas before the rest of the world figured it out. But once you’re there, you don’t have to wait as long. The pace of discovery is much shorter now. There’s a reason Belize is one of fastest growing cruise destinations.
- Robert has been studying Belize for three years. He and his team have several dozen trips under their belt. It’s always better to go exploring with an experienced guide. You’ll be amazed at how much you see and learn in just 3-1/2 days.
- Did we mention Belize is warm, beautiful, friendly and fun?
- Robert will introduce you to real estate developers, brokers, bankers and other important local contacts. It’s power networking in your shorts. You’ll be better connected in one weekend than most people are after several months.
- It’s a GREAT ITINERARY! You’ll see the mainland, the biggest cities, the #1 tourist destination,and the islands (including Leonardo DiCaprio’s) while you travel by bus, boat and plane throughout the country.
- You’ll make new friends. Every field trip and investor summit, we not only get to know our guests, but they get to know each other. And you never know who you’ll meet or what good thing may come from it. But one thing is for sure: if you don’t go, it’s certain you won’t meet anyone. So come join the fun! Watch the video.
Still not convinced? Check out these comments from some past attendees.
Click here to get all the details on our next field trip to Belize. Or, download your registration form now.
This MUCH better than a seminar in a hotel conference center!
8/8/10: Don’t Say I Didn’t Warn You! Peter Schiff Reveals How He Predicted the Crash
WHO KNEW the crash was coming? Lots of people have been reverse engineering the causes of the financial crisis. It’s easy(er) to be smart when operating from hindsight. But when someone gets it right for the right reasons BEFORE the event occurs…well, that’s just impressive.
Peter Schiff is one of the few guys who called it way in advance. Not only that, but he put it in writing in his 2006 book Crash Proof (the updated version Crash Proof 2.0 is now on our recommended reading list).
Even more impressive is that Schiff appeared on a whole host of TV shows sounding the warning. But people literally LAUGHED at him, as you’ll see in the 10 minute video below. And there are many other videos of Peter aggressively debating all kinds of people – including next week’s guest on The Real Estate Guys™ Radio Show, Steve Forbes.
Featured on this week’s episode:
- Your host, Robert Helms
- Co-host, Russell Gray
- Fund manager, economist, author and outspoken commentator, Peter Schiff
Politics aside (Schiff is running for the Republican nomination for Senate in Connecticut - with the endorsement of Steve Forbes!), considering what Peter predicted and what actually happened, how can you not be at least curious? It was that curiosity that had us go to Las Vegas for Freedom Fest in July, where we were exposed to many economists who follow the Austrian school of thought. There isn’t any way in a blog post to explain all we learned, but a recommended homework assignment is to review the major tenets of the Austrian viewpoint versus Keynesian. We think you’ll find it very interesting, if not highly enlightening!
What we’re really interested in is being able to best anticipate macroeconomic influences that are likely to impact the value of our real estate, the strength of the jobs market, the growth of wages (which fuels growth in rents); and the cost and availability of loans. We don’t care if you’re Democrat, Republican, Libertarian, fans of rap or a drinker of light beer (okay, we find the last one a little offensive) -if you have something to say that proves true and makes sense, we’re interested. Peter Schiff is a guy that has proven true and seems to makes sense.
So for this entire show, we ask Peter to tell us to our face how he knew the crisis was coming and what’s going to happen next. Based on his track record, we think he’s a guy worth listening to. Check it out and let us know what YOU think!
The Real Estate Guys™ Radio Show provides ideas, perspectives and resources to help real estate investors succeed.
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8/1/10: Economics, Politics and Real Estate – Interviews from Freedom Fest 2010
If you’re one of those who take The Real Estate Guys™ to the gym, make sure you carbo load first! This one’s a whopper! Our radio audience only got an hour, but the podcast audience gets the whole enchilada. That way whether you like American or Mexican, there’s something for everyone.
A few weeks back, we went to Las Vegas for the 7th Annual Freedom Fest conference. This was our first time and we weren’t sure what to expect. But after our previous interview with event founder, economist Mark Skousen, we thought it would be worthwhile. It turned out even better than we thought!
After being near the epicenter of the financial earthquake which rocked the real estate portfolios of even the most experienced investors, we’ve put a big emphasis on studying economics. Who cares if you’re expert at fixing up properties, managing tenants or putting together syndications if property values are crashing, tenants don’t have jobs, loans aren’t available, and people are too scared to act?
So we started looking for people who saw it coming, put their predictions in writing and got it right for the right reasons. Hindsight’s often 20/20, but seeing the storm coming 
while there’s still time to shutter the windows is better. You might not be able to avoid bad economic weather, but with advance notice at least you can prepare!
We looked at the lineup of speakers at Freedom Fest and decided this would surely be an eye-opening experience. We were especially excited about Peter Schiff, author of Crash Proof 2.0 (a highly recommended read!). Schiff called the crisis for the right reasons – and way ahead of time. We’re happy to say we got a lengthy interview with Mr. Schiff to see what he’s thinking now – which is the feature of our next show.
While we’re boasting about awesome interviews, we also had a chance to talk with billionaire CEO of Forbes Magazine and former Presidential candidate, Steve Forbes. That interview is coming up in a couple of weeks, so stay tuned! The best way to be sure you don’t miss any of our exciting episodes is to subscribe to our podcast via iTunes (shameless plug). 
Today’s episode is about talking to LOTS of people! It was like one of those speed dating sessions. Robert sat at the microphone from early morning to late at night, and Russ rounded up a long line of interesting people to interview.
Featured in this episode of The Real Estate Guys™ Radio Show:
- Your host, Robert Helms
- Co-host and cat herder, Russell Gray
And a long parade of very special guests (in order of appearance):
Jeffrey Verdon, Attorney, talks about estate planning and asset protection strategies utilized by wealthy individuals; including off-shore entities and a very interesting technique for funding life insurance.
Dave Fessler, Energy & Infrastructure Expert for the Oxford Club. Dave discusses his views on the future of energy and infrastructure and their impact on jobs and the economy. He also comments on “the paradox of thrift” – how consumer savings is actually fueling the recession. He tells us how long he thinks it’s going to last, and where he believes America’s best chance for job creation are right now.
Bob Bauman, Attorney, Former U.S. Congressman, Founder of The Sovereign Society; shares his thoughts on offshore investment, asset protection, second citizenship and the growing interest many people have in diversifying globally.
Vernon Jacobs, CPA, is an expert in international taxation. Vern tells us what to consider when investing or employing asset protection strategies offshore.
Robert Barnes, Attorney, is part one of two back to back interviews with lawyers from a premier tax and investment fraud law firm that went 3 for 3 (that’s pretty good!) in three of the top four high profile tax cases in the U.S. (you’d recognize the names). Mr. Barnes reveals the worst thing you can do when contacted by the IRS.
Robert Bernhoft, Attorney, is part two of our tax and investment fraud attorney interviews. Mr. Bernhoft describes what you can do to proactively avoid problems with both your investors and regulators; and shares how his firm uses specialized “non-litigation” techniques to recover misappropriated funds without going to court.
Steve Hochberg, Chief Market Analyst for Elliott Wave, works closely with Robert Prechter. Prechter’s 2002 NY Times best seller, Conquer the Crash, accurately predicted the current financial crisis. While everyone is running scared of inflation, Steve says DEFLATION is actually the big near term threat. He believes we are “on the precipice of the greatest stock market decline of our lifetime.”
Patri Friedman, Executive Director and Chairman of the Board of The Seasteading Institute. A city on the sea? Really??? Before you write it off as Looney Tunes, go to their website and look at their management team. These guys are all brilliant. We’re talking Stanford, Harvard, Yale. Wow. Have you heard of Pay Pal? Yeah,the founder is on their board. And why were they at Freedom Fest? Take a listen!
Leon Louw, Executive Director of the Free Market Foundation, all the way from South Africa! Why? To raise money to advance property ownership rights for blacks in South Africa. For what it’s worth, we didn’t see any evidence of racism at Freedom Fest, though it was full of “tea baggers”. Obviously, Leon felt people at the event would be supportive of his cause. From our observations he was right. But this isn’t a political interview. any more than our show is political. We just want to understand what people are thinking and doing, and how it creates or undermines real estate opportunities. Think about the ramifications on demand in a market where a large part of the population, formerly locked out, suddenly has access to buy property. Very interesting stuff.
Terry Coxon, author of Unleash Your IRA, shares a powerful concept for maximizing your Individual Retirement Account. We thought we knew all about this topic, but Terry shares a strategy we hadn’t considered. Now we’re hyped to read his book. With the demise of home equity, and a growing number of people predicting a tough stock market (at best); and lending getting even tighter from financial reform, we think IRA’s and rollover 401k’s are one of the BEST sources of private investment capital. That makes this a topic worth exploring!
Ron Holland, editor of two financial newsletters and 30 year financial industry veteran, has something to say on the topic of IRA’s. And it’s concerning. He shares what he thinks is the greatest threat to your retirement account.
Terry Easton, author of Refounding America and contributor to Human Events. Terry is uber-conservative / Libertarian and has a lot to say on the topics of economics, politics and real estate. We came to hear a lot of opinions and it just so happens that Terry has a lot of opinions. But since they come from a long history of study and involvement, we think they’re worth listening to.
All in all, Freedom Fest was a great experience and we’re very likely to attend next year’s event. We met great people, got valuable insights, and had our paradigms stretched (we’ve been icing them since we got back). Most of all, we see the economy and real estate from a much broader perspective. As we continue to seek out markets, opportunities and product niches to invest in, we are convinced a bigger perspective will pay huge dividends.
Remember – our next two episodes feature our interviews with Peter Schiff and Steve Forbes!
The Real Estate Guys™ Radio Show provides ideas, perspectives and resources to help real estate investors succeed.
This podcast brought to you in part by Audible.com. To download a FREE audiobook of your choice, click here.
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7/25/10: Entrepreneurs in the New Economy – Getting Paid to Solve Problems
Do you remember the old “new” economy? That was the one where technology companies could go public without profit. In some cases, they didn’t even need revenue. Ahhhh, those were the days.
The new “new” economy (the Great Recession one) hasn’t been nearly as fun – unless you’re an old school entrepreneur. That’s the kind who looks at problems as opportunities. Guys (and gals) like that are having a lot of fun right now because there are opportunities galore coming out of the Great Recession.
The Real Estate Guys™ headed off to Freedom Fest in Las Vegas a few weeks back. We heard that money manager / economist / author / Senate candidate Peter Schiff would be there (among many other people with very strong opinions about the U.S. economy) and we wanted to do some interviews. We’re happy to report we got lots of great stuff, including Mr. Schiff and the CEO of Forbes Magazine, Steve Forbes. Watch for those interviews in future broadcasts.
So we fly into Las Vegas in our private jet (the one operated by Southwest Airlines), and get to the convention venue and start setting up our booth. Before the event had even started, a man stops by and sees our banner for Belize (we were promoting our upcoming field trip to Belize) and asks a few questions. The short of it is that we find out he’s working on a very exciting project in the Caribbean – one that solves a problem we’ve been trying to figure out too. Russ gets so excited that he hugs the guy. Very weird.
After the appropriate apologies and some follow up male bonding, our new friend agrees to do a radio interview. And that’s what this broadcast is all about.
Manning the microphones for this edition of The Real Estate Guys™ Radio Show:
- Your host, the Larry King of real estate radio, Robert Helms
- Co-host, our “I love you, man” booth babe, Russell Gray
- Special Guest, Investment Banker, Entrepreneur and assault victim, Jeff Villwock
Any time we get around smart people, we jump on the opportunity to talk with them. In this case, Russ literally jumped on Jeff. When Jeff recovered, we got him on the mic, so you can listen to what he’s doing, where he’s doing it and why. There’s lots of lessons to be gleaned!
Freedom Fest is an event that attracts people with strong political opinions. In many of the interviews we did there, those opinions come out. Great! We think the world works better when people respectfully debate important issues. Sharing ideas is among the most sacred of our freedoms, especially if you’re radio guys.
We also realize that the U.S. (the bulk of our audience) is pretty polarized right now. Now, we love our entire audience and our show isn’t political. However, policies affect economics and economics affects real estate. There shouldn’t be a serious student of real estate who can look at the last several years and deny that. So politics are going to get into the discourse from time to time, which is a very good thing.
We think these Freedom Fest interviews are great. If you disagree with the political views of our guests, don’t let that get in the way of hearing what’s being said. Here’s why: a big part of real estate investing is understanding demographics and human nature. How people think and believe affects where they (and their money) will be moving. Even if you disagree with them, if they believe it, it will affect their actions. So YOU need to understand them (even if you disagree) if you want to anticipate their behavior.
Did we mention that Jeff’s project is in St. Kitts? It just so happens that St. Kitts is one of the stops on our upcoming 9th Annual Summit at Sea! So we ask Jeff if we can visit his project as part of our already planned real estate shore excursion in St. Kitts. Not only does Jeff agree to allow us to visit, he says he’ll meet us there and show us around. Awesome!
Once again, we’re reminded of the importance of getting out of our cubicles and into the world where real people are. No doubt that virtual networking is powerful, but just as phones did not replace face to face meetings, neither will social media replace conventions as a great place to make important connections. This is one of the reasons we attend trade shows and promote our field trips and the Summit at Sea™. It’s a great way to get to know great people in the real world. We hope to see YOU at one very soon!
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7/18/10: Still Trying to Modify Your Loan? Tip the Scales in Your Favor with Martin Andelman
Feeling undersized when going up against your lender in a loan mod negotiation? It’s a big problem to wrestle with, but you’re not alone! Recent developments are tipping the scales back toward the borrower – and none to soon! To get up to speed on the latest and greatest, we invited back to the show one of the most prolific commentators on the topic.
In the Sumo sand pit for this episode:
- Your larger than life host, Robert Helms
- Co-host and sand pit groomer, Russell Gray
- The Godfather of Real Estate, Bob Helms
- Special Guest, Mortgage Industry Pundit, Martin Andelman
Even though we see lots of opportunities in all the crushing problems facing today’s real estate market, that isn’t much consolation to people still grappling with mortgages that don’t make sense. No wonder our special report, What You MUST Know Before Attempting a Loan Workout (available in our Resource Center) has been our most requested publication for the last 18 months. And when you consider that the number of modifications actually getting done are dwarfed by the huge number of mortgages currently in default, there’s no way to take this problem lightly. When it all shakes out, we know there’s still a LOT of work to do before the balance sheets of banks and borrowers are stabilized. It’s a sizable task.
Enter Martin Andelman. Martin reminds us of Don Quixote from Man of La Mancha. We almost went there with this blog, but the Sumo thing was way too much fun. Still, Don Quixote was a crusader pursuing an impossible dream (the theme song from the movie), so it seemed to match. It was hard to combine “impossible dream” with Sumo, unless there was a Speedo involved, and we didn’t think that was a good fit, if you know what we mean.
Anyway, Martin’s been an observer, commentator and outspoken critic of the banks and lenders who claim to care about the borrowers, but can’t seem to do anything substantial to help. Do you remember the Bible verse in James, where it basically says “talk is cheap” (our paraphrase)? That is, what good does it do to say you care, if you don’t really do anything real to help?
Please don’t misunderstand. We’re not advocates for, or supporters of, bailouts for borrowers or for banks. Philosophically, we think things would get better a whole lot faster if the government would get out of the way and let the banks and borrowers negotiate. After all, these are contracts between private parties. But the government has had its nose in the mortgage business for decades, so it’s a threesome, like it or not. (We’re sorry. Is our opinion showing? We’ll tuck it away.)
So we start this show with an update from Martin on the state of the government’s HAMP program. Can you feel it yet? Is it working? Is it getting better? Martin gives us the scoop. His answer surprised us.
And while the Executive Branch is trying get its HAMP fired up, what about the Legislature and the Judiciary? Martin briefs us on a couple of interesting court cases which affect loan modifications. Of course, we can’t help but talk about California’s SB94, which now “protects” consumers from all the “greedy” loan mod attorneys who selfishly want to be paid for the work they do. Why wouldn’t the attorney just do the work first and then send a bill? It’s so unreasonable to think that a client who isn’t making their mortgage payment would be a bad credit risk. We’re sure all the underwater borrowers are sleeping much better now that now that most of the loan mod companies have shut their doors. Yeah, that helped. Unless….do you think maybe it wasn’t the borrower the law was intended to help? Hmmmm….? Sorry. That pesky opinion keeps popping out. These Sumo shorts don’t give you much room to hide.
But lest you think this episode is just a rant about what isn’t working, the real highlight of the show comes when Martin tells us about a new “secret weapon” that’s now available to borrowers. And he says it IS working! He says borrowers armed with this powerful new tool find themselves no longer getting squashed in their negotiations with the lender. That’s right! The little guy is starting to win. We like it.
Off mic, we impose upon Martin to write a special report on this topic, which he generously commits to do. He calls it The Underwater Borrower’s Secret Weapon: How to Make Modifying Your Loan Your Lender’s Idea. Wow. That’s a mouthful. But if you know Martin, it’s not surprising. You can bet he’ll have a lot to say – and it will be fun to read!
The bottom line (that’s a Sumo pun in case you missed it) is we got so jazzed about the whole thing, we’re working on adding the company which supplies this “secret weapon” to our resource network. Meanwhile, if you or someone you know has been wrestling with a lender that seems immovable, be sure to request Martin’s report. Maybe his secret weapon will work for you and your friends. We want to help get the secret out, so everyone has access. Not just because we like to root for the underdog. But because the sooner all these bad loans get re-done, the faster the world can get back to focusing on more productive things. And that’s good for everyone.
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7/11/10: Ask The Guys – Bankrupcty, Tax Liens, Cheap Houses and More!
So we’re wandering around the radio show one day trying to think of something to talk about. Then we trip over a big bag of email and say, “Hey! We haven’t answered listener questions for awhile. Let’s do that!” So today’s episode is all about you and your questions.
Taking the stand and promising to answer each question to the best of our admittedly limited abilities:
- Host and Professional Pontificator, Robert Helms
- Co-Host and Head of The Real Estate Guys Research Institute, Russell Gray
- The Man Who’s Forgotten More Real Estate than Most Will Ever Know, the Godfather of Real Estate, Bob Helms
One of our favorite things to do is show off how smart we are. For obvious reasons, we don’t get to do that very often, but we always look forward to the opportunity. Then again, if you subscribe to the idea that people learn by making mistakes, we’re REALLY smart!
Anyway, we get lots of questions from people and we love it. So please keep ‘em coming! Go to Ask the Guys and ask away! For this episode, we grabbed a handful from the email bag and here are some we found.
(For privacy purposes, we’ve omitted the names, phone numbers, social security numbers, birthdates, drivers license numbers, bank account information, picture, height, weight, race, religion, sexual orientation and favorite ice cream)
I just came out of a Chapter 7 bankruptcy. How can I get a mortgage?
I found properties for $500 – $1000! Seems like a no-brainer. Am I missing something?
Is Dallas a dangerous place?
The Great Recession wiped me out. How do I get going again?
What do you think of using retirement accounts to buy real estate?
Are tax liens a safe investment?
And our personal favorite:
Is it still possible to buy property for no money down?
Tune in for the answers to these and other exciting questions on this episode of The Real Estate Guys™ Radio Show! (theme music plays here).
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