Field Trip to Washington DC – June 10-12, 2011

The Real Estate Guys™ have organized a wonderful weekend field trip to Washington DC! This is your chance to look at the nation’s capitol not only as a tourist, but as a real estate investor! Investor Summit at Sea™ faculty member Beth Clifford used this market as a case study in her Summit class on due diligence. We were so impressed we asked her if she would lead a tour patterned after our highly successful Dallas field trips. She agreed!

Click here to download your registration form

Washington DC has one of the lowest unemployment rates in the nation and has been one of the hottest real estate markets in the last year. It’s always been strong, which is no surprise. After all, we always look for strong sustainable economic drivers that bring outside money into a particular geographic region. As home base to the U.S. federal government, it’s a safe bet that there will always be money funneling in and creating both first and second tier employment. And it’s unlikely the federal government will outsource to India or China!

But there’s more to Washington DC than the federal government. As a major metro, it has a big population and lots of infrastructure. And like every major metro, DC has a plethora of sub-markets and pockets of opportunity. There’s no way to understand the nuances of a market without visiting, which is why The Real Estate Guys™ love field trips!

Field Trip Logistics

When you arrive in Washington DC on Friday afternoon, arrive early enough to catch the shuttle and check into your hotel room. Your field trip tuition includes two night at the hotel we choose to serve as home base for the event.

Friday night, we’ll have a meet and greet, followed by a market overview presentation. Then out to dinner! In addition to seeing a market with your own eyes and meeting several potential members for your local team, one of the things people like best about our trips is the opportunity to interact with the tour guides and other “field trippers”. So we create lots of opportunities for interaction. No wallflowers! Developing relationships is one of the most important activities for a real estate investor.

Saturday morning we’re up and at ‘em early. We’ll grab a quick breakfast and hit the road to see the market. We’ll do our best to swing by several of the tourist attractions (also one of the economic drivers), but our main purpose is to compare and contrast the various sub-markets and property types. We want to understand where the best opportunities for cash flow, long term equity growth and/ or quick profits are. We probably won’t figure that out by standing in front of the Washington monument.

Remember, we believe real estate investing is best approached by choosing a market first, then building a team, and then looking for ideal properties. As a result, no properties are for sale on this trip. This isn’t a “fly ‘n buy” or “property tour” where salespeople are eagerly waiting to get you into contract before you fly out on Sunday. You’ll certainly meet some people that you can follow up with when you’re ready, so if you’re hot to buy DC, the trip is still valuable. But our field trips are about understanding the market and building relationships.

Saturday night, we cap off a long day with dinner and conversation before heading back to the hotel for some shut-eye.

Rise and shine on Sunday morning! We’ll have a lively interactive strategy session, some Q&A and our best ideas and action plans debrief. Depending on how much ground we covered on Saturday, we may sneak back out for some more touring. In any case, you’ll learn more about the Washington DC real estate market than most people who live and work there. And you’ll learn due diligence and critical thinking skills that will transfer to any market you decide to explore.

So what are you waiting for? Click here to download your registration form and come explore Washington DC with The Real Estate Guys™!

4/17/11: Live from our 9th Annual Investor Summit at Sea!

For the ninth straight year, The Real Estate Guys™ and an energized group of committed real estate investors boarded a cruise ship for a week of powerful education, networking and fun. And as is our tradition, while on board we recorded a radio show with a live studio audience.

We call this annual event our Investor Summit at Sea™ because Summit means “the highest point of attainment or aspiration: the summit of one’s ambition; the highest state or degree”. 

More than education, the Summit is about relationships, enthusiasm, focus and family. Because of the unique environment created on a cruise ship, faculty and students often bring their families.  It’s proven to be a great opportunity to unite families around their pursuit of financial independence and prosperity.

Reflecting on their Summit experience from the Mad Hatter’s Lounge on the Carnival Miracle:

• Your host, Robert Helms
• Co-host, Russell Gray
• The Godfather of Real Estate, Bob Helms
• Robert Kiyosaki’s Rich Dad Real Estate Advisors, Ken McElroy and Wayne Palmer
• International Real Estate Developer, Beth Clifford
• Attorney, Mauricio Rauld
• Real estate investor, developer and author, David Campbell
• Financial strategist, Patrick Donohoe

After one week of focused education, networking and outrageous fun, each faculty member share their most important takeaways. Over two-thirds of the 2011 attendees, including the complete faculty and their families immediately signed up to come back in 2012 to celebrate our 10th annual Investor Summit at Sea™.  It’s hard to describe the Summit experience, as several surveys described the event as “life changing”, “incredible”, “awesome” and “over the top”.

How can a simple real estate investment conference have such a powerful impact? Tune in as our prestigious faculty tries to distrill their experience into a one hour radio show – and consider the power of just one great idea, relationship or commitment.

Listen now!
Don’t miss a show – subscribe to the free podcast!
Want More?  Sign up for The Real Estate Guys™ free newsletter!

The Real Estate Guys™ Radio Show podcast provides education, information, training and resources to help investors make money with their real estate investing.  Learn more and subscribe to the free newsletter at www.realestateguysradio.com

Secrets of Successful Syndication

Tired of waiting for someone else to create a job for you or give you a raise?  Take control of your own future by discovering how to make big money doing big deals through real estate syndication.

Syndication is simply putting together a group of investors and use the combined resources to take advantage of more and bigger opportunities for everyone’s benefit.  And when you’ve fully deployed your own cash and credit, syndication is a great way to keep going.

Now is one of the greatest times we’ve seen to become a real estate syndicator. Distressed properties and notes are abundant.  Assets can be purchased for pennies on the dollar.  Best of all, you’re not preying upon the unfortunate.  You’re helping clean up a big mess and playing a vital role in revitalizing the economy.

With all the liquidity being pumped into the economy, there’s still time to take advantage of low interest rates.  Longer term, many economists expect inflation – which means rising asset values (equity!), rising rents and rising interest rates.  But inflation hasn’t hit real estate yet, so there’s a window of opportunity to snap up deals.

We could go on and on about why the next 2-3 years look to be among the best ever to be a buyer.  But that’s not the point of this article and we’ve discussed it many times on the broadcast.

The real point is that syndication is a great opportunity for sharp, hardworking people to become real estate entrepreneurs. In his new book, The Sleeping Giant, best selling author and Robert Kiyosaki Rich Dad Advisor Ken McElroy says a new American Dream is upon us: the age of the entrepreneur.  Gone are the days of working four decades for the same company and retiring on a comfortable pension.  And the last time we looked, Social Security isn’t looking very secure.  So you need a good paying job now AND a way to build up wealth over the the long term.

If you’re unemployed, under-employed or concerned about the future of your job or company, then you might want to give serious consideration to starting your own business. And while there are many different businesses to choose from, in most all cases you’ll need to organize capital to get started.  For the average Joe, that means using up his life’s savings, home equity and all his available credit card lines – literally betting the farm on the success of the business.  That’s one way to go.

On the other hand, wouldn’t it be better if you were or raise some private investor money where neither you nor any of your investors are ruined if things don’t go as planned?  Shared risk and shared reward.  That’s all a syndication is.

Of course, that begs the question: what kind of a business?

Obviously, we like real estate – and for many reasons.  First, it’s everywhere and not overly complicated – at least compared to starting a bio-tech firm or a software company.  That makes it possible for you to get up to speed and run the business effectively pretty quickly.  But it’s also a business that your investors should be able to understand and get excited about without needing Ph.D.’s.

Most people can see there are bargains galore in real estate right now, but because the dollars are big they can’t take advantage of them…by themselves.  They don’t have enough money, time, knowledge or connections.  That’s why so many people buy mutual funds instead of picking their own stocks.  They are effectively hiring a fund manager to do the hard work of investing.

When you organize a real estate syndication, your investors are essentially hiring you to buy, manage and sell the investments  – just like a mutual fund manager.  Except instead of investing in stocks, you’re investing in real estate or notes.  Now before you freak out, remember that you’ve probably already bought or sold a property, rented a property, gotten a loan or otherwise been involved in some real estate transactions.  So you already have some experience.  And if you’re a real estate agent, loan officer, appraiser, contractor or someone who deals with the business of real estate on a daily basis, you’re way ahead of the curve.  Remember, most mutual fund managers don’t have to know how to run the companies they invest in, they just have to know how to recognize good business models and managers.

Of course, in the spirit of full disclosure, if syndication were THAT easy, then everyone would be doing it, right?  True.  However, we bet there are many very capable people out there who would be very successful syndicators, but it never occurred to them they could do it.  And like any manager, it’s a huge responsibility to be in charge of other people’s assets.  Yet, many people do a fine job for their employers every day, but  just don’t think of it as asset management.  Yet if you’re a manager of any kind, you’re responsible for someone else’s assets -  their money, their customers, their reputation, their property, their information – on a daily basis.  If you do a good job there, the odds are good you will be successful in real estate – which is quite possibly a lot less complicated than your current day job.

Still, it’s important to be properly trained. And the task of organizing an investment syndication is not one to be taken up lightly.  There are laws to follow and lots of details to be aware of.  Again, if it was brain dead easy, than everyone would be doing it.

So where can you go to learn the secrets of successful syndication? You can and should read books, take classes, and get around people who are doing it.  Much of which you can figure out on your own if you have the time and motivation.  But if the gap between where you are and where you want to be looks to big to jump on your own, we have something for you!

We’ve imposed upon our outstanding Investor Summit at Sea™ Faculty, which includes Ken McElroy and fellow Rich Dad Advisor Wayne Palmer (a very successful syndicator in his own right), plus international real estate developer Beth Clifford and attorney Mauricio Rauld, to conduct an all day training called The Secrets of Successful Syndication Seminar on April 3rd in Fort Lauderdale, Florida (you’ve been looking for a great reason to visit beautiful South Florida, right?).

Discover what it takes to organize and operate a real estate syndication business, where you can go from zero to a full time income (even part time!) in six months or less.

For more information and to enroll on-line, click here now.

The Real Estate Guys™ Radio Show podcast provides education, information, training and resources to help investors make money with their real estate investing.

1/23/11: Finding Financing When Funders Are Fickle

I love you.  I love you not.  I love you. I love you not.

Financing is the life blood of real estate – especially for real estate investors, developers and re-habbers.  When times are good, lenders are BEGGING for your business.  Do you remember when there was so much money chasing deals, if you had a pulse you qualified?  Ahhh….the good ‘ole days.  But we digress.

Today, it’s a different story.  Lender’s lust for lending has grown cold unless you’re stacked with cash and have a nice asset base.  And even then it’s hard to get a date to the funding dance.  Lenders can be so fickle!

Of course the drive to reproduce profits is hard to suppress.  To find out what’s happening on the funding scene from a developer’s perspective, we decided to call someone who’s been on the prowl for funding for most of this real estate recession.

In the radio love shack for this episode:

• Your host with the most, Robert Helms
• Your co-host with the almost, Russell Gray
• Special Guest, International Real Estate Developer and Summit at Sea Faculty Member, Beth Clifford

What are you going to do when the well runs dry?  Are you going to run away and hide?  (Hint: Fats Domino – late 50′s when the Godfather first started investing.)

When the flow of capital to the market place abruptly stopped, many real estate investors’ and developers’ financial hearts stopped beating.  Despite various attempts by the Federal Reserve and Washington DC to get money flowing again, it still hasn’t happened.  So vulture firms sprang up and have been carrying off the carcasses of the permanently broken-hearted, while there are many walking wounded who may never love real estate again.

But there are also a number of stalwart real estate lovers who refuse to be put off by a little (okay, a LOT) of adversity.  How may times are you willing to take “No” to get to a “Yes”.  A yes is SO worth it!

And even though many of the old haunts like commercial banks aren’t too flush with good prospects, new establishments are opening all the time – where private capital and creativity are coming together to hook up investors with capital.

To cut to the chase, and avoid an NR rating, in this episode we get our special guest to reveal some of the lengths she’s willing to go to find money for her projects.  And though you may never be an international real estate developer managing multi-million dollar projects, you can take the same business principles and apply them to your project – no matter how small.   Yes, it’s true.  When you’re in love, size doesn’t matter.

Listen now!
Don’t miss a show – subscribe to the free podcast!
Want More?  Sign up for The Real Estate Guys™ free newsletter!

The Real Estate Guys™ Radio Show podcast provides education, information, training and resources to help investors make money with their real estate investments.

The 9th Annual Investor Summit at Sea™ Announced

The Real Estate Guys™ 9th Annual Investor Summit at Sea™
April 3-12, 2011

It’s going to take a MIRACLE to top our 2010 Summit.   So that’s just what we ordered up!  BUT…we’re ALMOST SOLD OUT!  So, if you want to join The Real Estate Guys and Robert Kiyosaki’s Rich Dad Real Estate Advisors Ken McElroy and Wayne Palmer, SIGN UP TODAY!

The 2011 Investor Summit at Sea™ will be aboard the fabulous Carnival Miracle!  And we’re sure the 2011 Summit will be our BEST EVER.

Check out our AMAZING WORLD CLASS FACULTY:

• Real estate entrepreneur, best selling author and Rich Dad Advisor® KEN MCELROY
• Creative real estate mastermind, author and Rich Dad Advisor® WAYNE PALMER
• International real estate developer and economist BETH CLIFFORD
• International entity strategist, attorney MAURICIO RAULD
• Real estate broker, 50+ year investing veteran, the “Godfather of Real Estate” BOB HELMS
• Your hosts, The Real Estate Guys™, ROBERT HELMS and RUSSELL GRAY

Our 2010 students attend classes onboard while we sail to the next port.

NEW! Expanded schedule includes 30+ hours of seminars and workshops at sea.  This is the MOST classroom time in our history!

Plus:  Investor and Advisor Roundtable discussions and an optional educational shore excursion.  And you won’t want to miss our famous Summit beach party!

Imagine the value of just ONE GOOD IDEA or STRATEGIC RELATIONSHIP!

At our last Summit we had serious investors from five different countries, plus an all star faculty!  Where else can you go to have the opportunity to spend 9 days and nights with a group like this?  Don’t miss the boat!!!

• Our 2011 Investor Summit at Sea™ Itinerary
• Pricing and Registration
• Top 10 Reasons to Sail the Caribbean with The Real Estate Guys™
• Frequently Asked Questions

SPACE IS LIMITED due to on-board meeting room size constraints.  And once we’re sold out, we can’t expand.  So, act now to reserve your spot on The Real Estate Guys™ 9th Annual Investor Summit at Sea™!  You’ll be glad you did.

5/16/10: Live, Work, Play – Designing Your Lifestyle as a Real Estate Investor

The world has changed! The internet has made it smaller, the economy has become much more global, and there are unprecedented opportunities to integrate real estate investing into an international lifestyle.  But if you’re living in your home town, working at a day job and dreaming of going global, where do you start?  We invited someone we know that went from Corporate America to international real estate development to come in studio and tell us not only how and why she did it, but where she sees the opportunities in today’s rapidly changing economy.

In the studio for today’s show:
•    Your Host and Chief Globetrotter, Robert Helms
•    Co-Host and Travel Coordinator,  Russell Gray
•    The Godfather of Real Estate,  Bob Helms
•    Special Guest: International Real Estate Developer, Beth Clifford

This is a show we were super excited to do.  For many people, real estate investing means tenants and troubles that interrupt their lifestyle rather than enhance it.  But does it have to be that way?  We catch up with our good friend Beth Clifford, who made the leap from a day job to a dream job using international real estate as the vehicle.  Of course, we have lots of questions – and Beth is nice enough to hang out for the whole show and answer them.

We start out getting the Reader’s Digest on Beth’s career.  While the history is interesting, what’s really useful is the mental process Beth went through to decide what she really wanted to do – and how real estate fits in.

Another very interesting topic of conversation comes up when Beth gives us the “big picture”.  Now that she’s gone global, what macro trends does she see?  What do they mean to her and her real estate strategies?  What can we learn from her experiences to make us better investors?  We have inquiring minds!

Beth also shares strategies she is using to gain competitive advantages in new markets – and how financial strength is much less important than you might think.  Whew! That’s a relief – because this Great Recession has taken the wind out of a lot of folks’ sails.  Knowing how to keep going when your financials aren’t as strong you’d like is a key survival skill for a real estate investor.

We discuss the importance of taking into consideration demographics, migration patterns, social and technology trends; plus your personal assets and interests when selecting which markets you will invest in.  Careful planning on the front end can yield a portfolio that is both profitable and fun!  And let’s face it, if you’re not having fun…well, it’s no fun.

Even though Beth is doing deals which have bigger numbers, the concepts she shares apply to everyone.  Enjoy!

Listen Now

Don’t miss a show!  Subscribe to the Free Podcast

Want More?  Sign Up for The Real Estate Guys Free Newsletter!

4/25/10: LIVE! from the 8th Annual Investor Summit at Sea

Most of the time when we do a show, our producer keeps us locked up in the cold, lonely studio with our headphones on.  And even though we have each other, we have to use our imaginations to see our listeners.  But this week, we get to do the show in front of a LIVE STUDIO AUDIENCE! Better yet, we’re aboard a cruise ship sailing through the Caribbean!  Best of all, we’re hanging out with some the brightest, most committed real estate investors on the planet.  Toss in our SPECIAL GUESTS and the whole experience is over the top awesome!

On board and behind (and in front) of the microphones on the beautiful Carnival Triumph for this week’s show:

•    Your Captain and a mighty sailing man, host Robert “Skipper” Helms
•    Your brave and sure first mate, co-host Russell “Gilligan” Gray
•    The Godfather of Real Estate, Bob Helms
•    Rich Dad’s Asset Protection Advisor, Garrett Sutton
•    Rich Dad’s Real Estate Advisor, Ken McElroy
•    Rich Dad’s Creative Finance Advisor, Wayne Palmer
•    International Real Estate Developer, Beth Clifford
•    International Entity Planner, Attorney Mauricio Rauld
•    Special guest from Puglia’s restaurant in Little Italy, New York; featured entertainer in Adam Sandler’s Big Daddy, the one and only Jorge Buccio
•    Fine passengers that sailed that day, a cast of thousands (okay, maybe a few dozen), our live Summit at Sea audience!

As we’re stuffing the faculty and studio audience into the Big Easy Piano Bar for this live taping, we quickly that discover fitting everyone in (physically into the room, but also getting their comments into a one hour broadcast) is anything but easy!  However, the Skipper quickly takes control and before we know it, we’re off and running.

After some brief opening remarks, the Skipper asks each of the Summit Faculty to share their insights and reflections on the remarkable week we’ve all had together.  For the Rich Dad Advisors, this was their first (but hopefully not last!) Summit with The Real Estate Guys™.   They’ve all heard Robert Kiyosaki call us wild and crazy, but now they had a chance to observe it first hand.  Of course, none of that stuff makes it into the show because Summit Rule #1 is “what happens at sea stays at sea”.  Sorry!  Join us next year and then you can be a Summit Insider too!

For today’s show, each Faculty Member shares some of the highlights from their Summit presentations.

Ken McElroy taught on how he approaches real estate in today’s economy.  This is a guys who has over 10,000 doors under his control and is actively acquiring more…in spite of the “bad” real estate market.

Garrett Sutton spoke on state-of-the-art asset protection structures for real estate investors.  He also did a class on how to properly structure deals using investors and partners.  Many well meaning people end up in trouble when they raise money to buy real estate – simply because they don’t know what they don’t know.  Considering that syndicating is arguably the fastest path to big deals and big bucks, a small investment in knowing how to do it right is time and money well spent!

Wayne Palmer comments about his extensive series of classes on the creative use of private notes.  Wayne uses notes for putting together real estate deals which might not otherwise happen.  He also uses them to create equity and cash flow from next to nothing!  It seems like magic, but during the Summit he revealed some of his trade secrets.   Also, he shared the guidelines he follows to mitigate risk and optimize return.  His classes were among the most demanding, but also the most popular.  Powerful and practical principles for profiting from paper (say that fast 10 times).

Beth Clifford wowed the group with her amazing presentation on the how and why of going offshore with some of your investments and business ventures.  Hers was one of the most popular topics at the Summit, even with the faculty!  Wayne Palmer said Beth’s presentation stretched his brain and was his favorite of the Summit.  Now THAT’S saying something!

Mauricio Rauld expanded on the concept of international investment and business structures – and how to avoid the dangerous schemes which land so many novices in trouble.  There are many valid, legal and ethical structures which can be used to better protect assets, protect privacy and mitigate taxes.

There’s a lot more that happened on the Summit which just can’t fit into the radio show – even in a summary – including the Apartment Investors Panel, the Ask the Attorneys Panel and the Investor Roundtables.  Plus the fun in the sun real estate shore excursion in Belize, the more fun in the sun beach party in Cozumel and all the private shipboard parties.  Alumni will never look at a napkin the same way again!

Going into the Summit, we weren’t sure what the Rich Dad Advisors would think by the end of the week.  After all, they get to hang out with Robert Kiyosaki and talk in front of crowds of thousands!  But when it was all said and done, they had a great time.  Don’t take our word for it.  Listen to the show and you can hear it for yourself!

Listen Now

Don’t miss a show!  Subscribe to the Free Podcast

Want More?  Sign Up for The Real Estate Guys Free Newsletter!

To get in on the EARLY BIRD deals for the 2011 Investor Summit at Sea, use the Feedback page to send us your request.   You’ll be given an opportunity to sign up at the lowest public price.  And after listening to this show, why wouldn’t you want to be with us on the 9th Annual Summit at Sea?

Seven Lessons from the Summit at Sea

The Real Estate Guys™ 8th Annual Summit at Sea was a huge success! We feel sorry for everyone that wasn’t with us this year.   All the energy, education, experiences and relationships are hard to put into words, but we have 7 lessons we believe will help you.

We kicked off the 2010 Summit in the French Quarter of New Orleans. Many Summit attendees wisely came in a day early and made plans to stay a day or two later in order to enjoy the hospitality of this amazing city.  Those who got the most out of their trip had invested the time to research the city beforehand.  When they arrived they had geographical context and some idea about what they wanted to see and do.  One of our attendees had plans to attend a certain restaurant he’d heard good things about.  The food of the French Quarter was certainly one of the highlights of this trip. Russ took the opportunity to try turtle soup and fried alligator.  Both were great and he’d order them again!

Summit Lesson #1:  Life’s best surprises go to the curious and adventurous. Invest time to visit new places, meet new people, try new things and discover new ideas.  You’ll be the richer for it.  If you’re not that way naturally (like Russ) – hang out with people who are (like Robert).  Some of our best real estate deals and business relationships have come from simply exploring.  Deal hunting is as much art as science.  You can’t always script it.

Back to our attendee. So this guy is heading out according to his plan.  But when he steps into the hotel elevator, he runs into Rich Dad Advisor® Wayne Palmer and his family.  The short of it is our guy ends up going to dinner with Wayne!  We’ve been at Rich Dad events with hundreds and thousands of people in attendance, many of whom wait in line for a long time just to get two minutes with an Advisor.  Can you imagine being able to enjoy a long casual dinner with Wayne Palmer?

Summit Lesson #2:  Great opportunities to meet interesting people and learn new things won’t happen to those who stay home, arrive late, leave early or aren’t flexible. If you want to build strategic relationships, you must go to where the right people are and put yourself in a position to get lucky (speaking purely in terms of business).

As real estate investors, it’s important to practice exploring markets. There’s so much more you learn from actually being there.  The internet can’t capture the spirit of a market.  From cab drivers, to hotel and restaurant workers, to local shop keepers and business owners, to the people on the street, there is a lot you will discover about what’s REALLY happening in a local economy when you’re physically in it.  People living in a community know what’s happening right now with rents, prices, migration trends, demographics and job creation.  Only when you add this anecdotal information to your own real life observations can you begin to put statistics into useful perspective.  Remember: stats reports things that have already happened – not what’s happening now.

We noticed that New Orleans is a very entrepreneurial city. Perhaps in the wake of Katrina (the effects of which were still apparent) the bravest, most resilient and dedicated people have returned first.  In any case, these folks weren’t asking for handouts.  They were happy for the opportunity to earn our business – and very thankful for it when they got it.  As our nation and world continues to work through the effects of the financial crisis, the people of New Orleans gave us hope.  If people all over the world dedicate themselves to working their way out of a mess like these people are, our world is going to come out of this Great Recession just fine.

Summit Lesson #3:  Entrepreneurship and hard work (not handouts) are the keys to personal and societal recovery. Everyone who’s struggling in this economy should take a trip to New Orleans and see how winners react to adversity.  No wonder the Saints won the Super Bowl.  If we all take the spirit of New Orleans back to our businesses, this recession will quickly fade into the rear view mirror.

After a great session in the hotel, the group headed to the pier and boarded the ship.  We sailed on the Carnival Triumph, which was SOLD OUT!  Cruise lines are actually weathering the financial storm pretty well.  Why? Perhaps people realize that a cruise is a great value, meets a basic human need (to refresh themselves) and attracts financially capable people from all over the world (a broad market).  Do these principles apply to real estate investing?  It’s obvious that real estate meets a basic human need, but we’re reminded of the importance of having a large, financially capable target market.  No matter how badly someone wants something, if they can’t afford it (or don’t think they can) they won’t buy.

Summit Lesson #4:  Pick markets and properties that appeal to a large demographic of financially capable people and you will weather difficult times more easily.

The next lesson came later, but is an extension of lesson #4.  Rich Dad’s Real Estate Advisor Ken McElroy talked about the markets and properties he targets:  B-Class apartments (meets a basic human need – housing) with affordable rents (provides a great value) that appeal to working class people (a large, financially capable demographic) in markets with good mid-to-long term job creation (he focuses on areas with fundamental and growing industries such as energy).

What was very interesting is that on the real estate shore excursion to Belize, we saw a very different variation on the same themes.

In Belize, we visited a piece of beautiful waterfront land and listened as the developer shared her vision for the property.  She plans to build high quality, moderately priced residential units suitable for resort, retirement or ex-pat full time occupancy.  While the country of Belize is sparsely populated and very poor, it is a land of breathtaking natural beauty and terrific year round warm weather.

Like the cruise ship, the project in Belize provides great value, satisfies a basic human need and desire, and appeals to a worldwide, financially capable demographic.  In other words, the project’s success isn’t dependent on the local population to be successful.  It attracts people from all over the world.  And because there will be so few units available relative to the size of the market, it’s hard to imagine the project won’t be successful.  It’s very different than B-class apartments, but like the cruise line, follows a similar fundamental formula.

Summit Lesson #5: Essential principles of successful investing don’t vary much, even though markets, properties and target customers might. Or as the old adage says, there’s more than one way to skin a cat (though we have no idea why anyone would want to do that – it’s cruel).

Even though this was our 8th Summit, there is no doubt it was our most compelling line up of speakers. We were very fortunate to have not one, but THREE of Robert Kiyosaki’s Rich Dad Advisors® teaching at our Summit.  Creative real estate genius Wayne Palmer taught a powerful and practical series on how to create capital, produce profits and generate cash flow with the creative use of private notes.  Even though people had to ice their brains after each session, Wayne was gracious to make himself available during non-class times.  He answered questions and even did some individual personal consultations.  These opportunities weren’t part of the official program, but some people at the event got lucky (see Summit Lesson #2).  People left the event believing they could use the education they got to do at least one deal which would more than pay for the cost of the entire Summit – and next year’s too!

To quote Robert Kiyosaki, “Savers are Losers”.  Though we agree with his premise (and highly recommend you read his latest mega bestseller Conspiracy of the Rich), we’re saying it for a completely different reason.  We think people who “saved money” by not coming on the Summit actually lost money.  We know.  That sounds like sales pitch.  But anyone who’s ever tried to do an event like this knows that no one is getting rich by promoting it.  More, if you saw the surveys of the people who came, you’d realize that we still haven’t figured out how to over-promote the Summit.  Everyone felt it was easily worth the time and money.

When you’re around people who know how to make money in a tough economy; who are optimistic about the future; who are resourceful and busy taking advantage of all the opportunities they see in the market, you quickly realize those who lost out were those who wanted to attend and chose not to because they told themselves “I can’t afford it”.  This paradigm looks at the Summit (or similar events) as an expense and not an investment.  The difference is that an expense pays for something that is consumed and doesn’t produce a profit.  An investment pays for itself and returns a profit.  The paradigm should have been, “I can’t afford not to” and “How can I afford it?”  Most people believe a college education is worth the price, yet hesitate to invest in non-institutional education.  Could it be they believe the degree is more important than the knowledge?  What do you believe?

Summit Lesson #6:  Paradigms affect potential and profits, so pick your paradigms carefully. The Summit was full of winners and after living with these amazing people for a week we found ourselves picking up new paradigms and making commitments to shed some bad ones.  One of the great challenges is to manage the influences to our thinking.  We look for every opportunity to hang around top performers.

One common theme we noticed in the presentations of nearly all the speakers was “control”.  Wayne Palmer talked about his rules for risk.  He follows strict (but flexible) guidelines for collateral, loan-to-values, target returns and cash flows in order to control the risks he takes in any deal.  Rich Dad’s Asset Protection Advisor, attorney Garrett Sutton, talked about entity planning and how to structure your affairs in order to control liability and tax risk.  Attorney Mauricio Rauld spoke on international entity structures which further control liability and tax risk when investing outside of the US.

Ken McElroy talked about his guidelines for market and property due diligence, as well as his dogged attention to cash flow.  He uses these disciplines to control market risk.  He says this control is why his real estate investments aren’t in trouble even though he’s going through the same challenging market conditions that are wiping out so many others.  He doesn’t rely upon the market to do the work for him.  He looks for deals with upside and works to improve the cash flow, which in turn increases the equity.  Then he uses prudent leverage to release the new equity and return his seed capital so he can move forward with positive cash flow – all on no money invested.  This produces what Robert Kiyosaki calls “infinite returns”.  Meanwhile, he recycles the seed capital to do the next deal!

Robert Helms stressed the importance of controlling one’s mindset when investing in the wake of an unprecedented drop in values (see Summit Lesson #6).  Each had a different angle, but again, all variations on a theme: control.

Summit Lesson #7:  Pay careful attention to the things you can control so you’re able to withstand the challenges caused by the things you can’t (inflation, taxes, market cycles, interest rates, etc).  When it comes to investing, most people are out of control.  Fear overrides common sense and they buy high and sell low.  They turn their money over to bankers and Wall Street and hope for the best (hope is not a strategy).  They manage cash flow by feel rather than budgets and bookkeeping.  Worst of all, they wait for external circumstances to get better rather than investing in making themselves better with education, relationships, strategies, disciplines, systems and a willingness to take action in the face of uncertainty.

We could go on and on!  There are SO many great lessons to glean from the Summit.  Of course, the only way to really get them is to actually be there.  The Real Estate Guys™ Summit isn’t the only event of its type, but after reading the surveys of the attendees, and even more, hearing the feedback of the Rich Dad Advisors®, we think it’s one of the best.  And we’re already making plans to make next year’s Summit even better!

We encourage you to make it your goal to be with us in 2011. Without exception, every survey we received said the event exceeded expectations and was well worth the time and money invested.  Over one third of this year’s group has already signed up for next year!

To make sure YOU get the upcoming announcement about The Real Estate Guys™ 9th Annual Summit at Sea in 2011, be sure to sign up for our newsletter. To be extra sure you get the early bird deal, use our feedback page to let us know you’re interested and we’ll put you on our VIP notification list.

All the best!

Robert Helms and Russell Gray
Hosts
The Real Estate Guys™ Radio Show

Wayne Palmer added to Summit Faculty!!!

More GREAT news!!!  Wayne Palmer, a man Robert Kiyosaki describes as a “creative genius” when it comes to real estate deal making, will be a featured teacher on The Real Estate Guys 8th Annual Real Estate Investor Summit at Sea!

Wayne joins fellow Rich Dad advisors Ken McElroy and Garrett Sutton, as well as The Real Estate Guys’ own Robert Helms, Russell Gray and the Godfather of Real Estate Bob Helms – plus international real estate developer Beth Clifford – for the most dynamic Summit faculty we’ve ever had!

Wayne is a contributing author to Robert Kiyosaki’s recently released The REAL Book of Real Estate.  In fact, Wayne wrote more of that book than any other contributor.  Wayne is a master of creative deal structure using notes and equity exchanges.  For the first time ever, he will be revealing his strategies for creative deal structure and profit using promissory notes!

Wayne has a long history in real estate dating back to 1976.  He has an extensive background, which spans several states and decades, in real estate sales, development and financing.  Wayne is a Certified Real Estate Note Appraiser, a Certified Cash Flow Master Broker and is a respected leader in the creative equity exchange industry.  Most importantly, Wayne knows how to create wealth without cash and will be sharing his priceless knowledge as we sail the Caribbean together for 8 days and 7 nights!

This is a VERY RARE OPPORTUNITY for a LIMITED number of people to spend an entire week with Wayne (plus Ken, Garrett and the rest of the Summit faculty).  Don’t miss the boat!

The 8th Annual Summit at Sea is April 9-17, 2010!!!

Enjoy a week of fun, sun, camaraderie and powerful real estate education sailing the beautiful Caribbean with your hosts – The Real Estate Guys™ and an AMAZING line up of teachers including Rich Dad Advisors Ken McElroy, Garrett Sutton and Wayne Palmer; plus international real estate developer Beth Clifford and of course, Robert, Russ and the Godfather of Real Estate, Bob Helms.

Friday, April 9 through Saturday, April 17, 2010

Register early for the best upgrades! Call 888-489-7723 to speak with our fabulous Cruise Director MaryLyn or contact us though our Feedback page.

Food, Fun, Sun, Drinks, Food, Music, Dancing, Food, Shows, Shore Excursions and Food! You’ll love the International Gourmet Cuisine, Lavish Entertainment, Full Casino, Live Bands, Round-the-Clock Complimentary Room Service and incredible ports of call. But that’s not all!

Information Packed Seminars, Workshops and Round Table Discussions On the days at sea, The Guys and their team of expert speakers provide over 25 hours of exciting and practical real estate training to help you build your knowledge to expand your real estate empire!

A Mastermind Experience - In his classic Think and Grow Rich, author Napoleon Hill revealed that most of the millionaires he interviewed always invested quality time with like-minded people as a way to stay motivated, gather new ideas and to get feedback on their own ideas. What better place than an 8 day cruise to “rub brains” with The Real Estate Guys, their guest speakers and other like-minded investors? It’s a planning retreat, a vacation, a networking event and trade conference all wrapped into one power-packed week!

Optional Real Estate Field Trip – The great thing about real estate is that it’s everywhere!  So even though the ship’s “consumer” excursions are fun, The Real Estate Guys always like to set up an educational tour of a local real estate market at one or more of our ports of call. This is a great way to see how The Guys evaluate a market – and we almost always get local market experts to share their insights with our group.  We call it “Kickin’ the Dirt” – though sometimes it’s actually beautiful white sand beaches and crystal blue water!

This Year’s Ports – We’ll be starting in the fun filled city of New Orleans on Friday, April 9th before we set sail on the incredible Carnival Triumph to visit the beautiful ports of Belize, Isla Roatan and Cozumel, Mexico.

It’s a Family Affair! Even if your spouse and children aren’t interested in real estate, there’s lots to enjoy while you’re in classes. The Guys always bring their families, so you’ll get to meet The Real Estate Wives and The Real Estate Kids! Camp Carnival has age appropriate activities for children as young as two years old!

Space is limited, so call now so you don’t miss the boat!

Register early for the best upgrades! Call 1-888-489-7723 to speak with our Cruise Director MaryLyn  or or contact us though our Feedback page.

Still not convinced?  Check out this video from one of our previous Summits and imagine YOU as the star of the 2010 event!

The Top 10 Reasons to Attend The Real Estate Guys Investor Summit at Sea

Frequently Asked Questions