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.
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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
2/6/11: Ask The Guys – Who, What, Where, When, Why and How
There’s no such thing as a stupid question.
Well okay, there actually are some pretty stupid questions, but that’s why we take questions by email and not call in. That way we can filter out the bad ones and just bring you the really good ones! We really aren’t qualified to advise you on what color to do dye your hair or what style of nose ring to purchase. But if you have a real estate related question, we’re your Guys!
In the studio to provide powerful pontifications in response to several of the great questions we receive each week:
- Your host and hero, Robert Helms
- His trusty sidekick, Russell Gray
- Wise sage of all things real estate, The Godfather of Real Estate, Bob Helms
For this episode of Ask the Guys we reached into the email grab bag and pulled out some gems:
From a listener in Australia (who understandably thinks we’re amazing), who just bought two properties (good job!), and wants to know should he buy more – in his wife’s name with “negative gearing”. Hmmmm…. you need to be careful about anything negative when your spouse is involved – and what type of gear you use with your wife…well, that’s really none of our business.
For our next question, Simon says he put in a deposit on a pre-construction property, but undisclosed costs have made him nervous. Now Simon says he wants out of the deal and his deposit back. But what does the contract say?
From Philadelphia, the city of brotherly love, Kevin and his siblings have inherited dad’s duplex and are debating what to do. One sibling says keep it, the other two want out. What’s a brother to do?
Rasean has aspirations to become a real estate syndicator (what a good idea!) and is trying to track down the bible of syndication, written by our friend Sam Freshman. Hint: The Real Estate Guys™ have a Recommended Reading bookstore on our website under our RESOURCES tab.
And Martin, who lives in Smallville, wants to know if he should invest in his own backyard or seek super returns in Metropolis. So we ducked into the nearest phone booth (hard to find these days!) and fired up our x-ray vision to look for the answer.
If YOU have a question for The Real Estate Guys™, just click on Ask the Guys to send us your query. Then, Walter in the mail room will throw it in the mail bin, where we’ll dive in later to pluck questions for some future show. Maybe we’ll pull yours out, so keep those cards and letters coming!
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The Real Estate Guys™ Radio Show podcast provides education, information, training and resources to help investors make money with their real estate investments.
12/19/10: Winding Down the Year – Maximizing Your Properties, Deductions and Strategies
Let’s face it. Running even a fledgling real estate empire is hard work. The only paperwork that’s fun is cashing those rent checks! Nonetheless, the end of the year is a great time to step back from all the wheeling and dealing and do some strategic planning for the New Year.
In The E-Myth Revisited (on our list of Recommended Reading), author Michael Gerber says you must invest time “working ON your business instead of IN it”. In Before You Quit Your Job (hey! that’s also on the recommended list!), our good friend Rich Dad Poor Dad (yes, it’s on the list too) author Robert Kiyosaki explains the importance of SYSTEMS in his B-I (Business Owner / Investor) Triangle. The point is that being organized and thinking strategically are critical components of success.
But where to start? That’s the topic of this episode!
Behind the microphones, in the Equity Sleigh, winding down the year:
- Your host, the Santa of Real Estate Wisdom, ho-ho-host Robert Helms
- Santa’s Helper, co-ho-ho-host (or just “co-ho” for short), Russell Gray
- Our own Santa look-alike, the Godfather of Real Estate, Bob Helms
Taking a page from Santa’s playbook, The Real Estate Guys are making a list and checking it twice. But we’re not looking for who’s naughty or nice…well, actually naughty would be okay 
…our list has a bunch of things real estate investors should be thinking about this time of year.
When rushing to open your holiday gifts, wouldn’t it be nice to open up a great big tax deduction, reduced mortgage rate or increased cash flow? Of course it would! But sadly, no one is going to slide down your chimney and stuff your stocking with enhanced profits. So, if you want to pad your bottom line, and keep your assets safe and warm, you’re going to have to wrap your own gifts.
So grab a pen and paper (or that brand new iPad you just opened) and get ready to take some notes. When you’re done listening to this episode, you’ll have very own end of year checklist and a great start of a new holiday tradition!
Happy Holidays!
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The Real Estate Guys™ Radio Show podcast provides education, information and training to help investors make money with their real estate investments.
12/12/10: International Real Estate for Resort, Investment or Safe Haven – Pros and Cons of a Changing Landscape
Whew! That’s a big title. But it’s fitting for a big topic – one that reminds us that the world is not only getting smaller, but is changing rapidly.
Money, jobs and people are moving around the world like never before. And while fewer people may feel rich coming out of this recession, there are other good reasons many are still looking at international real estate – both as an investment strategy and a safe haven hedge against inflation.
While we were at the International Property Congress in Miami Beach, in addition to talking big picture economics with National Association of Realtor’s Chief Economist Lawrence Yun and Federal Reserve Bank VP Thomas Cunningham (see our 11/21/10 show), we sat down and talked about who’s buying international real estate, where and why.
Behind our well-traveled microphones for an international chat-fest:
- Your host, the internationally renowned Robert Helms
- Your co-host and internationally obscure Russell Gray
- The man who has seen more changing landscapes than a migrant farm worker, the eternally international Godfather of Real Estate, Bob Helms
- Special Guest #1: International Property Journal reporter, Kevin Brass
- Special Guest #2: Representative from SECOVI, a Brazilian real estate trade association, Flavio Amary
It’s no secret that every country in the world has it’s own unique strengths and weaknesses. As the dominant economy in the world, Americans have long enjoyed a uniquely stable and high quality of life. It wasn’t necessary or commonplace to travel abroad. Even today, the majority of Americans do not have passports.
However, the world is changing. The US dollar, while still the dominant currency, is facing serious challenges. Job losses, deficit spending, an aging populace and huge unfunded entitlements are all piling up on Uncle Sam. Meanwhile, other countries are emerging as powerful economies in their own right – most notably China.
But this isn’t an episode about the woes facing the US. These aren’t the first challenges and they won’t be the last. Every country has its ups and downs.
This episode is about discovering how and why the dynamics of the world’s economies are changing the way people are approaching real estate.
While we’re more traveled than the average American, we took the opportunity while in Miami to connect with Kevin Brass. Kevin has been covering the international real estate industry for over 20 years and his articles and analyses have been regular features in the International Herald Tribune and the New York Times. Today, Kevin writes for the International Property Journal. His work takes him all around the globe and keeps him connected with many industry leaders worldwide. In this episode, Kevin shares his perspectives on the changing landscape of international real estate.
We also discuss some recent changes to the once vaunted tax and privacy advantages of Panama, who recently entered into an information sharing agreement with the United States. Tax and privacy advantages are often a prime motivator for people to acquire real estate and move to a particular country. Is what happened in Panama a portend of things to come?
Of course, what would an episode on international real estate be without an interview with someone with one of those really intriguing accents? We were privileged to find someone who not only sounds really cool, but has some very useful things to share with us about the robust economy of Brazil. If you haven’t been paying attention to Brazil, you may be surprised to hear about what’s happening there. Hint: not everyone’s in a recession.
Buone Feste, Boas Festas, Felices Fiestas, Frohe Festtage, Wesołych Świąt, Bonnes vacances, Sarbatori Fericite and Happy Holidays!
The Real Estate Guys™ Radio Show podcast provides education, information and training to help investors make money with their real estate investments.
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12/5/10: Best Of Replay – Career Opportunities in Real Estate
BIG MONEY! FLEXIBLE HOURS! BE YOUR OWN BOSS!
Sounds like a late night infomerical pitch, right? Well, not exactly. You’d have to throw in “NO MONEY, NO BRAINS, NO TALENT and NO EFFORT NEEDED! Your shoes don’t even have to match! For just three easy payments, we’ll show you how YOU can become the next Donald Trump!”
Why do these pitches work? Because people almost universally want big money, flexible hours and to be their own boss. These are some of the great appeals to real estate as a career. And when the traditional job market is depressed, even more people look at real estate as way to make money. Have you noticed that the job market is depressed lately?
Even though for the casual observer, some (most?) of the glitter has rubbed off real estate, the reality is that prices and interest rates are better than they’ve been in years. These once-in-a-lifetime circumstances are drawing investors into the marketplace. And with the Fed overtly committed to aggressive “quantitative easing”, it isn’t hard to imagine that somewhere down the road price appreciation will return to normal levels (at least!). But we digress.
The point is that there’s a lot of work to be done in the real estate market to move properties from distressed owners back to banks and then to new owners. And in many cases, the property will change hands more than once, as investors insert themselves into the process. It seems to us that with a lot of people out of work and a lot of work to be done, some folks might want to revisit real estate as a way to make a living.
While most people think of a career in real estate primarily as selling houses to people who’ll live in them, there are actually many other options! In this episode, The Real Estate Guys™ explore the variety of opportunities available when considering real estate as a full time vocation, whether as an agent or an investor – or both!
In the silver DeLorean radio studio for a trip Back to the Future for a show originally broadcast in 2008:
- Your host and professor of pontification, host Robert Helms
- Your co-host and fondler of the flux capacitor, co-host Russell Gray
- The Father Time of real estate, the Godfather, Bob Helms
Enjoy and Happy Holidays!
The Real Estate Guys™ Radio Show podcast provides education, information and training to help investors make money with their real estate investments.
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Don’t miss a show – subscribe to the free podcast!
Want More? Sign up for The Real Estate Guys™ free newsletter!
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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6/13/10: Determining ROI – Balancing Risk and Reward
What’s a reasonable return on investment in today’s market? As you might expect, the answer is, “It depends!” Every investor must accept risk in order to attain reward. Even doing nothing is a risk with its own reward. The obvious goal is to achieve maximum reward with minimum risk. Duh. But what are the risks and how do you assess them? What are the potential returns? What’s about the not-so-obvious risks? And what’s reasonable to expect in today’s economy? Tough questions!
Balancing in our chairs behind The Real Estate Guys™ golden microphones (actually, they’re black with smelly foam that prevents our P’s from popping too profusely), to talk through all of these perplexities are:
- Your Host and mental gymnast, Robert Helms
- Co-host and floor tumbler, Russell Gray
- Chief spotter, the Godfather of Real Estate, Bob Helms
Real estate investing is as much an art as it is a science. There are so many different markets, sub-markets, product types and deal structures to choose from. Beyond that, there are variations in economic conditions, seller motivations, tax laws, interest rates and on and on and on. The types of returns which can be attained in a real estate investment range from bankruptcy (on the VERY negative side) to infinite returns (profit on nothing invested). We like the latter better, don’t you?
Recognizing that real estate investing is “non-traditional” when compared to the conventional approach of “work hard, pay taxes, live below your means and buy stocks, bond and mutual funds for the long haul” – we talk about the ranges of returns which are reasonable to expect when investing in certain kinds of real estate. We also talk about how certain deal structures can really improve your ROI.
Another topic of discussion is the risks of investing versus those of NOT investing. There is an adage which says that the more risk you take, the more return you should demand. We agree with that one. Of course, it presupposes that you understand the risks and can factor them into your decisions.
There is another adage which says that higher returns mean more risk. NOT NECESSARILY! There are actually deal structures which REDUCE risk while INCREASING return. So of course, we talk about those things because they are among our favorite benefits of real estate investing!
After this broadcast, we slipped off our leotards (sorry, bad visual) and headed for the showers (worse visual!), pleased with our performance. Now we’re waiting for the judges (that’s you) to put up our scores. We only ask that not take into consideration what we look like in our leotards. And, that you remember to take us to the gym because, as you probably already know after the leotard visual, we REALLY need the workout!
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6/6/10: Happy Housing Headlines – Real or Not Real?
There’s lots of good real estate news lately!
Does that mean real estate is back? Inquiring minds want to know! So we decide to dig deeper into the headlines to see what we can find out. In the news room for this broadcast are:
- Your host and chief news analyst, Robert Helms
- Co-host and head article clipper, Russell Gray
- Stone tablet reviewer, The Godfather of Real Estate, Bob Helms
Thanks to the internet, real estate investors have more access to more information than ever before! But to whom much is given, much is required. It’s more important than ever to consider carefully what is being reported, who’s reporting it, and whether the underlying facts are accurate.
We shoot through reports on news about housing, employment, consumer confidence and economic trends – all of which provide clues we can use to determine what’s really happening out there. Of course, you always run the risk of paralysis of analysis, so managing your mindset is just as important as filtering through all the noise.
At the end of the day (and this broadcast!), it all comes down to taking action. Knowledge is only power when acted upon. If there’s opportunity in turmoil, then a key to success is to take action when others are hesitating. How? Tune in and find out!
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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.
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!
Wayne Palmer (seated 2nd from left) and Ken McElroy (far right) talk real estate with two investors while sailing the Caribbean. There's room for YOU to join the conversation in 2011!
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.
5/30/10: Getting Into the Deal Flow – Wholesale Solutions for a Distressed Market
We always say that every problems presents one or more opportunities. That sounds really good in a seminar or on the radio, but what about in the real world?
In our continuing quest to find resources to help real estate investors succeed, we came across an entrepreneur who looked at all the carnage in the low end housing market and saw a business opportunity. In fact, we were so impressed that after out first meeting we decided to fly to his office and look at his operation.
While we were there, we fired up the microphones and recorded an interview. Wouldn’t you like to hear it? We thought so!
Behind the microphones on location in Austin, Texas:
• Your host and lead explorer, Robert Helms
• Co-host, financial strategist and travel coordinator, Russell Gray
• Lawyer, entrepreneur, investment banker and CEO, Jeffrey Ball
Anyone who’s every watched a late night TV infomercial has probably heard the terms “REO” and “Wholesale”. And at 2:00 am, the idea of buying bank owned properties for pennies on the dollar SOUNDS easy to do. But anyone who’s every tried knows it’s a whole lot harder than it looks. So even if you’re well educated and adequately capitalized, getting into the deal flow can be elusive. Correction, getting into the GOOD deal flow is elusive.
Of course, most people only look at a problem from their own perspective. If deal flow is a problem for investors, what about the banks who are holding repossessed properties? Our guest points out that the banks have problems too! And he tells why the problem is worse on the lower priced properties.
Wow! If both the buyers (investors like you) and sellers (banks holding repo’d property) have problems, there MUST be an opportunity in there somewhere, right?
Once we understand the problems from both sides, Jeff reveals how he built a business around solving the problems. What’s most exciting is there is a role for individual investors to play. If you know there’s great deals in distressed property, but haven’t figured out a practical way to get into the deal flow, then this show is for you!
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