The Great Debt Ceiling Debate – Part 1

This is part 1 of a multi-part series on the “great debt ceiling debate” written as an accompaniment to our radio show broadcast and podcast, “Raising the Roof – How the Great Debt Ceiling Debate Impacts You”.  You can download the episode on iTunes or find it on our Listen page.

As the debate rages on about whether and how to raise the U.S. debt ceiling, it’s hard not to have any discussion of the topic degrade into political diatribes.

But as real estate investors, we’re not too concerned about what the policymakers SHOULD do (since we don’t have any direct control anyway).  Instead, we’re much more focused on what IS happening, what is LIKELY to happen, and what we can do in response to avoid loss and/or create a profit.

In short, we refer to discussions about opinions about what should or shouldn’t be done (or who’s to blame) as “political” discussions.  After all, politics is a pretty “shouldy” business.  But you already knew that, didn’t you?

We prefer that our discussions be more practical in terms of what’s likely to happen and developing a plan A, B or C to react to it.  We may have political opinions (some of which leak out from time to time), but you know what they say about opinions: Opinions are like armpits.  Everyone has them and most of them stink.  We don’t have to like each others’ political opinions to enjoy a healthy conversation about what’s happening and how it affects real estate investors.

Since the debt ceiling debate is a complex, polarizing topic with huge global economic consequences, we thought it was worthy of a bigger discussion than our regular broadcast blog.  So strap on your reading glasses and get ready for a big discussion.  And be sure to listen to the podcast on this topic also.  It doesn’t replace this article, but it will help if you’re new to all of this.

We STRONGLY encourage you to plow through it all because the discussion of the U.S. debt and financial system has a DIRECT impact on interest rates, availability of loans, job creation (the best tenants have jobs), wages and the value of your real estate – Just a few things that are probably pretty important to you.

In a Rising Tide, All Ships Rise and Vice-Versa

We all found out a few years ago that no matter where or what kind of real estate boat you were floating, when the MBS (mortgage backed securities) money drained out of the tub, values dropped.  Really astute investors paid attention to the macro trends BEFORE this happened and drained their own equity while the tide was still high (back in 2005 we did some shows on “equity hedging strategies”, which you can find in the Backstage archives).  The rest of us learned (the hard way) that we better pay closer attention to the big picture for next time.

The big question is: will there be a next time?  That is, will real estate values rise again?  If real estate is down, never to rise again, then you can still make money, but you need to approach the problem differently.  If the tide of currency (the money supply) rises, then real estate values are likely to rise over time and you would structure your portfolio accordingly.

So what’s LIKELY to happen? And how does the debt ceiling debate impact you?

You could say that prices are so low they can only go up.  Just like at the peak, when people said that prices were so high they could only go down.  Those are nice sayings, but even a broken clock is right twice a day.  What are the economics behind the predictions?  Is it all such a complicated mystery that merely guessing or listening to the loudest voice is the only way to know?

No.

Here’s the good news.  You can understand all this.  In fact, you may be surprised at how easy it is.  So the goal of this series of articles and the accompanying podcast is to give you a basic understanding of “the mechanics of the money”, so you can begin to plot cause and effect, then decide for yourself what you think will or won’t happen.  But keep in mind, the best strategy will consider all possibilities.

At a recent conference, we heard a quote that has become one of our favorites:

“Better to prepare, than to predict” – Henry Brock

So in this series we’ll take a look at what happens if the DO raise the debt ceiling and what happens if they DON’T.

Of course, who can resist the temptation to predict?  So, at the end, we’ll go out on a limb and make a prediction.  Just keep in mind that our prediction is just our own opinion, and probably about worth what you paid for it.

Ready?  Here we go.

The U.S. Money Supply

First, let’s talk about how money gets into the U.S. system.  When the government needs money, the Treasury either taxes (takes it from the productivity of the people) or borrows (pledge the future productivity of the people).  Since the government has a chronic problem of spending more that it takes in (does that happen?), it’s no surprise that they both tax AND borrow.  In fact, most of the taxes go to pay the interest on the debt.  But no matter how you slice it, the productivity of the people pays the bill.

When Uncle Sam borrows, he writes IOU’s called bonds and sells them in the open market.  Uncle Sam’s bonds are called Treasuries and, at least up until recently, Treasuries have been considered the safest debt you can buy.  After all, they’re backed up by the “full faith and credit of the U.S. Government”, which is really an euphemism to say “the full power and authority of the I.R.S. to tax the earnings of the most productive people on the planet”.

Do you feel any temptation to talk politics?  Stay calm.  Keep your arms and ammunition in the vehicle until the ride comes to a full and complete stop.

So who buys Uncle Sam’s IOU’s?  Lots of people.  Private investors, banks and foreign governments to name a few.  Over the last several years, China has purchased trillions and is now the largest single foreign holder of U.S. debt.  Recently, there’s been another big buyer whom we’ll talk about momentarily.  But for now, let’s talk…

Interest Rates

If you’re already bored reading all this, just think about how important interest rates are to you.  From your savings account, to your mortgage, to your credit cards, to your car loans and all your investment properties, interest rates affect what you earn and what you pay.  More importantly, interest rates are at the heart of the great debt ceiling debate and the motivation behind much of the Fed’s monetary policy.  So stick with us, even if you’re not sure how the Fed’s policies affect you.  You’ll know before this is over.

Interest rates are the price the lender charges for the risk of making the loan.  That’s why if you have bad credit or bad collateral, the rates are higher.  Common sense, right?

But interest rates are also a function of supply and demand.  This means that when there’s lots of money to lend, but not too many borrowers, rates are low.  The lender lowers the price to entice you to borrow.  Low rates encourages borrowing.  High rates encourages saving.  Think about that one.  But not for too long, because we need to move on.

Conversely, if a borrower wants ( really needs, is desperate, etc.) to borrow, he may have to offer a higher interest rate to attract a lender’s money.  In other words, if there’s a big demand for loans, but not many lenders willing to lend, the interest rate a borrower must offer to a lender will rise until someone wants to buy the debt (make the loan). So far so good?

The Bond Market

Remember: Bonds are debt.  So when someone buys a bond, they are effectively lending to the bond issuer.  So when Uncle Sam wants to borrow, he goes into the open market to sell bonds.  This is elementary to some of our audience, but less so to others, so in keeping with our “no investor left behind” mantra, we wanted to make that clear before moving forward.

Now, let’s talk about that other big bond (debt) buyer we mentioned earlier: The Federal Reserve or “The Fed”.  That’s the private (as in, not Federal) network of international banks (that is, not U.S.) whose leader is  appointed (that is, not elected).  How accountable is the Fed to the United States citizenry?  You don’t want to know.  Let’s just say, not very.

Contrary to popular myth, the Fed does NOT set interest rates – at least not directly for things like Treasury Bonds.  The interest rates the Fed sets are the rates at which the banks do business with each other. There’s two: the discount rate (what banks pay when they borrow from the Fed) and the federal funds rate (the rates banks pay when they borrow from each other).  We’re not going to talk about those now because they have nothing to do with the debt ceiling or Treasuries. Well, that’s not entirely true, since Treasuries are competing with banks for the savings of all the “A” students who produce more than the consume and save the excess.  So if the Fed wants Treasury rates low, the banks better be low too, or people would put their money in FDIC insured savings accounts.

Hmmm….there seems to be a relationship between the Fed, the banks and the bond market.  This would be a fun topic to explore, but we’ll leave that to you for extra credit.  For now, we just don’t want you to confuse the rates the Fed sets directly (the Discount Rate and the Federal Funds rate) with how yields (interest rates) are established in the open market where bonds are sold.

Summary of Key Points

• Money gets into the system when the Fed purchases U.S. Treasury Bonds
• Interest are determined in the open market by supply, demand and risk versus reward
• Private investors, including the Fed, purchase U.S. Treasury Bonds, effectively lending to Uncle Sam
• U.S. Treasuries are considered the safest of all all debt (so far) and are the basis for virtually all other bond offerings, with higher risk investments paying higher interest rates

In our next scintillating article in this series, we’ll discuss the mechanics of how the Fed affects interest rates on Treasury Bonds and why you should care. Don’t miss it!

You’re Invited to Robert Kiyosaki’s Boardroom!

Join The Real Estate Guys™ on August 11th as we listen in live to a boardroom conversation between Robert Kiyosaki and several of his Rich Dad Advisors®.  Click here to register now!

Robert Kiyosaki and his Rich Dad Advisors® will be talking about how investors can capitalize on all the turmoil in today’s economic environment.  Gold is at all time highs.  Interest rates are at historic lows.  The US is teetering on the brink of default as the debt ceiling debate rages on.  Wouldn’t you like to know what several successful real world investors are thinking?  We do!

Robert Kiyosaki is one of our favorite financial gurus. We know he’s sometimes controversial, but we don’t get the criticisms.  He preaches the importance of education, surrounding yourself with qualified professionals, and understanding that most of the world’s financial marketing and “education” programs are designed to steer uninformed consumers into the waiting arms of brokerage houses, bankers and tax collectors.  Kiyosaki says financial education is essential to your economic well being. What’s controversial about that?

Besides, whether you agree with him or not, the fact remains that he’s the best selling financial author in the history of the planet.  That alone makes him worth listening to, since millions of people around the world are influenced by him.

As for us, we like Robert and his advisors a lot.  We’re very fortunate to get backstage with the Kiyosakis and many of their advisors.  If you’re a regular listener to The Real Estate Guys™ radio show or podcast, then you know we’ve had Rich Dad Advisors Ken McElroy and Wayne Palmer as faculty on our last two Summits.  And not only are Ken and Wayne coming back for 2012, but Robert and Kim Kiyosaki will also be on board the Summit for the entire week!

We’ve gotten great personal and professional advice from Robert and the Rich Dad Advisors that has made a positive difference in our lives. We’re big fans. We think the world will be much better off as every day working people make it a priority to expand their financial education.  It’s why we do the radio show, run our mentoring clubs, promote Rich Dad and others who believe in education, and run around collecting interviews and expert opinions from as many people as we can.  Ideas, information, strategies and perspectives from lots of sources are a great way to form your own well-crafted opinions.

We encourage you to join us and listen in to Robert, Kim and the Rich Advisors on August 11th as they talk about the pressing economic issues of today and where the opportunities are.  The event isn’t free, but it sure isn’t expensive!  It’s a very small investment in your education which has the potential to pay huge dividends.  Afterwards, drop us a note on our Feedback page and let us know what you thought.

1/9/11: Gold, Currency, Real Estate and the New Economy – Determining Real Value

Remember the last “new” economy when analysts told us that dot com companies didn’t need to earn profits to be a good investment?  Oops.  After much pain, stock investors went back to the old school where profits matter.

A closer examination reveals that a flood of new money (to pre-empt the Y2K “threat”) helped fuel stock speculation.  Then, the money got shut off and everything crashed.

To solve the stock market problem, though they’ll never admit it, our money scientists lowered interest rates, effectively throwing currency at the problem.  The result?  The stock market stayed flat for 10 years and real estate took off.  Oops again.

Now that real estate took a dump, what are the money scientists doing?  Yep.  Adding liquidity to the system.  Perhaps you’ve heard of “quantitative easing”?  Now commodities are taking off.

But not all liquid is good.  Gasoline is a liquid, but you don’t use it to put out a fire.  Seawater is a liquid, but you don’t use it to quench your thirst.  Do you feel like another “oops” might be coming?

The “new” economy we’re talking about in this episode  isn’t really new.  It’s simply a return to the old school.  So even though the money scientists are devaluing the dollar (which is the unavoidable result of excessive quantitative easing), good old common sense is keeping it from circulating.  People don’t want to spend more than they can afford.  Businesses don’t want to hire more people than they need.  Banks don’t want to lend to people who aren’t qualified to borrow.

Of course, this frustrates the money scientists who are trying to get things “moving” again.  So their answer appears to be more easing.  Hmmmm…. how’s that worked out in the past?

Here’s the point:  when the value of the dollar is dropping, how do you know what anything is really worth?  And if you can’t judge value, then how can you bargain for a good deal?

To mine for the answers to these perplexing questions, we struck a claim to some studio time and sent out a lifeline to a man uniquely qualified to help us.  He is a long time real estate and note investor, he operates one of the largest independent gold mints in the USA, and he’s a member of a small society of deal makers who have mastered the art of doing deals without dollars.

The voices of reason on today’s episode:

• Host and Chief Prospector of Wisdom, Robert Helms
• Co-Host and Nugget Cleaner, Russell Gray
• Special Guest, Robert Kiyosaki’s Rich Dad’s Creative Financing Advisor, Wayne Palmer

Americans tend to denominate value in dollars.  And after substantial quantitative easing by the Fed, the dollar has dropped while commodities like gold and oil have gone way up – at least when denominated in dollars.

But if an ounce of gold will buy the same amount of stuff as it did 20 years ago, then the only thing that changed is what the dollars will buy.  And when the value of the dollar is warped, so then is our sense of real value.

Wayne says the number one skill for successful bargaining, in real estate or anything else, is knowing how to discern true value apart from dollars.

Listen in as Wayne, Robert and Russ talk though this fascinating and timely issue and discover why you may want to do business without dollars.

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.

12/26/10: Getting Started in Real Estate Investing…for the First, Second or Third Time!

Donald Trump is probably the most famous “real estate guy” who made it big, lost it all, then made it all back bigger and better than before.  What took him down you ask?  In his book, The Art of the Comeback, the Donald says it was complacency and The Tax Reform Act of 1986.   Remember that one?  It was that wonderful piece of legislation that crashed the real estate market and wiped out the Savings & Loan industry.  Oops.

Our point?  Actually, there’s a few, such as how important it is to pay close attention (the opposite of complacency) to ANYTHING (including boring politics) that might affect the flow of money into any asset class – especially real estate.  That’s one reason why we’ve had so many economists on over the last several months.  Which brings us to the main point of this episode of The Real Estate Guys™ Radio Show, which is to address the question: What is the best way to move forward in this market based on all of the lessons of past markets?

Pulling the sleigh of broadcast excellence over the mountains and through the hills (and valleys) of the currently snow covered real estate landscape:

• Robert, the red-nosed show host, Helms
• Russell, the noseless co-host, Gray (brown was the only color left in the box and he didn’t want to wear it)

When navigating your own real estate investing sleigh through the foggy night of post-recession real estate, it’s very handy to have a shiny red nosed guide (beer consumption does serve a valuable investment purpose!).  There’s nothing like experience to light the way for those just starting out.  And with low prices, a growing population, low interest rates, more renters, and less new building, it sure looks like a GREAT time to get started – or for those who got lost in the last financial blizzard, re-started and pointed in the right direction.

Focusing on the right fundamentals is essential to long term success.  Legendary football coach Vince Lombardi is said to have begun each year’s training camp by addressing his team of professional athletes. Lombardi would hold up a football and state the obvious, “Gentleman, this is a football.”  In other words, start at the beginning and build your career on a solid foundation of fundamentals.

So whether you’re brand new or a seasoned vet looking to kick off the New Year on the right foot, listen in as we unwrap some of the lessons of markets passed and hang ornaments of wisdom on your real estate investing tree.  Lots of people paid a big price for all these valuable lessons, so even though you get them for next to nothing, don’t overlook their importance.

May the New Year bring you and yours health, wealth and happiness!

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 and training to help investors make money with their real estate investments.

Why Now May Be a Great Time To Invest in Dallas Real Estate

Finding a strong market to invest in is as simple as looking for population growth, job growth, and a diverse economy. That’s why some of the smartest minds in real estate are focused on the long term strength of Dallas, TX.

POPULATION GROWTH: The Dallas-Fort Worth area’s population has grown by nearly 1.3 million from 2000 -2009.  That is more than any other metropolitan area in the United States.  The Dallas–Fort Worth–Arlington MSA is the largest metropolitan area in Texas, the largest in the South, the fourth-largest in the United States (SOURCE: Wikipedia on DFW).

The Dallas, TX metro is forecasted to add 4 million new people from 2010 – 2040 according to the Texas Data Center  and the North Texas Water Board.   That’s one new person every 4 minutes!!! In 2009, the population of Texas grew by 231,539.  That is more growth than Florida, Arizona, California, Nevada and Colorado, combined.

A demographer at the Brookings Institution attributes the population growth to a more diversified economy in Texas and more conservative lending practices during the real estate boom. When combined with the state’s steady growth earlier in the decade, Texas is projected to receive three new seats in Congress.  (SOURCE: Recession Cuts Migration to Sun Belt, New Figures Show 
New York Times).

JOB GROWTH: “Diversified industry and relatively stable housing fundamentals have provided local residents with comparatively secure standards of living. Cities where home prices don’t fluctuate wildly are particularly well-positioned to ride out this recession, because they were spared the domino effect of foreclosures, lost jobs and lost productivity. Rather than chasing rising home prices or apparently plentiful jobs in one-industry towns, families looking for long-term economic stability should seek spots where industry is diverse and housing price shifts are benign.”  (America’s Fastest Recovering Cities
 – Forbes Magazine)  According to the US Bureau of Labor & Statistics, Dallas job growth is twice the national average.  An educated populace and a cost of living below the national average, make Dallas enticing to companies seeking a lower cost but highly qualified workforce.

DIVERSE ECONOMY: The Dallas economy is primarily based on banking, commerce, telecommunications, computer technology, energy, and transportation.  North Texas has 28% of the state’s workforce, employing more than 350,000 in healthcare, 225,000 in high-tech and 68,000 aviation-related jobs.  North Texas has 20 colleges and universities, 17 graduate schools, 3 medical/dental schools, 2 law schools and 20 community college campuses (SOURCE: North Texas Commission).  The Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex is home to over 10,000 corporate headquarters making it the largest concentration of corporate headquarters in the United States.  The Dallas metro area is home to 25 FORTUNE 500 company headquarters and 7 FORTUNE Global 500 companies which bring more than $819 billion in revenue to North Texas. (Source: Fortune Magazine 2009)

• WORLD CENTER OF AVIATION
  • DFW International Airport is the third busiest airport in the world
  • There are more than 850 aviation-related businesses in North Texas – more than any other area of its size in the world
  • There are more than 68,000 documented aviation-related jobs in the region
• LOGISTICS HUB
  • DFW is a major logistics hub and has the lowest distribution costs to the top 50 U.S. consumer markets of any region
  • Since the passage of NAFTA, DFW trade to Mexico and Canada has more than doubled – in large part due to the proximity of Interstate 35 – the NAFTA Superhighway
• FINANCIAL AND BANKING CENTER
  • North Texas is a major financial center and is home to one of 12 regional Federal Reserve Banks, as well as several regional bank offices and corporate headquarters to Comerica
• HIGH TECHNOLOGY CENTER
  • North Texas is a national and global leader in the high-tech sector, and 8.3% of the region’s total 2.7 million labor force is employed in high-tech fields, according to the Metroplex Technology Business Council
  • North Texas’ 225,000 high-tech workers account for 52% of Texas’ total technology workforce, and North Texas boasts 6,215 high-tech firms
  • Although the high-tech industry employs 8.3% of the North Texas workforce, the high-tech sector accounts for nearly 13% of wages paid to North Texas workers – indicating the relatively high-paying nature of these sophisticated jobs
• RETAIL CENTER
  • North Texas is the 10th largest retail market in the country. Dallas Market Center, the world’s most complete wholesale marketplace, hosts approximately 50 markets each year attended by more than 200,000 retail buyers from all 50 states and 84 countries, and conducts more than $8 billion in wholesale sales annually
• HEALTH CARE EXCELLENCE
  • North Texas is known for its extensive state-of-the-art health care facilities with more than 90 major hospitals and two major medical schools
  • Health care is one of the largest and fastest growing industries in the Dallas-Fort Worth region with more than 350,000 health care jobs

LOW TAXES:

• No personal or corporate state income tax
• Maximum state and city sales tax of 8.25%

QUALITY OF LIFE:

• North Texas features world-class athletes, teams and sports facilities, including the new Cowboys Stadium, host of the 2010 NBA All Star Game, 2010 World Series, 2011 Super Bowl XLV, and the NCAA Men’s Final Four in 2014
• The region is growing as an arts hub with 7.9 million people attending arts and culture events annually
• Low cost of living
• Affordable housing
• Plentiful water
• Public transportation and excellent highway system
• Strong k-12 schools and universities
• Centrally located
  (SOURCE: North Texas Commission)

David Campbell is a real estate developer, investor, author, educator and a regular contributor to The Real Estate Guys™ Radio Show.
To contact David, click here.

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.

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.

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?