None of us can predict the future. But with his decades of real estate experience, Robert Helms is probably someone you’ll want to listen to. Host of the long-running Real Estate Guys Radio Show, Robert Helms has some keen insight on where he believes the housing market is going in America. Join Ken McElroy, Danille, and Robert Helms in a discussion about the future of the US housing market, foreign investing, and some mindset advice on starting small in the real estate business.
Ken McElroy:
Hey everybody. It’s Ken McElroy here and back at popular request. Mr. Robert Helms with the real estate guys, Robert what’s going on.
Robert Helms:
Hey, Kenny. Good to see you. Hi, Danille!
Danille:
Hello! Ken forgot to introduce me.
Ken McElroy:
I’m going to get in trouble for that one, as you know, thank you by the way, I thought about that immediately. Um, so for those of you guys don’t know, like Robert and Russ and I, and Danille, we we’ve been studying a lot together. I’ve actually seen you a fair amount in the last 30 days and your beautiful wife and your family and, and, um, Robert is who he is. What I mean by that is he teaches he’s a great teacher, great educator, and he invests all over the world. And so today we’re going to talk about a few things. Investing abroad, housing market predictions. He has a big goal seminar. He teaches syndications. I don’t know how many thousands of people you’ve taught the syndications, but I’ve spoke at, at those I’ve been on the summit at sea. I’ve been at the land one and, and, uh, at your resort there and Belize. And, uh, it’s really great to have you back on.
Robert Helms:
Well, it’s a pleasure to be with you. It’s always good to see you and hello to all the folks that are watching.
Ken McElroy:
So, all right. So let’s, let’s tell everybody a little bit about, you’ve been, you started your channel quite a while ago, and I remember at one time you said you were number one on apple, right.
Robert Helms:
You know, way back we were just on the radio, still on the radio today. So we’re a podcast. And for many years we were, I think the only real estate podcasts, uh, but as it’s grown, uh, listenership has continued to increase. It’s crazy. We’re in 190 countries and every week something to say about, uh, real estate on the radio and, uh, on the podcast.
Ken McElroy:
Well, w w w you and I, we both have a face for radio, so it works out well. Unlike Danille.
Robert Helms:
Right, exactly. She has the face for TV.
Ken McElroy:
It’s true. Well, let’s jump right in. Okay. Let’s talk about, so, especially now, right, with the pandemic and COVID, people are looking at second passports, they’re looking at, you know, right or wrong, the administration. I’m going to get the heck out of here. And so there’s a lot of stuff happening. You and I were just in Dallas at, um, Simon black or, or James Hickman. Right. Uh, and his event on called the sovereign man. And, uh, this was a topic that kept coming up. And by the way, these are wealthy people and, and also people that are, uh, aspiring to be wealthy and all over the map, people are trying to figure it out. So what are some things that people need to be careful of when they’re investing abroad? Because it’s kind of a scary topic, right? Like, first of all, you don’t think you can, but, but, uh, you’ve been doing it for years, very successfully. So what are some of the things, what are some of the basic things people need to do first?
Robert Helms:
Well, there are some big differences. The minute you cross over a border, right? Uh, many times when I’m presenting somewhere, I’ll say, who thinks it’s risky to invest of the United States and a whole bunch of hands go up. And then you say, okay, who thinks it’s risky to have all of their economic power tied to one nation’s economy and currency. And then a whole nother set of hands goes up. So it’s not right or wrong. If you’re never planning to leave the U S it may be of no interest of you to invest internationally. But what Simon black calls planting a second flag, or what Doug Casey calls a bolthole a place you could bolt to in the middle of the night, if you had to, is the idea of just having a place to be in case. Now that’s one side, the other side is who says the best returns happen to be in the one country you live in.
Robert Helms:
Sometimes we look to other markets and other countries because there’s great opportunity. But to your question about the things to look out for, there’s a big one or two we take for granted in the U S that we have a very sophisticated, organized real estate system. In most markets. There’s a thriving MLS, there’s licensed real estate professionals that can help you. The contracts are vetted by the associations for years, whether it’s commercial or retail or residential, that’s not true when you get outside your own border. And there are other great places to invest. But the rule of law is different. The basis of law is different tenant landlord law and real estate rights. So it takes a little bit of uncovering to start figuring it out. But you got to start with your purpose. Why do I want to invest abroad offshore? Well, if it’s for return, that might be different than it’s because, well, I got a place in the world I love to go visit. And what if we could own a home there vacation a few weeks out of the year and then rent it out the rest of the time, right? That’s a, that’s a different philosophy. So it all depends on what you’re trying to accomplish by going abroad
Ken McElroy:
Can do both though, which is, uh, you know, that’s the interesting thing. It hasn’t have to be an either or like, like w we can, you can invest in Belize as an example, which you guys have done pretty heavily. And so you do have that as a resource and you also have a, an investment abroad, right?
Robert Helms:
Oh, very much. So, in fact, that’s probably the typical international investor is someone that owns a place. They like to go and enjoy, and they run it out when they’re not there, that’s pretty typical. And that’s true in believes Mexico, a lot of Caribbean places in Europe, even ski resorts. And so finding a second lifestyle, uh, that you like, you know, if it’s not like you live on the beach at home, you want to go live in the mountains is your getaway place. Right. You know what that’s like when you leave the hot summer of Arizona to go someplace cool, like Idaho, right? That’s the idea of having a couple of residences. And then if you choose to, you could create income from those, whether it’s overnight vacation rentals, whether you’re part of a managed program. Uh, but you definitely can do both.
Ken McElroy:
Yeah. That’s very, very true. So, so if somebody is looking, let’s say to, you know, invest in Mexico and they don’t know where to look, what to do, what, what, what are some of the first things that they need to do?
Robert Helms:
Well, the first thing I think is to do a preliminary investigation of what real estate purchase looks like in a place. So for instance, Mexico and Mexico, there are some unique requirements. Most of the land that’s in the more popular places like near the water or under the Mexican border, uh, you can’t own as a non-Mexican citizen, you have to use what’s called a FITA COMESA or a bank trust, which is a different legal instrument. Again, not good or bad, just something you’d have to learn about. So if I wanted to buy a home and say, Cabo San Lucas, or Acapulco, I would want to learn about the FITA COMESA, what that means, how I can approach it. Who’s the beneficiary and the trustee and the trust store, all those kinds of things. And I’m a big believer of finding a great real estate agent in the market. All the major brands typically are represented in most of the big cities in Mexico. And you can find somebody that, you know, perhaps that owns property there, see who they would use, or get a referral from your local agent, uh, who might have some inroads into those places. But it starts with, with education. And I think a trip, right? Go kick the dirt. As we say,
Ken McElroy:
You know, kick the dirt or kick the sand. I know when we were down in Belize in June, we popped in a Remax. Uh, you know, I’m not trying to promote Remax, but the point is, is that to your point there, you know, these companies are international and they have, and they have professionals there that are trained in the local laws and kind of the same, those kinds of things. So I would definitely not go it on your own, right?
Robert Helms:
Oh, it’s tough. You know, the reality is right now, we’re all licensed to sell real estate in Mexico. There’s no licensing requirement there, your taxi drivers likely to be able to sell you a property. So I would recommend just going with someone reputable, whoever that is in the area, you know, and, and several Mexican markets, we have great agents. We’ve worked with for years who have educated us about what the market’s like, uh, same thing and believes we started because we saw an opportunity, but fallen in love with the people in the country and the lifestyle. And so, you know, the nice thing about Billy’s, it’s English speaking. And so it’s kind of like international investing on training wheels. It’s very similar to the process we’re used to, and that is you go further and further out of the main stage. That becomes the big difference. If you’re going into a country that speaks another language, like even in Mexico, most of the contracts have two columns, one in English, one in Spanish. Now the English version is only there to accommodate me the English speaker. If they were ever to be an issue, it would be the Spanish contract that would prevail. So if I’m going to a country with another language, I just need to understand what the potential liabilities might be. Right.
Danille:
And that’s a good point too, Robert, because you know, these governments, you know, here in the U S there’s processes, we have where the government just can’t take your property. But in other countries, especially as a foreign investor, sometimes the rules are a little bit different for you and the government has more leeway.
Robert Helms:
Well, that’s true. You know, we see eminent domain. It happens here in the U S but usually not without some sort of just cause, but in a lot of countries, that’s not the case. So, you know, there’s some countries where you must have a partner, who’s a citizen of that country in order to own property. And they have to be a, an equal, or some, some cases, a 51% partner. So if that’s the case and you don’t know anybody and trust anybody in that country, well, that’s a tough deal. I mean, there’s firms that you can hire to be your 51% partner, but that means they have signature authority on the property. So not saying there wouldn’t be reasons for you to consider that, but if, if you’re going to do that, you better go in eyes wide open. Okay.
Ken McElroy:
Yeah. And then, um, this is very different than if you want a second passport or want to become, uh, you know, a resident, right? So
Robert Helms:
There’s two parts. There, there is residency, which is almost always available to folks who come in, buy a second home. There’s different requirements in different places. And then in most places, once you’re a resident for some period of time, then there is a path to citizenship and a second passport. So many of the benefits of residency are all you’d ever need, but there’s also reasons to consider a passport and a few countries, they have what they call citizenship. That’s economic, where you either buy us a specific property, one that’s approved as part of the program, or you make an, a donation to a fund. Uh, sometimes it gets paid back with interest over time. And that way, uh, you’re promoting the economy, uh, in the local area, but you’re able to get either residency or citizenship. So if you’re thinking about going somewhere, I think the first thing you do is get educated about it. We’ll figure it out, visit places you like. We get a lot of people come to believe who are doing the compared to what they don’t know if they want to be in Costa Rica or Panama or the Virgin islands. So they’re hopping around, checking it out, which I think is a great thing to do. Yeah,
Ken McElroy:
It is. It’s like anything else it’s due diligence and w where do you want to be? And, and so that’s, I think number one, but the, the, the truth is, is you can, most people don’t think about buying out of the country. And, um, there’s a lot of people like, especially Mexico. I mean, I’ve been going to Mexico for a long, long time, and it’s very different, you know, just in my short lifetime, from, from what it was, I went through a currency devaluation down there. That’s number one. I remember when they shut the doors and open them back up and basically took off a zero from, from their bills. Um, and, and, um, but, uh, it’s, it’s, it’s, if it’s someplace that you want to be, I have a very good friend of mine here from Scottsdale. That’s actually buying down in Puerto Vallarta right now, and he sold his company up here and he’s gonna, he’s gonna do the back and forth, uh, for that very, very reason.
Ken McElroy:
He, and he told me he found a great safe, um, it’s, it’s, uh, you know, full of people from all over the world. And, um, and, and so he’s made the investment, then they’re about ready to move. So it can, you could do it very successfully, but there’s a lot of stuff around title, uh, you know, that you have to be very, very, you don’t want to just dump your money down there. Um, and they don’t have the, a lot of times they don’t have the escrows and they don’t have the, the lawyers and things like that. Right.
Robert Helms:
Yep. And it varies everywhere you go in Mexico, they use what we would call a notary in the Tario, but in notary in Mexico has a much higher stature than a notary in the United States. They don’t just notarize your signature. They actually work for the transaction, but they’re impartial. They don’t represent either the buyer, the seller, or even the brokers. And so that’s a fascinating, we don’t have an equivalent of that. So this is just getting your, your mind around it. And, you know, to your point earlier, sure. There are people looking for reasons to go elsewhere. We are having our best sales year ever in 16 years in the country of Belize. And I’m sure we’re not alone. People are looking for a second flag to plan or a place to vacation or someplace that they could bolt to in the middle of the night, if they thought they needed to.
Ken McElroy:
I know when we were down there, boy, I was, I was impressed with everything. I had never seen it so busy. There’s a lot of people trying to figure this out right now. Right. A lot of people are, it’s definitely growing from the last time we were there. Yeah. Yeah. And I think people are starting to take a look at, you know, where they’re at, where they want to be. And, uh, they’re just considering, uh, other things. Um, so anything else you want to add on buying foreign?
Robert Helms:
No. The only other thing you might want to consider is the currency risk. So in some markets you’re going to buy in the local currency, but in many, many markets, real estate is priced in the U S dollar. It’s true for most of Mexico. It’s true and believes it’s true in a lot of the Caribbean, even though there might be a local currency, uh, you’re going to buy with the U S dollar. Now, it’s not true. If you go into say Canada or Australia, uh, I have some property in Australia. And part of the concern you have is what the exchange rate fluctuation might be. It happened to work in my favor when we closed, but it could have gone the other way. So if there is going to be a currency difference, you’d want to understand that. And then property management, you know, how critical that is, Kenny, it’s even more critical when you live thousands of miles away from your point.
Ken McElroy:
Yeah. That’s very true that, that, that deal that we did in Zimbabwe didn’t really work out for that.
Robert Helms:
Needed more wheelbarrows to carry all that money!
Ken McElroy:
That well, but there are things you guys need to consider. So it’s, it’s, uh, it’s not for the faint of heart, but I will tell you this, there’s a lot of good information out there in books and YouTube and podcasts and, um, and radio shows that, uh, you can learn from, but before you make that step, so it’s not all that scary to do. And, and I have, um, a lot of friends that do it very successfully and, and, and really, really enjoy it. And I think they also like having some assets off shore
Robert Helms:
There is that for sure. One of my favorite things to do is to travel without a suitcase. When I traveled to a couple of my different houses, I don’t have to bring, I’ve got everything I need there, right. So I just have my little carry on, on my computer. That’s just a personal thing, but having the different seasons and different residences and different friends and regular restaurants you go to, and those kinds of things that you develop, uh, can be a great lifestyle.
Ken McElroy:
Well, The hula skirt doesn’t take much room, right?
Robert Helms:
Not a lot. No.
Ken McElroy:
Um, okay. So let’s talk a little bit, let’s shift over to, you know, kind of the local housing predictions. I know you just got back from the incredible, an incredible, uh, conference in, in, um, new Orleans. And I’d love for you to talk about that. And, and, you know, cause a lot of people are talking about Bitcoin and gold and the housing market and real estate and, and the interest rates and all that. And they had some incredible speakers there. Uh, why don’t you just talk a little bit about what you learned there,
Robert Helms:
This was the 47th annual new Orleans investment conference, the longest running investment conference in the world. I’ve been attending it now for, I think this is my eighth or ninth year just went, uh, to learn more about the resource sector, primarily it’s oil, gas, uh, gold, silver, those kinds of things. But there’s over the years become more of more of a real estate component. And, uh, today, uh, I, uh, the promoters invited me to be one of the masters of ceremony and Russell and I get to speak. Um, but it was fascinating. Great, great people. So dreams grant was there. Uh, Ron Paul was there all kinds of big, big thinkers and we add Danielle DiMartino booth, uh, James records. And so the conversation was around real assets. So it should be obvious to people that listen to you, Kenny, but a real asset is something tangible, like real estate.
Robert Helms:
We love real estate, but there’s other assets. And our real asset is something that isn’t manufactured or created or a derivative. Not that you can’t make money in those things, but the paper, equity market and bonds and those kinds of things. Uh, you just have to get your mind around that. We believe that before you’re a real estate investor, you’re an investor. And so you better understand some of the terminology in the business that we’re in, right syndication, raising capital. Most people have their money somewhere. So you better be able to speak to those folks about the bond market and mutual funds and stocks and all the different investments. So I go every year just to get my mind around the different kinds of hard assets there are, uh, and it was fascinating this year, right? There’s so much inflation. One of the big, uh, you know, debates is the same one we had on the summit, uh, with, uh, Doug Duncan, the chief economist for Fannie Mae is how transitory is the inflation.
Robert Helms:
Everyone’s got their different opinion. But, uh, at this event, the lion’s share of folks thought it’s not all that transitory. It’s probably a big chunk of, it’s probably here to stay or as they say, well, the transitory inflation may be around for quite some time. So what does that mean? Right. And for real estate, it’s not bad, right? Inflation means all my properties are worth more or it does it right. If there’s more dollars being printed. And the reason, you know, uh, I said to the audience, how many of you are in a housing market? That’s really hot with multiple offers. And pretty much every hand people from across the United States and other countries, every hand’s up because almost every market is up. Why is that? Because we’re printing trillions of dollars and when you print money, it shows up in real things. It also shows up in places like cryptocurrency, lots of discussion about cryptocurrency at this conference, maybe the most meaningful discussion at this particular conference that I’ve seen them have.
Robert Helms:
They’ve talked about it in passing, but you know, over $2 trillion in crypto, which I think is a great sign of the fact that people are starting to catch on about all the money printing and where money goes. So we talked about a lot. Uh, there’s a lot to think about. Uh, and again, this is just down that, that beating that drum of education. If you’re not sure about cryptocurrency, rather than just write it off, spend some time getting educated about it. You know, it’s a fascinating topic and we’re not hearing the last of it. Yeah.
Ken McElroy:
And I think it’s important to, you know, maybe take it up another level, what you guys might not realize is that guys like Robert guys like me and Danille, we study all of those things. We just don’t talk about them a lot. We’re kind of known for real estate. But as you know, I, we’re always looking at all those different things and trying to figure out what those experts are saying. Just like you guys might be listening to us, we’re listening to them. That’s why we make these trips. That’s why we go to these conferences because we don’t have it all figured out either. And, and you know, Robertson a great job of diversifying in real estate, just by having real estate in different countries. That is a strategy. But in addition to that, as you start to do those kinds of things, then you can now go to get educated around Bitcoin, around gold, around oil and gas and all those kinds of things, because you’re going to have people that are smart in those areas. Speaking about those things, it doesn’t mean you have to go invest in them. It just means that, you know, don’t be a one trick pony. Right?
Robert Helms:
Well, I think that’s exactly right. And that’s one thing I’ve always appreciated about you can is that you just studied lots of different things and you will make our decisions. Okay. Am I going to invest in it or not? I remember, uh, we were having a conversation with Robert Kiyosaki when he bought his first Bitcoin and his thing was, Hey, if I don’t own some of it, I’m not going to pay attention to it. So I’m going to buy a little, just so I pay attention. I can look at my wallet and see what it’s doing. Right. Okay. That’s not a bad strategy. Different investments come with different levels of risk. Love, real estate, love, leverage, but leverage is counterparty risk. Meaning there’s another party, the bank that has an effect on my investment. There’s another party, the county or city property taxes that are a counterparty.
Robert Helms:
There’s a few investments, not very many that don’t have counterparty risks. Bitcoin has a ton of counterparty risk, even though it’s decentralized, it’s reliant on power. Now you can say, well, you can memorize all the numbers in your blockchain and, and, but, but good luck when the power goes out, right? So I like the metals. If I have an ounce of gold, this ounce of gold has zero counterparty risk. It’s my asset. And it’s nobody else’s liability. It’s also not an investment. I don’t think gold is an investment because it doesn’t provide ROI. It doesn’t provide cash flow, but it is a hedge. And this why I think any smart, real estate investor has their mind around some of the other investment vehicles as well. Yeah.
Ken McElroy:
And that’s kinda what I wanted to talk about. I know Danielle’s got some gold and some silver and actually some Bitcoin and, and real estate, uh, you know, so we are practicing what we’re preaching, I think is the point, you know, all right.
Danille:
Yeah, definitely. I think you need to be diversified because you need that stable backup to the U S dollar and then you also want to invest and try to make some additional money.
Robert Helms:
Absolutely. And that’s really, the thing is getting back in touch with who you are as an investor, what you’re trying to accomplish. Some people are about preservation. They’ve made a lot of money, you know, Kenny, you and I both know people that have sold companies recently, they’re sending out a bunch of money. They’re way more concerned about safety and preservation, but if you’re younger and just getting started, you’re more about how do I get more cashflow? How do I create more wealth? And those, both those things can be solved with different assets, but you just have to understand the rules,
Ken McElroy:
Right. Or you can just vote.
Robert Helms:
That’s another potential way to go.
Ken McElroy:
Yeah. Um, so, so let’s, let’s talk a little bit about the U S housing market. Cause I know like, I, I, well, first of all, I think you should pat yourself on the back for some of the educational stuff that you guys do. Can you just talk a little bit about some of the syndication and the goal setting and stuff like that because you guys, if you’re not following, uh, you know, Russ Robert, you really need to be because they’re there, they’ve had Donald Trump on, they’ve had, uh, Richard Duncan on they’ve had James Rickert on, they’ve had Robert Kiyosaki on, they have some incredible guests talking about a lot of different things in the episode. So why don’t you talk about some of your initiatives and we’re where it’s all headed for you?
Robert Helms:
Well, our motto at the real estate guys is education for effective action. Meaning all the knowledge in the world doesn’t mean much if you don’t do something with it. So that’s kind of our, our big thing where we’re not gurus, we’re not out there on the circuit. We’re not doing the run to the back of the room seminar thing. Uh, we used to when Russell and I were getting then nearly 20 years ago, we did 60 or 70 live events a year today. It’s about 10. Uh, so we’d rather have a, you know, more impact and less time. And two of the major topics we teach around our market analysis and real estate syndication, right? Raising capital. So twice a year, as you know, we do our secrets of successful syndication, two days on what it takes to be in the syndication business, everything from legal financials, structure, all that good stuff.
Robert Helms:
And it’s a lot of fun because great people come out to that event. Uh, we do an event, uh, that Russ conducts on sales, not just any sales, but consultative selling, how do you raise capital? It’s a, it’s a sales job, but there’s a technique. And there’s a lot of great ways that you can help people. You’ve got to view yourself that way. I’m not here to sell something. I’m here to encourage people that need my services or my project or ROI to be able to do that if it’s right for them. And then once a year, we do our annual goals retreat, which is completely different than anything else. It’s all about figuring out who you are at a core level. Most of us live our lives at a pretty superficial basis. Most of the time, hi, how are you? How’s the weather. And we don’t give ourselves the opportunity to go deep into our heart and soul.
Robert Helms:
And for two and a half days, we, uh, we kind of get in state and journal and figure it out. And we set goals and health and relationships and spirituality and economics and business and career. And even we do a 15 minute optional session on real estate goal setting. But it’s about more than that, you know, clarity is your friend. When you have lack of focus than any deal, sounds like a good deal. Any business opportunity seems like it could work. And you flounder around bouncing from thing to thing to thing like a pin ball. What having clear goals does is give you laser focus and you shut out the things that aren’t going to propel you forward. So you can focus on the things that will. Yeah,
Ken McElroy:
It’s, it’s a really, really good point. I think what happens. I find that with a lot of people and I didn’t initially adopt goal setting until probably my late twenties, but, but then I realized that I was just kind of floating along, you know, like that feather and forest Gump, you know, just, just wherever the wind blew, uh, is kind of where I was with my, a lot of my habits and a lot of my discipline. And it wasn’t till, and, and by the way, this is, um, January 7th, eighth, and ninth. And, um, uh, they can, uh, we’ll put the link up, uh, Robert, if you like, um, for the goal-setting conference. Thank you. And, and, uh, but what it does is it, it, it immerses you into making some tough choices. I, if you can’t take two days out or two and a half to figure out what you’re going to do for a year, then you got a problem. Like, you know, I think, right.
Robert Helms:
You know, it’s like Michael, Gerber’s the great myth that a great book, the E-Myth, you have to take some time off to work on your business instead of spending every minute, working in your business. And we get so close to ourselves, our life, our surroundings, you know, Jim Rohn used to say that some people have 20 years of experience doing something and other people have one year of experience repeated 20 times. Like if you’re not figuring out how to have more, be more, do more, you know, that’s, that’s really the path as far as I can tell, we get the one go around. So we might as well do everything we can to make sure that we’re living the life we were meant to live. Yeah.
Ken McElroy:
Yeah. It’s funny. As you know, speaking of goals, one of my really, really good mentors, Charlie Dunlap, uh, I originally met him where he was doing a goal for his marriage two and a half days where him and his wife would go away for two days and they would, they would say, okay, what’s the plan for each kid? What’s the plan for us? What’s the plan for our vacations? And they get into very, very detailed descriptions, any, he said, what would happen? It was, I was spending more time on my business than I was on my health and my marriage. And, um, so he would like, you know, like all of us, like we, you know, we, we tackle business, we rustle it down. We put a business plan around it, whether it’s a real estate deal or a company or whatever, but we rarely put that kind of same discipline and focus around our personal things. It’s very interesting.
Robert Helms:
And how great can your business life be? If your home life is failing, if your health is failing, like we’re rounded people and you really do have to focus on it, right? Like when you and I, and our boys hiked the hill, uh, that took a lot of physical training. And if you didn’t do the work, you didn’t make the mountain. That was an astonishing life lesson to me. And, uh, today as I was exercising, I was reminiscing about, you know, I didn’t like to exercise that much until that Kenny McElroy talked me into climbing Kilimanjaro.
Ken McElroy:
Yeah. I remember what I asked you, you know, like I had done it already and I’m with my, I take, I took both of my sons, uh, when they were 17 to Kilimanjaro. First one was Kyle and then the second one Cade. And so what I did is I, I would ask people that, uh, you know, cause, you know, as you know, we do get comfortable in our little, little, uh, little programs that we have. And uh, I remember asking you and seeing your face and watching your, your expression. And you’re like, okay, you know?
Robert Helms:
Really Kenny? Okay.
Ken McElroy:
But you committed and you did it, you know? And, uh, you know, it’s, uh, and, and by the way, guys, like, I want you to know that we all have moments like that. Right? We all her uncomfortable a lot, you know, the first time I was on stage talking the first time for the first time Danille and I did a live together. Right. You remember that? Well, the guy’s like 5, 4, 3, 2, 1. She goes like this. Yeah. You know, and, but now she’s like a natural. And so it just takes out one little step. Right?
Robert Helms:
Well, that’s true. You know, about anything in life. The first time, the first rental house is the hardest and it just gets easier and easier in anything you do, whether you want to be in front of the room or you just want to be great at spreadsheets, or you want to be an empathetic listener. You know, Brian, Tracy says anything worth doing well is worth doing poorly at first, you do it. It’s clunky. It’s awkward. But if you’ll just stick with it, right. Those first couple of exercise sessions with my son at 5 45 in the morning, didn’t go well. But we were committed to the process. We didn’t want to die on the mountain. And so every morning we got up and did that and we got better at it and we got stronger. And then you saw that manifest up on the hill and it’s like, wow. And it was just a great metaphor for that. What you focus on in life tends to happen.
Ken McElroy:
Yeah. And you did it. I mean, we all did it. It’s not easy by the way.
Robert Helms:
It’s not easy, but you know, most things that aren’t easy are worth having one.
Ken McElroy:
Yeah. I know. It’s one of those things that, uh, when you’re done, man, it’s just like, uh, all this, uh, it just rushes over you, this emotion, right. When you hit the summit.
Robert Helms:
Yeah. It’s crazy. I mean, it’s, it’s because it’s a, it’s a very tactile example of putting your mind to something managing and mentally, which we talked about a lot during the hike. Right. And then the physical part and just all of that. Plus you organized an amazing trip with a bunch of cool guys in their sons. So having that time, not just with our own kids, but with each other’s kids was, was extraordinary. And I think if you approach goal setting that way, like why not have an extraordinary life who wants to be average and ordinary, you can set amazing goals and you can have everything you want in life. You just have to get the plan together to accomplish those things. I know
Ken McElroy:
I’m in the process of finishing up, uh, the atomic habits. And, um, I hadn’t read it before. And, um, Jerry gave it to me. I sitting right here in front of me. He said, I really think you should read this book. And, uh, I was reading last night that the guy’s like, you know, when, when you want to work out, he goes, just put you, put your shoes next to your bed. Uh, put your stuff there and just put it on. And then, uh, he said, if you want to go to the gym for five minutes, go to the gym for five minutes. Cause it’s just a matter of just going, you know, don’t feel like you have to do this big workout and just take baby steps and just the process of putting your stuff on and go into the gym and showing up and walking around and stretching or whatever.
Ken McElroy:
And leaving is part of the process. You don’t don’t feel like you have to, you know, take on the mountain when you walk into gym. And I thought that was really interesting. It’s like these small little bite sized pieces. And I, I, I try to, you know, portray that in real estate investing, but that’s how you started. Right. Just, you know, just start at the beginning and slowly accumulate. Yeah. Like when you started your business for, you know, start with one client sometimes when you, you know, try to do things too big all at once. It’s too daunting. So you never do it or you don’t know what you’re doing. Cause you’re trying to do it all at once and you don’t keep up with that. So I liked that. Just, you know, just start, start.
Robert Helms:
Yeah. That’s such a good point. That’s, you know, people are afraid of the big, hairy, audacious goal and it’s like, well, that’s so far away. I can never, why not have some smaller goal to start? Right. Remember we did the panel when you’re on the summit, Kenny, and it was all of us. It was you on the panel and Kim Kiyosaki and my dad, Bob and me, and then Tom Wheeler, I was there to talk about the tax, but we all started with a small two-bedroom unit, all of us. And it’s like, wow, that’s the baby step. And from there, it leads to bigger things. Most people don’t buy 600 units. The first time you got to give yourself some time and some space and you will get better and the numbers will get bigger, but you have to be in the process. Everyone wants to jump to the end of the line, but I’m not sure that’s the best way to go.
Ken McElroy:
Yeah, it’s funny. And then, um, I, you know what, we all start with nothing. We don’t have money. I mean, I know you didn’t, I didn’t, you didn’t, you know, and then you save a little bit of money and maybe you use yourself, you’re your own money, but then you’re out. So then you have to figure out what’s next. How do you, how do you get more money? And it’s actually a lot more, uh, there’s actually a lot more out there than you think, right? Oh,
Robert Helms:
Oh my goodness. So much, you guys know that it’s crazy how much? And we’re printing tons more all the time. So money is not the,
Ken McElroy:
It isn’t no, it’s actually what you see, you know? And, and, and the people you hang out with. And I know, um, I know you used to study and met with Jim Roan when you were younger. Um, and our friend, Kyle Wilson, uh, you know, in one of the things that, uh, I’ve watched the Neil do, and I’ve certainly done. I know you do is we actually do protect like our circle of friends, pretty, pretty tightly. It’s a, it’s a, um, it’s kind of a coveted circle because what happens is we all go through times where things aren’t good. Yeah. Right. And, um, and you need that kind of, that, that, that support system. Right. Can you talk a little bit about what Jim Roan taught you there?
Robert Helms:
Yeah. So Jim was amazing. I had the great fortune to study with him for many years. He’s actually, he rarely endorsed books, but he endorsed our book, which was just amazing. But, uh, Jim just had a very matter of fact way. You know, he was probably the first guy I heard that say six less success leaves clues. And you know, it’s lots of great Jim Roan quotes. Jim Roan says that the book you don’t read can’t help. Wow. He also says that the person who doesn’t read has no advantage over the person that can’t read. So it was big into reading. He was big into journaling taking notes and, and you know, that circle, the associations, what you’re talking about is so critical. Uh, your life is made up of who you hang out with, right? He used to say that you will become the sum total of the five people you spend the most time with.
Robert Helms:
And, uh, he would save that you could limit your association with certain people. Maybe there’s someone in your life, lifelong friend, maybe even a family member that when you’re with them, you’re not at your best. You don’t feel good afterwards. He says, well, don’t just cut them out. But you might, instead of spending two weeks with that person, maybe spend a weekend, you can limit your association. And then of course you can increase association with people that are going in your direction. And that’s, I think the power of having a, a tribe, right. People that, you know, have your back and your point can, um, lot of us have gotten to the point where we’re vulnerable enough to be open, to discussing our failures and challenges. And by doing that, it’s not only is it therapeutic, but we all learn from each other. I mean, you can learn from somebody else’s success, but boy, you can learn from other people’s failures as well. And you’re never going to get out of failing if your mission, if your goal is to not fail. Well, good luck with that. And that’s not the point. The point is how fast can you get back up when you fall down?
Ken McElroy:
Yeah. It’s very, very true. Right? Definitely. Yeah. So, um, as we wrap up here, like, uh, what’s the best way for people to reach you and, and, um, you know, I know if you guys are looking to raise capital, if you’re, if you’re looking to, um, get your team together when I’ve spoken at your events, you boat. Well, gosh, so many now that the, the syndication events, you have hundreds of people there at you at the goal setting events, uh, certainly the cruises when you had those and the, and the one on land, you know, you have quite the following. And one of the things I love is these are all market movers. These are all people that are doing things. These are all people that started with nothing. And these are all people that are trying to make a difference. And they’re trying not to spoil their kids and they’re trying to invest and they’re trying to figure stuff out. And they’re trying to curb inflation, they’re trying to get passive income. They’re trying not to be relying on one source of revenue, the same kind of stuff. We’re all fighting. Uh, you know, and, and so what, you know, what are, what’s a great way, Robert, for people to reach you and, um, and stay in touch with some of the programs you have
Robert Helms:
Easiest to just to go to the website at realestateguysradio.com, realestateguysradio.com. You’ll see our events tab, which is events. We’re speaking at events that, uh, that we produce, uh, produce and promote. Uh, and then we’ve got a YouTube channel, of course. And that’s always good to be able to see and hear, uh, although we’re a lot more audio guys, as you alluded to earlier, but if you’ve got a real estate guys, radio.com, you can learn all about what we do and how we do it, get on our mailing list and we’ll send you all kinds of cool propaganda.
Ken McElroy:
Yeah. And don’t forget about your podcast too, because I think, um, uh, there’s some really, really good insight there too. Right.
Robert Helms:
Well, thanks for that. And thanks for, uh, always graciously sharing. Pretty much every time we ask you to chime in on the podcast you do, and it always makes it better. So, uh, and thanks for having me today.
Ken McElroy:
I love teaching. I know you do so, um, let’s keep having fun as long as it’s fine. We’re going to keep going.
Robert Helms:
That sounds good to me. Well, thanks guys. Thanks for having me, Danielle. Great to see you and Kenny, it’s always good seeing you.
Ken McElroy:
Yeah, you too, bud. Good seeing you guys take care. See ya.