‘Don’t be afraid. This is totally doable.’
Of all the people who are exposed to real estate on a regular basis, very few take action to become investors themselves. If awareness is not the problem, then what is? Why do so few real estate agents, for example, seek out opportunities to work with investors or partner to buy properties of their own? Why do so many of us attend REIA meetings month after month—without taking the next step?
Known as The Godfather of Real Estate, Bob Helms has been investing since 1957. He became a practicing broker in 1980 and spent 18 years working as a father-son team with his son, Robert, of Real Estate Guys fame. In his long and storied career, Bob has owned, managed, bought and sold hundreds of properties. He has been a top-producing agent, respected managing broker, and mentor to hundreds of leading agents and investors. Bob is a regular contributor to Real Estate Guys Radio and a featured speaker at the annual Summit at Sea. He is also the author of Be in the Top 1%: A Real Estate Agent’s Guide to Getting Rich in the Investment Property Niche.
Today, Bob joins me to discuss why agents don’t invest in real estate themselves, explaining how the lack of role models for realtors inspired him to write Be in the Top 1%. He describes how he became an accidental real estate investor and shares the story of Bob’s Big Boo-Boo, a 50-unit deal that he failed to optimize. Listen in for Bob’s insight around becoming an investment property specialist and learn how you can easily become an investor yourself—with the right education and a little self-belief!
Robert Helms – Key Takeaways
How Bob became The Godfather of Real Estate
- Nicknamed by The Real Estate Guys
- Practicing broker for 40 years
Why agents don’t invest in real estate themselves
- Lack of successful role models
- Commercial agents < 7% of total
How Bob got into real estate investing
- Bought cabin in mountains as engineering student
- Worked as agent specializing in serving investors
What it was like to work with Robert as a father-son team
- Gave each other space to operate
- Both made significant contributions
What inspired Bob to write Be in the Top 1%
- Average agent makes $35K to $40K/year
- ‘Separated from opportunity’
The key to becoming an investment property specialist
- Understand language of investors, how they think
- Offer opportunity superior to what already doing
Bob’s top takeaways from Be in the Top 1%
- Investing easy to do with education
- Find coach to guide through process
How agents can best serve real estate investors
- Learn investment goals, help develop plan
- Proactively look for properties than align
Connect with Bob
The Real Estate Godfather
Resources
The 4-Hour Workweek: Escape 9-5, Live Anywhere, and Join the New Rich by Timothy Ferriss
Equity Happens: Building Lifelong Wealth with Real Estate by Robert Helms and Russell Gray
New Orleans Investment Conference
Podcast Show Notes
