REI Expo – The Greatest Show on Earth with Tim Herriage

Mike: Welcome to the FlipNerd.com podcast. This is your host Mike Hambright, and on this show I will introduce you to the VIPs and real estate investing industry, as well as other interesting entrepreneurs whose stories and experiences can help you take your business to the next level. We have three new shows each week which are available in the iTunes Store, or by visiting FlipNerd.com. So without further ado, let’s get started.
Welcome to today’s episode of one with Nerd VIP interview show. Today I’m joined by Tim Herriage, who wears a lot of hats – like me, we’ve got our hands in everything. In fact, we’re friends, he’s also a fellow HomeVestors guy. But today we’re going to talk about the REI Expo which is become a huge exhibition for real estate investors across the country, and we’ll talk about that. Before we get started, I want to take a second to recognize our sponsors.
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So, Tim, welcome to the show.

Tim: Hey, Mike, how are you doing today?

Mike: Good. How are you?

Tim: It’s a beautiful January.

Mike: Yeah, Happy New Year.

Tim: Hey, you too, man. We enjoyed that 75 degrees yesterday, and what, it was 25 when I woke up this morning?

Mike: Yeah, yeah, welcome to Texas in the winter. But go ahead and introduce yourself; I know you well. Like I said, I’m going to try and not act like I know you as well as I do, so folks watching that don’t know it won’t miss out on anything. Why don’t you tell us a little bit about yourself and then we’ll start talking about the REI Expo a little bit.

Tim: Well, like you said, we’ve known each other, I guess, since ’07, ’08, something like that.

Mike: Something like that.

Tim: I’ve been buying houses for 11 years since I got out of the Marine Corps. I’m kind of almost like you, right? I mean, I started doing this, really, through the HomeVestors system without ever buying any investment property or really, I don’t think I even owned my own house whenever I bought my first investment property.

Mike: Right.

Tim: So, 11 years, somewhere near 1,100 houses. I always tell people I don’t count houses anymore, I mainly count the bank account at the end of the year and how much money do I have to hide.

Mike: That’s all that matters, right?

Tim: Yeah. You know, you used to count houses a lot, but you don’t really do that anymore. Sizable rental portfolio, made it through the downturn like you did. You actually were lucky. You kind of got in during the downturn so you didn’t even know what you were missing.

Mike: I don’t have any skeletons in the closet, yeah.

Tim: Yeah. It’s funny, you know. The toxic portfolios were not just found on Wall Street – I had plenty on Main Street, so to speak.

Mike: Yeah.

Tim: Lost a couple hundred thousand dollars in ’08 and ’09, and I don’t even know the full number. But stayed active, stayed in the game. In, I guess it was late 2010, I called up Arnie Abramson and said, “Hey, I want to have an event.” And he said, “What are you talking about?” And I’d been kind of on domicile from HomeVestors for a year or so, and I missed the annual convention and the networking factor of it. So we created the REI Expo. It’s so funny, looking back, all that time, and actually, all of these on the wall, those plaques.
My office, a couple of weeks ago, they actually framed every program from every Expo we’ve done now.

Mike: That’s cool.

Tim: Well, again, eventually it’ll wrap all the way around the room, right?

Mike: Yeah.

Tim: But, you know, October 2010, just had no idea what we were doing – it was just going to be at networking event in Dallas in January ’11. Called you up, people like you from the Dallas area that had a lot of experience and had stayed active in the downturn.

Mike: Right.

Tim: And we had their first event, now we’re about to have our fourth event, fourth annual in Dallas. In 2011 we did one show, had a couple hundred people show up in Dallas. In 2012 we had about 400 show up here in the Dallas area. Then in 2012 we tried our road legs out in Houston, so to speak, and went there in August 2012. A couple hundred people there, and before you knew it, last year, 2013 – I can say that now, right? That’s last year.

Mike: Yeah, that’s crazy.

Tim: Last year we decided that we would have four. It’s kind of funny, I was writing my goals down yesterday morning for this year, and it’s something I do every year. And I was looking for a place to write them, and kind of making sure I was organized, and I open up my iPad, and I get in the notes, Apple notes. I scroll down, and I go, “Okay, some of these need to be deleted.” And I scroll all the way down and there’s a 2013 Event Goals note down at the bottom, and it was kind of funny.
It talked about where I wanted to go in all the events, it talked about all the Ugly House Seminars, and the Equity Trust events, and the conventions. Well, we hit it. We had four REI Expos in 2013, and the third annual in Dallas. I say Dallas, but Dallas Metroplex, that one’s and Hurst – we’ve tried to show Tarrant County some love. Then we went to Baltimore in April, we went to Chicago in July, and went and capped it off at Disneyland in November 1st.
Now, here we are in, I don’t even know what today is – January 2nd. And three weeks from tomorrow is the fourth annual, which will be our, one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight REI Expo.

Mike: Awesome.

Tim: Our fourth annual here in Dallas. We’re expecting well over 1,200 people. Over 1,000 attendees when you add in the speakers, sponsors, distinguished guests, such as yourself. We’ll have well over 1200 people in the room and in the building. It’s taken off and we’re going back to all four cities this year we went to last year because what we see it developing as, and cut me off if I’m getting long-winded, Mike.

Mike: No, this is good.

Tim: What we see it developing as is, you know, the first year we typically draw from a 50 to 100 mile radius, in the second year, 100 to 200. You know, we see it developing out by the end of 2015, it will draw from 500,000 miles around each location. Literally, if you go to the website now, we have it broken up as a winter, spring, summer, fall conference.

Mike: That’s great, [yeah.]

Tim: So, we follow the weather around.

Mike: Yep. I know, Tim, even from the early days of this there are people coming from other parts of the country. I think you even mentioned you have people coming from other countries before to some of these events, so it’s definitely gaining some traction.

Tim: Well, it is, and that’s been kind of the fun, natural evolution, right? When we started it off four years ago with you, it was only local speakers. Now we try to have a bit of a local flair for the local attendees, but we see it as a real opportunity to impact the industry as a whole. For instance, in January in a couple of weeks at the Dallas event, we’re bringing in Rick Sharga, who I think you had on this show didn’t you?

Mike: Yep, recently we did.

Tim: Yeah, we’re bringing in Rick Sharga from Auction.com to do a Dodd- Frank update. I love it, I mean, my faith tells me that things work out for a reason. It’s really neat the way it’s worked out because a lot of the Dodd-Frank regulations go into effect January 14th.
And then January 25th Rick’s going to be on the stage with thousands of investors talking about, one, how they’re probably going to affect us, and two, what the markets saying, now, timely, right after they’ve went into effect.

Mike: Right.

Tim: And three, any changes that he sees coming on a national market.

Mike: Yeah.

Tim: It’s one of those topics of conversation, right? It affects landlords, it affects flippers, it affects wholesalers, it affects anyone that deals in any type of consumer finance.

Mike: Right. Let’s start off. Why did you start the Expo? How did this all come about? I know you’re kind of like me, you like to bring people together, you like to see what other people are doing, whether it’s REI clubs, and things like that, and take it to another level. I mean, we’re cut from the same cloth in that perspective, but why don’t you tell us how this kind of got started and your passion for kind of growing it over the last few years.

Tim: I guess you have to go back to when I first got out of the Marine Corps, got into this business, I guess, just 12 years ago now. I started out by going to a local real estate investor club, and I didn’t have lot of money. I bought a box of books and tapes off of the Internet, off TV – I don’t think we really had that much Internet back then. I bought it off the TV and it came and it was confusing, and I started looking around and I found this.

Mike: Do you remember who it was?

Tim: Yeah! I do! I paid $500 for the box of books and tapes, and I didn’t understand it. I picked up the phone and called the Read This First number.

Mike: Yeah.

Tim: And for $2,500 more they were going to provide phone support.

Mike: So you don’t want to say who would was?

Tim: Well, you know, I can tell you this, it was a no money down investing course.

Mike: Okay.

Tim: And they wanted . . .

Mike: [Carlton Sheets] or somebody like that?

Tim: Yeah.

Mike: Okay.

Tim: And they wanted me to be $3,000 into the no money down . . .

Mike: Yeah.

Tim: . . . program before I even learned the first definition.

Mike: Right.

Tim: One [relief], no money down, but they got $500 bucks of mine. I’ll never forget, I actually, about six years ago, gave that box away as a raffle item at an event I was that because it had never been opened. The box had been opened, but not one of the books or packaging had been opened. So I went to a local club and I found on the, I don’t even remember how I found it. I think it was online, regardless, and I went and it was free for first-time attendees, and I walked in – it was just a room full of normal people.
Some of them were probably multimillionaires, and some of them were probably just like me, but I found this community of people that were willing to share and help and talk – I was just lucky. From an early stage, 12 years ago, networking has just been a big part of me getting into this business.

Mike: Right.

Tim: Really and truly, it’s kind of fun, you can go back to that first meeting in that [aero] club and I can tell you half of my power team in the Dallas Metroplex still came from contacts at those events.

Mike: Yeah.

Tim: So, after the crash a lot of the real estate clubs had went away, as you know, Mike. 2010 was kind of the first good year coming out of ’08, ’09, and I just wanted to network. I was done cleaning up my toxic portfolio, and there were no real events that were positive. So, I called Arnie up, I said, “Let’s have an event, let’s invite everyone in the Metroplex, and let’s make it where it’s a positive event.” And you remember the energy at that first one.
We really focused on that energy, the positivity of it because we don’t allow selling from stage, we don’t invite in a lot of these gurus that violates people’s trademarks and sell a bunch of dreams . . .

Mike: Right.

Tim: . . . not based off reality. So, you go, like, in Dallas in a couple of weeks you’ll have several classes to choose from every two hours, they’re hour-long classes with a 15 minute Q&A, and you’re not getting beat over the head with, “Buy my book, buy my tape, I have a secret that nobody knows,” or any of that other jazz. You listen to them, you talk – and lot of them do have products and services to sell, but they’re not allowed to do it from the stage. Then you have a 45 minute break and everyone goes to the tradeshow, drinks coffee, eat bagels, or cookies or whatever we have in there – and they network.
I liken it to a mall, you know. A lot of times you go into the mall and you see a shirt that you may want, but when you’re at the mall you get to walk around, look at everything. You really get to make purchasing decisions, and you may find something you didn’t know was available.

Mike: Right.

Tim: That’s really what we’ve been able to put together, now it grows and grows, so now in Dallas where half, it’s actually a Grapevine, Texas this year at the Gaylord Texan right by the airport. [And you are correct] – I like to look at every ticket that’s sold, and we’ve sold well over 600 now. We had someone buy a ticket from New Jersey yesterday; we had someone buy a ticket from California. Last week we had people from Canada, we’ve had people from Mexico for this one. We’ve got one guy from Uganda that says he’s driving in, flying in. [I don’t know if that flight . . .]

Mike: He’s not going to be able to drive.

Tim: [Well, it happens.] And I don’t know if that’s going to be one of those where I’m going to get to $60 million if I just give them my checking account.

Mike: Right.

Tim: I don’t know, but he actually do have people coming in from Saudi Arabia. They may not make it to the Dallas event, but they’re going to make it into Baltimore if they don’t, that are interested in investing in US real estate. In Australia we have, actually, confirmed people from Australia, and in the West Coast event we actually had people from Hong Kong fly in.

Mike: That’s great.

Tim: It is great, and we continue to grow year after year, and I think we do that by putting together a platform with integrity, and not compromising the original vision. Because the original vision was about networking, building a better business, and providing a positive atmosphere – and that’s still the core of what we try to do . . .

Mike: Right.

Tim: . . . with [every] event. The first one, refresh my memory, that’s what’s at the Richardson . . .

Tim: No, the first one was at the Doubletree Hotel there at Campbell.

Mike: That’s right, that’s right. Yeah, so now you’re going to be at the Gaylord – you’ve come a long ways.

Tim: Well it’s funny, you look at that first one, right. I never really done an event of that size, so most people, probably listeners of your show, wait until the last minute to come in. So, literally, the day of the event of the first one, I’ll never forget it, there’s only going to [no audio 16:04] set up around the general session area. And I go down early that day, and I want to plan and get everything ready – it’s just to me, Arnie, and the guy that worked for me named, Adam.
That morning, just, the registrations start coming in.

Mike: Yeah.

Tim: And they start coming in and they start coming in, and literally, our registration doubled the day before the event.

Mike: Wow.

Tim: I’ll just never forget, we were up until midnight moving tables out into the hall, I mean, it just blew our [floor plan] . . .

Mike: That’s a good problem to have, yeah.

Tim: Yeah, and so, when you go [through that] and then the next year was at the Richardson Civic Center, and ran out of space there. Then last year in Hurst, our biggest problem was parking. Nobody could find a place to park and literally, everybody loved the venue, it was probably the best venue I’ve found yet.

Mike: Yeah.

Tim: But it just doesn’t work for this year because, I mean, right now, off the registrations we have right now we would not be able to fit in that venue.

Mike: Right.

Tim: And we’re still three weeks away. You know, it’s really grown, and now at the Gaylord, we think we can stay at the Gaylord every year. I have a great group of people that are working for me now that’s our searching the nation. We’re working with national accounts with Hilton and Marriott trying to find for venues that we can get year after year and we can grow inside of. Because we really want to be that event that people put on their calendar, they’re looking forward to, they know they’re going to make their business better, they know they’re going to grow their business, and they know they’re going to meet people that can help them do those things.
We want to be on people’s calendar.

Mike: Yeah, that’s one of the things that we often talk about, whether it’s part of the HomeVestors coaching business that you and I do, is that real estate investing outside of the HomeVestors system that we’re in is a lonely place. I mean, people don’t talk, they don’t share ideas, until they’re brought together somewhere. In my experience, other events that take place, their purpose is to sell somebody something, and they purposely don’t put people together to talk, and network, and communicate with one another because their goal is to sell them something while they’re there.
From that perspective, I mean, there’s no other event other than the Expo that I into that offers such an incredible, really networking and learning opportunity, for sure.

Tim: Well, as a HomeVestors guy, we know the importance of branding and communicating your message. And that’s what we’ve worked on in 2013 was conveying our message that the REI Expo is a real estate investor educational conference and tradeshow. It’s not a pitch fest, it’s not a sales-a-thon. Even with mine and your affiliation and affinity for HomeVestors, we don’t make it the HomeVestors show.

Mike: Right.

Tim: Actually, some people in Chicago were like, “Hey, whoa. [Is] HomeVestors even here?” We do that because the Expo’s bigger than one group, one company, one Association – it’s really about the broad industry as a whole.

Mike: Yeah. Yeah. I know you’ve got appeal now from very much veteran folks that come to these events, and there’s obviously a mix of new people that are looking to get started. Do you have any sense of how things, as you grow here, if you’re attracting more of the newbie type or more of the veteran folks that just can’t miss an event because it’s the go-to event to be at now? What’s your sense for kind of the mix of the type of people that come to these events now?

Tim: That’s a good question and we really haven’t done that good of a job of profiling attendees over the first couple years and it’s a focus for 2014. But I can tell you that it’s a very even mix. Our average attendee is about 50 years old, but literally, in California we had people calling us from one of the local universities asking for a student discount and they ended up bringing 15 college students to the event.

Mike: Wow.

Tim: Just to learn. In the Dallas event were doing some things – we’re holding a veterans entrepreneurship workshop, in conjunction with the Expo we’re actually adding two rounds of classes on Saturday and Sunday for kids ages 12 to 15. That’s really going to be called, it’s “Beyond the Lemonade Stand: Understanding Investing in Business.”

Mike: That’s awesome.

Tim: Then we’re going to do a class for 16 to 18 year olds that’s really focused on not going into debt in college. Mike, what I hope is that after two days we’re able to really show these kids how the decisions they make over from 18 to 22, you and I see it all the time . . .

Mike: Yep.

Tim: . . . it’s a four year period that some people pay for 10 or 15 years. We’re in a unique position with the level of people that bring to the REI Expo with the sponsors, speakers – people like me and you that have been through different iterations of our financial career. You and Lindsay, how you were able to leave corporate America because you actually taken care of your finances. We want to impart that on some [kids] and really do something with the platform we have.

Mike: Yeah, there’s nobody that I’ve ever met that has a successful business and real estate investing now, that probably their single biggest regret is that they didn’t start earlier. And obviously, public education for teaching people how to be prepared financially, and how to be responsible financially, is just nonexistent – it’s broken in America. I mean, kids get out of school and there’s never any talk about balancing a check book. They’re very much in the victim society where everybody thinks there, which is a shame, but I think what you’re doing from a kids’ standpoint, conceptually, it’s awesome.
It’s just a matter of whether parents will bring kids and whether you can get attendance, but the concept sounds awesome.

Tim: Yeah, and that’s why we chose to actually test it [inaudible 22:44], right? So it’s free for the veterans, it’s free for the kids – you don’t even have to be registered for the Expo to bring your kid. We’ve got some school teachers that are helping us, we have some college professors that are helping us, we have local businessmen and entrepreneurs that are helping us. What we hope to do is – it’s almost free childcare for anyone that’s attending that has a kid between 12 and 18, but at the end of the day, we want to create, and we want to help this industry get better. People like me and you, Mike, and people that are financially free, or investing in real estate, and building portfolios and long-term wealth and cash flow – we have an obligation.
We have an obligation to give back, we have an obligation to, I always say, it’s the fundamental flaw in America society, it’s a lack of accountability. Everyone wants to sit around and complain about things, but very few people want to do anything about it.

Mike: Yep.

Tim: And I feel like all of us as Americans, not just entrepreneurs and investors, have an obligation to do something, so that’s all we’re doing, here. I don’t think we’re really anything special. We had some things that spoke to us, and we’re going to take action and do something about it.

Mike: That’s great, that’s great.

Tim: And if it works we’re going to do it in every city.

Mike: Yeah. So, talk a little bit more about the plans for 2014. Obviously, Dallas is coming up here, the DFW show, which would the biggest show you of the year because you’ve got, obviously, the biggest legacy here, you’re based here, so you’ve obviously got bigger connections here. But they’re growing in lots of other markets, so, I don’t know if you know the exact dates, but I know you know the months. Why don’t you tell us about the other three shows coming up this year?

Tim: In April we’ll be back in the Baltimore, D.C., Northern Virginia area. We’ve narrowed it down to three different venues. It’ll be in April – Easter falls on a tricky day, you better look at your plans for April, Mike.

Mike: Okay.

Tim: Easter’s like on the 23rd or something – it’s a very weird timeframe for Easter. So we’re actually looking at, probably, April 3rd or 4th, somewhere in that timeframe. And then Chicago, the Great Lakes show, the summer show, will be the last weekend of July in Schaumburg, Illinois. We actually have a contract from a venue that I went and looked at a couple weeks ago, and that should be up on the website in the next week. And then the Anaheim Southern California show will either be in the last weekend or two of October, or the first weekend of November.
We loved the venue we were at last year, but we’re trying to, basically, we already have two Marriott venues picked for 2014. We’re trying to get it where they’re all the Marriott venues where we can lower the cost of the venues. You know the deal, I mean, we pass those savings on to the vendors and the attendees. I don’t host these shows for money. We’re not looking to make a profit off these shows. You and I both know I’ll make far more money buying and selling real estate, and financing people, and partnering, than I ever could by selling tickets. So, I do it to expand my network because at the end of the day, your network is your net worth.
And this year we’ll have well over 1,000 in Dallas, we’ll have over 500 in all the other shows. The division is by 2015 you have 4,000 [person plus] trade shows, and by 2016 you have four shows that are near 2,000 people because that’s where we really can bring in some more dynamic speakers. In Baltimore we’re actually, it’s economies of scale. There are some of the speakers that charge $30,000 to show up for an hour.

Mike: Yeah.

Tim: Since we’re not going to try to sell $100,000 worth of product at the end of the session, we actually have to build up a certain mass.

Mike: Yeah, and Tim, by the way, I’ll do it for 20. 20K for an hour, does that sound good?

Tim: If you send me the check for $20,000, you [could] speak for [an hour.]

Mike: All right.

Tim: So what’s we’re doing, in Baltimore, for instance, we’re trying to get someone from HUD that talks on some of the Fannie and Freddie policies for investor products to come speak. In Chicago we’re looking at some other business leaders, and depending on what’s happened with the Dodd-Frank halfway through the year. If . . .

Mike: Right.

Tim: . . . there’s some case law yet, we may do a repeat of that. Then in California last year we did a market prediction as the keynote and that was very popular. But what we’re really looking at doing is the fourth quarter show, the fall show, we’ll be trying to make that more of a forecast for the next year. What really and truly, what you hope to do is, the last show of every year is more of a forecast, “Here’s what happened this year, and here’s what will happen next year.” Then the first show of the year is, “We’re here. This is where we’re going.”

Mike: Teeing up the year, yeah.

Tim: Yeah, I mean, you kind of look at the fourth-quarter numbers because as you know, those are always very indicative of what really is happening because you take some of the seasonality and you have a full 12 month sample.

Mike: Right.

Tim: It’ll grow, and we’re attracting more national vendors, and we hope to be able to provide a positive atmosphere with quality products and services available to the user.

Mike: Yeah, and knowing what you’re doing. I mean, obviously, as time goes by, the events get bigger. Like you said, I know what you’re doing. You’re not making money – it’s hard to make money in this business. You’re hoping that it opens up new opportunities, and relationships, and doors that you can make money in other ways, which is why a lot of people come to these events. So you’re perfectly aligned with an individual ticket buyer because they’re coming looking for the same thing that ultimately, you are.
But the venues get better, I know the food’s gotten better, for people that care about coming for food. I don’t know if anybody’s coming just for the food, but I’ve seen some people that are definitely trying to get their money’s worth while they’re at [one of your] events. But, I don’t know, it just gets better with . . .

Tim: I learned . . .

Mike: . . . time . . .

Tim: . . . that second . . .

Mike: . . . and [guidance.]

Tim: . . . year. You remember the second year, I didn’t have coffee available the first morning? Because what we had done in the second year is we tried to make it really cheap, where people could come for $50 or $60 bucks. So we didn’t have coffee available in the morning. And, oh! It wasn’t before lunch that I was searching frantically on a Saturday for a vendor that could come set up coffee so people would stop complaining.

Mike: Yeah.

Tim: So, we try to have plenty of coffee, and water, and breaks. We don’t feed lunch at the events, but we have a morning break where we have pastries, and coffee – they even brought energy drinks out in California.

Mike: Wow. That sounds like California.

Tim: Then in the afternoon we do a cookie and lemonade type refreshment break.

Mike: And margaritas in Texas, right?

Tim: Yeah, I wish. That’s after I go up to my room after the night. Then, we’re actually, I haven’t really talked about this much, but this year what we’re doing is we’re adding a dinner that’s an additional charge on Saturday night. Number one, because we have a lot of people that stay there, so Dallas will have over 300 people in a room, in sleeping rooms that night. So, we’re going to have a dinner, and that dinner, it’s going to be a plated dinner with dancing and DJs – a lot like the HomeVestors awards ceremony.

Mike: Okay.

Tim: But all the proceeds at the end of the night are going to be donated to a legislative fund that is actually defending an 80 year old woman that is in a lawsuit with HUD right now because she had a no pet policy on her rent houses. And the HUD sent a tester, and the lady said it was an anxiety dog, and under the current statutes she should have said okay, but it was an 80 year old woman and she just said, “No, I have a no pet policy.”
So she’s been sued, and it’s been over a year and her legal fees over $100,000.

Mike: Wow.

Tim: And the need thing is, is she’s actually on an appeal rights now, and it looks like HUD may actually reverse that policy. That if you have your written no pet policy, that’s that.

Mike: Right.

Tim: So, that’s something that we don’t expect 1,000 people to be at, but we’re going to make it a fun event for a purpose and try to donate some money to that cause that will help out our industry, Mike. Because at the end of the day none of us want to be that person that gets caught doing something that doesn’t make sense. I’m never a fan of discrimination. I’m a huge fan of equal housing, but I don’t agree that if someone owns a piece of property, and they say, “I don’t allow pets in my property.” I just don’t agree with that slant on it.

Mike: Yeah, it’s unfortunate. I don’t think there’s any legislation that’s happened in the last several years that has been in the direction of helping landlords that are real estate investors. It’s been nothing but things that really make our lives more difficult, which, ultimately, I’m going to kind of pat ourselves on the back here. But I think what we do is very good for America, for society, and for communities – provide affordable housing, clean up neighborhoods and things like that.
Of course, we do it to make money, but guys like us aren’t taking advantage of anybody. It sucks when somebody makes you feel like you have, you know?

Tim: Yeah, I mean, because people say that we’re after desperate people, and you and I sit around and talk. We don’t want to deal with anyone that’s desperate.

Mike: No.

Tim: Because desperate, it’s bad for everyone. But when you look at the house that I’m actually closing on next week, I think. It’s in South Dallas, it’s been vacant for six years, it’s a drug house. Yeah, I bought it for $2,500, and I’ve already structured a deal with a lady whose sons are in construction that wants to live in that neighborhood. They’re going to buy it, they’re going to put a down payment, I’m going to finance the rest. But they’re immediately going to go in and spend about $20,000 making the house [livable, and] making that neighborhood safer, cleaner, and increasing the value of other houses in the neighborhood. And I don’t see how that’s bad for anyone.

Mike: Right, right. Right. Awesome, Tim. Well, anything else you want to add about the REI Expo?

Tim: No, just that, I would say anyone watching that is in real estate, or is thinking about diversifying their investment strategy. Chris Dannenfeldt, one of our big sponsors at the Expo, he’s a financial planner for 35 years, zero client losses, and is the former TV show host of CNN’s Financial Warrior talk show. And Chris Dannenfeldt in his presentation, I love, he’s actually the only person I’ve listen to, to be honest, in the last two years. I listened to a two-hour presentation of his. Mike, if you’ve never listened to it, you’ve got to go listen to it, and he’ll . . .

Mike: [Yeah, I’ve probably] seen it.

Tim: . . . feed you, if you go to the one at Ruth’s Chris, you actually feed you . . .

Mike: Okay.

Tim: . . . and [it’s] a pretty good steak. But he talks in his presentation about how much is the last 5%? When you really look at it, in the last five years, I was doing the numbers last. Five years ago in March, the Dow hit 6600. So, in March 2009 at 6600 – today it’s over 16,000. So in five years is increased two and a half times. And I don’t know many people in America whose lives, financially or even personally, are two and a half times better than it was five years ago.

Mike: Right.

Tim: And Chris talks about what is the last 5% worse? Right? And there’s a lot of people that may be watching this show that, they’re heavily invested in the stock market, Dave got most of their money back, and they’re just trying to ride it out for that next 5%.

Mike: Right.

Tim: And I believe in diversification, but I also believe in cycles. So I’d say anyone, even if they’re just kind of considering it – they found your show on iTunes and they’re just, “Hey, what’s this real estate thing?” I would say, “You ought to check out the Expo because you’re going to find owner financed mortgages for sale. You’re going to find passive investment opportunities. You’re going to find active investment opportunities.” I mean, it’s a money back guarantee – if someone’s not happy with anything I ever sell them, I’ll give them their money back.

Mike: Yeah.

Tim: What you’re going to do is, you’re going to walk away better educated, even if it’s about tax law, or the new sales tax, the Affordable Care Act has put on investment property or capital gains. I guess what I’m saying is right now, we’re selling tickets, it’s $149. That gets you in to all day Saturday, the welcome reception on Friday night, all day Saturday, all day Sunday. You can get a room at the Gaylord Texan for a discounted rate of $169 a night, and you can add a guest to that pass for 119 bucks.
And if you have a kid that’s 12 to 15, they can come for free. I’m sorry, 12 to 15, or 16 to 18, they can come for free and be educated and learned for two days in a row and be around some of the most successful people I’ve ever met. At the end of the day, I don’t think anyone has anything to lose by investing two days in their future.

Mike: No. I’m not aware of anybody that’s ever left an event that didn’t think they got the value of what they paid out of it. I mean, it just hasn’t happened in my experience. We’ll put a link below this video for anybody that wants to join or learn more about it, and that link will include whatever the best pricing is at the time. I know periodically you offer some discounts and things like that. I know the Texas, the Dallas event’s coming up here in a few weeks, but we’ll also put a list of the upcoming events. Your dates are all set, right?

Tim: Yes . . .

Mike: [So, that’s] . . .

Tim: . . . yes.

Mike: . . . all set.

Tim: And actually, what I’ll do Mike – you’ve got to send me an email to remind me of this, I’m just coming up with this on the fly.

Mike: Here we go.

Tim: All caps, FLIPNERD, it’s all one word. If they use that promo code, it’ll give them 25% off, at any time, for any show this year.

Mike: Wow. That’s awesome.

Tim: So they’re going to have at least 30 minutes of me and you talk . . .

Mike: Yeah.

Tim: . . . to save [25%] here.

Mike: I think we’re at, like, 37 minutes now.

Tim: Oh!

Mike: You’ll have to stretch it out. But, hey, that’s also, so I’ll add that information below the . . .

Tim: . . . all caps . . .

Mike: . . . [inaudible 00:38:28] here.

Tim: . . . one word. You’ve got to make sure it’s, one word.

Mike: Awesome, awesome. Well, hey, Tim, thanks so much for joining us today. I’m excited that we’re friends and excited that you joined us today, and real excited about attending all the Expos – I’ll be at all of them this year, so . . .

Tim: Yep.

Mike: . . . excited to be there. And again, Happy New Year, and we’ll talk to you soon my friend.

Tim: Mike, thank you, and Happy New Year to you too, buddy.

Mike: All right, take care.

Tim: Bye-bye.

Mike: Thanks for joining us on today’s FlipNerd.com podcast. To listen to more of our shows and hear from incredible guests, please access all of our podcasts in the iTunes Store. You can also watch the video versions of our shows by visiting us at FlipNerd.com.