Feel the Spirit of Real Estate Deals: Overcome Your Obstacles Now

Stephen S. (00:04.745)
Welcome back to the show. Y’all will re-interview the nation’s leading real estate entrepreneurs. I am here today with Todd Smith. And today we’re going to be talking about the spirit of the deal. Just to remind you all at Investor Fuel, we help real estate investors, service providers and real estate entrepreneurs, 2 to 5X their businesses to allow them to build the businesses they’ve always wanted to allow them to live the lives they’ve always dreamed of.

for major impact. So Todd Smith, I’m super excited to interview you on the show, talk about the spirit of the deal. I know we had a really great get to know you session here before hitting record. So let’s hop right into it. You’re right. I agree, man. So tell everybody a little bit, I know you gave me a little background, but tell everybody a little bit about your background, what you’ve got going on now and what you’re super passionate about.

Todd Smith (00:45.647)
Bro, we could have recorded that. It would be a good show. The opener would have been a good show, bro. So here we are.

Todd Smith (01:02.625)
Perfect. Yeah, I’m Todd Smith. Brothers Keepers, my organization. I got started in construction. I started college after 10th grade. I just went from 10th grade straight into college in Orham, Utah. And so I started an electrical apprenticeship very early at 17. So I was running commercial jobs.

You know, as an, as like a second year electrician remodeling shopco. And so I got responsibility very early. And then I started, I got married young and had children. So I have eight children. so always the demands required success. So I always had strong goals. And I got into the point of understanding that as long as I pictured it in my mind and I focused on it with the right emotions that I could create any potential. The question was not.

Can I do it? The question was how much do I believe in myself when I start that deal out? You know, how many zeros do I actually believe I can pull off? And for me, I always was adding to that going bigger. You know, first I did a million dollar deal, then it was 10, then it was 50, then it was 75, then it was 100, then it was 350. And now it’ll be no different other than my knowledge and my belief in myself. You know, the process is the same.

that number on the outcome doesn’t matter. And so I kept going bigger and bigger and bigger and found my way into the top tables, you know, in the world. So a of amazing people there and great lessons. And so my belief is that real estate is basically a fishnet that harnesses energy that humans create when they live in a neighborhood. If we manage that energy in a more efficient manner than we are right now,

That energy alone could create the economic needs to pay off all of those people’s houses. It is a method that is very simple and will equal the end of people paying for their homes if I have my way on planet earth. And so instead of making 250 million on a project, I can leave it as an endowment that money yielding returns can pay off everyone’s

Todd Smith (03:19.07)
houses in there and that’s a very simple, knowable explanation of how everything there can be free to the customers, to the people living there. You know, and so I mean to change all of the way people live. I’m very aggressively going out the gate to try and create a place where if you don’t want to have a life bound to a job for 40 years and a 30 year mortgage that you should have a place to live and pursue your passion.

without being, if you have to buy a $500,000 condo, you have no choice but to enter the system and then you’re victim to the system, you know? And so, for me, the passion comes from the idea that I can help humans and their suffering with easing conditions for living. That is my passion and the money flows as a result of that passion. And so that’s the spirit of the deal that we’re talking about.

If you go do a deal for profit or for money, you tend to get the energy of the deal around that money and then you attract greedy people. When you come for your passion, every single paper you write, every contract, every pen, everything is in that passion and the energy will reflect in the success of your deal.

Stephen S. (04:39.992)
Mm. Love that. Where did you where did you end up finding this passion from? Was there a specific like experience that you went through or something that led you to where you’re at now?

Todd Smith (04:51.239)
there are many, many specific experiences. I’ll just tell one quick story. I was with my dad and we were taking some garbage. I have four sisters and I’m the only boy. And so it was basically me and my dad doing the hardest chores. know, there’s their chores would be like clean the bathroom. And mine was like, mow the fucking acre and a half backyard and clean out the garage before you have football game. You know, like, so

I learned very young that there was nobody to lean on to get the job done. And so I found this little teddy bear, man. I was probably eight and it was in the garbage and I picked it up and my dad’s like, that’s trash, throw it back. And I kept it and it would say, you’re a winner, Teddy knows, man. And it would say, you were a born leader. And it say, you’re on the way to the top, man. He had like a three-piece suit. He was all cool little teddy bear. And I believed.

in my heart as I would hear him say that, that I was born here to lead and to help. And so never did I even, it could be as simple as this freaking little bear whispering in my ear at night that I’m a born leader, gave me the idea that I can make this planet a better place. And what man is a man if he does not make his world better? And so.

I had many moments, you know, I won many BMX racing events when I was little. had, you know, the fucking big trophies and all that stuff. And, and so I learned what it took to be a winner and always have been, I just try to, to approach even as a husband, as a father, as a friend, as a disciple of my man, Jesus Christ, all of those things I approach in that same vein. And

It seems to keep working out for me because I have now live a life that I cannot imagine getting any better. I’m absolutely in heaven.

Stephen S. (06:49.192)
Really? What makes you say that about where you’re at currently?

Todd Smith (06:54.333)
I have found such purpose in the circumstances and the adversity that I’ve overcome throughout my life. mean, I’ve I was I purchased 125 acres in Maui, Hawaii, and I closed in December of 07. Right. I was like probably 25 or let’s see. No, I was probably more like 30. 125 acres in Maui, bro. Move my s-

at the time six children and my family to Maui to pursue that project and I had about maybe 20 million in houses in Salt Lake area doing big like I would buy builder bailouts and I would fix them up and finish the houses and sell them for millions of dollars and so I

I’ve been beat up, I’ve lost it all, I’ve had to sit in my truck alone, I’ve had to work three or four days straight many, many times. And in all of that adversity, I have found the training and the knowledge necessary to take my experience and convert into wisdom. And I have found such peace in the human being that I am today. I don’t regret one single thing. Even the hardest days of my life are a-

gift from the God of Gods who is so wonderful that if you give him a seed, he gives you back a tree and all the fruits and seeds you could ever want. That’s how good planet Earth is. Every element here is trying to usher you into your fullest expression of your DNA. All you have to do is interact with the circumstances that are in your area and appreciate them for what they are.

The Kingdom of Heaven isn’t some place you will be brought to. It’s a state of consciousness you reach in your mind, where everything is at peace, where you have surrendered to whatever this planet is going to deliver to you. Let’s be honest, we’re on a fucking rock flying through outer space. It’s not like you’re in control here, man. Any idea of control is pretense. So, human beings get in their canoes and they try to paddle up the river of life.

Todd Smith (09:02.506)
And that’s just fucking nonsense. Turn your boat around and enjoy the ride. It will take you where you want to go. If you want to paddle over to use some of your energy to go over to the side and check things out. But there has been a life designed for you that is in the coding in your fucking DNA. That is the best life you could imagine. When you find your way to the knowledge that all you need is contained within sight of you. You cannot suffer.

What would you suffer from? this is too hard? Man, if you don’t want a hard situation, you don’t intend to have an impact on this planet. Do not run from hard. Embrace hard. It will make you who you are.

Stephen S. (09:49.361)
Hmm. I love that. Now, let me ask you this, because with everything we’re talking about here, our primary audience are real estate investors, people that are wanting to get started, things like that. How does somebody go from where you started as an electrical contractor and then starting to develop properties, doing big deals? How does somebody go if they want to?

you know, change the world, they’ve obviously got to make a lot of money to do it, right? So how does somebody, how does somebody go from not knowing where to start to doing a billion dollar deal as you’ve said that you’ve recently done?

Todd Smith (10:29.28)
I would say that the number one thing is understanding the mechanics of energy and this and money. Like money is just a screwdriver, all right? Money really is not understood very well by Americans. so understanding that money is a flow of energy and the dollars is just an individual marker of where you’re pulling something out. Like when you hear Elon Musk is 330 billion, much of that is shares and paper wealth. This isn’t real.

money, right? And so, so understanding the nature of money would be a really important thing and it’s workings, it’s flow of energy. It has an in, it has an out, breathe in, breathe out. You don’t hoard it. You don’t pool it. can’t, money doesn’t work for you if it’s in a pool. It must be flowing into a project. And so understanding that it’s singles and doubles and building, you know, a great book.

would be the richest man in Babylon. don’t know if you’ve ever read that. It’s like a very simple, you know, the simple rules of investing and always stick with the simplest rules. People are going to tell you, this is the greatest deal. this is the greatest deal. Bro, know this in real estate. There’s always another deal. If you are feeling pressured to do a deal, don’t do that deal. All right. So

Stephen S. (11:53.0)
you

Todd Smith (11:53.31)
Yeah, the investment window is small. You have to make a decision quickly. But there is always another deal. If the idea that I’m going to miss this deal is part of your underwriting, then you are off-killed. And so you must balance back into there will be another deal, bro. There always is. So a sales pitch on how good a deal you’re getting can’t be from the person who stands to gain when they’re telling you what a great opportunity you have.

So that’s bunk information. So know that there’s always going to be another deal. But the most important thing, just observe every table that I, the first year I did, I made, I was making as, as probably a 24 year old, I was probably making 350,000 a year. And that was a 2002. So that was a lot of money on to my Range Rover, my fucking diesel truck, my boat, all that great life, know, 24.

And so I just, did one real estate deal and I made 300 grand in 90 days. And I just was like, I’ve been working way too hard for that money running electrical crews and bidding jobs and fixing service calls and fixing, you know, sewer pumps in the middle of the night underground, you know, and so all that stuff that I made. And so I just started buying people lunches and I would ask questions nonstop, nonstop, realtors, eight mortgage people, title people. I would just, I was a…

Just observe. Pay attention everywhere you are. When people are talking, don’t be thinking about your cat or your dog or whatever you’re gonna fucking do on Tuesday night. Be in that room. Be present. Your subconscious mind has the ability to record every single thing you’re hearing. so focus in your mind. Go back to those conversations and learn from those things. And then you become a learner. And no matter what end of real estate you go into,

You will be picking up the clues that will make you up, that will increase your prowess and you’ll be successful at whatever you do. So observing, must learn from your mistakes and don’t dwell on failure. You’re not, it’s, it’s, it’s real estate, bro. Cities, empires have risen and fallen on this, you know, if, a failure or something happens in your, just get up. There is no such thing as failure, man. You are better than neck.

Todd Smith (14:18.714)
I lost everything. I’m sitting in my truck. I had fucking two S classes. I had 14 cars when I moved to Maui, 14. And I’m not talking fucking Hyundai’s, bro. Range Rovers, G wagons, Escalades, Benzes, all of it. And I’m in 09, I’m sitting in my truck crying in a parking lot with fucking $2 in my pocket. And I just was filled with, I was like, God, why would you do this to me? And he was like,

You are better today than you have ever been, you idiot. What do you know if you only know winning? Winning’s for clowns. You don’t learn anything in winning. Let’s find out who you are. You’re six kids, gotta eat tomorrow fucking morning, bro. Your job is paying you $20 to break plaster off the walls. Well then I better fucking work 20 hours today and make $400. And so driving across country.

doing whatever it takes to feed my beautiful family made me a man bro failure shows you who you are embrace it economic failure you cannot fail if you’re continuing to learn you will just get better and better that’s number one

Stephen S. (15:35.4)
What does day to day look like for you now?

Todd Smith (15:38.617)
I have slowed my roll beyond even comprehension and I spent probably 14 hours a day in silence and I have a very close circle of just a few friends and I spend the majority of the time in my mind. So, silence.

Stephen S. (16:06.502)
What does that look like?

Todd Smith (16:08.268)
So I walk four to five hours, seven hours, eight hours a day, walking. I walking, mostly walking and standing and dancing. I hike on some cliffs above a very beautiful hiking spot. I’ve been, I’ve started to become a little nomad right now. I’m floating around. have had my, I got divorced last year.

And the relationship with my children that are still at home has been…

weekend and so that we don’t talk much and so I’m for the first time in my life finding out who I am and so I’m doing some wandering and I’m headed over to the UK and up to Alaska to meet with some very powerful healers and so we can in the spiritual way humankind is very much suffering right now and this is a product meant much of this is the economic

Many people are choosing real estate like your listeners to try and find a way out of that grind. so, healing your mind is the way out of that grind. Understand that no success that you achieve will come from outside of you. I know this is complicated concept. The knowledge inside of you integrating into your understanding of your transaction will be your success. It won’t be because you got to the right place at the right time and…

fucking made the right offer. Your mind understanding your transaction and seeing the problems, that will be your key to success. It’s always gonna be in your mind and in your heart. It will not come from outside of you. That’s so key to understand. Even when I went from 50 million to a hundred million dollar deals, I didn’t meet someone who gave me that opportunity. I finally awoken to my own potential and my belief in myself.

Todd Smith (18:09.051)
And that triggered, when I knew I was ready for a hundred million dollar deal, so did everybody else in the fucking room. If I’m not sure about it, then neither are they. I was at a meeting and this guy’s telling me, I need your passport, I gotta get you White House security clearance. And I’m like, whatever man. And he’s like, Todd, if you want these people to vet you, they will vet you bro. If you don’t believe in you, why would they? So this was a lesson from a billionaire that I learned.

I’m in a room that’s beyond vetting. If I’m in that room, you don’t need it to be vetted. And he sees my unbelief in me and says, if you don’t fucking believe in you, how will they, you know? So all of that has to come from inside of you. You have to know that I’m capable of dealing with whatever problem comes up. You underwrite your transaction. You evaluate your risk. You decide if the risk you’re taking is worth the likely return.

You problem solve everything that might happen and then you prepare for everything but those things happening by knowing you’re ready to deal with that problem.

Stephen S. (19:18.056)
So now because there’s obviously got to be a practical skill set that also comes in because anybody can just believe in everything and and without some form of action like you can’t just manifest things to come come to fruition without some form of action whether in the universe or or within yourself so how does somebody find a deal of that size even if they believe in themselves how do they get in a room like

Todd Smith (19:31.591)
Yes, yes.

Todd Smith (19:42.803)
You have to understand there are no shortcuts. didn’t do a fucking billion dollar deal on my first deal. did. I did a spec house. Look, the first spec house I did was 750 grand and I was 21 years old. So look, that is like a fucking billion dollar deal to a 21 year old back then. That’d be like a four million dollar house now. Anyway, so your skill set, like I was an electrician, so I watched how every house was built.

I’m wiring houses for 15 bucks an hour and I’m fucking pretending I’m the general contractor. I’m noticing nails that are out of place and sheetrock nails that are popped. And you know, so I paid attention to all of the details and so I could immediately see, wow, this is a great job, you know, and I learned the mechanics of it. as an electrician, I was constantly problem solving. you want a new light there? let me see. I could go underneath here. I could go out that pipe. I could go up over here.

So everything was just a function of, dude, I can get there, I just need to find the direction. And so become intimate with your product. If it’s houses, you know, start like, you know, there’s tons of information online. can, people will go through the mechanics, but flowing your energy out is what allows miracle energy to come back into you. You must have flow. Your manifestation can only come into existence.

If you are transferring energy and so get a job maybe as a realtor, you know, that might be a way you’re working. You’re trying to make your commission, but you know, I don’t, I don’t know how many deals I got perfected deals. brought in a transaction to a mortgage guy. said, here’s the file three days. We fucking funded $2.4 million three days, bro. I’m not, I’m talking funded. And so

Everyone’s like, how do you do Todd’s so fast? And he said, when he brings me a deal, everything is in it. I don’t even have to ask for anything, you know? And so, you need to understand the mechanics of your part of it. And so, getting in with your hands and taking that, Napoleon Hill talks about this, if you’re flipping burgers, treat it like you’re the owner of the place and the energy will bring you to your next step.

Todd Smith (22:04.42)
You don’t need to know 20 steps. Don’t picture a billion dollar deal. Picture you as the most proficient real estate investor that’s ever been. That’s you. You’re the asset, not your real estate. And so take your steps piece by piece. If you’re working for a part-time title company, then an investor is going to be waiting one day in a closing and you’re going to strike up a conversation and he’s going to be like, wow, I really like how you, I’ve been looking for a personal assistant.

Capable people are needed everywhere. Demonstrate your intelligence and your understanding of your industry and people everywhere will be looking to bring you on and listen to your heart. Trust the energy to pull you into the circumstance that is best for you. This is quantum mechanics. This is all that matters as a human, being able to draw in those opportunities that are perfect for you.

Stephen S. (23:01.832)
Man, this is great. One last big question as we kind of start wrapping things up and we’ll probably have to have you on for a part two. We try to keep these to 25, 30 minutes long. if you had to go back to the beginning of it all, knowing what you know today, doing the deals that you’ve done, what would you do different and what would you do the same?

Todd Smith (23:28.461)
Bro, thank you for this question. This is the only question that matters and it doesn’t fucking matter what your industry is. You must understand, you are not your body. Your body is a fucking collection of dust that is held together in an electrical arrangement between atoms. You are the consciousness driving that body, okay? You are electricity and you are f-

moving in a beautiful dance with all the energy that God has bestowed on this beautiful planet Earth. You must understand the laws of this planet when you serve another human being in love. My man Jesus brings his grace. That offering can feed 5,000 people with a couple of fishes and some loaves of bread.

Give away the thing you want and Jesus and planet earth and all that is holy will see that return to your experience Stop coming to get No matter what you do if you serve another in love karma will see that return to you So as an investor you put out energy on behalf of a hopeful return know that you cannot be stolen from

When you put your energy out in love, this planet will see your return and no matter what industry you’re in, no matter what your transaction looks like, come to serve. Your deal will win. It doesn’t matter what it is. And so if I could impress that on little Todd, I wouldn’t have run around like a fucking animal doing things for profit for so many years.

You know, I didn’t even know what I was doing. So I didn’t even know there was an idea that you might not do something for profit. You know, capital profit. So anyway, that’s number one.

Stephen S. (25:27.432)
Absolutely, man. Well, thanks so much for being here with us, Todd, and sharing this wealth of wisdom with us. If people want to connect more with you, how would they do that?

Todd Smith (25:38.539)
I have a website that is very fucking cheesy cracker cheat, but you can schedule a zoom with me one-on-one. I work for free. I serve Jesus alone. I’m here to fix the planet and I do not require money. Brotherskeeperutah.com. I’m on TikTok at a fit brothers keeper official. I share consciousness ideas, business ideas thought I can end your suffering. I am a healer.

I have been sent from Jesus to heal this planet. I will be fixing it. You can get ahold of me. My time is here for planet Earth and its healing. I will take you one on one. I require no money. I am only here to serve.

Stephen S. (26:20.028)
Well Todd, thanks so much for being here and for everybody listening. Hope you enjoyed this episode here of the Real Estate Pros podcast. Make sure to subscribe and follow for more and we’ll see you in the next episode. Thanks so much.