Bob Steele: An Observer Interview


Observer: So Bob, tell us about what’s happening in your life these days
Steele: Well, I’ll be cocooned in Carmel for the foreseeable future but wishing everyone success in their endeavors.
Observer: C’mon, we all know better than that. What are you really up to these days.
Steele: Well, I have two things keeping my hand in. I have a gold and silver company that is really looking up, and lots of new stimuli taking me down into mines etc., so I am learning new things and not just plowing old ground.
We signed yesterday with a client/partner to put a 100 unit Ramada in Ehrenberg, Arizona where I-10 crosses the Colorado River at the first Arizona off ramp. Also putting in a gas station, restaurant, etc. About 20 acres overall and we have river front access. If any one represents any franchises or other users who might fit, tell them there are 25,000 cars per day on I-10 and we are looking for names that will help get those cars to drop by for a visit.
Observer: Will we see you at any S.E.C. meetings this year?
Steele: I am planning to attend one or two meetings next year looking for money for development and distributors for our gold and silver strategy company.
I have also been working on new creative formulas. Think about this one I call Strategy #17 for a reverse leverage strategy never used in real estate before to my knowledge.
The result was that that the property filled with students who saw the apartment as something special, what another generation might have called “hip” or “cool.”
Recently, I have been engaged in a new way with “Real Estate as Art.” Steve Barker, S.E.C. brought this possibility to my attention. In planning how to remodel a hotel in North Dakota, Steve brought in an architect, three designers, and a marketing expert. At first, all I could think of was “how much is this going to cost?” But as the brainstorming and ideas unfolded, what became apparent was how the property COULD look and how it COULD function. In the process, a “Visual Mosaic” began to arise in the conversations we had. The designers even undertook the creation of an actual mosaic on the walls of the hotel lobby, utilizing the colors and textures of the western North Dakota territories.
And as the mosaic unfolded, the local townspeople began to talk. “Did you see what they’re doing at that hotel? What’s going on? What are they going to do next?” It was the “visual” stimulus they were responding to…creating “buzz” in the community about the project.
Now “art” must be managed, every bit as much as a budget. “Dream to the sky, but engineer back to earth.” Costs must be weighed … practical decisions made…contracts negotiated. In the end, however, what is possible is the marriage of two dynamic forces in society today – Real Estate as a source of value AND Art as the source of inspiration! That marriage has the possibility of creating a profit center unique in the marketplace.
Your mortgage is a fixed liability of $1,000,000. Put along side of this mortgage, in your own storage facility, $100,000 in our Pre Pak (name of company) gold and silver packages (about 1/2 gold and 1/2 silver). This $100,000 is not fixed and appreciates against the falling U.S. Dollar at an ever-increasing rate. When the gold and silver reaches $1,000,000 pay off your mortgage. Why will it go up so much? You need to do a little homework about hyperinflation. Strategy #11 is even better, a retirement that really works because the income is not fixed.
Observer: Fascinating. How is life in general these days?
Steele: Life is really interesting. I think we are watching the biggest transference of wealth in the history of the world now taking place and you have to be on one side or the other. The gnashing of teeth will come a little later but again the S.E.C.’s will be well placed because you can change your education as the market changes.
Observer: Thanks for your time, Bob. We’ll see you soon at a meeting.