2026 EARLY BIRD TICKETS

SUMMIT SPEAKERS

John Bowens, Equity Trust Company

How to Turn Your Retirement Plan into a Real Estate Investing Machine

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Darrin Carey, Dayton Capital Partners

The Missing Half of Your Portfolio: Why Serious Investors Own Notes and Propertiess

How to Get Experienced Investors to Fund Your Deals

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Amanda Neely, CFP®, Counterflow

Beyond the Next Deal: Building Wealth That Doesn't Depend on Buying More Real Estate

The Financial Advice Real Estate Investors Should Stop Following (Including From AI)

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Kathy Kennebrook

Direct Mail That Finds Motivated Sellers: Targeting, Messaging, and Follow-Up That Work

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More speakers will be announced soon.

John Bowens, Equity Trust Company

John Bowens is Director of Education at Equity Trust Company, where he helps investors understand how to use self-directed retirement accounts to invest beyond traditional stocks and mutual funds.

A Certified IRA Services Professional (CISP) and a self-directed investor himself, John has educated tens of thousands of investors on using retirement accounts to purchase real estate, make private loans, invest in notes, and participate in alternative investments while taking advantage of the tax benefits available through qualified retirement plans.

Known for making a complicated subject approachable, John specializes in helping investors understand the rules, opportunities, and practical applications of self-directed IRAs and Solo 401(k)s. Rather than focusing on theory, he shows investors how these retirement tools can fit into the investing strategies they already know.

How to Turn Your Retirement Plan into a Real Estate Investing Machine

You’re investing in real estate for your “today” income and wealth. 

Why isn’t your retirement plan doing the same for your tomorrow? 

We’ve heard all the reasons: “I don’t know how.” “I don’t have the spare cash to put into a retirement account right now.” “My 401K doesn’t LET ME invest in real estate.” “I don’t have enough in my account to buy a house yet.” 

Give John Bowens 90 minutes, and he’ll show you why you CAN, and SHOULD BE using your retirement account to invest in real estate, no matter who you are or where you’re starting.  

He’ll share 

  • Why the money to fund your first retirement investment may be hiding in plain sight 
  • How investors use retirement accounts to buy rentals, fund rehabs, make private loans, purchase notes, and participate in partnerships. Everything you’re ALREADY doing, but tax-free or tax deferred! 
  • Why even a little money—think as little as $500—in your retirement account can lead to meaningful wealth, if you use it right 
  • Common misconceptions that prevent investors from getting started—and why getting started NOW with a little is way better than waiting until you have a lot.

This session is designed for investors who are newer to the idea of using your retirement fund to invest in real estate and notes, so if you’re looking for clear information and examples of how to get started, be here!  


Darrin Carrey, Dayton Capital Partners

Darrin Carey began investing in real estate in 2002 and has spent more than two decades building experience across wholesaling, renovations, rentals, private lending, and notes. 

His path hasn’t always been smooth. After retiring from the U.S. Air Force in 2008, Darrin entered real estate full time just as the housing crisis unfolded. The challenges eventually led him through bankruptcy in 2012. Rather than leaving the business, he rebuilt it by learning from those setbacks, surrounding himself with experienced investors, and becoming deeply involved in his local REIA and the National Real Estate Investing Summit community. 

Since then, Darrin has completed more than 200 wholesale transactions, nearly 200 renovations, and originated more than 1,000 performing private loans. He and his wife also built a rental portfolio that generated enough passive income to cover their living expenses before expanding further into private lending. 

Today, Darrin is the owner of Dayton Capital Partners, where he focuses primarily on hard money lending while continuing to invest in notes and real estate. In 2025, he also acquired Plum Title, a title company specializing in serving real estate investors and the creative transactions they bring to the closing table. 

Whether he’s discussing notes, funding, or investment strategy, Darrin teaches from experience earned through both success and failure. 


The Missing Half of Your Portfolio: Why Serious Investors Own Notes and Properties  

Most real estate investors think almost exclusively about buying properties. But that’s only one side of the business. 

Notes can generate passive income, reduce management headaches, diversify your investments by geography and asset class, and put capital to work while it’s waiting for the right property to come along.  

Properties can create cash flow, appreciation, equity, and long-term wealth.  

Knowing when—and why—to own one, the other, or both can make your portfolio stronger in changing markets. 

After more than two decades investing in wholesales, renovations, rentals, and private lending, Darrin Carey has built businesses on both sides of the equation. In this session, he’ll compare the strengths and tradeoffs of notes and properties so you can decide how each fits your own investing goals. 

You’ll learn: 

The practical advantages and limitations of owning notes versus owning real estate.  

Different types of note investments, including options for investors with modest amounts of capital.  

How performing notes are evaluated and where investors find opportunities.  

Why combining notes and properties can diversify both income and risk.  

A practical framework for deciding which strategy best fits your current stage of investing.  

If you’ve only thought about growing your portfolio by buying more properties, this session will introduce another tool that may deserve a place in your long-term investment strategy. 

Sponsored by Dayton Capital Partners 


How to Get Experienced Investors to Fund Your Deals – Lunch

Finding good deals isn’t enough if you can’t get them funded. 

Private lenders finance successful investors every day, but they don’t say “yes” simply because someone asks. They look for well-structured opportunities, realistic numbers, and borrowers who inspire confidence. 

As both an active investor and a private lender who has originated more than 1,000 performing notes, Darrin Carey has reviewed countless funding requests from both experienced and newer investors. In this Lunch & Learn, he’ll explain what separates fundable deals from the ones that never get financed. 

You’ll discover: 

The key elements private lenders expect every deal to include.  

What experienced lenders evaluate before committing their money.  

How to present your opportunity professionally.  

Common mistakes that cause lenders to walk away.  

Practical ways to build long-term relationships with private lenders instead of searching for one loan at a time.  

Whether you’re wholesaling, rehabbing, buying rentals, or pursuing creative finance, understanding how lenders think can dramatically improve your ability to get deals done. 

Sponsored by Dayton Capital Partners 

Lunch will be provided for attendees with sponsor lunch tickets. 


Amanda Neely, CFP®, Counterflow

Amanda Neely, CFP®, helps business owners and real estate investors build financial systems that create greater control, flexibility, and long-term security. As co-founder of Counterflow, she works with entrepreneurs who want an alternative to conventional financial advice and a strategy that better supports the way they actually build wealth.

Amanda’s perspective comes from both professional training and personal experience. She and her husband, Brandon, started a social enterprise café while carrying a negative net worth, spending seven years learning firsthand what it takes to build a business and a financial foundation at the same time.

She is a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER® professional, one of approximately 200 Bank On Yourself Professionals in the United States and Canada, a Profit First Professional, and the author of The STILL Method. Her work focuses on helping entrepreneurs create financial architecture built around ownership, liquidity, and control.

At the National Real Estate Investing Summit, Amanda will show investors how to build a financial strategy that strengthens—not replaces—their real estate investing business

Beyond the Next Deal: Building Wealth That Doesn’t Depend on Buying More Real Estate – Wake Up Wealthy

Most real estate investors spend years building portfolios—but far fewer build a financial strategy that’s just as strong as the properties they own. 

What happens when you need liquidity? When an opportunity comes along but all your wealth is tied up in equity? Or when you simply want your money working in more than one place? 

In this practical session, CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER® Amanda Neely will show you how to build a financial framework that supports your investing business instead of competing with it. Rather than replacing real estate, you’ll learn how to strengthen your overall financial position so you can weather market changes, seize opportunities, and build lasting financial independence. 

You’ll discover: 

  • How to build wealth beyond your real estate portfolio without abandoning what already works  
  • Strategies to improve liquidity while continuing to grow your investments  
  • Ways to strengthen cash flow without sacrificing long-term goals  
  • Tax-efficient financial strategies that complement real estate investing  
  • A framework for creating greater financial flexibility and resilience  

If most of your net worth is tied up in real estate, this session will help you think more strategically about the rest of your financial picture. 

Sponsored by Counterflow 

The Financial Advice Real Estate Investors Should Stop Following (Including From AI) – Lunch

Americans are constantly told to “pay off debt,” “maximize retirement accounts,” “keep plenty of cash in the bank,” and “diversify” … and, increasingly, the ask an AI chatbot what to do next.

For real estate investors in specific? Some of that advice is good. Some  isn’t. And some of it can actually work against you, if you’re building wealth through real estate.

In this thought-provoking Lunch & Learn, CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER® Amanda Neely examines five of the most common financial myths that can quietly limit cash flow, reduce flexibility, and make it harder to grow a successful investing business.

Instead of the one-size-fits-all financial advice you get in the mass media, Amanda will show you how to evaluate financial strategies through the lens of a real estate investor.

During this session, you’ll discover:

  • Five common financial myths that deserve a second look
  • Why traditional financial advice doesn’t always fit investors and entrepreneurs
  • How liquidity, taxes, and leverage work together to strengthen—or weaken—your financial position
  • A practical framework for making smarter financial decisions as your investing business grows
  • Why an AI chatbot’s confident answer about your money often misses the one thing that actually matters: your specific situation

Whether you’re just getting started or already own multiple investment properties, you’ll leave with a different way to think about the financial decisions that affect every deal you do.

Sponsored by Counterflow

Lunch will be provided for attendees with sponsor lunch tickets.

 

Kathy Kennebrook

Kathy Kennebrook is a real estate investor, direct mail marketer, author, and educator whose work focuses on finding motivated sellers and private lenders through targeted marketing. 
 
Before entering real estate, Kathy spent more than 20 years in the banking industry and earned a degree in finance. She later began investing in real estate and has bought and sold hundreds of properties using a variety of acquisition and financing strategies. 

Her specialty is developing direct mail campaigns aimed at carefully selected groups of property owners rather than relying on broad, one-size-fits-all marketing. Her systems include identifying potential seller niches, creating campaign messages, pre-screening responses, and following up with prospects whose circumstances may change over time. 

Kathy has co-authored The Venus Approach to Real Estate Investing and Real Estate Investing: Your Personal Path to Prosperity. She has also taught real estate audiences throughout the United States and Canada. 

At the National Real Estate Investing Summit, Kathy will focus on the practical mechanics of building a repeatable direct mail system: who to contact, what to send, how to evaluate responses, and how to stay in touch without manually managing every lead. 

Direct Mail That Finds Motivated Sellers: Targeting, Messaging, and Follow-Up That Work

Direct mail doesn’t fail simply because people throw away letters. It usually fails because the investor mails the wrong people, sends a message that sounds like everybody else’s, or gives up before a seller is ready to act. 

Kathy Kennebrook has spent decades perfecting direct mail to motivated sellers across a wide range of situations, building a 7-figure retail and rental business entirely from off-market deals 

In this session, she’ll break down how to create a repeatable marketing process that helps you spend less time chasing unqualified leads and more time speaking with owners who may actually have a reason to sell. 

You’ll learn: 

  • How to identify narrowly targeted seller groups instead of mailing broad, generic lists 
  • How the message, response method, and delivery process work together to improve the quality of incoming leads 
  • How to pre-screen sellers by phone so you can quickly identify motivation, property condition, and possible deal terms 
  • How to build an automated follow-up system that keeps you in front of owners whose timing isn’t right today 
  • How attorneys, vacant-property records, out-of-state ownership data, expired listings, and other sources may reveal opportunities your competitors aren’t pursuing 

 

Whether you’re looking for your first great deal or your 500th, Kathy will show you how to get the consistency you want.