The Collective Genius Podcast

Leon Barnes
  • 5.0 (11)
  • Business
  • Updated Weekly

The CG Podcast is the go-to resource for active real estate investors looking to scale their business to the next level. Tune in as the nation's top real estate investors share their success stories the game-changing decisions that shaped their journey how they turned failures into valuable learning experiences. Whether you're aiming to grow your portfolio, refine your strategy, or gain insights from industry leaders, this podcast delivers the knowledge and inspiration you need to accelerate your success.

  1. 2d ago ·  Bonus

    Levi Gurno: The Three Leadership Shifts That Help Real Estate Investors Scale Past $2 Million

    Levi Gurno is an executive coach, keynote speaker, and workshop facilitator who coaches CEOs and executive teams on leadership and culture, including Collective Genius member Chad Young as he scaled from $2 million to $5 million. Recorded live at the Collective Genius Q3 event in Dallas, this conversation follows a keynote that brought the whole room to its feet. Levi breaks down leadership audits, the three shifts to becoming a coaching leader, and why most real estate investors hit a ceiling when every problem still lands on their desk. If you run a real estate business doing $1 million or more and your team still can't make decisions without you, this episode is for you.   Timeline Summary [0:22] – Leon opens live from the CG Q3 event in Dallas, where every meeting starts with a member's scaling story [0:54] – Levi's name came up seven times as Chad Young explained how he scaled from $2M to $5M [2:33] – Levi's mission as an executive coach: helping leaders build winning cultures that transform lives [3:37] – The audit most real estate investors skip: looking at their own leadership in the mirror [4:27] – How team leadership audits expose the gap between a leader's vision and how it gets executed [5:44] – The complaint Levi hears most from teams: "we feel like tools, not people" [6:27] – Why high D entrepreneurs miss slower paced team members, explained through the DISC language [7:25] – "I'm just not a good leader" and why business owners don't get to opt out of leading [9:41] – The first step for anyone who doubts they can lead: gather evidence against the story you tell yourself [10:49] – The SHACK acronym for auditing yourself: skills, habits, attitude, capacity, and knowledge [11:46] – Shift one of becoming a coaching leader: from vague standards to clear expectations with no gray [12:25] – Shift two: from telling to asking, the only approach that truly transfers ownership [13:30] – Shift three: from solving problems to developing problem solvers so you stop being the bottleneck [15:03] – Levi's ideal client: $2M+ operators with teams of 7+ moving from entrepreneurial to purposeful [16:28] – Why most investors stall at $1M and why $2M to $5M is easier than $1M to $2M [17:02] – How to connect with Levi and how to apply for a seat at the Collective Genius table   5 Key Takeaways Audit Your Leadership, Not Just Marketing — Investors audit their marketing and financials constantly but rarely audit themselves. Ask your team for honest feedback and treat it as information, not judgment. Remove the Gray From Expectations — If a standard is open to interpretation, your team will miss it. Define exactly what winning looks like so ownership and accountability have something to stand on. Ask More, Tell Less — Telling works when someone is new to a role, but only asking builds critical thinking. Better questions lead to better outcomes and people who don't need to be told twice. Develop Problem Solvers to Scale — When you solve every problem your team brings you, you become the bottleneck and burn out. Systems and processes matter, but undeveloped people will still cap your growth. Leadership Is Built, Not Born — Nobody comes out of the womb a natural leader. Define what a great leader looks like in your business using SHACK, rate yourself honestly, and work on the gaps.   Links & Resources Levi Gurno's website — https://levigurno.com Follow Levi on Instagram — https://instagram.com/levi_gurno Apply to Collective Genius — https://explorecg.com   Enjoyed This Episode? If Levi's point about every problem landing on your desk hit a little too close to home, send this episode to a business partner or leader on your team who needs to hear it. Then follow the Collective Genius podcast and leave a rating and review so more investors can find conversations like this one.

  2. 5d ago

    How Fewer Deals Can Make Your Real Estate Business More Money featuring Travis Copeland

    Travis Copeland is a Columbus, Ohio real estate investor who left an eight year career at OhioHealth, where he rose to system manager of customer experience, to go full time in wholesaling and fix and flip. His business now runs about 75% flips and 25% wholesaling across central Ohio and Dayton, and bringing design in-house helped him hit 9 days on market in a tough year. Travis shares how a $9.95 course led to a $75K first deal, why he walked away from a turnkey general contractor as margins tightened, and why he now cares more about net margin than top line revenue. If you're a fix and flip or wholesaling operator watching days on market creep up and wondering whether bigger is really better, this episode is for you.   Timeline Summary [1:30] – Host opens on CG's go-giver culture and introduces Travis Copeland from Columbus, Ohio [3:18] – How Columbus investors built an abundance mindset, from Covid shutdowns to trips to Egypt and Costa Rica [5:56] – Expanding beyond Columbus into Dayton and Newark for cheaper price points and good school districts [6:49] – The current model: 75% fix and flip, 25% wholesaling, plus long term and short term rentals [7:57] – Tertiary markets have fewer buyers, but some own 500 to 600 rentals and buy in bulk [10:39] – From hospital CEO ambitions and a master's in health administration to eight years at OhioHealth [13:37] – Starting with Austin Rutherford's $9.95 course, VA cold callers, and calling leads after work [16:36] – A first wholesale deal that paid $75K, close to his full hospital salary [16:58] – Why his first acquisitions hire didn't work and what the lean team looks like today [19:04] – Moving off a turnkey GC as margins shrank and every flip started looking the same [20:47] – Hitting 9 days on market last year with in-house design [21:06] – Ditching white subway tile: the small finish upgrades that make a median priced flip stand out [23:57] – Buying in good school districts at median prices as houses see 25 to 30 showings with no offers [26:09] – Joining CG to scale fast and learning why speed leads to bad decisions [28:40] – Chasing net margin over revenue and why $10M with under 10% net isn't the goal [31:14] – Leaning out the team and cutting expenses to be ready if rates come down in 2027   5 Key Takeaways Small Finish Upgrades Sell Flips Faster — Swapping out white subway tile, standard light fixtures, and basic plumbing fixtures costs little but makes a median priced flip stand out. Travis credits those upgrades for hitting 9 days on market in a tough year. Tertiary Markets Have Fewer, Bigger Buyers — Markets like Dayton and Akron don't have Columbus's buyer depth, but a handful of buyers there own 500 to 600 rentals and buy in bulk. Find them and you can move deals consistently. Turnkey Contractors Get Expensive When Margins Shrink — A GC who buys materials and floats construction costs is convenient but pricey. Bringing design in-house helped Travis protect margins as the market shifted. Scaling Fast Leads to Bad Decisions — Chasing volume targets pushes operators to sign deals that aren't really deals. Slowing down and buying based on data is where responsible scaling starts. Net Margin Beats Top Line Revenue — A $3 million business netting $1 million beats a $5 million business keeping less. Travis is cutting expenses and leaning out his team to do fewer, more profitable deals.   Links & Resources Collective Genius — https://explorecg.com Follow Travis on Instagram — https://instagram.com/trav_cope The Real Estate Blueprint course by Austin Rutherford   Enjoyed This Episode? If Travis's point about doing fewer deals that make more money made you rethink your own numbers, share this episode with a flipper or wholesaler who's been chasing volume. Want to be in the room with members like Travis? Head to https://explorecg.com, and don't forget to follow, rate, and review the Collective Genius Podcast.

  3. Sep 25 ·  Bonus

    Chad Young: The Direct Mail Split Test That Added $2.5 Million in Revenue

    Chad Young is a seven-time Collective Genius belt winner whose real estate investing business hit $2 million gross in year two and $5 million in year five, growing from CG Select to Premier along the way. His company scaled to 150 transactions a year within three years and now mails 100,000 direct mail pieces a month at a 4.5x to 5x ROI. Recorded live at the Collective Genius Q3 event in Dallas, Chad walks through the three levers that took his business past the $2 million plateau: a direct mail overhaul worth roughly $2.5 million in added revenue, plus a heavy investment in coaching and leadership that pulled him out of the day-to-day. If your business has hit a ceiling and you suspect the bottleneck might be you, this episode is for you.   Timeline Summary [0:22] – Live from the Collective Genius Q3 event in Dallas, Chad Young joins fresh off stage [1:47] – $2M gross in year two, $5M in year five, and why almost everything from 0 to $2M broke on the way up [3:41] – Direct mail was a mediocre channel at 3.5x ROI on 30,000 to 40,000 pieces a month [4:27] – The 90 day split test: 80,000 records mailed head to head against Tim McGarvey's system, now Airmail [5:38] – Scaling to 100,000 pieces a month at a 4.5x to 5x ROI, worth about $2.5 million in revenue [7:01] – Why marketing channels are cyclical and how check mailers lost their edge [8:53] – Mo money, mo problems: growing from 6 staff to 22 by hiring every six weeks for 18 months [10:03] – Coaching as a core investment with required book clubs, paid coaches, and a mission of improving lives [11:48] – Culture is just leadership repeated, and how Chad became the chief problem solver bottleneck [12:58] – A team that brings tested solutions, leaving Chad with just two standing meetings a week [14:47] – Scale math: how addition plus subtraction leads to multiplication [16:58] – Replacing 40% of in-office staff in six months and the pain of letting loyal people go [17:55] – Don't scale businesses, scale people: why scaling starts with the leader [19:50] – Living your culture instead of hanging it on the wall, starting with Chad's definition of "humble" [21:16] – Standards and expectations as a clear line of acceptability to coach people up or out [22:08] – Why an efficient company with weak leadership trains your competitors' next great hires   5 Key Takeaways Split Test Before You Scale Direct Mail — Chad mailed 40,000 records through his existing vendor and 40,000 through a new system over 90 days. The winner held a 4.5x to 5x ROI even at 100,000 pieces a month. Stop Being the Chief Problem Solver — Answering every question is fast in the short term and bad leadership in the long term. Once Chad stopped solving his team's problems, they started bringing him solutions they'd already tested. Addition, Subtraction, Then Multiplication — Fast growth brings on people who got you here but won't get you there. Coach them up or out, and the team that's left is what multiplies the business. Define Your Core Values in Writing — A value like "humble" means nothing until you define it. Chad's company defines it as extreme ownership over mindset, actions, and outcomes, which makes hiring decisions obvious. Weak Leadership Trains Your Competitors' Hires — An operationally efficient company with poor leadership is easy to join and easy to leave. Investing in coaching and leadership is what keeps your best people around.   Links & Resources Collective Genius — https://explorecg.com Airmail (Tim McGarvey's direct mail company) Scaling Up (book referenced by the host)   Enjoyed This Episode? If Chad's point about being the chief problem solver hit a little close to home, send this episode to a business partner or leader on your team who needs to hear it. Ready to get in the room? Head to https://explorecg.com and make sure you follow, rate, and review the Collective Genius Podcast so you never miss an episode.

  4. Sep 22

    How Smart Operators Turn Recorded Calls Into Closed Deals featuring Elizobeth Lunsford

    Elizobeth Lunsford spent nine years at Honeywell working on the International Space Station's habitation node, earned a Six Sigma Green Belt, then went on to management consulting for Fortune 100 companies like Chevron and Shell before co-founding True Homes with her husband Ryan in Colorado. Today she runs a fix and flip, wholesale, and rental operation across Denver Metro, Colorado Springs, and Pueblo, and she's the founder of Rev North, an AI-powered revenue intelligence platform built for real estate investors. Leon and Elizobeth get into why most investors keep throwing money at marketing while 70 to 80 percent of their paid leads sit in the CRM unconverted, and how the four visibility gaps in her own pipeline led her to build a tool that reads every recorded homeowner call and tells you exactly who to close next. If you're spending five, six, or seven figures a month on leads and can't see where the revenue is leaking, this episode is for you. Timeline Summary [1:30] – Leon welcomes CG member Elizobeth Lunsford of True Homes, a fix and flip, wholesale, and rental operator out of Colorado [4:08] – From aerospace to real estate: nine years at Honeywell building the ISS habitation node and earning a Six Sigma Green Belt [5:55] – An MBA, Newmont Mining in Africa, and Fortune 100 consulting for Chevron, Shell, and Huntsman on change management and blind spots [6:22] – Crystal ball exercises: how corporations hire teams to find operational blind spots before they hit quarterly revenue [8:31] – The one problem every investor and every boardroom shares: if you can't measure process variation, you can't get consistent results [11:34] – How True Homes started as a side portfolio, why Ryan left oil and gas 18 months in, and how they split acquisitions and marketing [13:47] – Water availability killed their fix and flip cash cow market, forcing a pivot to wholesaling and buy and hold [15:39] – Biggest scaling struggles: stacking appointments across a two hour drive and knowing which mastermind ideas to ignore [19:42] – "The smallest company with the most processes" and why they chose family owned over speed to growth [23:36] – The four visibility gaps that led to Rev North: 3D call insight, mishandled call revenue threats, skill gaps, and a leaky pipeline [30:10] – Even great closers convert 20 to 30 percent, so 70 to 80 percent of paid leads are sitting in the CRM waiting to be worked [32:12] – Inside the insights engine: 500 selling signals, 18 revenue linked skills, 250 decision branches, plugs into any CRM and phone system [36:47] – Agents who get feedback right after a call improve up to 20 percent on the next one, so Rev North serves up two coaching priorities per call [41:06] – After analyzing thousands of calls, the money is lost on the call close, and built-in redundancy catches leads the CRM misses [42:46] – Rev North offer for CG members: $1,500 onboarding fee waived plus 20 percent off the first three months [44:39] – Why the timing is right as the industry standardizes on one or two CRMs, and where to find Elizobeth and Rev North 5 Key Takeaways You Can't Close What You Can't See — Closers keep asking "who do I call next" because the CRM only shows what an agent typed in, not what actually happened on the phone. Real pipeline visibility comes from the conversation itself, not the stage column. Buy Fewer Leads, Convert More of Them — Top closers land 20 to 30 percent of their appointments, which means 70 to 80 percent of your paid leads are still sitting in the CRM. Improving conversion on what you already own beats adding another marketing channel. Immediate Feedback Beats Weekly Sales Pods — Research shows agents who get feedback right after a call can improve up to 20 percent on the very next one. Two specific coaching priorities per call move the needle; generic scorecards get ignored. The Deal Dies on the Call Close — After analyzing thousands of homeowner conversations, the biggest revenue leak is a call that ends with a vague "I'll follow up" instead of a verbally agreed next step. Momentum lost on the close rarely comes back. Reduce Variation Before You Chase Growth — True Homes is a small family operation with more documented processes than most companies twice its size. Lower process variation gives you predictable results, and predictable results are what let you scale on purpose. Links & Resources Rev North (CG member offer, demo, and pipeline diagnosis) — https://revnorth.io/cg Collective Genius Community — https://explorecg.com Elizobeth's background in Six Sigma and corporate blind spot analysis is exactly what most real estate operations are missing: someone who refuses to accept that "leads don't close" is just the cost of doing business. Her point that you can't close what you can't see should sting a little if you have hundreds of paid leads sitting unworked in your CRM right now. Share this one with an operator who keeps upping their marketing spend instead of fixing conversion, and then head to https://explorecg.com to learn more and apply.

  5. Sep 18 ·  Bonus

    Matt Miller: Why We Kept Building Tech While Losing $100K a Month

    Matt Miller is co-founder of Fair Trade Real Estate, a California-only wholesale brokerage launched in July 2020 that now runs five offices and roughly 60 team members alongside his partner Deke Blake. A former Army paratrooper who enlisted at 17 and served nearly five years including deployments to South Korea and Iraq, Matt brings 14 years of real estate experience to one of the most competitive markets in the country. Recorded live at the Collective Genius Q2 event in Oceanside, this episode covers how Fair Trade survived a partnership split and months of six figure losses while refusing to abandon the dispositions technology they were building. If you're a wholesaler in a competitive market wondering whether to keep investing through a downturn, or a leader trying to get more out of a mastermind, this one is for you.   Timeline Summary [0:00] – Leon opens live from Oceanside at the CG Q2 event with 200 plus Premier and 40 to 45 CEO members in the room [0:40] – Fair Trade Real Estate: exclusively wholesale, exclusively California, 5 offices, 60 team members since July 2020 [1:03] – Matt's path from enlisting in the Army at 17 to deployments in South Korea and Iraq [1:45] – Why former athletes and military veterans consistently scale the biggest real estate businesses [2:41] – How military leadership, good and bad, shaped Matt's approach to running a company [3:51] – The difference makers presentation: from peak performance to falling off a cliff after a partnership split [4:17] – Why the hardest part wasn't telling the story but telling it respectfully [5:56] – Committing to the tech build while hemorrhaging $100K plus per month, funded entirely by retained earnings [7:08] – Why off the shelf software couldn't give their agents an edge and why building was the only option [7:37] – Keeping the doors open: cutting staff, subleasing offices, killing software that didn't work [8:55] – The broken dispositions problem and why they rebuilt it as an investor marketplace [10:01] – Training agents to think like sales professionals with pipeline management and buy windows [10:51] – Southern California is a top five most competitive market, and why "I can't compete" is the wrong response [12:14] – The goal: become the largest home buyer in California within five years, with talent as the only constraint [12:56] – Why Fair Trade won't expand to new states unless it's a culture fit [14:01] – Top three takeaways from 18 months in CG: real networking, a mini leadership offsite, and industry intel [17:33] – Why the best operators stay an extra day after events to turn notes into a strategic plan [19:06] – Borrowing one CG networking exercise per event to make internal team trainings more impactful   5 Key Takeaways Invest Through the Downturn — Fair Trade kept building its dispositions platform even while losing six figures a month. Technology gives you an edge for a short window, and waiting until things are comfortable means someone else builds it first. Cut Everything Except the Priority — Staying committed to the tech build meant cutting staff they liked, subleasing office space, and killing underperforming software. You can't fund a vision on business as usual when revenue is down. Agents Are the Number One Customer — Sellers are a single transaction and investors need to repeat, but agents have to win for the business to grow. Every tool Fair Trade built was designed to give their agents the best chance to close. Competitive Markets Reward Differentiation — Every market is tough, so "I can't compete" is not a strategy. Fair Trade picked dispositions as its differentiator and built a marketplace nobody else in Southern California had. Stay the Extra Day — The best operators in mastermind rooms don't fly home right after the last session. They spend a few hours decompressing the notes and picking the one domino that will move the business.   Links & Resources Collective Genius, application only, 500 plus members meeting four times a year — https://explorecg.com Deke Blake's episode on the Collective Genius Podcast (released a few weeks prior)   Enjoyed This Episode? If Matt's story of building through $100K monthly losses reminded you that the tough season you're in is survivable, share this with a partner or operator who needs to hear it today. Then follow the Collective Genius Podcast, leave a rating and review, and head to explorecg.com to find out which room you qualify for.

  6. Sep 15

    The Real Estate Niche With 0% Interest Loans and No Property Taxes featuring Tim Vitale

    Tim Vitale is a Wilmington, North Carolina based multifamily investor who owns 28 properties and roughly 1,100 units across the Southeast, 25 of which are LIHTC affordable housing. A former Wall Street accounting and finance professional who hit assistant vice president at 28, Tim walked away from the corporate ladder and will mark five years as a full time real estate investor this September. In this episode, Tim breaks down why he built his entire business around a niche most operators avoid, including 0% interest 40 year debt, property tax abatements up to 90%, and why he now underwrites strictly on day one in-place cash flow. If you're a single family investor eyeing commercial, a multifamily operator trying to buy in today's market, or a W-2 employee wondering how to make the jump, this conversation is for you.   Timeline Summary [1:30] – Leon opens the show and introduces CG Legacy, the commercial room formed through the merger with Tim Bratz's group [3:14] – Tim explains LIHTC affordable housing and why he's the only person in the room focused on it [3:54] – 28 properties, 25 of them LIHTC, and why a tight buy box makes it easy to say no to deals [5:38] – Why nobody wants affordable housing: paperwork, red tape, housing authorities, and difficult residents [6:21] – The upside: 90% property tax abatements, 0% interest loans with no payments for 40 years, and one asset free and clear [7:37] – The bad stuff: inheriting prior owners' compliance mistakes and why Tim built an in-house compliance department [8:59] – Inflation's hit on affordable housing, with rent collection slipping from 80 to 85% in 12 days to 80% in 15 to 20 days [11:10] – Why LIHTC deals rarely hit the market and why Tim and Tim get the first broker call in the Carolinas [12:07] – Selling two Alabama assets and consolidating into the Carolinas for centralized operations and shared resources [13:13] – Why AMI growth in Charlotte and Raleigh makes major metros outperform tertiary markets [15:26] – Refining underwriting after insurance costs jumped 2,400% and putting the weight on day one in-place cash flow [19:25] – The Wall Street AVP promotion, a 3% raise, and the dinner that made Tim ask when the life changing money starts [21:26] – Doing the books for his grandmother's Connecticut portfolio and realizing how much passive income real estate created [22:10] – First condo bought in November 2019, a flat appraisal, and the loan officer comment that pushed Tim into commercial [24:36] – Selling the house, downsizing to an apartment, and giving himself two years and $150K to make it work, his wife's idea [28:44] – Why it's better to do no deal than a mediocre one, and the confidence that comes from not needing the next deal [30:05] – Tim's forecast: construction starts down 80%, no new supply until 2030, and why 2029 into 2030 is when things heat up [32:49] – Values down 20 to 30% in 24 months and why the next 6 to 24 months could be the buying window of the decade   5 Key Takeaways The Riches Are in the Niches — Tim built a 1,100 unit portfolio by focusing on LIHTC affordable housing, a niche most investors avoid because it's hard. Being the specialist means brokers call you first when the rare deal surfaces. Affordable Housing Comes With Real Trade-Offs — Tax abatements, 0% interest debt, and higher cap rates are the reward. Compliance audits, higher delinquency, heavier CapEx, and difficult residents are the price, so build the team around the problem. Underwrite on Day One Cash Flow — After a 2,400% insurance spike, Tim stopped paying for someone else's future upside. In-place cash flow is the baseline now, and rent growth is gravy on top. No Deal Beats a Mediocre Deal — Marginal deals drain your team and your investors. Tim would rather sit out than put his people through another property that doesn't perform. Going Full Time Requires a Runway, Not Just Guts — Tim bought one rental in three years, got up at 5 a.m. to study, and sold his house for $150K of runway before quitting. Active income or savings has to bridge the gap while commercial deals take shape.   Links & Resources Collective Genius and the CG Legacy commercial room — https://explorecg.com   Enjoyed This Episode? If Tim's story of trading a 3% raise for 1,100 units got you thinking, you know someone stuck on the same corporate ladder he climbed off of. Send them this episode. And if you want more conversations like this every week, follow the Collective Genius Podcast and leave us a rating and review.

  7. Sep 11 ·  Bonus

    Vance Courtney: How to Audit 100 Percent of Your Sales Calls With AI

    Vance Courtney is an AI implementation expert who co-led two overflowing AI masterclasses with Steve Trang at Collective Genius Select and Elevate in Clearwater Beach, May 2026. His focus is practical: building agents that audit 100 percent of your sales calls, and giving operators a repeatable framework for prompting AI like they'd lead an employee. In this live episode, Vance walks through the RACE prompting framework, why auditing sales calls is the best zero-to-one AI project for real estate investors, and how Claude's Cowork mode lets non-technical operators build working agents by describing an outcome instead of a task. If you're a real estate investor who wants to use AI in your business right now without learning to code, or you're trying to scale without bloating your team, this one is for you.   Timeline Summary [0:00] – Leon opens live from CG Select and Elevate in Clearwater Beach, where AI is the hottest buzzword in real estate investing [0:50] – Why CG runs an AI session at every Select and Premier meeting, and why Vance's masterclass room was the fullest of the day [1:29] – What the masterclass built: a custom GPT sales auditor, then a full agent that pulls, transcribes, scores, and sends feedback to reps [2:50] – The RACE framework for prompting AI: role, action, context, and expected output [3:38] – Why "world class digital marketer focused on Facebook for real estate investors" beats "digital marketer" as a role [4:26] – Context is everything: feed it your lead manager script, grading rubric, and training docs, plus guardrails on what not to do [5:01] – Treat AI like an employee: lead it the way your best self would lead a new hire, and define the output format up front [6:12] – The case for sales call auditing: only 2 percent of recorded calls get reviewed by a human, AI can hit 100 percent [6:48] – Leon on listening to every recorded call as a CEO, and why AI makes that job easier instead of replacing it [7:38] – Where AI has the least impact: the closer you get to human connection and leadership, the safer the job [8:30] – Getting started with agents: download the Claude app, open Cowork, and describe the outcome you want [9:38] – The one-prompt agent: connect to the call system, download, transcribe, score, and post to Slack [11:14] – The biggest takeaway from the room: when the AI tells you to go do something yourself, tell it no, you do it [13:16] – Automate what's standard, use AI where your business is unique, and start with the step that eats the most time [14:37] – Leon's Gen X take: the next 20 years of distressed sellers will still want a trusted local human at the closing table [17:16] – Why AI means hiring the best five instead of a bloated ten, and how lean operations replace armies of VAs [18:25] – Using AI to score interviews, load Predictive Index results, and evaluate candidates against your own criteria [20:40] – The daily huddle question that builds an AI habit across your whole team: how did you use AI yesterday?   5 Key Takeaways Prompt With the RACE Framework — Give AI a specific role, the action you want, as much context as possible including guardrails, and an example of the output. Most bad results come from skipping context. Audit 100 Percent of Your Sales Calls — Only about 2 percent of recorded calls get reviewed today. An AI auditor scores every call, surfaces the best and worst, and lets a human coach the gap. Lead AI Like Your Best Employee — Give it the what and the why, expect clarifying questions, and when it hands a task back to you, tell it no, you do it. Persistence beats technical skill. Automate the Standard, Own the Unique — Every wholesaler runs similar processes, so automate those. Point AI at what makes your business different and start with the step that costs the most time or produces the most revenue. Scale People, Not Headcount — AI lets you hire five great people instead of ten average ones. Use it to score interviews and assessments so the humans you do hire are the right ones.   Links & Resources Vance Courtney on Instagram — https://instagram.com/vanceconnect Vance Courtney on X — https://x.com/vanceconnect Claude (download the app and use Cowork) — https://claude.ai ChatGPT — https://chatgpt.com Collective Genius — https://explorecg.com   Vance's advice to tell the AI "no, you do it" when it hands work back to you might be the most useful sentence you hear about AI all year. Pair that with auditing every sales call and the daily huddle question, and you've got a zero-to-one plan you can start on Monday. Share this one with the operator on your team who says AI is too technical. Head to https://explorecg.com to learn more and apply.

  8. Sep 8

    What Separates Good Investors From Bad Investors (From Real Estate Attorneys) featuring Adam & Paul Vincent

    Adam and Paul Vincent are brothers and real estate attorneys behind Vincent Esquire, a Northeast Ohio law firm they founded a little over ten years ago after walking away from their old jobs to represent a bulk tax lien buyer. Today the majority of their practice is securities work: private placement memorandums, syndications, and debt funds for flippers, multifamily buyers, and business acquisitions, plus general counsel and estate planning for entrepreneurs. In this episode, the first ever with two guests and the first with attorneys, the Vincents break down why volume flippers are moving from one-off notes and mortgages to debt funds, how the best commercial operators are still finding deal flow through banks, receiverships, and broker relationships, and the legal risks around texting, wholesaling, and assignment laws that are tightening state by state. If you're raising capital for flips or multifamily, trying to fix inconsistent deal flow, or wondering when pooling investor money means you need a lawyer, this one is for you.   Timeline Summary [1:30] – Leon welcomes Adam and Paul Vincent of Vincent Esquire, the first attorneys and first two-guest episode in the show's history [3:34] – What the firm does: startups, general counsel, capital raising paperwork, debt funds, and estate planning for entrepreneurs [6:28] – How two brothers with English and history degrees stumbled into real estate law through a bulk tax lien client [7:41] – Adam's path from adjunct professor and writing centers to law school after Paul was already practicing [10:00] – The tax lien "golden goose" lasted two years, then dried up when a county prosecutor took over the work [11:55] – Lesson learned: one big client is zero clients, and 30-something Paul had to learn to network from scratch [13:33] – How work with single family flippers evolved from one investor, one note and mortgage into pooled debt funds [15:37] – The Costco hot dog strategy: giving flippers a free note and mortgage template to build relationships early [18:29] – What a PPM actually is, and why pooling money from multiple investors is the trigger to call a lawyer [20:08] – Where operators buying a couple hundred units a year are finding deals: direct from banks and receiverships [21:21] – Why broker relationships still beat direct to seller on commercial, and how to reach special asset managers [23:48] – Why direct mail and cold outreach are drying up, and the legal exposure of texting unconsented sellers [27:07] – The clients the Vincents love working with: hands-on operators who visit their properties and think long term [29:09] – The biggest mistake right now: buying too far away and failing to manage your property manager [30:47] – A Zoom call is not a site visit, and spreading yourself thin can quietly kill team morale [34:26] – Why debt funds beat one-off mortgages for volume flippers, and why 10 to 12 percent is the sweet spot for investor returns [38:15] – Legal watch list: be able to close on your wholesales, check your licensing, and beware of state and city crackdowns [40:12] – Leon on CG's quarterly legal updates: Phoenix assignment rules, Missouri's 14-day disclosure, and lobbying efforts [41:41] – How to reach the Vincents, the free How to Syndicate walkthrough, and what they can do for clients outside Ohio   5 Key Takeaways Pooling Investor Money Triggers the Lawyer Call — One investor secured by a note and mortgage is simple. The moment you combine several investors into one deal, you need a PPM so everyone is on the same page before something goes sideways. Debt Funds Keep Volume Flippers Liquid — Raising into a fund while you're working on projects means the money is there when the next deal appears. It also keeps you honest about raising continuously instead of scrambling deal by deal. Deal Flow Lives in Bank and Broker Relationships — Operators still doing multiple commercial deals a year are buying from special asset managers, receiverships, and brokers hired to unload troubled properties. Ask your commercial lender for the intro. Distance Is the Silent Portfolio Killer — If you can't see your building regularly, you're not managing it. Third-party managers get paid at 75 percent occupancy nearly the same as 90, so someone has to manage the manager. Wholesaling Law Is Changing State by State — Texting unconsented sellers, assigning without disclosure, and operating without required licenses are feeding entire law practices. Be able to close, disclose, and stay plugged into a group that tracks the rules.   Links & Resources Vincent Esquire — https://vincentesquire.com How to Syndicate (free video and slide deck walkthrough of a sample deal) — https://howtosyndicate.com Collective Genius — https://explorecg.com     Two attorneys with more personality than most operators, and more useful legal insight than most podcasts. The Vincents' point about relationships driving both deal flow and capital, whether that's a special asset manager at a local bank or a core group of 5 to 10 investors in a debt fund, is the thread that ties this whole episode together. If you've been guessing at when you need a PPM or why your direct-to-seller pipeline is drying up, you now have answers. Head to https://explorecg.com to learn more and apply.

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The CG Podcast is the go-to resource for active real estate investors looking to scale their business to the next level. Tune in as the nation's top real estate investors share their success stories the game-changing decisions that shaped their journey how they turned failures into valuable learning experiences. Whether you're aiming to grow your portfolio, refine your strategy, or gain insights from industry leaders, this podcast delivers the knowledge and inspiration you need to accelerate your success.

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