The Collective Genius Podcast

In this CG Live episode recorded at the Collective Genius Q2 event in Oceanside, California, Leon Barnes sits down with Jason Pritchard, a CEO level member out of California's Central Valley who has been on Leon's radar since the days when territory restrictions kept him out of the room. Jason started his home buying business in 2014, now runs around 120 deals a year, built a rental portfolio north of 100 units, and three years ago began redeploying that capital into land and development deals.

This conversation covers why the active side of the business has to keep running before the bigger opportunities are possible, what it actually costs to shift a company away from being all about the founder, and the two hour breakout that produced a back of the napkin exit strategy he had been overcomplicating for months. If you are an owner operator trying to build the team that lets you take your eye off the ball, this one will land.

Timeline Summary

[1:44] – Two years in the CEO room and why the timing of the tier expansion worked out perfectly

[2:28] – The territory denial folder and what Leon was actually screening applications for

[3:33] – Why the Central Valley is full of strong investors, and the mentor culture behind it

[3:57] – People poured into Jason without strings attached, and why he does the same thing now

[5:04] – The model, 120 deals a year at 60% flip and 40% wholesale, plus rentals and land

[5:50] – Central California as the last affordable place in the state, and the demand that creates

[6:30] – A white collar approach layered on a blue collar work ethic, and where that caps out

[7:31] – Building the org chart so the home buying business runs without him

[8:08] – Why the active grind funds everything else, and how hard that is to teach newer investors

[9:11] – The season where profits go to salaries and marketing, one step back for a bigger one

[10:08] – Shifting the identity away from everyone needing to talk to Jason

[10:56] – What the CEO room delivers, tactical accountability plus proximity to high level operators

[12:45] – Inverting the ratio, from 60% flip to 40%, because land deals are so cash intensive

[13:28] – The napkin math from a two hour breakout that solved a partnership structure

[16:00] – Parking at development sites years ago and finally being close to building them

[17:12] – More time with the kids, and being the youngest grandpa in the room

5 Key Takeaways

1. The Active Business Funds Everything Else — Without the home buying operation there is no land deal, no rental portfolio, no bigger swing. Everyone wants to jump to the sexier projects, but the grind years are the domino that knocks the rest over.
2. Hard Work Has A Ceiling — Ten years of piling responsibility on your own shoulders gets you to a level and then stops, and it comes at the expense of family. The next level requires an org chart, not more hours.
3. Expect The Profit Dip — Owner operators are highly profitable precisely because they are wearing every hat. Building the team means forgoing some of that for salaries, marketing, and overhead, and you have to be financially prepared for that season.
4. Proximity Beats Information — The tactical accountability matters, but the real value is sitting next to operators who are further along and being willing to be a sponge. That is what compresses years into months.
5. You Are Probably Overcomplicating It — Jason spent months in his own head on a partnership structure. It took a two hour breakout and the back of a piece of notepaper for someone to say the answer is simpler than you think.

Links & Resources

• Collective Genius — https://explorecg.com

If you are the bottleneck in your own business and everyone still has to come talk to you, go back to the section on shifting the identity of the company. Jason is candid about what that transition costs in profit and in time, and about the fact that it does not happen overnight. Send this to the operator who keeps saying they will build the team next year.

Get in this room. Whether you are doing a couple of deals a month or thousands of deals a year, there is a tier for you, from Select and Elevate up through Premier, CEO, and now commercial through CG Legacy. Head to https://explorecg.com to find the application. It is invite only based on that application, and these are salt of the earth people.

Armando Banuelos has been buying real estate since 2005, and at his peak his Visalia based operation was fixing and flipping 400 to 500 homes a year, nearly all of it acquired at trustee sales on the courthouse steps. He came to it from a farm working family, followed the crops to Washington every summer starting at age eight, and built a corporate career at Hewlett-Packard and Deloitte before an e-business layoff sent him back to the Central Valley with no plan.

This conversation covers how you actually manage hundreds of construction projects a year when you are, in his words, one of the least handy people you will ever meet, and why after twenty one years the goal has shifted from buying more properties to buying fewer of the right ones. He also gets honest about the hardest personnel decision he has ever made, and why he could not have made it without the room. If you are running a construction heavy operation and starting to suspect that bigger is not the same thing as better, this one is required listening.

Timeline Summary

[3:50] – Based in Visalia, primarily fix and flip, buying at auction since 2005 across Central California

[5:37] – Four to five hundred homes a year through brute force, and everything came from trustee sales

[7:25] – How you actually run hundreds of construction projects, and the leaks you ignore at full speed

[9:16] – What Hewlett-Packard and Deloitte taught him about bringing systems to chaos

[10:31] – A farm working family, following the crops to Washington, and a mother who would not let up

[11:17] – Chico State, a switch from engineering to accounting, and the rejection that redirected everything

[12:33] – Laid off from Deloitte and the friend's passing that led him to the courthouse steps

[15:16] – Two properties bought on December 26th, 2005, and six months to rehab and flip them

[17:09] – Going full time in 2008, in the middle of the crash, watching loans drop from 350 to 100

[18:00] – Any property priced correctly will sell, in any market, up or down

[22:34] – The least handy guy in the room, a conductor who does not play any instruments

[26:26] – Not the CG slap but a roundhouse kick, and the inefficiency it exposed across the business

[28:59] – The hardest personnel decision he has made and why he never would have made it alone

[31:46] – Team basketball, why the star who needs the ball can cost you the whole chemistry

[33:23] – Buying fewer properties on purpose, more net over more gross, and nobody working weekends

[37:06] – The health phase, reprogramming into a leader, and making room for the next one

5 Key Takeaways

1. You Do Not Need To Know Construction To Run Construction — Armando calls himself a conductor who plays no instruments. What scaled the business was systems, technology, and people who had been with him fifteen and twenty years, not personal expertise with a tool belt.
2. Speed Hides The Leaks — At a hundred miles an hour you stop noticing what the business is losing. In-house construction did not eliminate the leaks, but it kept them small enough to see and to price.
3. The Hardest Fixes Are Personnel, Not Process — The room did not hand him a new acquisitions system. It told him the real issue was a person, and that answer took wise counsel from more than one voice before he could act on it.
4. Price Solves Almost Everything — Any property priced correctly will sell, in a hot market or a crashed one, because someone is always looking to buy a house. That belief is what carried the business through 2008.
5. Bigger Is Not The Goal Anymore — Fewer properties, managed correctly, with less leakage and a team that does not work weekends. The metric that matters now is net, not gross, and the freedom the business creates for everyone in it.

Links & Resources

• Collective Genius — https://explorecg.com

If you have been telling yourself the problem is your systems, go back to the section on acquisitions and the decision Armando had to make. Sometimes the leaky bucket is not a process at all, and you will not see that clearly from inside your own office. What got you here will not get you there, and the answers are usually sitting in a room with people who have no reason to tell you what you want to hear.

Get in this room. If you are a full time real estate investor looking to grow and scale, head to https://explorecg.com to find the application and see which tier fits your business. We are invite only, and worst case you have a great conversation about your business and meet a new friend in the industry.

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In this CG Live episode recorded at the Collective Genius Select and Elevate event in Clearwater Beach, Florida in May 2026, Matt Viebrock joins the show for the first time to preview his masterclass on hiring and team building. Matt runs a fractional COO firm along with Acquisition Reps, a branch focused specifically on hiring for acquisitions, dispositions, and lead management, and he spent years in the acquisitions seat himself running a wholesaling and fix and flip operation.

This conversation covers why most operators plateau between $1 million and $2 million, why pulling yourself out of the acquisitions seat too early kills growth, and what A player compensation actually looks like right now in a market where good salespeople have options. If you are stuck doing the selling yourself and afraid to hire, or you have made two bad acquisitions hires and cannot figure out what went wrong, this one is required listening.

Timeline Summary

[0:22] – The event, the theme, and the four or five challenges every real estate entrepreneur runs into

[1:44] – Why acquisitions is a completely different sale and you cannot just move someone into the seat

[4:38] – What the team should look like at every stage, from one deal a month solo up to ten

[4:57] – Culture comes before hiring, because if you never define it you still have one

[6:23] – You are only as good as your recruits, and identification comes before acquisition of talent

[8:06] – Why operators plateau between $1 million and $2 million and stop acquiring talent

[8:47] – Reverse the hiring mentality, get operational help before you hire your first acquisitions rep

[10:01] – The baseball analogy, why pulling your best home run hitter to manage kills production

[11:28] – A players will not work for C players, and why leadership has to level up first

[12:47] – The biggest hiring mistakes right now, rushing the process and going off gut feel

[13:31] – Gary Keller on making your world big enough that nobody wants to leave

[14:57] – What A player acquisitions comp looks like, 15% with a small base as a draw

[16:13] – What the masterclass includes, job descriptions, training plans, and full playbooks

5 Key Takeaways

1. Define Culture Before You Hire — You already have a culture whether you named it or not. Deciding what you want it to be is the first move, not something you fix after the team is in place.
2. Always Be In Hiring Mode — Build a bench the way a football team does. Identify people you would want twelve months from now and start the relationship early, so a departure does not stall the business.
3. Buy Back Your Time Before You Replace Yourself — Start with a time audit and an EA rather than an acquisitions rep. Get out of the admin work first so you can stay on the phones and actually double revenue.
4. Your Best Closer Is Not Your Next Manager — Sales production and management are different skill sets. Pulling your top producer into a manager role because a book told you to be the visionary removes the person driving revenue.
5. Pay Like You Want An A Player — Top acquisitions people are pulling 15% with a small base as a draw. W2 with real benefits beats 1099, and the honest test is whether you would take the job you are offering.

Links & Resources

• Collective Genius — https://explorecg.com

If you are the one still taking every seller call and telling yourself you are too busy to recruit, go back to the part where Matt explains why the plateau between $1 million and $2 million is almost always a hiring problem in disguise. The fix is not a better closer, it is buying your own time back first. Send this to the operator you know who just made their second bad acquisitions hire.

You have to get in this room. If you are a full time real estate investor who wants to grow, head to https://explorecg.com to see the different levels of the Collective Genius and find the application. You are where you are right now, and this community exists to help you get where you want to go.

Trey Chandler is a West Point graduate, former infantry officer, and co-founder of My Tennessee Home Solution in Nashville, where he and his business partner Jordan run a wholesaling operation doing hundreds of transactions a year across Middle Tennessee. Since closing their first deal in 2020, they have grown from 80 deals a year in CG Select to a CG Premier promotion and a belt on the wall.

This conversation covers how military leadership frameworks translate directly into real estate operations, why brand and personnel decide who wins in competitive markets, and how their Dispo team built a Buy It Now program that now moves half of their deals without a single walkthrough. If you are scaling a wholesaling business in a crowded market and want to know what actually compresses a ten year learning curve into five, this one is for you.

Timeline Summary

[1:30] – Leon Barnes introduces Nashville investor and CG Premier belt winner Trey Chandler

[2:56] – The model, wholesale assignments across Middle Tennessee plus sub two deals held as rentals

[4:47] – Scaling responsibly, why they held off on construction and hard money until the right people showed up

[6:48] – West Point, infantry, and combat deployment as the foundation for high tempo business execution

[8:09] – Putting himself and Jordan in front of the camera and what that did for inbound trust

[11:56] – Applying the military decision making model to business, intent, left and right limits, desired end state

[13:43] – The settlement statement Jordan showed him at Fort Benning that ended his Special Forces plan

[15:10] – First deal was a flip with six figure profit, and he pulled his packet shortly after

[17:35] – Enablers that cut a ten year learning curve to five, including Collective Genius, Ramp, and Atlas

[20:19] – How a referral and a conversation with Brad Bowen led him into the CG room

[21:14] – From 80 deals a year in CG Select to hundreds of transactions and a Premier promotion

[25:07] – The one CG conversation about sales process that led to signing with the Ramp team

[26:32] – Why breaking bread with a service provider beats hiring off a recommendation alone

[30:04] – The Buy It Now program that now moves 50% of their deals with no walkthroughs or outreach

[32:28] – 45 day project check ins with buyers and why he does not want to sell a deal that loses money

[35:38] – The purpose indicator behind the company, positively impacting 8,000 people by 2030

5 Key Takeaways

1. Add Verticals When People Arrive — Construction and hard money stayed on the shelf until the right business unit leaders showed up. Perfecting one thing is what attracts the people who let you safely add the next thing.
2. Give Intent, Not Instructions — Set the desired end state and the left and right limits, then let the team figure out execution. The Buy It Now program came from the Dispo director, not from the owner dictating a process.
3. Brand Compounds Faster Than You Think — Trey and Jordan decided early that people needed a brand to trust, then put their own faces on the marketing. Five years of intentional brand beats twenty years of accidental reputation.
4. Vet Providers Before You Need Them — The advantage of a peer group is not just the recommendation. It is sitting across the table from a provider and finding out if they will push back on you before you ever sign.
5. Protect The Buyer Side Of The Deal — Weekly deal reviews, ARV and rehab variance tracking, and 45 day project check ins keep buyers winning. That trust is what makes half their deals sell at Buy It Now pricing.

Links & Resources

• Collective Genius — https://explorecg.com
• My Tennessee Home Solution: https://mytennesseehomesolution.com/

Enjoyed This Episode?

If the Buy It Now breakdown or the 45 day buyer check in process gave you something to steal, send this episode to the operator on your team who owns Dispo. The answers Trey talked about are not theoretical, they came from being in the room with people already doing it. Follow the Collective Genius podcast, leave a rating and review, and head to https://explorecg.com to see which tier fits where your business is today.

Steve Trang is the founder of Objection Proof AI and the former operator of Max Cash Offers, and he now builds practical AI tools that review sales conversations, run role plays, and work follow up for real estate investors. He joined us on stage at CG Select and Elevate in Clearwater Beach ahead of his masterclass on where investors actually are in their AI journey and what the next step looks like.

This conversation covers what it costs to run AI across a real company, why the operators seeing the best results are running humans and AI on the same leads instead of choosing one, and how automated follow up is producing $1,000 cost per contract on leads most investors throw away. If you have a CRM full of leads nobody has touched in a year and a sales team that says it follows up but doesn't, this one is for you.

Timeline Summary

[0:22] – Host opens at CG Select and Elevate with 200 plus full time investors focused on getting better, not just bigger

[3:19] – Framing the conversation around practical AI you can use today, not technology that's 30 years away

[4:23] – Why 90 percent of the room has used ChatGPT but almost nobody has AI actually doing work for them

[5:04] – Steve's team spent nearly $4,000 in tokens in one month and learned mostly what not to do

[5:30] – Every employee gets a paid AI account, and why nobody has been let go because of AI

[5:49] – The April lesson on using AI responsibly and setting budget overrides by team member

[7:13] – How CG member conversations pushed Steve to build the AI product in the first place

[7:31] – Automatic sales conversation review on every call, including an app for recording in person appointments

[7:59] – Ten role play bots covering cold inbound, form fill to appointment, and appointment to contract

[8:39] – The old Max Cash Offers cadence of nine dials in 24 hours and why it never got done consistently

[9:20] – AI now calls forever until it reaches the homeowner, with no sick days and no bad days

[11:37] – Why the top performing clients run humans and AI on the same lead instead of picking one

[12:35] – Most teams have six closers and two good ones, so let AI cover the rest

[15:30] – Peeling off $1,000 a month for Facebook leads and seeing $1,000 cost per contract

[16:20] – The text message channel that dominated 2019 to 2021 and still has no real replacement

[18:57] – Jacob Matlock closed a $60,000 deal eight days in from a lead untouched for two years

[20:03] – What's next, an AI closer built to buy houses virtually over the phone

5 Key Takeaways

1. Run Humans And AI Together — The clients getting the most out of this aren't choosing between a human lead manager and an AI caller. They put both on the same lead and let whoever connects first take it.
2. Activity Is Now Guaranteed — Sales training has always assumed the follow up actually happens, and it usually doesn't. AI removes the variable, calling nights, weekends, and holidays without getting discouraged.
3. Cheap Leads Just Got Viable Again — Facebook and other low cost leads used to die because working them took too much human labor. Strip out that cost and a $1,000 monthly ad spend can produce contracts at $1,000 each.
4. Follow Up Is Where The Money Is — Somewhere between 75 and 85 percent of deals come from follow up, not first contact. A two year old dead lead turned into a $60,000 deal eight days after one operator turned the system on.
5. Budget Discipline Beats Enthusiasm — Getting the whole team on AI is only half the work. Once everyone is using it, you need spending limits and clear rules about who is allowed to go over.

Links & Resources

• Objection Proof AI: https://objectionproof.ai
• Hear the AI caller: text AI CALLER to 33777
• Hear a role play bot: text ROLE PLAY to 33777
• The Collective Genius: https://thecollectivegenius.com

Enjoyed This Episode?

If you've been telling yourself your team is handling follow up, go pull a lead from two years ago and see what happens. Steve's breakdown of running humans and AI side by side is the kind of thing that changes how you staff your sales floor, so send this to the operator you know who is still trying to hire their way out of the problem. Follow, rate, and review the Collective Genius podcast so more investors can find these conversations.

Bobby Kough is a West Point graduate and former Army engineer officer who partnered with Jimmy Vreeland to run a wholesale operation across St. Louis, Little Rock, and Wichita, with his brother Gerrad running the Little Rock side. Six years in, the business is on pace for eight figures and running roughly 200 percent net profit growth in the St. Louis market.

Instead of the usual founder story, this episode follows the path most people are actually on, going from a W-2 job to working for someone doing it at scale to becoming a partner in the business. If you're still employed and wondering how to make the jump without burning the bridge behind you, Bobby lays out exactly how he handled that conversation and what it turned into.

Timeline Summary

[3:53] – Wholesale makes up 80 to 90 percent of the business across three Midwest markets

[5:25] – Southern California football, playing alongside Bobby Wagner, and the road to West Point

[11:24] – The plan was a corporate engineering job at Honeywell until a COVID quarantine policy changed it

[13:33] – First flip in summer 2020 nets $25,000 while he's still an active duty captain

[15:08] – An Army football headhunter connects him to Jimmy Vreeland in St. Louis

[16:38] – One dinner at a Mexican restaurant and 72 hours later the Phoenix plan is dead

[19:20] – Why he told Jimmy on day one that he planned to leave in two years and build his own thing

[21:38] – 100 plus properties in year one, then an outside group offers him 25 percent of their company

[22:22] – Jimmy responds with a question instead of a counteroffer and it reshapes the business

[24:29] – The Branson trip that proved the culture was worth keeping together

[28:00] – The simple CG feedback on lead response speed that became a massive early unlock

[29:56] – Relationships, revenues, reviews as the Q3 theme in a business heading toward eight figures

[30:52] – Why hiring middle managers and chasing initiatives pulled them off buying and selling

[34:41] – 200 percent net profit growth in St. Louis and the path from 300 to 700 houses

[36:17] – An executive coach analyzes the team and identifies the real X factor

[38:59] – Why sellers stopped trusting text offers and started wanting a human conversation

5 Key Takeaways

1. Be Honest About Your Exit — Bobby told Jimmy up front that he wanted to build his own company in about two years. That transparency is the reason the relationship turned into a partnership instead of a competitor problem.

2. Ask What They Really Want — When Bobby brought an outside offer to the table, Jimmy asked what he actually wanted long term. Finding out someone's real end goal is how you keep good people instead of bidding against strangers.

3. Small Nuggets Beat Big Ideas — The advice that moved the needle early was how fast they responded to a new lead. It sounds too basic to matter until you check your own numbers.

4. Middle Managers Are Not Growth — Every time they added layers and ran internal initiatives, performance dropped. The business grew when the whole team stayed pointed at buying and selling houses.

5. Genuine Care Is The Edge — No AI stack, no cutting edge tech. An outside executive coach analyzed the team and found the differentiator was people who actually care, and sellers can tell the difference immediately.

Links & Resources

• The Knock Podcast on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-knock-podcast/id1829544728 • The Knock Podcast on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@TheKnockPodcast • The Collective Genius: https://thecollectivegenius.com

Enjoyed This Episode?

If you're sitting in a W-2 job with a few flips under your belt and no idea how to make the leap, go back and listen to how Bobby handled that first conversation with Jimmy. Being upfront about wanting to eventually leave is what got him a partnership instead of a resignation letter, and that's worth sending to anyone you know who is stuck on the fence. Follow, rate, and review the Collective Genius podcast so more investors can find these conversations.

EPISODE TITLE OPTIONS

1. How to Tell Your Boss You Want to Leave and End Up a Partner
2. Why Middle Managers Slowed Down a Company Doing 300 Houses a Year
3. The Question That Turned an Employee Into a Business Partner
4. From Army Captain to an Eight Figure Real Estate Business in Six Years
5. Why Sellers Are Done With Text Offers and Want a Human Again
6. What Actually Separates You From the Competition in a Trust Recession
7. How Three Partners Scaled Across Three Midwest Markets Without Losing Culture
8. The Quiet Advantage That Beats Every AI Tool in Real Estate Right Now
9. Why the Best Operators Answer the Phone Faster Than You Do
10. How We Went From 300 Houses to 700 Without a Hiring Spree

A few things to verify before this goes out:

Names. The transcript renders the guest as "Bobby Ko," "Bobby code," and "Bobby cough." Correct spelling is Kough. His brother is spelled Gerrad, not Jared. Worth a find and replace anywhere else this transcript gets used.

The company. Bobby's operation comes through the transcript garbled as "I buy Saint Louis" and "I buy houses." It's I Buy STL. No website was given on air, so I left it out of the links. Send me the URL if you want it added.

Bobby's Instagram. He gives it verbally at 43:29 but the transcript doesn't capture a usable handle. I left it out rather than guess.

The CG website. Same issue as the Steve Trang episode, the URL comes through as "explore." I used the main site address.

Marc Ensign runs a fractional CMO agency that steps into real estate investing companies as marketing leadership, managing budgets, strategy, internal teams, and outside vendors after 25 years of running his own agency. At the May 2026 CG Select and Elevate event in Clearwater Beach, he sat down ahead of his "First 48" masterclass with Benmont Locker to talk lead response, follow up, and vendor accountability.

This conversation breaks down why most seller leads die in the first 48 hours, why the same copy-paste text message fails leads from TV, PPC, and direct mail, and how to hold marketing vendors accountable when results slip. If you're a real estate investor spending real money on marketing and not seeing consistent deal flow, this episode is for you.

Timeline Summary

[0:22] – Host opens live from the May 2026 CG Select and Elevate event in Clearwater Beach, Florida

[1:13] – Consistent deal flow named the number one challenge facing real estate investors right now

[1:30] – Marc explains the fractional CMO model: managing budget, strategy, team, and vendors, not running the ads

[2:20] – Shiny penny syndrome, and why investors throw money at the wall instead of mastering the basics

[3:46] – The four marketing channels the most successful direct-to-seller investors rely on consistently

[4:31] – Can AI run your Google Ads without management fees? Marc on where automation falls short

[5:03] – The human element: why empathy wins with distressed sellers aging out of homes or in financial trouble

[5:47] – Inside the First 48 masterclass with Benmont Locker and why speed to lead beats 6-month nurture plans

[7:40] – The copy-paste text message problem: TV, PPC, and direct mail leads each need a different first touch

[9:22] – 75 to 85 percent of closed deals don't close on the first appointment, making follow up non-negotiable

[10:51] – What members will do differently with their sales teams after the presentation

[12:28] – Personal touch beats automation when sellers make this transaction only 1 to 3 times in a lifetime

[12:54] – How to confront a marketing vendor after five years when results start slipping

[13:59] – Run the meeting yourself: replacing vanity metrics with the business owner's actual lead goals

[14:38] – Marc's 60 to 90 day probationary framework for coaching up or replacing vendors

[15:35] – Why every vendor joins the same weekly call, so the PPC guy answers to the whole room

5 Key Takeaways

1. Win the First 48 Hours — Investors obsess over 6-month nurture sequences while losing the first five minutes. If you haven't connected within 48 hours, that opportunity is likely gone.
2. Segment Leads by Source — A seller who saw your TV ad already knows your brand, while a PPC lead has never heard of you. Sending both the same "we'd love to buy your house" text ignores where they came from and what they need.
3. Personal Touch Beats Automation — AI can run campaigns, but it can't replace empathy for a seller dealing with distress. The investors leaning into the human element right now are doing business at a higher level.
4. Run Vendor Meetings on Your Goals — Stop letting your SEO team celebrate rankings for keywords nobody searches. Set the specific lead targets that matter to your business and make every vendor report against them.
5. Weekly Accountability Drives Results — Vendors will always work harder for the client checking in every week than the one meeting quarterly. Marc puts all vendors on one shared call so data flows and nobody hides in a silo.

Links & Resources

• LoudMouth (Marc Ensign's fractional CMO agency) — https://loudmouthed.com
• The Collective Genius — https://explorecg.com

Enjoyed This Episode?

If Marc's breakdown of the first 48 hours made you rethink that copy-paste text your sales team sends every new lead, put it in front of them this week. Share this episode with an investor who's still letting vendors run the meeting with vanity metrics. Then follow the Collective Genius Podcast, and leave a quick rating and review so more investors can find the show.

Mike Oberholtzer is the VP of Franchise Development for HomeVestors, the "We Buy Ugly Houses" franchise, where he oversees a network of roughly 900 individually owned and operated real estate investors across about 180 markets. With eight years leading franchise growth, he helps everyone from corporate refugees to plateaued investors build a scalable "business in a box."

In this episode, Mike and host Lee break down what actually separates growing real estate investors from stalled ones in the 2026 market, from net lead generation and talent recruiting to diversifying beyond direct-to-seller deals. If you're a real estate investor trying to scale past a revenue ceiling, combat wholesaler noise, or figure out where a franchise model fits your journey, this conversation maps the path.

Timeline Summary

[1:30] – Lee opens the show and welcomes HomeVestors VP of Franchise Development Mike Oberholtzer as a friend of the CG community

[3:24] – Mike explains his role growing a network of 900 investors and who HomeVestors actually attracts

[4:43] – Why "We Buy Ugly Houses" operates like Subway or 7-Eleven as a franchise across 180 markets

[6:14] – The states still wide open for deals: North Dakota, Montana, and Alaska

[7:22] – How the HomeVestors and Collective Genius relationship started and where the synergies live

[9:52] – Mike pitches the idea of HomeVestors as a "path back" to Collective Genius membership

[13:26] – The gap in the market for W-2 earners who want structure and a playbook right out of the gates

[16:36] – Cutting through the noise of $20K Facebook groups and endless real estate tech

[17:10] – Why confidence, not tactics, is the number one thing HomeVestors gives new investors

[20:11] – 2026 market read: divorce, death, and relocation deals don't disappear with market conditions

[22:17] – Investors pivoting to co-living and PadSplit to turn a $2,500 rental into $7,500

[26:27] – Combating basement wholesalers and why the offer you make should be the offer you close

[29:20] – The single biggest differentiator in 2026 is a trusted brand that offsets the individual

[34:35] – Net leads over gross leads and why the lead-to-appointment ratio decides who scales

[38:17] – Stop relying on one lead vehicle: build relationships with title companies, agents, and appraisers

[43:31] – Embrace technology and operate professionally as state-level regulations tighten

5 Key Takeaways

1. Confidence Is The Real Product — What HomeVestors sells new investors isn't just a system, it's the confidence to sit at a seller's table backed by capital, a mentor who has done hundreds of deals, and technology watching the numbers.
2. A Trusted Brand Beats Hustle — In the 2026 market the biggest gap between top and bottom investors is a brand built over years. A local reputation lets you promise the offer you make is the offer you close, which separates you from bad-actor wholesalers.
3. Net Leads Are The Bottleneck — Scaling isn't about gross leads, it's about the lead-to-appointment ratio. Moving from 20-to-1 toward 10-to-1 is what unlocks the revenue needed to attract and keep top talent.
4. Diversify Beyond Direct To Seller — Investors jumping from five to ten million stop leaning only on direct-to-seller marketing. They manufacture deals through relationships with agents, title companies, contractors, and probate attorneys.
5. Pivot Or Get Passed By — The investors who last don't get locked into one buy box or one lead source. Co-living, PadSplit, seller financing, and new MLS tools all reward operators willing to evolve instead of staying stuck.

Links & Resources

• HomeVestors Franchise — https://franchise.homevestors.com
• Collective Genius Application — https://explorecg.com
• International Franchise Association — https://franchise.org

Enjoyed This Episode?

If Mike's point about net leads and the lead-to-appointment ratio hit home, you already know where your business is really getting stuck. Share this one with an investor who's plateaued and still relying on a single lead source, because the fix might be diversification, not more spend. Follow the Collective Genius Podcast, and leave a rating and review so more operators can find these conversations.

Dr. Tyson Cobb is a former orthopedic surgeon who left his practice group in 2019, moved into triple net commercial real estate, and became one of the most respected capital raisers in the Legacy Family Mastermind, now part of the Collective Genius commercial room. Before medical school he rode bulls professionally in Texas, and as a resident he published more papers than anyone who ever came through the Mayo Clinic program.

Recorded live at the CG Q2 event in Oceanside, Tyson walks through the exact moment his career pivoted from acquisitions to capital raising, why decades of academic publishing and teaching turned out to be the real superpower, and the terms of a deal he tracked for eight months that converts old hospitals into inpatient facilities for foster children rescued from trafficking. If you are trying to raise capital and wondering where your first investors actually come from, start here.

Timeline Summary

[0:22] – Leon Barnes opens from the CG Q2 event in Oceanside and introduces the new CG Legacy commercial room

[1:31] – Dr. Tyson Cobb on leaving his orthopedic surgery group in 2019 and moving into commercial real estate

[2:16] – Why triple net was the easy on ramp and how tax mitigation pulled him toward real estate in the first place

[2:44] – The CPA who told him not to complain about writing big checks, and why he eventually fired the guy

[3:08] – Life as a frustrated entrepreneur under the glass ceiling of surgery, where the day has a hard ceiling on it

[4:30] – What he needed most walking into the mastermind, and why he no longer has to solve every problem himself

[5:46] – The professional bull riding career that came before medical school and why big deals scratch the same itch

[7:22] – How a 118 unit building a mile from his house led to the question that changed his career

[8:52] – Gabe asks if he can raise capital, so he calls his closest friends, all orthopedic surgeons, and it is done in a week

[9:29] – The line from a mastermind stage that made him push all his acquisitions work off the desk

[10:28] – Why publishing at Mayo, holding patents, and teaching surgeons for decades built the capital raising superpower

[11:13] – Knowing people matters less than people knowing you, and why raising from surgeons was never a hard sell

[13:07] – The deal he followed for eight months, converting old hospitals and schools into inpatient care for foster kids

[14:00] – The terms, 18% paid like debt, backed by real estate they already own, liquid after a six month lockup

[15:12] – The Steve Nash KPI and why intentional connection is the metric CG actually tracks

[16:26] – The one connection Tyson needs before he leaves the event, capital that is ready to deploy

5 Key Takeaways

1. You Only Have to Be Good at One Thing — Tyson was grinding out acquisition offers into a market where nothing would pencil. A speaker told him that multifamily has a hundred moving parts but you only need to be excellent at one of them, and he went home, cleared the acquisitions work off his desk, and went all in on the capital raise.
2. Your First Investors Already Know You — When asked whether he could raise capital, Tyson had never considered it. He called his closest friends, who happened to be orthopedic surgeons with money looking for a home, and the round was closed by the end of the week.
3. Reputation Compounds Before You Need It — Decades of publishing, patents, teaching surgical procedures around the country, and leading an international organization kept Tyson in front of the same people year after year. None of it was built for real estate, and all of it became the foundation of his raise.
4. You Do Not Need the Answer, You Need the Number — The value of the room is not that Tyson can solve every problem himself. It is that for any problem he hits, he knows exactly who to call, and if that person does not know, they know who does.
5. Track Intentional Connections Like a KPI — Steve Nash reportedly tracked how often he encouraged his teammates because he wanted to lead the league in it. Leon applies the same idea to the mastermind, scanning the room and physically walking people to the person who can help them, and it is why the culture works.

Links & Resources

• Collective Genius — https://explorecg.com

Enjoyed This Episode?

If you have been sitting on a capital raise and telling yourself you do not have a list, listen to Tyson again at the nine minute mark. His list was a handful of friends from his old profession, and he closed it in a week. Send this one to the operator you know who is stuck on acquisitions and does not realize where their real superpower is, then follow the Collective Genius Podcast, leave a rating and review, and hit the bell so you catch the next one.

Joseph Back is co-founder of Rapid Fire Investments, a wholesaling operation running five brick and mortar offices across Kentucky, Ohio, Alabama and Georgia. When he and CEO Eric Masiello joined Collective Genius in December 2020 they were doing 65 deals a year out of one Montgomery office, and they have grown every year since, from 205 to 310 to 391 to 459, with a push to break 500 closings in 2025 and a projected first million dollar revenue month.

Joseph shares the five small changes his acquisitions team made that lifted average profit per deal from $14,092 to nearly $17,000 in a single year, covering in person appointment recording, templated decisive action plans, weekly RPA accountability meetings, lost deal analysis, and raising your least acceptable profit. If you are running a real estate wholesaling business with one to five acquisitions reps and you want more revenue without adding more transactions, this is the acquisitions playbook to copy.

Timeline Summary

[1:30] – Host Leon Barnes welcomes longtime CG member Joseph Back for the long form version of his acquisitions playbook

[3:25] – Rapid Fire's growth from one wholesale office in Montgomery to five offices across four states

[5:30] – Chasing two milestones at once, 500 closings for the year and the first million dollar revenue month

[7:14] – The year by year deal count, 65 in 2020, then 205, 310, 391, 459, and a push past 500

[8:34] – Why expanding wider only makes sense in small markets and why metro investors should go deeper

[10:44] – Kaizen as a core value and why Joseph calls his mastermind time the rip off and duplicate department

[12:04] – How a CJ Moss dispo presentation pushed profit per deal from $14,092 toward the $17,000 goal

[20:07] – Small thing one, Siro, the in person recording software that turns every appointment into game film

[21:57] – The scoring rubric built on Steve Franks' perfect seller appointment, and why you have to actually listen

[27:05] – Small thing two, templated decisive action plans that trigger automatically when a department goes red

[29:53] – The exact five actions the home buying team runs during a red week, from triple dials to a door knocking blitz

[34:20] – Small thing three, the 15 minute weekly RPA meeting covering results, pipeline and activity

[38:38] – Full team structure, seven lead managers, ten home buying specialists, five dispo reps, five transaction coordinators

[40:22] – Small thing four, custom software that cross references appointments against sales data to find every lost deal

[43:02] – Two coaching lessons from lost deals, never leave the living room and never quit on a seller too early

[45:39] – Small thing five, raising your least acceptable profit from $10,000 to $17,000 in the MAO calculator

5 Key Takeaways

1. Record Every In Person Appointment — You invest heavily in sales training, but without recording you have no idea whether any of it survives the drive to the seller's living room. Siro turns appointments into reviewable game film, and Rapid Fire's director of home buying carries a KPI to review and comment on multiple appointments every single week.
2. Never Let Two Red Weeks Stack — When a department finishes below 80% of goal, a pre built decisive action plan kicks in Monday morning with no debate and no research phase. Triple dial cancellations, work the pipeline to zero, ten long term follow up dials a day, survey calls on lost appointments, and a five house door knocking blitz.
3. Build the Plan With Your Team — Rapid Fire did not hand down the red week actions from leadership. They sat with each department and built the plan together, so when it triggers, the team is executing a commitment they made rather than a punishment they received.
4. Study the Deals You Lost — Most unconverted appointments drift into a long term follow up graveyard while the seller quietly sells to someone else. Rapid Fire cross references sales records against every appointment they ran, then walks each loss through a monthly one on one, which surfaced the biggest lesson of all, that they were giving up on sellers who later sold for a number Rapid Fire would have paid.
5. Raise Your Least Acceptable Profit — Every system is perfectly designed to get the results it gets, and if you bake $10,000 into your max allowable offer calculator, $10,000 is what you will make. Rapid Fire changed one number in the formula to $17,000, watched their appointment to contract conversion rate hold steady, and added more than $1 million in revenue on the same deal count.

Links & Resources

• Collective Genius — https://explorecg.com
• Rapid Fire Investments — https://rapidfireinvestments.com

Enjoyed This Episode?

If you have ever watched a rep walk into a living room with a script you paid good money for and had no idea what actually came out of their mouth, this one is for you. Send it to the operator you know who is grinding out more deals every year and somehow making the same profit, because the fix might be one number in their MAO calculator. Follow the Collective Genius Podcast, leave a rating and review, and share it with someone who needs to hear it.