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*****Thank you so much for listening to the Making Money in Multifamily Real Estate Show! This show covers everything to do with Multifamily Real Estate Investing to help you, the listener, become an expert in your real estate ventures. The host, Dave Morgia, brings on guests who are already experts in their respective fields to discuss what principles and practices they follow that have helped them achieve their success so far.
Brandon's Background:
In this episode we cover:
Connect with Brandon:
Connect with Dave:
Other ways to listen/watch:
Follow or Subscribe:
If you enjoyed this episode or like the show, please subscribe and leave a review! It is a huge help for just a little effort
*****Thank you so much for listening to the Making Money in Multifamily Real Estate Show! This show covers everything to do with Multifamily Real Estate Investing to help you, the listener, become an expert in your real estate ventures. The host, Dave Morgia, brings on guests who are already experts in their respective fields to discuss what principles and practices they follow that have helped them achieve their success so far.
Welcome to the Making Money in Multifamily Show,where we discuss everything to do with multifamily real estate investing.We believe it's the best way to gain financial freedom and build lasting wealth.This is where you'll find it the best information and practices to help you succeed in your real estate business,whether you're already experienced or just starting out.Here's your host,Dave Morgia.
Dave Morgia:Hello listener and welcome to the show.I'm your host,Dave Morgia.And with me today is Brandon Cobb.Brandon is a real estate consultant and investor as well as the owner and CEO of hBg capital.He was previously previously in medical device sales before transitioning into general construction.And he is now into multifamily acquisitions,primarily in Tennessee in the southeast us,he has done roughly50million of combined activity across both of those disciplines.Brandon,appreciate you joining me today.And welcome to the show.
Brandon Cobb:Hey,Dave,it's an honor man.Good to see you.Nice to meet you.
Dave Morgia:Yeah,I could tell we're gonna have go in today.A nice little chat before the show,Brandon.So yeah,appreciate you joining me.And yeah,you just want to kind of dive a little bit more into your background,maybe we'll I guess just start with the the kind of GC transition,obviously,you probably bring a lot of sales skills into that role to help develop that business.Maybe we'll just kind of hit there and kind of dig into how you move from from there into the multifamily maybe somewhere down the line,if we can get there.
Brandon Cobb:Yeah,so I'll give you a little starting point kind of the here and then the now and then kind of reverse it,you know.So now we do is we focus on any assets where we feel like there's an inverse correlation between the overall economy and how the assets going to perform so bad economy products still performs good right now we feel like the market signaling an opportunity with you know,affordable new construction targeting first time homebuyer not section eight or low income,but I'm talking about the most under supplied highest man real estate product in the country,at least right now.And that's getting first time homebuyers into their home.But once upon a time,I was in medical sales.And it was kind of funny,you know,I like to joke.If you'd asked me seven years ago,what do you think you'd be doing?You know,seven years from today,I would have never in my entire life told you that I was building neighbor her neighborhood serving,you know,homeless veterans serving first time homebuyers at Not in a million years.So it was one of those things where I actually got fired from my job was like,What do I do now,you know,heard about this whole thing called a real estate and jumped into it started a wholesaling business started flipping a lot of houses,saw the need to get as differentiated and as competitive as possible to reduce our costs.So we started the construction company so we could cut out the GC do our own fee,saw blue ocean new construction started doing that.And really,when I got started,I had did have this sales advantage because I came from this really competitive sales environment.I mean,it is just,it's tough medical device sales God,but I was definitely not one of the top10%Guys,I don't have an amazing sales story to tell you I was probably at the bottom of the rung,but transitioned over to Real Estate and when I went from b2b and selling to doctors to B to C,you know,selling consumers I mean,I could go on appointment,immediately I have deep rapport trust,they know like me,trust me.And that was a huge advantage for me,you know,right there on the spot before I leave the house dropping a handwritten note and you know,all the little things that I would do that are sort of you know,just at the bar with medical sales,but do it in this real estate world with these consumers.And lo and behold,man,it worked out really well so I did have a sales advantage in the very beginning.
Dave Morgia:Yeah,that's um,that's one of the things whatever advantage you can have whether it's you know,like you said the note or whether it's you know,around the holidays given an investor a certain thing or an owner or a certain thing whether it's a gift something that have them remember you and you're the first person in their mind to say you know,I I associate Brandon with investing I associate Brandon with construction that is what you want so anything you can do like like you're doing sounds like a great time.So I guess fast forward,you know,GC world you're also looking to expand your investment side of things in the multifamily you're in Tennessee right so you're also investing in southeast because so you could you just clarify you know where exactly you're investing what you're focusing on?You're doing affordable quote unquote not you know,light tech affordable,but you know,affordable development so what are you focusing on in the multifamily space to continue your growth?
Brandon Cobb:Yeah,so strictly Class B and Class C value add right you know,that's that's becoming much harder and harder Jim to find these days you know,everyone's seen cap rates get compressed across the country.We like the Sunbelt specifically found se last year we invested in Daytona Beach,Florida.You know,we liked states like Florida,Tennessee that are really really easy to deal with with like the government,right?Like they didn't shut everything down and California did a little bit more landlord friendly states.So that's exactly what we're focused on currently.
Dave Morgia:So in with I guess I'll call it your like sales process oriented background because it seems like you have everything procedural is pretty good.How did you To apply,you know,that type of thing to the multifamily space is a lot more of the same,you know,just b2b,b2c connections,how are you kind of making sure you got the deal flow?How are you making sure you got the investors?I think there's a lot going on there.So I'd love to touch on it.
Brandon Cobb:Yeah,great question.So when we knew we want to diversify and expand into multifamily last year,all my research said,wow,we're gonna have to build a completely new business around this.I mean,everything we're doing in the single family world,we got to pull the list,we got to start marketing,we got to build the underwriting process,man,it really was kind of reinventing everything.I didn't want to do that.So who not how I've got this book,I don't know if you can see it or not on my desk.But this is a constant reminder to me,because I constantly fall off this step where I'll figure out how to do things like get into the nitty gritty,and I'm like,no,no,no,I need to find out who.So you know,as I dove into the swan,I realized that in the multifamily world,you have this market of sponsors and operators,and you know,there's there's not as many that are vertically integrated with the sponsor and the operators.So you've got all these operators that have built these business that are designed around finding these deals,finding these multifamily deals,underwriting these deals,you know,flying out every weekend seeing them,and then they have usually have a capital problem.And that's where the sponsor comes in.And so sponsors can opposite,right,they've built a really good business around raising capital.And that's what we've done here in Middle Tennessee for all our single family projects,but they might not necessarily be able to find a deal or manage the deal.So I knew that I needed to go and find an operator for that I needed to have a criteria,right?Like,how am I going to vet these guys.So you know,I don't I don't vet any deals.Myself,I have a team that does that.But what we look for an operators,or they need to have at least a minimum of five exits.So that's usually at least10years worth of experience or turnaround time.So they need to have at least10years under the belt needed to have at least five exits,they need to have the same core values that we have,there's got to be a cultural fit,we got to make sure that we get along.And we've got to make sure that they are investing in the right asset classes in the right areas that
Dave Morgia:we know that's that's well put in your you're starting to answer my questions.Because I think the biggest hurdle in a space where you're looking to partner with people who,especially when you're starting to grow a relationship is can you trust them?And it's not always a case of Oh,the deal is good,let's do it.Because you really need to rewind and say,Can I even do business with this person?Because these deals like you say,talking about exits,usually it's at least a five year old,sometimes they're shorter,sometimes longer,but you're doing business with this person for multiple years,you need to know who they are,you need to be able to trust them,because you're bringing forward your investors capital.So there's a lot of different kinds of cogs in the wheel at play there.So I'm glad you're highlighting some of that checklist.But to get into,I guess,in a little bit more of just in general,your process on,you know,finding sponsors,where do you see some of the big green flags outside of your checklist?Where do you see some of the red flags?Have you,you know,maybe some nonspecific examples of some things that have made you either go forward or shy away from some of these partners?
Brandon Cobb:Yeah,so like everything,you can't remember everything.So you know,we've got a whole criteria.Gosh,there's so many checkboxes that we're going to check off the list.And this is one of the reasons why I put this ebook on our website called100Questions passive investors should be asking before investing,it's on our website,HPG,capital dotnet,it's free,you can grab it,that's a lot of the things that I'm asking operators,right,I can't remember everything.So I'm going through every single one of those items on that checklist,and making sure that they check that box.And then again,it comes down to a gut feeling,right.So they've checked all the boxes,if the deal looks good,there's two parts of a deal.There's the person you're investing in,right.And then there's the actual deal itself.And in one of those things,think,don't do that deal.You can have the most high integrity person in the world.But if it's a bad deal,don't do the deal,or you got the best deal in the world that gets you excited with amazing returns.But if the person that you're you know,you should be getting in my opinion,you should be doing background checks on everybody,I think you should be meeting with that person,a minimum of three different zoom interviews with that individual just to give a gut feeling on him asking for references,calling those references,looking them up online.There's a lot of stuff you gotta be doing.But both of those things got to check out if you're going to do a deal with somebody.
Dave Morgia:Absolutely,yeah,I think and you mentioned the gut thing.That is something that you really have to listen to,because they might be checking these boxes,and then somehow your kind of subconscious is telling you something's wrong,something's wrong.And you maybe just didn't do enough digging and you got to kind of find out whether it's the deal level or the sponsor level,what's what's happening there.So I'm a big proponent of if you're,you know,talking to somebody and just something feels off like you probably got to talk to them a couple more times,kind of like you're alluding to,it's pretty like to
Brandon Cobb:get them outside of like a comfort zone.I like to go do something with this person,right?Because when you're sitting here doing the interview with you,and everyone can kind of BS their way through it or put a facade on for a little bit.That's what I do.multiple interviews with people,but trying to do something where,you know,hey,let's go grab lunch or,you know,let's go out and do like an activity like racing,go karts,something where you can get them out of their comfort zone,and they get like a conversation go.And that's what I really like to do.And we do that with all of our potential employees too,right?When we're interviewing them.So same process,different,different results that we're after?
Dave Morgia:Yeah,it's almost,it's almost like dating,right?They say like,you know,you go out to dinner,you pay attention to how your date treats the service staff and all these things.It's like,if you're seeing those things,you know,a total random level where you're not even talking about real estate,it might,you know,reflect back into the how they operate.So they all very interesting things,and it kind of essentially just paints a picture of the person you're trying to do business with.So yeah,good insights on that.I think,you know,it's important,you know,like I say,person level before the deal,like you say,both have to be accomplished.But to me,I wouldn't even want to start looking at the deal if I didn't even think that person and my gut was kind of trending towards someone I want to work with.So yeah,really,really good stuff.But brand,I guess on the side of like deal level evaluation,I'm sure you have a lot of deal flow.It's something you're working tirelessly towards.Where do you get involved in the process?Is it completely at the offering memorandum stage where a sponsor has a deal totally lined up?Are you getting involved earlier at the kind of the due diligence phase?You know,is it right when they're sourcing the deal?And they have an LOI out?Where are you kind of getting involved to kind of see the deal unfold to help out?
Brandon Cobb:Yeah,great question.So on the multifamily side of things operator comes I mean,they've got it under contract,like they're,they're a rock and roll and the clock is ticking.That's when I'll get involved immediately from that phase,where the single family world what we do,I'm involved at the very beginning of that,right?Because if we're gonna go ourselves and put something under contract,I'm going to make sure that I'm a man of my word,and we're going to buy this deal,because it's really good deal.So it just depends on which one.
Dave Morgia:Got it.And then I guess it's we're kind of flipping back and forth between,you know,the single family and the multi.How do you manage the investor list?We kind of alluded to it,maybe before we hit record,but you know,you mentioned you have a pretty good list.How do you manage just making sure the right people have the right interest?Because I'm sure not everyone's interested in the single if they invest in Malta,and vice versa.So so how do you manage that?How do you make sure that the one party that's not even aware of the other side is even getting aware of that,so maybe they can learn to eventually get into that space?
Brandon Cobb:Yeah,so it all starts with the introductory call,which is designed to learn more about them,right?I want to know what their background is in real estate,not just real estate,but what are their past investments have they made?Tell me about the best investments that you've made?What did you like about those?Tell me about the worst investments that you've made?How did that go?What's the short term plan and the long term plan for the capital that you're thinking about investing?Right?Why are you thinking about investing in real estate?Right?What is your current tax situation look like?Right,that might help me steer them more towards multifamily if they got a big tax problem,versus if they're just wanting some more,you know,the more have higher affinity,that single family.So it really starts with an introductory call and really exploring what are their needs,you know,we don't pitch investors deals like we don't,I don't do an email blast.It's like,Hey,here's my deal,come and get I don't do that.I'm very onesie.twosie actually,personally reach out to people and say,Hey,I found something based on what you told me in the intro call or our follow up calls of what you're looking for.And I'll match the exact benefits of that particular deal to the investor.So it all starts with Adventure Golf,you don't get the information that they what they're looking for.And sometimes people don't even know what they're looking for.And that's why it's important to ask the right questions on this intro calls,he's really need to pull out the information from him sometimes on his intro calls,people are like,wow,I didn't even think about that,to be honest with you.And that's kind of like a lightbulb goes off.And there's an aha moment.Because sometimes,we might not even be the best investment for him.Right?I've tell people all the time.You know,they come and they've got100grand they want to invest.And one of my questions is do you have an emergency fund set aside?If the answer's no,I don't let them invest.Because that's the number one most important thing you need.Before you put any money in any investments,you need an emergency fund.So it all starts with that intro call,we really want to get to know them and figure out what it is that they need.
Dave Morgia:The Quick sidenote on that emergency fund is a person who needs access to funds is probably not someone you even want investing in your deal anyway,just because they're a little more panicked of an investor so selfishly,it's a good idea but selflessly also,yeah,you you should not be guiding them,you know,talking to the listener,you should not be guiding them to invest when they don't even have their own kind of personal finances situated to so it's really symbiotic.And it's not even selfless.It's a little bit selfish,too,because because it will be more than likely be a little bit of a panicked investor if they're,they're not really allocated for their personal funds yet,too.So it's a good note there.But yeah,I guess on the investor side of things you mentioned on the intro calls,sometimes you get a bunch of I don't know is or they're not haven't even thought about it.How do you handle that?Because a lot of times that to me,just me means the person needs more time,they need more time to figure out what they're actually looking to do to invest.You know what the purpose behind it is?Is it just staying in touch at a later date?How do you basically follow up with that person?Considering they may not be ready,you know,day one of the internal call?
Brandon Cobb:Yeah,so one we don't I hate hard press yourself stuff.Which is funny because you think I've got very sold that soul building products to builders and developers,I've sold products to doctors,you know,we sell investment opportunities to investors.And each type of person is different with the investor.May investors are like cats,man is as soon as you grab on and leech on and you know,Phil,they feel like they're being chased.Like they run away.And I don't blame them,right.Nobody wants to do business with a needy person.So we don't do that at all.Again,the intro call really is that it's just designed to get to know them.So like we tell them at the very end,after we've answered their questions,hey,next steps,you're going to receive a few past investment opportunities,these are done,this is just designed to get you affiliated with what you would be receiving if you weren't interested,right?So you're gonna get this email,you're gonna see some passive investment opportunities from there,you know,we might send you an email that said,Hey,were these a fit for what you're looking for?or thumbs down?They weren't?And if that's if it's a thumbs down,you know,give us some feedback.Why,like,what are you looking for?So at that point,thumbs down and give us the feedback,we take that and then we'll cultivate it and say,Hey,we're going to find something that works for you.Or if they say,Hey,yes,this is yes,I'm jumping up and down,I'm excited,then we'll we'll keep them on a list,we'll make sure that we're granting a will make sure that when we send them some it's not a waste of their time.
Dave Morgia:And I guess,to highlight those thumbs down,like maybe they you know,they're looking at those deals,but not really quite ready for those specific ones.Is there anything that's usually highlighted kind of commonalities,like it's in the wrong market?Or it's not the return profile?Like what is the kind of popular adjustments that they're maybe looking for when it comes to looking at those those old deals?
Brandon Cobb:Yeah,you know,it just depends.I've had people change it up,because I've had,I've had some hard money lenders reach out to me and they're wanting,like,monthly income coming in,they're wanting,like,first position on something and I'm like,hey,you know,that's,that's not what we do.You know,we're,we're building stuff or,you know,it's,you know,this,this loan,this commercial,it's just not going to handle hard money on when you're buying a$30million apartment complex or something like that.I've heard.Man,I've heard people that are,they're used to like the private equity world.So they're,you know,they're wanting like,they're not wanting to be a limited partner,they're wanting to be a general partner in the deal,which is,you know,that's another thing that we don't do,we put people set people up in a limited position.So if something goes wrong,you know,they can't get sued or anything like that.So it just depends.There's so many people out there that have different investment strategies and what works for them.You know,some people are like,wanting to get my money out,you know,can I do that?It's like,well,no,it's it's locked up in the property,right?It's an it's in the form of lumber or foundation or the labor or it's in this building,you know,it's locked up.So there's a ton of different reasons why we may not be a fit for people.And again,that's that's what the intro calls for,just to make sure that we're right fit.
Dave Morgia:Yeah,these interCall,you know,whatever,whatever type of call it is,or whatever a way to calibrate people to learn what your business is,I think you mentioned earlier,it's like the herding cats,the more pushy you are just you're just gonna scare people away.So if you were just,you know,yourself representing your business,the way you guys want to do business people,as long as you're,you know,doing it,a volume will find you and you'll be able to find the right people that are the right fit for what you're trying to accomplish.So as long as you can kind of show them what you're looking to do,and find the ones that are a right fit for that that's,that's kind of the game,right?It's not trying to push people,it's square peg into a round hole.So
Brandon Cobb:and I'll tell you,you know,one of the ways you can do that on the front end,like we have a target avatar,so we know exactly like who our ideal investor is,and who makes up the bulk of the deals that we do business with.And that's busy entrepreneurs that have discretionary income,that they're trying to reduce their taxable liability and create passive income from it,and they want it security against the market volatility.They don't want it to be like the stock market that can take a30%dip of a virus from wherever comes over.And it takes over the country.Right,you know,they're not trying to like necessarily get into real estate,like they have a business,they're happy with it,it's producing money,and they need to put that money to work because,you know,last year you had6%Some people say some people say13%inflation that's just eroding your savings away.If you build content,and put it on all your channels that are designed to address the pain points of your target avatar,that's who's going to visit your website,right you know,we've got a free ebook recession resistant passive income because our whole thing is like we want to be able to stomach another2008And not just survive,but thrive,right?That's what we're focused on.And so People are pretty acclimated with what we do.And really,by the time they booked the call,they've absorbed all of our free educational content.They've read our ebooks,they're like,Okay,I'm interested in this.And so it's not like a completely cold call we get on that,right.So we try to do a really good job of creating a bunch of content that centered around our target avatar,so that when they do go to the website,we're able to serve them,and it's worth their time.
Dave Morgia:Yeah,absolutely makes a ton of sense.You mentioned the recession resistant investing method that you're looking to do and how you're teaching investors,that's what your target is.So what is that message that you give them?What does that mean to you?You know,what are the types of deals you're looking at to kind of align with that goal?
Brandon Cobb:Yeah,so there's a lot of things.When I say,when I say recession resistant,think about layers of insulation.So you know,for example,in Middle Tennessee,here,there's a reason why we like Middle Tennessee,one,it's more affordable compared to the rest of the country.So when you have a market contraction,people the need to live doesn't go away,people just push down into those more affordable living arrangements.So they'll go from Class A,you know,a Class B class,big as the class C,and you know,people just they still want to stay out of the war zones.Now,that's one of the reasons why we'll be like these first time homebuyer homes,you know,$385,000or less,you know,class B,class C multifamily,is you get that affordability aspect.That's number one.The second is the demographics of Middle Tennessee are just highly desirable nationals and one of the top10fastest growing cities over the past like six,seven years.And so that,again,is going to give it a layer of insulation compared to other markets that aren't growing as fast,right.The third is no income taxes.So we've got people moving in here from droves from these high tax states like New York and California,because they're just sick of being taxed to them.And they love the fact that Tennessee does not have that income tax.So it puts more money only in the businesses pockets,which come here and provide more jobs,which continues to grow.The other thing is on like a more microscopic level is having the ability to control the entire lifecycle of the asset.So you know,we're vertically integrated here in Tennessee,where the builder we find all of our own off market deals,we have a relationship with broker on the back end,we're not in a situation where,let's say we're building,you know,66homes,and all of a sudden that builder dies,or that builder bites off more than he can chew,he becomes disabled and all sudden the whole portfolio is under risk.That's that's we don't want to be in that we want to be able to control everything from start to finish and be able to control our costs,too.And so having all these different layers,where you know,we are the builder on a deal.Well,the builders and civilizations are directly aligned with the investors now rather than than a builder,just you know,making a fee per bill.So we're able to build these things a lot quicker service,the investors,all these different layers of insulation add up.And that's what you want to be looking for.You want deep equity deals that are designed to be insulated.If something does happen,that's that's the key.It's not how do I make a bad?You know,how do I prevent a an investment from being hit,you know,at some point the market is going to turn,it's not a if it's going to happen when it's going to happen.So what do you do?Do you try to time the market?How's that worked out in the past?You just want to make sure that your position for and that's what we try to do?
Dave Morgia:Yeah,I think you hit the nail on the head,I just kind of had a conversation earlier about this.If you try to,in your business plan,plan for everything to go darn near perfectly,I can almost guarantee you whether it's a bull or bear market,it won't go perfectly.So you have to have,like you say,whether it's the installation or different kind of channels of just just margin needs to be baked in whether it's you know,operationally or just budgeting just needs to be kind of thought through to make sure that if something were to happen,you kind of have other things to fall back on.So yeah,I think I think you nailed it.Anecdotally,I went to Nashville for the first time this weekend ever.It was a great little weekend,and I saw so much development in Nashville,I was very,very impressed with what's going on in Nashville.So I'm sure you're very biased.But it's it's a great,great city that I see kind of getting built up the next coming years.
Brandon Cobb:We're blessed to be here.We're blessed to be here.It's fun to go to a little hill that kind of overlooks everything,you can kind of count the cranes.But you know,we're just so under supplied on housing.It's not I think we're several years away from catching up.The problem started back in20089101112.I mean,nobody built anything,right?Like literally for three,four years,everything stops and COVID just exasperated the problem,right?We still haven't caught up.So we've got a little bit of ways to go.
Dave Morgia:And that's the interesting thing about development and cities that I think needs to be considered more is the momentum of it where you have like an oh eight crash or like this COVID Mini crash whatever you want to call these things.You know,all these plans get wiped out and the after effect is years later so I think you know there's going to be years of toll from COVID Still to hit all these major metros ahead a bunch of construction like Nashville can tend to slow down,it's going to just pick up and kind of be a nice windfall for everybody.They can get in while the getting's good.So So yeah,good on you guys for being able to kind of move forward and take advantage of that.It looks like you guys are doing great things.So yeah.So Brandon,I'd love to just wrap up with these five key questions.As long as you are ready.I'm ready when you are.First one here is if you can only pick one trait that explains their success.What is that trait?And why?
Brandon Cobb:Probably that I'm not smart enough to figure out things.So I gotta go find somebody.I mean,that's that's really and I know,that sounds really simple.But not having a really high IQ or testing off the charts has served me well.So I'm like,Man,I cannot figure out how to do this.I need to go find out who to show me or do it?
Dave Morgia:Yeah,it's kind of like the who and how you're mentioned earlier,right?It's,you can always work in the business.But figuring out how to work on getting other team members is probably the best approach.So Good on you for that's it,you got it.And I'm what is the most uncharacteristic thing you have done in your business?And why did you do it?
Brandon Cobb:Not micromanaging,trusting people,a lot of people think especially starting out and growing,you got to micromanage everything,you got to have your finger on the pulse.And I know a lot of people that do that I did not do that.My thing is if I didn't hire somebody who can do the job,and have the money,if I if I have to micro manage somebody,I hired the wrong person,basically,so
Dave Morgia:And then can you name me time where you felt like something in your business went perfectly?And what did you do to make that a reality?
Brandon Cobb:You know,when we transitioned to new construction years ago,it was like a blue ocean.Right?We had all the right pieces in the right place.We're vertically integrated.We were the builder,we're finding all around him off market deals,we're marking stress.You know,when we did that everything just fell into place.It was like we had built this amazing machine,and just weren't feeding it the right type of deals.And we transition from flipping houses is highly competitive red ocean bloodbath and like doing new construction targeting first time homebuyers,man,everything started going a lot more smoothly.
Dave Morgia:Yeah,that's awesome.And then pretty much a flip to that.Can you name a time where you felt like you weren't going to end up successful?And how did you overcome that fear?
Brandon Cobb:Yeah,I can remember,you know,it's funny,we didn't always do new construction,we were everywhere all over the place.When we first started third deal actually did was a was a new construction deal,which is kind of funny,which is why we kind of did a tactical pause because it went so badly.Because I was the guy managing that I did not have a construction background,you know,mind you,and I was using me on my own money before.You know,we did all this stuff.So that was a disaster.Because I was answering all the phones,I was going on all the sales appointments,I was managing the contractors,I was making two rehabs on the hill,at the same time with no construction background.I mean,I figured out how many hours a day a young,motivated guy could work,and I hit the wall,and it was like I can't,there's no way I'm gonna be able to continue living like this.And so that's what really motivated me to start making the right hires.
Dave Morgia:The silver lining for that one it sounds like to me is at least you had your own money invested and not someone else's,because that makes that stressful situation about10times worse.So yeah,
Brandon Cobb:always use your own money first before you know using someone else's money,or you need to be very,very confident in that deal,which I wasn't,which is why we didn't use other people's money.
Dave Morgia:Absolutely smart,smart move,rather.And then last one here,Brandon,what have you been focused on lately to improve yourself or your business?
Brandon Cobb:You know,for me,I'm trying to get different perspectives.So getting myself in rooms with people who are doing much bigger things than me,I found that whenever I'm able to shift my mindset from something and just think bigger than I'm able to do that.And so the game becomes well,how do you think bigger,and I found that getting in those rooms with people who are doing bigger things,I mean,seeing it,seeing is believing in me,if you can show me,you can finally get in a room with a builder who is doing1000homes a year.Like I will replicate that.I just need to know what the blueprints so getting my hands on that information.
Dave Morgia:So you say getting in the room?Is that a literal room?Is that,you know,conferences,masterminds?What does that mean to you?How you how you approach that?
Brandon Cobb:Yeah,conferences,masterminds pay for coaching,right and pay these people in any way shape or form that I can do that?
Dave Morgia:Yeah,I'm with you.Having proof is much easier to realize a vision than coming up with it on your own and someone likely has done it before you so you might as well just find that someone and and learn a little bit quicker than you would have otherwise.I'm a big proponent of the masterminds of coaching myself.So
Brandon Cobb:yeah,I think Russell Brunson this guy said the pioneers,the ones with arrows in the back.Don't do that.
Dave Morgia:guy like that was I liked it.But Brandon Well,I appreciate the time.You know,we covered a lot.I think you have great experience in sales that you've transitioned into all kinds of corners of your real estate business that construction sounds like it's going really well in Nashville and NTSC,and the multifamily sounds like it's popping off really well,too.So appreciate all the conversation on investor relations and the whole gamut here.But just for listeners,how can they reach you today?
Brandon Cobb:Yeah,so we've got a ton of free content on our website HVG capital that net Attari Bulgarian capital that not go check it out free ebooks.If you want to schedule a call,we'd love to get to know yet.You can do that on the website as well or you can send us an email to info at hBg capital that net we'll look forward to connecting.
Dave Morgia:Thanks again,Brian.Appreciate it.
Brandon Cobb:Thank you appreciate you having me.
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