Zach Betters: Why Due Diligence is Where New Construction Succeeds or Fails

Dan Costantino: Operations Makes or Breaks Every Multifamily Deal

In this CG Live episode recorded at the Collective Genius Q2 event marking the debut of CG Legacy, the new commercial mastermind room, host Leon Barnes sits down with Dan Costantino, a Pittsburgh-based multifamily operator and hard money lender who scaled to a roughly 660-unit portfolio and runs his own debt fund. Dan came up through trucking and logistics sales before flipping his first house for a 27,000 dollar profit in 91 days, then built a commercial operation through what he calls brute force and relentless focus on operations. This conversation goes deep on jumping asset classes from single family to large multifamily, why operations can make or break a great deal, and how Dan navigated the brutal 2022 to 2023 multifamily stretch by pausing and later restoring preferred returns and taking big properties full cycle. If you're a commercial operator or a single family investor eyeing the leap into apartments, storage, or lending, this one is required listening. Timeline Summary [0:22] – Leon opens at the CG Q2 event and introduces Dan Costantino from the new CG Legacy commercial room [1:04] – Why CG built a dedicated commercial room and how the Legacy group was integrated into the family [1:57] – The anxiousness of change and the white glove approach to welcoming Legacy members [2:22] – Dan's business today: a large Pittsburgh multifamily portfolio plus nearly a decade of hard money lending [2:59] – From W2 trucking and logistics sales to almost walking away from a first flip over cold feet [3:46] – Making 27,000 dollars in 91 days on that first deal and getting hooked on real estate [4:27] – What made jumping from single family to multifamily easy: diversification and loan sizing [5:12] – Why Pittsburgh's stability made the rental numbers work and why operations is everything [5:34] – Six years in Legacy since day one, and discovering the life-changing power of community [6:42] – The "no finish line" tagline and pushing past your own perceived ceiling [7:03] – Learning to underwrite large multifamily: cap rates, valuation, and where profit really comes from [8:06] – The current challenge: converting promissory-note debt into a proper fund with new hires [9:16] – Taking big deals full cycle in a tough exit market, including a 152-unit sale [9:43] – Pausing preferred returns as one of the hardest things in his career, and paying it all back [10:25] – The power of these rooms: compressing the learning curve and the emotional side of hard decisions [11:37] – Surviving 2022 to 2023 and why battle-tested operators never worry about raising capital again [12:00] – A 305-unit portfolio case study: selling half to reset financially and get current on returns [12:27] – "The market is the star, not you" and the 2020 to 2021 warning to build reserves [13:37] – What Dan is most excited about for the rest of 2026: scaling the debt fund [14:00] – Converting to a 506(c) structure to advertise publicly and raise capital at scale [14:23] – Creating clean, affordable, safe housing and funding other operators to rehab neglected homes [16:14] – Closing on Pittsburgh pride, the value of fresh talent, and how to apply to CG Legacy 5 Key Takeaways 1. Operations Makes or Breaks the Deal — You can buy a great multifamily deal and still ruin it with poor operations. Sizing the loan correctly and executing on leasing and stabilization is what actually builds a portfolio. 2. Diversification De-Risks the Jump — Moving from single family to multifamily meant one vacant unit no longer zeroed out his income. For a buy and hold investor, spreading risk across many units is what made the leap feel manageable. 3. The Room Compresses the Learning Curve — Dan credits the mastermind with teaching him how underwriters actually value deals and how to handle the emotional weight of hard calls like pausing preferred returns. Being around high performers shows you they aren't magical, just further along. 4. The Market Is the Star, Not You — In good years even average operators look brilliant, so the real test is who survives the downturn. Build reserves while times are good, because market cycles always turn and you'll have to give some of it back. 5. Survive the Hard Years and Capital Follows — Operators who made investors whole through 2022 and 2023 proved they're battle tested. Once you've navigated the tough times and returned capital, raising money stops being a worry. Links & Resources * Collective Genius Community — https://explorecg.com Closing Dan's story is a case study in what these rooms are built for: he walked in worried about change and walked out having converted 7 million dollars in promissory notes into a proper fund, taken a 305-unit portfolio full cycle, and reset his entire capital structure with guidance from members who'd done it before. His point about the market being the star and not the operator is the kind of message that keeps people building reserves before they need them. If you're a commercial operator in multifamily, storage, industrial, or retail, the new CG Legacy room was built for exactly this, so head to ExploreCG.com to learn more and apply.

The Real Reason Your Cash Offer Model Isn't Generating Leads featuring Jose Morales

Jose Luis Morales is a first-generation entrepreneur and Collective Genius member of five years who scaled from doing 100 real estate deals a year as an agent to running a diversified investment operation spanning wholesaling, flipping, ADUs, and a 25-unit apartment building in Ventura County, California. Raised in his family's Oxnard cowboy store, he built a 350,000-follower TikTok presence and a real estate business that treats every motivated seller lead as a monetizable asset. This episode breaks down how Jose qualifies leads across nine specific data points to route sellers into cash offers, listings, wholesales, or creative finance without confusing them, plus how he raised private money in second position and turned carports into approved ADU units. If you're an investor-agent trying to grow both sides of your business at once instead of picking one, this one is required listening. Timeline Summary [1:07] – Host opens on the 2026 shift from bigger to better, and why leveling up your team beats chasing scale [1:54] – Guest introduced as an agent who became an investor over five years in Collective Genius [3:04] – Jose gives his background: 38, two boys, Ventura County roots, 100 deals a year as an agent [4:44] – His mother arrived through the Bracero Program and his parents built a paid-off 25-unit portfolio [5:18] – Growing up in the family cowboy store in Oxnard and the business lessons learned by age 23 [8:18] – The check-cashing strategy that grew revenue during the 2008 recession while others shrank [9:45] – The raise his dad denied and the lesson that tenure doesn't equal value [11:17] – Six months with zero sales, then a mentor took 50% of commissions and changed everything [12:40] – Why he outgrew his first mentor at 30 deals and found one doing 150 to 200 a year [15:15] – How King Kong taught him a social media formula that 10x'd his following in six months [17:35] – Why the investor and agent businesses feed each other by chasing the same motivated seller [20:25] – The nine qualification points that route a lead to cash, listing, wholesale, or short sale [23:59] – How the cash-buyer model outperforms "list with me" for lead generation [25:33] – Raising private money in second position after asking 30 people before the first yes [27:08] – What's working in 2026, why he killed 11 Airbnbs, and doubling down on strengths [30:00] – Turning carports into six approved ADUs, adding $20,000 a month to the apartment 5 Key Takeaways 1. Value Beats Tenure Every Time — Jose asked his dad for a raise after ten years and got a no, then a yes once he started adding real value. Time served means nothing if you're not moving the needle. 2. Qualify Before You Pitch — Great deal flow comes from asking questions across nine data points like motivation, timing, loan balance, and condition, not from being attached to one outcome. Let the answers tell you whether it's a cash offer, listing, or short sale. 3. One Avatar, Multiple Exits — Investors and agents chase the same motivated seller, so building multiple exit options means you monetize far more leads instead of throwing 90% away. Serve what the seller actually wants and the deal follows. 4. Find Someone Already Doing It — Every jump in Jose's career came from a mentor already operating at the next level, from his first coach to the member who taught him private lending. The fastest path is copying someone who's already there. 5. Scale People, Not Yourself — A great operator, marketer, and sales leader let Jose build across brokerage, investing, and construction without everything falling on him. You can't scale a business without building the team first. Links & Resources * Follow Jose Luis Morales on Instagram — instagram.com/joseluismorales (Luis with a Z) * Jose Luis Morales on TikTok — 350,000 followers * Jose Luis Morales on YouTube — 10,000 subscribers * Collective Genius Community — explorecg.com Enjoyed This Episode? If Jose's nine-point qualification framework got you rethinking how you route seller leads, go back and listen to that stretch again because it's the difference between monetizing every lead and tossing most of them. Share this one with an investor or agent who's trying to grow both sides of their business and doesn't know it's possible. To go deeper with operators like Jose who've completely changed their trajectory, head to ExploreCG.com to learn more and apply.

Kelli Garrett: The $250 Million Capital Raise Story

In this CG Live episode recorded at the Collective Genius Q2 event in Oceanside, California, the host sits down with Kelli Garrett, one of the standout new members entering the community through CG Legacy, the commercial mastermind founded by Tim Bratz that recently came under the CG umbrella. Kelli is a Charleston-based lender and investor with nearly 27 years in the business, and she's about as respected as they come. Multiple members had already gone out of their way during the event to name her as one of their favorite people, and it's easy to hear why within the first few minutes. Kelli's story is a full circle one. She started in lending as a mortgage broker, used that knowledge to build a portfolio of around 400 units, sold nearly all of it in 2018, and split the proceeds into two buckets: one for private lending and one for passive LP investing. Today she's CEO and co-founder of Rehab Wallet, running a debt fund of roughly $130 to $135 million and having raised over $250 million across her career. This conversation moves from her days as the all-time leading scorer at the College of Charleston to hard-won lessons on raising capital, protecting investors, and why she may play a little defense for the first time in her life. If you're an investor trying to raise capital or build the kind of reputation that makes people trust you with their money, this one is required listening. Timeline Summary [0:22] – The host sets the scene at the CG Q2 event and introduces CG Legacy joining the Collective Genius umbrella [1:29] – Why so many members named Kelli one of their favorite people the moment she walked in [2:09] – Kelli explains her business and how she came to join Tim Bratz's Legacy mastermind [2:34] – Her "I'll date you before I invest" philosophy on vetting operators before becoming an LP or GP [3:06] – Nearly 27 years in business, starting in lending and building a 400-unit portfolio [4:12] – Selling almost everything in 2018 and splitting the proceeds into lending and passive investing [4:32] – Inside Rehab Wallet: short-term fix and flip, ground-up construction, and how the debt fund works [5:42] – The keynote she delivered on consistency, time, and staying the course [6:03] – The lesson from her father: pick one thing and get good at it [8:14] – The three avatars who thrive in real estate: former athletes, military, and engineers [9:00] – How being the all-time leading scorer at College of Charleston shaped her view of teamwork [9:37] – Why she paid for all her teammates to attend her Hall of Fame induction [11:34] – Her advice for investors who want to raise capital but don't know where to start [12:19] – The yellow-notebook method: writing to everyone you know and asking for help [14:39] – Walking the walk once you raise capital, and why everything you do is now measured [16:31] – What she's most excited about in 2026 and why culture drives results [17:11] – Weighing whether to grow the fund or play defense in an uncertain market [18:07] – Who Rehab Wallet lends to, why they stay in the Southeast, and how to reach her 5 Key Takeaways 1. Date the operator before you invest — Kelli spent real time getting to know Tim Bratz and watching how he treated people before committing capital, and she coaches investors to do the same rather than rushing into a deal. 2. Raising capital starts with people you already know — Her first move was writing to 300 or 400 names in a yellow notebook, telling them what she was doing and directly asking for help, because a few early wins generate referrals that make every future raise easier. 3. Your job is to protect investor capital — Kelli tells her team they work for their investors, and she treats protecting their capital as the single focal point of the business, especially in an uncertain market where she's willing to play defense for the first time. 4. Once you raise money, everything you do is measured — Using Caitlin Clark as the analogy, Kelli notes that raising over $250 million means people watch how you carry yourself everywhere, so professionalism and walking the walk are non-negotiable. 5. Sports build the exact skills real estate rewards — As the all-time leading scorer at College of Charleston, Kelli credits sports for teaching her time management, dependence on teammates, and the humility to recognize the people picking and rebounding behind the scenes. Links & Resources * Rehab Wallet: https://rehabwallet.com [https://rehabwallet.com] * Kelli Garrett email: kelli@rehabwallet.com [kelli@rehabwallet.com] * Rehab Wallet general inquiries: info@rehabwallet.com * Tim Bratz / CG Legacy commercial mastermind (referenced in episode) * Collective Genius Community: https://explorecg.com [https://explorecg.com] Kelli's line that hard work will eat pressure alive is the kind of thing that sticks with you, and it runs through everything she shared, from her keynote on consistency to the way she still credits the teammates who created space for her decades ago. Whether you're just starting to raise capital or you're scaling a fund and figuring out when to grow and when to protect, her approach is a masterclass in doing the simple things consistently and treating investor trust as the whole job. If you want to be in the room with investors like Kelli, whether you're a single-family investor, wholesaler, flipper, or commercial operator in multifamily, self-storage, or RV parks, head to ExploreCG.com to learn more and apply.

Turn a 3X ROAS Into a 6X Without More Marketing featuring Brad Bone

Brad Bone is a longtime Collective Genius member who, alongside his twin brother Justin, has been investing in real estate since 2015 and built a wholesaling operation in Jacksonville, Florida while running it remotely from California. He's also the founder of River X, an AI platform that helps real estate investors automate follow up and appointment setting through their CRM. This episode covers how Brad scaled a flipping and wholesaling business three time zones away, why he eventually paired his team down to run leaner, and how he turned an in-house AI follow up solution into a second company. If you're a real estate investor who wants to tighten your ROAS, fix your follow up, and understand when a side opportunity is worth building into a real business, this one is required listening. Timeline Summary [1:30] – Host Leon Barnes introduces longtime CG member Brad Bone and his two businesses in real estate and AI [3:00] – Brad shares how he and his twin brother started investing in 2015 after buying at the courthouse steps [4:30] – Growing up on a Kansas pistachio and cotton farm and where his work ethic came from [8:34] – Watching the 2006 real estate run up plant the seed while selling advertising to mortgage brokers [11:38] – Why direct mail replaced the courthouse steps and what it took to be a player in 2015 [15:18] – How attending IMN conferences pushed the brothers to leave Bakersfield for the Southeast [16:01] – Picking Jacksonville almost at random and sending a cousin to run acquisitions on the ground [18:42] – The real secret to operating remotely: building culture and core values over Zoom [19:36] – Why pairing the team down to 10 to 12 people beat chasing growth for growth's sake [22:04] – The 2026 theme of more marketing and headcount lifting gross revenue but not net [23:42] – Lessons from 2021 rate hikes and why he stopped buying off inspection reports alone [24:14] – Knowing your exact return on every marketing dollar and every employee [26:46] – Where the AI idea started and hearing about ChatGPT from his barber [31:42] – Launching the Rainmaker platform with real AI texting, emailing, and voice calls [34:51] – His philosophy of letting AI set appointments and humans build rapport and trust [36:58] – Treating AI follow up as a ROAS enhancer that takes you from 3X toward 6X or 10X [39:32] – Narrowing the buying business to pure wholesaling for a simpler, cleaner operation [42:35] – What his farmer parents think of two sons running real estate and tech companies 5 Key Takeaways 1. Pair Down to Scale Net — Bigger teams and more marketing can lift gross revenue without moving the net. Brad found his sweet spot at 10 to 12 people and treats leaning up as its own form of success. 2. Culture Has to Be Built On Purpose Remotely — When your team is three time zones away, culture and core values don't happen by accident. You have to make a deliberate effort to create them over Zoom. 3. Know Your Return On Everything — Track your return on every marketing dollar and every employee. In a tighter market, you can't blindly throw money at channels and hope they work. 4. Let AI Do Follow Up, Let Humans Close — AI is best at reengaging dead leads and setting appointments. Keep humans focused on rapport, trust, and solving problems, and you've got a winning split. 5. When You Solve Your Own Problem, You Build a Business — River X started as an internal fix for follow up. The opportunities worth chasing fit naturally into what you already do; the rest are just shiny objects. Links & Resources * River X — riverhub.ai * Prime Buyers (Jacksonville home buying business) — primebuyers.com * River X on Instagram — search River X AI * Brad Bone on Facebook — connect directly * Collective Genius Community — explorecg.com Enjoyed This Episode? If you've ever felt your follow up slipping or watched good leads go cold in your CRM, Brad's take on treating AI as a ROAS enhancer is worth a second listen. Share this one with an investor friend who's still trying to figure out whether their next big idea is an opportunity or a distraction. To hear more conversations with members who've grown through real trial and error, head to ExploreCG.com to learn more and apply.

Tim Bratz: The One Number That Unlocks 98% of All Real Estate Deals in America

In this CG Live episode recorded at the Q2 event in Oceanside, California, Tim Bratz joins host Leon Barnes to announce the merger of his Legacy Family commercial real estate mastermind with Collective Genius, creating a new division called CG Legacy. Tim built Legacy Family into one of the most respected commercial and multifamily masterminds in the country while simultaneously scaling his own portfolio to 5,000 doors and building a property management software company now operating at an enterprise level. The conversation covers the business logic behind the merger, what CG Legacy will look like on a quarterly basis, and how Tim thinks about the tension between transactional income and long-term wealth in commercial real estate. He also breaks down how he and his team navigated rising insurance costs, property tax reassessments, and market headwinds by controlling what they could, including cutting $1.5 million from their annual insurance bill through a master policy. If you're a commercial operator sitting at 20 doors or a $10 million portfolio and wondering what it would take to scale to 100 units and beyond, this one is required listening. Timeline Summary [0:23] – Leon announces Tim Bratz and the big news dropped at the Oceanside Q2 event [0:59] – Tim's background: nearly 20 years in real estate, peak portfolio of 5,000 doors, current holdings around 3,000 [1:36] – How demand from his audience led Tim to launch Legacy Family as a commercial real estate mastermind [2:26] – Why Tim started feeling pulled in too many directions between software, Legacy, and his portfolio [3:27] – The 90-day process that led to merging Legacy Family with Collective Genius to create CG Legacy [5:37] – What the merger frees up for Tim, and why he's still fully present as facilitator at all four annual events [6:31] – The case for doing both: transactional income now and long-term portfolio building simultaneously [7:06] – Why living off multifamily cash flow is harder than people think, and when it actually starts to pay off [9:22] – What a CG Legacy quarterly event looks like: blitz market updates, keynote speakers, and roundtable hot seats [11:23] – How Tim used mastermind rooms to grow from zero to 5,000 doors and build a nine-figure business [13:53] – How to pivot your existing single-family team members into multifamily roles without starting from scratch [15:33] – Why the $1M to $3M revenue range is the "hell zone" for hiring, and how commercial scale solves it [17:31] – How a master insurance policy cut $1.5M from Tim's annual insurance expense and added $20M in enterprise value [19:09] – What separates operators who survived the post-2021 market from those who handed properties back to the bank [20:26] – Who belongs in CG Legacy: accredited investors, 20-plus doors minimum, aiming for 100 units in 12 to 24 months 5 Key Takeaways 1. Do Both or Fall Short — Running a transactional business while building a long-term rental portfolio is not optional if you want real wealth. Cash flow alone won't sustain you in the short run, but a decade of compounding rents and principal paydown will. 2. Your Single Family Team Is Already Your Multifamily Team — You don't need to hire from scratch to get into commercial. Tim pivoted his acquisitions rep, project manager, and dispositions person into multifamily roles without replacing anyone, showing the transition is more of a redirect than a rebuild. 3. Control the Controllables When Markets Get Hard — Tim's team reduced insurance costs by 30% through a master policy, saved $1.5 million annually, and added roughly $20 million in portfolio enterprise value, none of which would have happened if markets hadn't forced the discipline. 4. One Problem Per Quarter Drives Quantum Leaps — The CG Legacy hot seat format is built around solving one high-leverage problem every 90 days. Tim credits this approach, not volume of advice, for taking him from zero to 5,000 doors. 5. 100 Doors Unlocks 98% of All Deals — Once you reach a $10 million rental portfolio, you qualify from a financing, experience, and net worth standpoint for 98% of all commercial real estate transactions in the country. That number is the threshold, and Legacy's curriculum is designed to get members there inside 12 to 24 months. Links & Resources * Collective Genius — explorecg.com Tim has built and sold what most people spend a career chasing, and watching him put that experience into CG Legacy is a genuine differentiator for commercial operators at any level. If the idea of a room full of multifamily, self-storage, industrial, and commercial investors solving real problems together every 90 days sounds like what's been missing from your growth, head to ExploreCG.com to learn more and apply.