Unlocking Real Estate Entrepreneurship with Rob Chevez

Summary

Wake Up to Wealth Podcast: Unlocking Real Estate Entrepreneurship with Rob Chavez

Release Date: July 9, 2025

In this compelling episode of the Wake Up to Wealth podcast, host Brandon Briningham engages in an insightful conversation with Rob Chavez, a seasoned real estate expert and the founder of the renowned Grid Community. Released on July 9, 2025, this episode delves deep into the intricacies of building a successful real estate investment network, the importance of community, and the mindset required for wealth accumulation. Below is a comprehensive summary capturing the essence of their discussion.

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1. Introduction and Guest Presentation

The episode kicks off with Brandon expressing immense gratitude towards listeners for propelling the podcast to notable rankings, including surpassing Dave Ramsey and securing a spot in the top 100 out of 4.1 million podcasts. He warmly welcomes Rob Chavez, highlighting Rob's entrepreneurial spirit and the spontaneity of his appearance on the show.

Brandon Briningham [01:09]:

"We were number two in the United States in investing... we cracked the top hundred. Can't say thank you guys enough for loving supporting the show."

2. The Genesis of Grid Community

Rob Chavez narrates the inception of the Grid Community, originally known as the CASA Investor Network, which began as a modest gathering of five individuals. Recognizing the need for a supportive community in real estate investing, Rob's initiative rapidly expanded to over 30,000 members nationwide.

Rob Chavez [03:39]:

"I needed community. I felt like I had made enough mistakes between being a part-time investor and a full-time investor to add some value."

He emphasizes the organic growth of Grid, attributing its success to the genuine desire to foster connections among real estate enthusiasts. The transition from CASA Investor Network to Grid was a strategic move to encapsulate the essence of hunting for houses and building a robust investor network.

3. Building and Scaling the Community

Rob elaborates on how Grid Community operates across various regions, with around 40 agent-investors leading local chapters. These leaders utilize a provided playbook to cultivate a culture of generosity and knowledge-sharing, rather than sales pitches or promotional activities.

Rob Chavez [07:01]:

"It's a go-giver community... it's not so much what they're learning in front of the room, it's the people that they're meeting in that room that changes their life."

This approach fosters an environment where members can meet future collaborators, lenders, or even life partners, underscoring the power of networking in wealth building.

4. Key Lessons in Community Building

When asked about the most significant takeaway from building such a vast community, Rob highlights consistency and unconditional value provision as the cornerstone of their success.

Rob Chavez [09:19]:

"The biggest is be consistent, like, all things. Right. I just showed up every month and poured into people and didn't ever ask for anything in return."

Brandon echoes this sentiment, stressing the lost art of giving without expecting immediate returns, a principle that has been pivotal in Grid's exponential growth.

5. Transition from Agent to Investor

The conversation shifts to the common trap real estate agents face: focusing solely on agency tasks without venturing into investment opportunities that can significantly bolster their net worth. Both Brandon and Rob discuss their personal journeys, highlighting the realization that active income from sales pales in comparison to passive income from investments.

Brandon Briningham [13:21]:

"For you, when did you discover, like, I need to go on this other path?"

Rob shares his early days of purchasing assets and the subsequent shift to wholesaling and obtaining a real estate license to secure referral fees. This pivot was instrumental in understanding the broader business aspects of real estate beyond mere transactions.

6. The Seven Levels of Freedom Framework

A significant portion of the episode is dedicated to Rob introducing his Seven Levels of Freedom framework, designed to guide individuals through different stages of financial and personal growth:

1. Mindset Level: Adopting a wealth-building mindset.
2. Predictable Income Level: Mastering income generation to cover expenses.
3. Business Ownership Journey: Enhancing business acumen by managing finances and operations effectively.
4. Converting Active Income to Assets: Shifting focus from active to passive income through asset acquisition.
5. Leadership Journey: Developing purposeful leadership skills to guide teams and communities.
6. Vertical Integration: Expanding business operations by integrating complementary services (e.g., title, mortgage).
7. Impact: Utilizing wealth and resources to make a meaningful difference in the community.

Rob Chavez [25:31]:

"We created this framework called the seven levels of Freedom to help people understand levels... Level one, mindset... Level seven, impact."

This framework serves as a roadmap for real estate professionals aiming to transition from mere income earners to impactful wealth builders.

7. Overcoming Challenges and Mistakes

Rob candidly discusses his own setbacks, particularly his initial underestimation of the importance of community in real estate. He admits to diverting too much focus on building sales teams at the expense of asset accumulation, a mistake that almost hindered his financial growth.

Rob Chavez [12:16]:

"I didn't understand what I truly had... community is the ultimate lead generation tool out there."

This revelation prompted a strategic pivot towards prioritizing community building, which ultimately became a significant driver of his success.

8. Leadership and Handling Failure

Both hosts delve into the necessity of resilience and effective leadership. Rob emphasizes that true leadership involves embracing failure as a learning mechanism and continuously adapting strategies to align with one's long-term vision.

Brandon Briningham [29:02]:

"One of the biggest qualities you have to have as a leader is you have to be able to handle massive amounts of failure all the time..."

Rob concurs, highlighting that leadership is not innate but developed through persistent effort and learning from mistakes.

9. The Importance of Identity in Wealth Building

A recurring theme is the significance of adopting a wealth-oriented identity. Rob and Brandon discuss how limiting beliefs and scarcity mindsets can hinder financial growth. They advocate for viewing oneself as a wealth builder deserving of abundance, which in turn attracts opportunities and success.

Brandon Briningham [26:59]:

"Identity around money is two things. One, if you don't think that you are worthy of a certain amount of money, you'll never get it."

10. Call to Action and Closing Remarks

As the episode concludes, Rob encourages listeners to join the Grid Community through gridinvestor.com or by contacting him directly on Instagram. He underscores the value of community in achieving financial independence and emphasizes living a life rich in experiences and health, not just monetary wealth.

Rob Chavez [33:35]:

"Real wealth for me is to be able to live a life of experiences with people that I love."

Brandon wraps up by reiterating the podcast's mission to redefine wealth accumulation beyond traditional paradigms, urging listeners to embrace the principles discussed to truly "Wake Up to Wealth."

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Key Takeaways:

• Community is Crucial: Building a supportive network can exponentially accelerate wealth-building efforts in real estate.
• Consistent Value Provision: Offering value without immediate expectations fosters trust and long-term relationships.
• Shift from Active to Passive Income: Transitioning focus from sales to asset accumulation is vital for sustained wealth.
• Mindset Matters: Adopting a wealth-building identity and overcoming scarcity mindsets are foundational for financial success.
• Embrace Leadership and Failure: Effective leadership and resilience in the face of setbacks are essential traits for entrepreneurs.
• Framework Utilization: Rob's Seven Levels of Freedom provides a structured approach to personal and financial growth.

This episode serves as a masterclass for real estate professionals and aspiring investors, offering actionable strategies and profound insights into transforming one's financial trajectory through community, mindset, and strategic asset management.

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Connect with Rob Chavez:

• Website: gridinvestor.com
• Instagram: @RobChavez
• Facebook Group: Great Investor Network

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Transcript

[Brandon Briningham]

This is Wake up to Wealth, a podcast dedicated to helping you change the way you think about wealth. And now, here's your host, Brandon Briningham.

[Greg Hurling]

Hey. This next segment is brought to you by my good friends at Rocket League AI that is Rocket League AI. If you're in the real estate business, especially investment side, and you need a platform that can run your real estate business and talk to leads through AI when you're not able to talk to them and can qualify and get to all the leads you can't get to. Plus it has a amazing piece of technology with a called lead detector that helps get all the people that come to your site and not opt in to opt in to turn into a lead. These are my good friends at Rocket League. I, I'm part of this company as well. I use it to run my real estate, my real estate investment business. Go check them out again. Rocket League AI. And thank you guys for sponsoring the segment.

[Brandon Briningham]

Hey, what's up everybody? We are back with another episode of Wake up to Wealth. And man, I cannot thank you guys enough. Recently, we were number two in the United States in investing. We were ahead of Dave Ramsey. We were number 19 in business of, of all the shows that are out there. And you guys made us the top 100 of all podcast. 4.1, 4.1 million podcasts out there. And we cracked the top hundred. Can't say thank you guys enough for loving supporting the show. If you're listening, drop us, drop us a, like, subscribe. If you're on YouTube and you see this, subscribe, give us a, like, drop us a review. We really, really appreciate the love that you have got. And uh, we don't have a huge marketing budget. If you guys could see this. We are literally in a small room in my office shooting this today. And you guys have made us on par with shows that have millions and millions of dollars of budget and we really appreciate it. And I'm going to continue to bring you really smart, interesting people because that's what's made this show grow, is providing you guys with value and not asking for in return. So I can't say thank you guys enough. And today I got my good friend Rob Chavez here. How you doing?

[Rob Chavez]

I'm doing great, man.

[Brandon Briningham]

Hey, listen, life of the entrepreneur. So Rob, you know, I'm busy as. He's busy as shit. Completely forget that he's coming down here this week. He texts me, he's like, hey, you still good tomorrow? I'm like, yeah. And then this morning I'm like, he's here. We got to get him on the podcast.

[Rob Chavez]

I love it.

[Brandon Briningham]

I call my videographer. Thank God he's. He's ready. So we got to be here today. But that's how it is being an entrepreneur sometimes, man. Thank you so much, man.

[Rob Chavez]

My pleasure was. It was a nice drive. Three hours.

[Brandon Briningham]

Yeah. So you believe in a lot of the same things I believe in as far as real estate from investing, but something that's really cool for those that don't know or that are listening to this. You built something really cool called the grid community. And you were telling me some stuff before we got on air that I didn't even know about, how many members you have. And it's pretty remarkable. So if you wouldn't mind, like, go back to. Because I think it's important. Go back to what was the idea? How did you start it? Where are we today?

[Rob Chavez]

Okay, so, man, thanks so much for having me.

[Carson Hurlein]

This is.

[Rob Chavez]

This is awesome. You know, I started it because I was recent on the journey. I think I might have been a couple years into being a real estate investor full time. I needed community. I felt like I had made enough mistakes between being a part time investor and a full time investor to add some value.

[Carson Hurlein]

Right.

[Rob Chavez]

And start a conversation. Kind of like what we're having today.

[Brandon Briningham]

Yeah.

[Rob Chavez]

And so it started with five people in the room, grew to 1050. Before I knew it, I had 150 people in the room. Places packed, people are driving in from all over.

[Carson Hurlein]

Right.

[Rob Chavez]

The DMV area say, man, this is awesome. Can you help me do this in a different location? And the first couple times I was like, nah, like, I'm too busy. I'm selling houses, I'm buying houses. And then eventually I was like, what if I somehow created some kind of licensing play like CrossFit? And so it just came out of a need of wanting to be around cool, smart, interesting people doing real estate investing, talking about the thing that I love to do and the journey that we're all on. And, man, it was actually a long time ago. It was 17 years ago. It wasn't called Grid then. It was like this little pet project on.

[Brandon Briningham]

What'd you call it then? Did it have a name?

[Rob Chavez]

Yeah, it was the CASA Investor Network. And CASA is our sales team. And so it was, you know, the CASA Investor Network, which CASA means to hunt. And it's also a play on words like casa, meaning house. Right. So to hunt for houses was literally the name of our business early on.

[Brandon Briningham]

Right?

[Carson Hurlein]

Yeah.

[Brandon Briningham]

And so, all right, so you started with, you Know, I always like, I always like to get into these stories because what happens so much, especially with social media nowadays is people see us where we are today. Right. But they don't see us where we were getting our ass kicked. Oh yeah, right. And we still get our ass kicked by the way. We just know how to handle it better now. But so how many members are you up to now?

[Rob Chavez]

So we have 30,000 members. 30, 33. Somewhere around there.

[Brandon Briningham]

That's fucking crazy.

[Rob Chavez]

Yeah.

[Brandon Briningham]

And so you got chapters different places in the country.

[Rob Chavez]

How does it work from from DC to LA and everywhere in between. We've we have 40 in agent investors that lead rooms. They, they're people like you and I. Yeah, right. That have created community in their local market and we give them the playbook of how to execute the play, the ethos, the culture, the community. And, and then they use that community to, to really it's a lead gen funnel right at the, at the end of the day for the whatever business they have, whether it's property management, construction, title investments, agent business. But the cool thing is it's a go giver community. Yeah, like that was always the ethos was nobody selling you any friggin books and tapes in the back of the room. Like you're going to come and you're going to facilitate a great discussion. You bring in a local baller to, to interview them, kind of like we're doing right now. Y and then you let the room participate and ask questions and that way the room gets to learn. But we always say it's not so much what they're learning in front of the room, it's the people that they're meeting in that room that changes their life.

[Carson Hurlein]

Right.

[Rob Chavez]

So you might meet your next hard money lender, your next construction person, your next agent, your next spouse.

[Carson Hurlein]

Right.

[Rob Chavez]

So we believe that the power is in community, the power is in the network. That's kind of like our tagline and it's been a, been an awesome ride.

[Carson Hurlein]

Right.

[Brandon Briningham]

So. So the underlying thing too is build community and provide value 100%. Right.

[Rob Chavez]

That's it.

[Brandon Briningham]

And so did you ever think, I mean 30,000 members, that's insane.

[Rob Chavez]

Yeah.

[Brandon Briningham]

Like did you ever think like think about that in terms of a real estate company?

[Rob Chavez]

Yeah, it's crazy.

[Brandon Briningham]

You'd be right. Would you be top ten?

[Rob Chavez]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. It's crazy.

[Brandon Briningham]

Yeah, it's like as far as size. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Rob Chavez]

No, you know like when I was thinking about it, no, at first I was like man, if we could just get, you know, 100 people in a room. That would be awesome.

[Brandon Briningham]

Yeah.

[Rob Chavez]

And it took a life on of its own. It wasn't. I didn't set out to build it like the. The community asked for it, which is an interesting idea.

[Carson Hurlein]

Right.

[Rob Chavez]

And so all I did was kind of create the wrapper to allow it to exist. We rebranded it, and then I said, okay, well, who are the right. Who's to run the chapters around the country? Well, they've got to be go givers, because I'm an agent investor. I want to put the agent investor in the center of that conversation and build a board around them.

[Carson Hurlein]

Right.

[Rob Chavez]

And then I need to pour into them and show them how to build their business. And so it just took on a life of its own, and it became a massive legion tool for them and a great way for me to be able to get in the relationship with other people around the country, which, as you and I were talking, could provide leads and deals and opportunities and. And all the rest. So it's just been a blessing because I get to meet cool people like you, and we just have fun in the thing that we love.

[Brandon Briningham]

So what do you think? What do you think? Tell us kind of one thing, because, like, if you're an entrepreneur and you're listening to this, to build a community of 30,000 people, by no means is that easy. What do you think? Kind of the thing you learned? What do you think is, like, the biggest, like, aha. Or takeaway. And tell me what you think you up the most.

[Rob Chavez]

The biggest is be consistent, like, all things. Right. Like, you just. I just showed up every month and poured into people and didn't ever ask for anything in return.

[Brandon Briningham]

You gave value.

[Rob Chavez]

I just gave value. I just gave value. That was it.

[Brandon Briningham]

Hey, everybody, let me tell you about.

[Greg Hurling]

My good friend, Carson Hurlein.

[Brandon Briningham]

The Wake up to wealth podcast is proud to be sponsored by Carson. Carson helped me build my family banking system.

[Greg Hurling]

What I've seen Carson do for people.

[Brandon Briningham]

It gives them back their peace of mind. If you want to get your mind and your money right, email my good friend [e-mail] to learn how you can become your own bank today, like I have. So what you just said is almost a lost art form in my opinion. Right. You know, I think so many people have gotten away from giving without expectation, and everyone goes to, you know, well, what's in it for me and the people that. That I see that give like that? The Leos of the world, Leo Perea, who's a CEO of exp. John Cheplak, Bobby Castro, Kent Clothier. Like when Spring Benson, another homie of mine. When I see people like this, and for those of you hearing this, this is truly living in, you know, not living in scarcity and living in abundance. If you go into anything and you say, well, I don't want to give because I want something in return, or if you have the scarcity mindset of I don't want to give my blueprint away because I feel like you'll steal it from me. You're living in scarcity. It has become a lost art form. And the reason why I want to stop here is because I believe in this so much. You build a community of 30,000 plus entrepreneurs by giving 100%.

[Rob Chavez]

You know, it's interesting. I always say, information's free, execution's hard. Right. So I'm willing to just share everything. The scars, the lessons learned, my resources, my contacts. But at the end of the day, the entrepreneur needs to like step up and execute. And honestly. Dude, dude, you know what happened? I fell in love with the entrepreneur. Yeah. I fell in love with the entrepreneur because I was like, this person is willing to risk everything and like cut themselves off from the juice. Right. A nine to five. I honor that. And so I want to just help as much as I possibly can.

[Brandon Briningham]

Yeah, right.

[Rob Chavez]

And I think because the journey for me wasn't easy. Like, I, I like literally I turn left, I make a mistake, I turn right.

[Carson Hurlein]

Right.

[Rob Chavez]

And, and so I'm like, it's a difficult journey and if someh resources and be a guide for people on that journey just to help like my former younger self. Yeah, Like, I just, I just want to do that.

[Brandon Briningham]

What do you think is the biggest mistake you made? Getting a 30, 000 people.

[Rob Chavez]

Not understanding what I truly had.

[Carson Hurlein]

Right.

[Rob Chavez]

Meaning. Meaning I didn't. It was such a, hey, I'm building this thing. But I'm, I, I'm. There's this other thing that I'm focused on. And so in the beginning, Grid was really just kind of like my pet project a little bit. And it just kind of grew on its own without a lot of intention and purpose on my part. And I think I spent too much time thinking that it wasn't the main thing, when in reality it is the main thing. Like community is the ultimate lead generation tool out there.

[Brandon Briningham]

Absolutely.

[Rob Chavez]

And, and as soon as I woke up to that, we got purposeful about building community.

[Brandon Briningham]

Another thing I'm super passionate about that you and I have talked about multiple times. And we talked about this off air a few minutes ago. Is real estate agents getting into the investment side of business?

[Rob Chavez]

Yeah.

[Brandon Briningham]

Right.

[Rob Chavez]

Yeah.

[Brandon Briningham]

And, man, God, listen, if you are, if you're in real estate, I am going to give you some shit right now. Y', all. You just need to hear this. So agents will go, and there's nothing wrong with this, but they'll go sit in a room, they'll learn another tactic to recruit, which, again, you need to do another tactic to sell a house, which you need to do another tactic to market what you need to do. Right. But they won't learn how to run a business and have your back office dialed in and all those kinds of things. But then also, the biggest source for your revenue and net worth is under your nose, and that's being an investor.

[Rob Chavez]

Yeah.

[Brandon Briningham]

And, man, I can't tell you how many times someone will reach out to me. They'll want to come to one of my events, they'll want to coach with me, whatever the case is, and they'll say, you know, Brandon, I thought about it, and I just don't have enough time. And, and it just, it baffles me because it's like, you're going to have less and less time if you continue on this journey of trading time for money.

[Rob Chavez]

Yeah.

[Brandon Briningham]

Right. And then you'll always have to go sell another house. Right. So, like, for you, when did you discover, like, I need to go on this other path? And also, I really want you to mention, there's not so much as there used to be, but there's still the allure of expanding in different markets.

[Rob Chavez]

Sure.

[Brandon Briningham]

And doing all this from a team standpoint, which, again, I'm not trying to give anybody shit, like, but let's hear it from real operators. Right?

[Rob Chavez]

Yep.

[Brandon Briningham]

Like, you went down that path and you said, this doesn't make sense either. Like, just unpack that for us.

[Carson Hurlein]

Yeah.

[Rob Chavez]

Well, a couple things is, is, well, I started on the investment side.

[Brandon Briningham]

Yeah.

[Carson Hurlein]

Right.

[Rob Chavez]

I'm. I started on the investment side. And the, the, the idea was always I was just going to buy assets.

[Brandon Briningham]

Yeah.

[Rob Chavez]

That was it.

[Brandon Briningham]

Yeah.

[Rob Chavez]

And what I discovered in that journey, this was before YouTube and, and, and all the rest was I need to buy a lot of assets to pay for my life.

[Carson Hurlein]

Right.

[Brandon Briningham]

Yeah.

[Rob Chavez]

And so, you know, cash flow wasn't showing up the, the way I thought. Like, I, I was, I was thinking, oh, I buy an asset night.

[Greg Hurling]

A thousand bucks.

[Rob Chavez]

Exactly.

[Brandon Briningham]

Yeah.

[Rob Chavez]

Yeah. No, let's get a few of these.

[Brandon Briningham]

I'm good.

[Rob Chavez]

I'm good. Right. That was the original idea.

[Carson Hurlein]

Right.

[Rob Chavez]

I realized I needed to sell some shit in order to make that happen. So I started wholesaling and then I got my license purely to get referral fees. And what I really needed at the time was a model.

[Carson Hurlein]

Right.

[Rob Chavez]

There wasn't a really good model. I didn't have somebody to model. I'm sure they were out there, but I, I wasn't, I didn't. You know, one mistake I made was I didn't put myself at the feet of people that had built something before. Soon enough, right. I was trying to figure it out myself for whatever reason. But I got, I got a license and I needed to hang that license somewhere. So I read the book, or somehow I, I was at Barnes and Noble. I saw the book. The millionaire real estate agent book by Gary Keller.

[Brandon Briningham]

Yep.

[Rob Chavez]

And when I read the book, I saw it for what it was. It wasn't a book about real estate, it was a book about business. And because I owned a recruiting business, we didn't talk about that, but I owned a executive search firm with my best friend where we would place tech salespeople. I did that for seven years, which taught me how to sell. I realized that that business was so similar to the agent business. I'm like, oh, I get this business. Let me go hang my license at this place called Keller Williams. Which, by the way, there was this young broker there by the name of Leo Preja.

[Carson Hurlein]

Right.

[Rob Chavez]

And I was like, who's this really smart 25 year old kid? And so it's funny how life full circle, right?

[Brandon Briningham]

Yeah.

[Rob Chavez]

But I never had the intention to be an agent.

[Brandon Briningham]

Yeah.

[Rob Chavez]

What happened was because I had so many relationships in the recruiting space, those friends that found out that I was an agent then started saying, hey, Rob, can you help me sell a property? Can you help me? And this was, by the way, Oh7.

[Brandon Briningham]

Yeah.

[Carson Hurlein]

Right.

[Rob Chavez]

So what was happening in Oh7?

[Brandon Briningham]

Remember, she was getting ready to get bad.

[Rob Chavez]

It was getting bad. And what was happening?

[Brandon Briningham]

Weren't seeing it all yet, but it was starting to come.

[Rob Chavez]

It was starting. And so what happened was, and I was full time in 05 as an investor. So we were just flipping a lot of. My wife and I were flipping 20 to 30 houses a year and then managing assets for those investors. And what happened was my friends saw that I was doing this and they're like, listen, I tried to sell this house with another realtor.

[Brandon Briningham]

Couldn't do it, couldn't do it.

[Rob Chavez]

Can you help me sell this house?

[Brandon Briningham]

Yeah.

[Rob Chavez]

And a friend of mine that was a builder was like, hey, There was this luxury agent. They didn't get it done. It's a $1.7 million new construction build. Will you help me sell it? Let me look at it. I'm like, yeah, I know what you need to do. Reposition the marketing, reposition the price.

[Carson Hurlein]

Right.

[Rob Chavez]

Got it, sold in 30 days. I made really good commission. I was like, damn, this was good. This was like really fast. 30, 60, 90 day money.

[Brandon Briningham]

You got hooked on the short term dopamine.

[Rob Chavez]

100%.

[Brandon Briningham]

Yeah.

[Rob Chavez]

Was. Took me off the original path.

[Brandon Briningham]

Took your, took your eye off the ball.

[Carson Hurlein]

Right.

[Rob Chavez]

And so what happened was I always say between the ages of 25 and 35, I bought a lot of stuff.

[Brandon Briningham]

Yeah, right.

[Rob Chavez]

A lot of real estate. And between 35 and like 45, I kind of got distracted by this agent building teams and all the. By the way, what I learned was invaluable because it made me a better business person.

[Brandon Briningham]

100%.

[Rob Chavez]

But I didn't buy as much as I should have bought.

[Carson Hurlein]

Right.

[Rob Chavez]

And one day I woke up and I looked at my net worth tracker and I was like, dude, I'm spending 99% of all my time building sales teams and 99% of all my net worth is in assets that I purchased.

[Brandon Briningham]

Yeah.

[Rob Chavez]

10, 15 years earlier.

[Carson Hurlein]

Right.

[Rob Chavez]

In 2008 when the market was low, I was buying assets. In 09, I was buying assets, holding those assets. So I was like, I've got to find, flip this script.

[Carson Hurlein]

Right.

[Rob Chavez]

And, and by the way, grid is growing that whole time and it's just. And I realized, oh, I love this game of investing. We were building when we started expanding these hyper local neighborhood teams, kind of like I call them the friendly Spider man team, the traditional agent team. And I was like, I've. If I'm going to expand, if I'm going to play this game, then the only game I want to play is this agent investment model because it puts us in the path of opportunity.

[Carson Hurlein]

Right.

[Rob Chavez]

If you're marketing for pre foreclosures distressed assets to help sellers figure out difficult situations, it puts you in the path of opportunity. So if I'm, if I'm going to go start a team in Knoxville, Virginia or Knoxville, Tennessee, sorry, then I want it to be this kind of model because then I can buy assets in those markets.

[Brandon Briningham]

Yeah.

[Rob Chavez]

And that, that's the, that. So that entered a different idea into my brain, right. Of what expansion might look like. But for five years, man, like we're just beating our head against the wall building these hyper local neighborhood teams and not really making Any money.

[Brandon Briningham]

Right. And a lot of stress and headache.

[Rob Chavez]

A lot of headache. A lot of stress.

[Brandon Briningham]

Yeah.

[Carson Hurlein]

Right.

[Rob Chavez]

And so you know that that's part of the game. You got to learn how to pivot.

[Brandon Briningham]

Sure.

[Rob Chavez]

And. And so, you know, I heard Leo's wife the other day say, there's power in the pivot.

[Brandon Briningham]

Yeah.

[Rob Chavez]

And so we pivoted.

[Brandon Briningham]

Yeah.

[Rob Chavez]

And it's been great.

[Brandon Briningham]

Yeah. It's interesting that you say that because what's kind of interesting is right now I'm coaching some of the top real estate teams in the United States and agents, and they're saying the same thing that you just did of like, I've. I climbed the mountain. I got the T shirt. And the reward at the end of it is I bought, I built a great sales organization that is not something I can necessarily sell. And it's not necessarily something that's an asset. Yeah. It generates a good income. But I did not get on the asset side. And I'll tell you, my journey is so why I really focused on investing for a while. And to your point, I got distracted too, because I got really good at being an agent.

[Rob Chavez]

Yeah. Number one team in Maryland. Number like, you started buying and all that was cool. Yeah.

[Brandon Briningham]

Right. But when I got my license was in 08. Was actually the end of 07 going into 08. And I remember being in the office long and foster. Now we're both at exp and great company, by the way. And I'm sitting in the office and I'm watching everybody go bankrupt. Do you know what I mean? And I had this misnomer in my head of like, once I become an agent, everybody invests, right? No, they don't. And then so I'm sitting in the office and you got men crying and losing their shit. I mean, just bad, like, not good. And they had no assets. Right. And they. And I'm like, man, there's just gotta be another way.

[Rob Chavez]

Yeah.

[Brandon Briningham]

And for those of you that are in real estate and you're listening to this, it is the biggest seven figure business opportunity under your nose right now. If you're not doing it, by the way, if you're not in real estate and you're listening to this, it is the. The biggest. One of the easiest paths of wealth is owning real estate. And you don't have to own a ton of doors. You can own a handful and still become very, very wealthy later on in your life.

[Rob Chavez]

Yeah.

[Brandon Briningham]

Or even sooner.

[Rob Chavez]

I found more doesn't necessarily mean better.

[Brandon Briningham]

No, more means a lot more. Headache. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah, 100%. But it still baffles me to this day. One thing that I'm super passionate about, I know you are too, is to change the narrative of like, don't be just stuck being an agent. And look, there's nothing wrong with that. Like, be whatever lane you want to be in. But there's nothing to say you can't go own 10, 20, 30 rentals, retire comfortably, have that, paying for it, you know, like. But so many people just, they won't do it. They would, they would rather. I can't tell you how many times I've had this conversation where they're like, well, I, you know, I'm in Maryland and I want to go do an expansion team in Florida. And I'm like, cool. Money, time, effort, energy that you're going to put into that, maybe it becomes profitable. Why don't you take that same effort, energy and focus on investing in real estate?

[Rob Chavez]

Yeah.

[Brandon Briningham]

And it's almost like it's not sexy enough to them.

[Rob Chavez]

Yeah. It's like you setting up an acquisition arm and you start thinking about all the vertically integrated businesses that you could start off of. Your core maintenance team. Yeah, it's just like a better way to think about expansion and, and it.

[Brandon Briningham]

Dude, it's so much more profitable. You get access to the deals, it solves a ton of problems. It's just, it's still, to this day baffles me. You and I did a regional rally recently together and it, and it, and it baffled me how many people. There's probably 400ish people in that room, whatever the number was. And I'm sitting there talking about investing in real estate and I could see the part of the room that was lost.

[Rob Chavez]

Yeah.

[Brandon Briningham]

Do you know what I mean? And it just still baffles me to this day that we are just not better at an industry understanding that side of the business.

[Greg Hurling]

Hey, are you ready to take the next step towards homeownership? At Responsive Mortgage, the guys that we trust, they make the process simple and tailored to your needs. Whether you're a first time home buyer or looking to refinance, their expert team is to help guide you every step of the way. With competitive rates and personalized solutions, they find the right mortgage fit for you. Visit responsivemortgage.com today and let them help lead you home. And these guys, Responsive Mortgage and Mike Benton are my friends and they're a sponsor of the show. So we trust them. Reach out to them for all your mortgage needs. Tell them I sent you.

[Rob Chavez]

I started creating frameworks I think like one of my superpowers is being able to take these complicated ideas and make them simple for people to understand. And we created this framework called like the seven levels of Freedom to help people understand levels.

[Carson Hurlein]

Right.

[Rob Chavez]

Like you and I talked, there's a mindset level. If your mindset isn't in the right place, like whatever you build is just going to get torn down, right. Level two is like where you're an agent and you're just trying to figure out how to make money and pay your bills, right? And so I call it like the predictable income level, which is just your money math, figure out your inputs to get certain outputs. Level three is like, you start getting really good at the inputs and getting the outputs, but you suck as a business person. So you got to go on this like business ownership journey. Close your books, review your PNLs. And these are all things that I learned right on this journey. Level four, though, to speak to your point, is like, once you understand how to run your agent business or whatever business out there, you should be thinking about converting your active income into assets, right. So that it creates highly leveraged income so you can create that, AKA passive income.

[Carson Hurlein]

Right.

[Rob Chavez]

And that. And, and for whatever reason, agents have not given themselves permission to adopt that identity.

[Carson Hurlein]

Right?

[Rob Chavez]

Which is what I'm.

[Brandon Briningham]

That's a big identity.

[Rob Chavez]

It's an identity thing, right. So level one, I'm like, it's mindset energy identity. Like you got to adopt the identity that you're actually going, you're a wealth builder, that you are a. Like that you are deserving of wealth.

[Carson Hurlein]

Right.

[Rob Chavez]

And for whatever reason, agents don't adopt that.

[Brandon Briningham]

Like, if you started that, dude, so you, you just hit man. That's. It's such a powerful. I want to key in on that.

[Rob Chavez]

Yeah.

[Brandon Briningham]

Identity around money is two things. One, it is. If you don't think that you are worthy of a certain amount of money, you'll never get it. And that's a real thing. The flip side of it is if you don't envision having that amount of money, what happens is if you do get to that point, for instance, with an agent, one of the things that I've seen is they say the white whale is to make 100 grand a year. Just use that as an example. Then they get there and they won't get in the investor side or the whatever side because they've now, so let's just say it's 100 and they get to 150, they've actually outgrown their Identity of money. Right. So it actually makes them kind of freeze of, like, I'm good. Do you know what I mean? Like, I'm good. And so it's like. And. Or their identity is so tied to, well, I'm a top producer, I'm not an investor. And it's like, it is so, so powerful, the identity conversation around this.

[Rob Chavez]

What's interesting is when I first met you and you were like, I heard you speak. I was like, dude, like, I see you. I get you. Like, I. I totally get it. Because I think both you and I, because we've been in the space and we, we see our colleagues.

[Brandon Briningham]

Yeah.

[Rob Chavez]

You know, we're on a mission to change their identity 100.

[Carson Hurlein]

Right.

[Rob Chavez]

And. And help them kind of, I don't want to say, elevate their thinking. Just. Just move to the left.

[Carson Hurlein]

Right.

[Rob Chavez]

And think differently about how this business can help you build an incredible life.

[Carson Hurlein]

Right.

[Rob Chavez]

And to get off of the hamster wheel and to create what I call the income flip. The income flips, like when you've got more of your assets and your businesses and your notes and all the rest paying you more money than your expenses.

[Carson Hurlein]

Right.

[Rob Chavez]

Robert Kiyosaki would call that getting out of the rat race. I'm like, just flip your income so that it's more leveraged income than active income.

[Carson Hurlein]

Right.

[Rob Chavez]

The first step in that for many agents is like, can you go from being the producer, Right. To then giving it up and just having somebody else do it?

[Brandon Briningham]

So a lot of people can't, you.

[Rob Chavez]

Know, really hard for them.

[Carson Hurlein]

Right.

[Rob Chavez]

Because they're so good at production.

[Brandon Briningham]

Right.

[Rob Chavez]

They don't understand how they can slow down in order to speed up. And so we have to coach them through that whole idea and identity. And then level five is about really going on a leadership journey. Like, I've seen you like, like practices. Level 5 is about leadership on purpose. I think in the beginning, like, we're leaders by default because we just have to.

[Brandon Briningham]

You're not taught it.

[Rob Chavez]

You're not taught.

[Brandon Briningham]

And anybody says, well, so. And so was a natural born leader. Now they learned by trial by fire. And then they went and got some professional training to help on that. For sure.

[Rob Chavez]

100%.

[Brandon Briningham]

Yeah.

[Rob Chavez]

I realized I woke up and said, wow, this is actually a leadership journey.

[Brandon Briningham]

Well, yeah. And so think about this. So if you're listening to this and you say, man, I want to lead a bunch of people where I want to be a great leader, you know, one of the biggest qualities you have to have as a leader is you have to be able to handle massive amounts of failure all the time, because that's actually where you learn. Right. And then get the up and keep moving.

[Rob Chavez]

That's it. And. And, and, and so. And it's not for everybody.

[Brandon Briningham]

No. Hell no.

[Carson Hurlein]

Right.

[Rob Chavez]

Like I always say, hey, you can win the game by just being, like, an incredible producer, taking that money and buying assets and calling it a day. And the asset will do its job 24. Seven. Seven days a week. Won't talk back.

[Carson Hurlein]

Right.

[Rob Chavez]

Do the whole thing.

[Brandon Briningham]

And that lane is. That's another thing, too, to your point, is whatever lane you're comfortable being in is okay as well.

[Rob Chavez]

100%.

[Brandon Briningham]

Yeah.

[Rob Chavez]

You don't have to. You don't. You do you.

[Brandon Briningham]

Yep.

[Rob Chavez]

You don't have to buy into whatever you see.

[Carson Hurlein]

Right.

[Rob Chavez]

Build whatever you want to build, not what you think you need to be. And like, you. And I know, like, a lot of people that might be on stage. And this, I think, happens across every industry. If you actually look under the hood, you're like, oh, that. Like. Like, they really don't. They haven't created a really good wealth machine.

[Carson Hurlein]

Right?

[Brandon Briningham]

Correct. Yeah. I'm like, they create a good income machine.

[Rob Chavez]

Yeah. I call it a cash machine and a wealth machine. You got to build that cash machine to build a wealth machine.

[Carson Hurlein]

Right.

[Rob Chavez]

And that's how you start flipping the income. And then level six is when you start doing what you've done, which is like, vertically integrate all of these different businesses. You realize, oh, I can add title and increase my profit. I can add mortgage, increase my profit. I could add insurance.

[Carson Hurlein]

Right.

[Rob Chavez]

Or I could, you know, expand into other markets, which, by the way, really hard. We just talked about doable.

[Carson Hurlein]

Right.

[Rob Chavez]

But hard. And you have to decide if you want to do that. And then level seven is impact. You've been living impact the whole way. Impact will always be some form of giving. Some people will give to a church. Some people will start a grid community.

[Carson Hurlein]

Right.

[Rob Chavez]

Some people will do a podcast like we're doing now, but it will show up in the form of giving. And you'll just have to figure out who do I want to be a superhero to.

[Carson Hurlein]

Right.

[Rob Chavez]

That's. Dan Sullivan said that.

[Brandon Briningham]

Yeah.

[Rob Chavez]

And. And I just realized one day I wanted to be the superhero to the. To the agent, to the investor. Like, we're just. We're real estate entrepreneurs. The investor also goes on this journey, right? Like wholesaler, fix and flip. They get stuck there. They don't buy any assets. I mean, how many fix and flippers have you met? Like, they flipped thousands of houses, but they don't have any assets.

[Brandon Briningham]

You would have kept a third of them.

[Rob Chavez]

Exactly, yeah. Number one regret I always hear is like, I should have kept.

[Brandon Briningham]

Could have kept more.

[Rob Chavez]

I should have kept more.

[Carson Hurlein]

Right.

[Rob Chavez]

So it happens on both sides of the equation.

[Brandon Briningham]

Absolutely.

[Carson Hurlein]

Right.

[Brandon Briningham]

Yeah. So, man, powerful stuff. We actually ran a little bit longer than we normally do, but we were. We were jam. And so I wanted to go. So I appreciate you coming on today. I always end it the same. And we call the show Waking up to Wealth. And so the reason why I call it Waking up to wealth is because probably, like you and most people, and I think this is why the shows gained so much popularity, is we traditionally are taught about money the wrong way. Go to college, make money, save money. Right. And then put it in retirement, and then you can retire one day. And what I found out quickly when I started getting around people with money is that's just not how it worked. That's not how people got wealthy. So I always try to bring people on here, like yourself, to teach our audience how they can wake up every day to become wealthy. So ask everybody at the end of the show the same question. What is waking up to wealth mean to you? And it can be whatever version your is. Your version is.

[Rob Chavez]

My version is to be able to do what I love to do. Meaning it. It's not. It's. I used to think it was tied to money.

[Brandon Briningham]

Yeah.

[Rob Chavez]

And now it's tied to just enjoying what I do.

[Carson Hurlein]

Right.

[Rob Chavez]

Loving waking up every day and, like, loving what I do. I realized a long time ago that all I need is a warm cup of coffee, a good view, and I am wealthy. Health.

[Carson Hurlein]

Right.

[Rob Chavez]

That I'm healthy. I've got my family around me. So money is just a fun way to kind of keep score. And it's a game in my mind. It's just a game. But real wealth for me is to be able to live a life of experiences with people that I love.

[Carson Hurlein]

Right.

[Brandon Briningham]

Bottom line, that's awesome. If someone's listening to this and they want to get involved in Grid, how do they do that?

[Rob Chavez]

They can go to grid investor.com they can find a chapter that might be near them or start a chapter.

[Brandon Briningham]

How. How can they find you or get in touch with you?

[Rob Chavez]

They can go to at Rob Chavez, my Instagram handle, or they just accredit Investor. You'll find us online. And we got a free Facebook group.

[Carson Hurlein]

Right.

[Rob Chavez]

Great Investor Network on Facebook. And we've got thousands of people in there.

[Brandon Briningham]

All right, brother. Hey, Great conversation today. Appreciate you being on here. Guys, if you're listening, give Rob a follow out to him. Thank him for coming on the episode. Let him know any information he gave you that was valuable. Drop us a, like, drop us a comment, drop us a review. Thank you guys so much for continually supporting the show. It makes me continue to spend time on this to be able to pour back into you guys. Thank you guys so much. And Rob, thank you again for being on here with us today.

[Rob Chavez]

And thanks for having me, brother. I appreciate it.

[Greg Hurling]

Hey, what's up everybody? This next segment is brought to you by Greg Hurling and and my good friends at Horizon Trust. Greg's a guy that I trust and a real estate partner of mine. Greg's company, Horizon Trust was founded in 2011, has over a billion dollars in assets and what they specialize in is helping you get into a self directed IRA account that you can leverage to do things beyond traditional investments so you can invest in things like precious metals, real estate, private lending and so much more.

[Carson Hurlein]

More.

[Greg Hurling]

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[Brandon Briningham]

Thanks so much for tuning in to this episode of Wake up to Wealth. We sure do appreciate it. If you haven't done so already, make sure you're subscribed to the show wherever you consume podcasts. This way we'll get updates as new episodes become available. And if you feel so inclined, please leave us a review on Apple Podcast and tell your friends about the show. It is how new people find us.

[Rob Chavez]

Until next time, Sam.