Co-Living: The New Real Estate Strategy

James A Brown (00:00)
this business is not easy, trying to do it on your own. I mean, I’m a, let’s call it former perfectionist. And hard to like let go, let other people do their thing. But when you align yourself with other motivated people that,

Quentin (00:12)
I like that.

James A Brown (00:22)
We’re going to stick with the plan.

Quentin (01:56)
Hello everyone. Welcome to the Real Estate Pros podcast. I am your host, Q Edmonds. This guy got me thinking. I don’t even know if I naturally say Q Edmonds or not, but I’m saying it now. This is how good this guy is. In a little bit of time, he didn’t already rewind my brain. I don’t know if I like that or not. But no, I’m messing. Listen guys, we have someone here. Oh man, I think this is going be, I know this is going be a great podcast. He’s going to give you some information about what he is, what he does.

James A Brown (02:11)
You

Quentin (02:24)
And I love it because he has different things that he’s done very well within this real estate space. And so I can’t wait for him to tell you all about it. I’m excited to introduce you all to Mr. James Brown. Mr. James, how you doing today, Yes. Yo, it’s you. man. I appreciate that, sir. I appreciate that, So listen, James, I’m gonna type, brother. I like to dive right in. So I would love for you to tell the people.

James A Brown (02:38)
I’m great, man. This is going to be a fun one. I love your energy. You’re great. Let’s go.

Quentin (02:54)
What’s your main focus these days? If you can give us a little bit of an origin story, kind of how you got into the spaces that you’re in, like we love the hero’s journey. And man, tell them where you are in the world because geographically people love to know that. So tell us what you’re up to, your origin story and where you are. Mr. Brown, you have the floor, sir.

James A Brown (03:13)
Right on, I’ll try to keep this short. ⁓ So ⁓ I was born and raised in Alaska, but I moved to Colorado for college. And so I’ve been in Denver since 92. ⁓ Love it here. ⁓ I was actually a graphic designer for 25 years and then got serious about investing about 2017.

Quentin (03:16)
Gotcha.

James A Brown (03:38)
Lots happened since then. It’s crazy. What is it? Nine years. ⁓ I got in to rent to own investing, also known as lease options. ⁓ Got into that, built a company. I still do that to this day. ⁓ I did add in co-living, so renting by the room. ⁓ House hacking, for lack of a better term, house hacking is kind of a…

Quentin (03:41)
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

James A Brown (04:08)
a version of running by the room. So I’ve been working with PadSplit, which is kind like the Airbnb app for co-living. ⁓ Actually putting together a co-living agent accelerator program. Right now we’re going to finish it today, I think, ⁓ to help investor agents really dive in and figure out how to make co-living like a part of their business.

So I’m excited to get that going. ⁓ Yeah, I’ve raised capital for syndications, buying big apartment buildings and that too. ⁓ But yeah, and then diving into using Lead Deck, it’s a software that my partner, Josh Shanley and Sean Linum.

put together for finding off-market properties ⁓ and cash buyers. It does a bunch of cool stuff, makes stuff really simple and makes it really affordable. Because there’s so many things to spend money on in this space that just grows and you’re like, my God, my overhead’s killing me. So yeah.

Quentin (05:26)
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

⁓ man. Yeah.

James A Brown (06:18)
That’s kind of where I’m at. ⁓

Excited to get more focused on that because I have been all over. There’s so many shiny objects in this space, right? And there’s lots of things that work. And reasons why sometimes it doesn’t and you got to figure it out. yeah, you just, it’s a struggle for me to focus and not get too distracted.

Quentin (06:31)
Yes, sir.

Yes, sir.

Yeah. Yeah.

James A Brown (06:48)
because there’s

lots of opportunity, but you just have a lack of time and money to do everything, right?

Quentin (06:57)
James, man, thank you, sir. Thank you for taking us through your journey, telling us where you are, walking us up to how you kind of got to where you are. And as you was talking, I was actively listening. was actually writing things down. And I’m going to reiterate some things to you because I’m going make a statement and I’m going ask you a question. All right? And so I love it. know, born and raised in Alaska, did graphic designing for 25 years. All right?

2017 got into real estate. You did lease options, house hacking, co-living. You’ve raised capital. Like you’ve done some phenomenal things. I reiterate those things because I have a statement that I say, James, is that destiny has no wasted moments. Meaning what we’ve been through in life has walked us right up into the moments that we’re here, that we’re doing right now. Right.

And we borrow from those moments in the past and maybe we has changed our mindset. Maybe it’s changed our discipline, but we borrow from those moments and it makes us the person that we are today. So the question is, what has these moments taught you about yourself? Have they taught you discipline? Have they taught you resilience? Have they taught you humility? Like what is these moments throughout your life, your journey taught you about you?

James A Brown (08:21)
Hmm. That’s a good question. I definitely didn’t see getting into real estate as being like this personal development journey, but it requires it. It requires it. like I’ve dove into meditation, mindfulness.

lots of like personal development type books and mindset. I mean, this is not an easy business. You have to have some inner strength and I’ve had to tap into that, ⁓ become better at communicating, being authentic.

getting out of my comfort zone. Like, you know, I started going to RIA meetups and stuff and they’re like, everybody was get up and, you say your piece, you know, like, oh, I was not comfortable with that. Especially when I was first starting out, I didn’t have anything to share. I’m like, I’m just starting, right? So that kind of got this muscle building.

And I realized you have to get yourself out there, right? Like you can’t hide. can’t be like, as we say with real estate agents, don’t be a secret agent. If you’re secret, no one knows about you. You’re not going to have much business. You have to get out there, get out of your comfort zone. ⁓ So that led, I mean, to getting up in front of groups to now I have my own.

Ria meetup called the cashflow club here. And I run that with a few other people, partners. That’s the other thing with this business. Like it’s a people business. And so I’ve partnered with

So like getting up in front of the group and sharing what I know now. I also have my own show this month in real estate investing. And, you know, that’s not comfortable. And it’s not recorded. I mean, we record it, but it’s live. There was no editing.

Quentin (11:03)
Yeah.

And you said so many things that you literally gave me language to what I try to say on this part every day. Because I take the long way around. say, you know, at the

center of your business, they will always be you. You will always be at the center of your business. And so I tell them, this is why you need to be able to reflect, be able to really understand yourself. So because you understand you, you understand the business better. When you know who you are, you know what to do. That’s what one of my mentors said to me. But you just synthesize it. You said, this requires personal development. Point blank, period.

being an entrepreneur, being in business, it requires personal development, you are at the center of your business. The business goes as you go. And so I love it, man. And the fact that you do so many things that’s outside of your comfort zone. Bro, you said this month in real estate investment, you do it live, no edits, phone calls that come through. If you burp, it’s right there on screen. Man, I mean.

That’s amazing. And people always say get comfortable with the uncomfortable, but that takes courage. It really does. And so I applaud you, And then you get out in front of Cash Flow Club and you talk to people, man. I applaud you for what you’re doing, man. I really, really do. And I know one of the big things for you is helping people and teaching people.

So I would love to know what’s the next real goal? Like, what are you looking to solve a scale next? Where are you going next, James?

James A Brown (12:50)
⁓ Mainly focused on helping real estate agents that are investor focused, investor agents, helping them with what I do. ⁓ Before we started recording, I mentioned that we’re putting together a co-living agent accelerators for agents that want to focus or at least add co-living to be a major part of their business. ⁓

Quentin (12:57)
Okay, yeah.

James A Brown (13:19)
The other thing I haven’t hadn’t mentioned too. Well, I mentioned I had a meeting a couple of days ago. What we’re putting together ⁓ is basically a call. It’s called a cohort of investor agents, a hundred agents together out searching for deals together and then sharing in like as.

Quentin (13:36)
Yeah. Yeah.

James A Brown (14:30)
If you’re familiar with syndications, there’s the general partnership that goes and finds the deals and manages it. And then there’s the limited partners that come in with money. So we’re basically doing that, or I’m going to be involved in that. So 100 agents all looking for deals.

I’ve got a bunch of investors, passive investors, this other partner of mine, he’s got some very wealthy people that just want to put their money and into real estate. And so we’ve got the money, we’ve got the deal finders, we’ve got lead deck, the software I was telling you about to go find deals, like all the pieces are there. And we can help, you know, guys, grand and it out guys and gals, like, you know,

Quentin (15:13)
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

James A Brown (15:16)
to get

into real estate, not just helping other people, but be investors ourselves. mean, as an investor agent, you can’t advise well or build confidence with somebody if you’re not doing it yourself. So that’s the point of this cohort idea. ⁓

Quentin (15:42)
I love the cohort. You’re literally walking me into my next question. Cohort, helping people. So I’m going say a word. And when you hear it, I would love for you to tell me what resonates with you, right? The word relationship. When you hear the word relationship, what resonates with you,

James A Brown (16:03)
Hmm. That’s a big one. Like I said before, it’s a relationship business. ⁓ so, and, your, your reputation and your relationships is everything in this business. And you can screw it up real quick and spend after spending years, right? Like,

That’s the scary thing about like getting on a podcast and saying something stupid. It could go viral or whatever. Like it’s not a comfortable thing, but you just got to get out there and, and meet people. Like that’s why I love podcasts. Like I just met you. I never would have met you unless we had this platform and you’re awesome. And I’m psyched to have met you and continue the relationship. Right? Like it doesn’t stop here.

Quentin (16:32)
Yeah, yeah, yeah.

That’s right.

James A Brown (16:56)
Doesn’t have to, right? Let’s keep it going. I mean, I’m going to be looking you up on all the channels, trying to find you, to search for Q, trying to find you.

Quentin (17:06)
Good.

So listen, James, when you find those pictures and you don’t know what pictures I’m talking about, listen, it was a bad moment. I’m just joking. I’m just joking.

James A Brown (17:19)
Well, don’t search too deep into the underwater.

Quentin (17:22)
Just listen,

it was a bad day, James. I was young. I didn’t know what I was doing then. I’m just messing around. man. I love the word, the cohort that you use. I love what you said about relationships. My wife, she’s a school counselor, teacher, been in education and she do cohorts. And one thing I learned about cohorts that you grow together. Like she even told me, it’s like, hey babe.

James A Brown (17:28)
Cool.

Quentin (17:50)
I can’t stop this because I’ve been with this group and I got to make sure that they cross the finish line. And so when you talk about relationships and cohorts, it made me think about the word community, right? And community is common unity, people doing things of common unity. And so I just, love your mindset, the way you helping people being in the cohort. For me, it comes across that you are.

a safe space that builds community because you help people, teach people, and it comes across that you really care about the growth of people. Just not, we say something and then goodbye, but no, cohorts, we’re gonna grow together. We’re gonna be of common unity. And I think anybody that’s interested in connecting with you, being in your space, I think that’s something that should be at the front of their mind that you are a person.

that you want to grow together. want this to be organic and we want it to be of common unity. And so I love the fact that you talked about relationship James. I really do, man. ⁓ Listen, sir, is there anything, any topic that I have not brought up that you would like to talk about? Or is there any other words of inspiration, education, motivation? Like if you came in here with something or your mind, I just want to make sure that we were able to talk about that.

before we end the show. So if it’s something that you would like to say, I just want to open up the floor to you,

James A Brown (19:12)
Yeah, I think on that theme, like,

this business is not easy, trying to do it on your own. I mean, I’m a, let’s call it former perfectionist. And hard to like let go, let other people do their thing. But when you align yourself with other motivated people that,

We’re going to stick with the plan.

That’s key. Like you can lack a lot of things, but as long as somebody’s motivated and just has a good heart, like I want to work with people that are cool, don’t have like huge, I call it hungry egos, like they want it fed, right? No, we all have egos, right? But I just want to work with cool people and help cool people.

and be helped, right? Like, it’s tough to go out alone, but you got to pick the right people, right? Like, I’ve had a lot of people that have had partnerships, some things seem good on the surface, then there’s good parts and bad parts and not all of them work out long term, but that’s something where the longer you are in the business and…

relate to people and try to do things together as a community or whatever, a partnership. You start to see the red flags and the green flags. Yeah, I don’t know, that was a little bit of a ramble, but man.

Quentin (20:43)
Yeah. Yeah.

No.

No, actually

think it was well said because every relationship has a connecting point. Relationships are built off of certain bonds. Some of them healthy, some of them unhealthy, but they’re built off of certain bonds, connecting points. But one thing about people, we’re constantly evolving. And so as we evolve, sometimes those connected points, they change. And it doesn’t necessarily have to be a bad breakup or a bad separation or a bad

Sometimes it’s just, hey, it served its purpose for the time that it did. And now it’s time to move on. And especially if everybody’s been, had integrity, had been honest, and it’s just like, hey, maybe this is not working anymore. And who knows? You may work together again further down the road. But right now, maybe just the bond is just time to split. And I think that’s the wise thing. Brene Brown, not sure if you heard of her, but she’s

James A Brown (21:47)
yeah,

she’s awesome.

Quentin (21:48)
So Brene,

got loving, man. So she has a saying, clear is kind, unclear is unkind. The kindest thing I can be is for us to talk about where we are. If we still in sync, we are. And if we’re not, the clearest thing, hey, it’s time to go to separate ways. And so I think it was eloquently what you said, man, when you brought it up. He wasn’t rambling at all. So man, I appreciate you so much. I can’t believe time is going by so fast. James, if.

Someone wanted to reach out to you, connect with you, collaborate with you, learn more about what you’re doing. How can I get in contact with you,

James A Brown (22:26)
jamesbrownrealestate.com forward slash connect. And I’ve got a bunch of ways to connect and tools that I use and some affiliate links and random things. So yeah, go there. Get overwhelmed.

Quentin (22:45)
I love it. I love it. Get inundated. Get inundated people

with all things James Brown. Let’s go. I love it. ⁓ James, man, let me say three things to you, sir, sincerely. Thank you for your time. You could have been any better in the world. Yes, I know podcast, how podcast works. You’re the host. I mean, I’m the host, you’re the guest. We got to do it together, but you literally could have been anywhere, but you chose to give each your time. So thank you for that.

James A Brown (22:51)
Yeah.

Quentin (23:11)
Secondly, thank you for your story. I wrote down the word. This word is so precious to me. It’s a word my mother told me when I was younger, authentic, authenticity. And so thank you for your authentic story. Thank you for planting seeds in people that really can change their life. I mean, that’s not, I’m not trying to underestimate that or overestimate that. I’m just saying literally it could because it could be something to spark.

of an idea that they needed or the piece that they needed. It’s like, dad, why didn’t I think of that? So thank you for your story and your narrative. Lastly, man, thank you for the way you think, your mindset and bringing that mindset to this platform. I greatly appreciate you today coming through. Yeah. Absolutely. Listen, y’all heard Mr. James, listen, his contact information, they’re in the show notes. So please connect with him, check him out, get inundated.

James A Brown (23:52)
Thank you, I appreciate that. That means a lot.

Quentin (24:06)
with all things James, but definitely make sure you are subscribed here, because I promise you we’re going to continue to bring up amazing people just like Mr. James. So sir, thank you again and everyone else have a fantastic day.