Why Your Money Is Locked Up—and How Real Estate Investors Can Keep It Working

Brian Fleming (00:00)
as a police officer, I protected the money and people and their property. Now I protect the money and their assets. And as a police officer, and I’ve done it, I talked to other police officers as well about this. I said, whether you’re a cop or not, if you were to think as a police officer were to put a prisoner, a person into a cell, a jail cell, and close the door, that’s what we do with our money for all intents and purposes. We lock it up.

Meghan Escobar (01:55)
Hello, everyone. Welcome back to Real Estate Pros Podcast. I am your host, Meghan Escobar.

Today I am joined by a special guest here who is not necessarily part of the real estate world, but works within the real estate world, helping builders and agents and anybody really who is looking for unique financial concepts. And so I am excited to bring Brian Fleming on the screen today, on the show today, making some serious moves in the financial industry.

And again, providing unique, very unique ways to learn how to become the bank. So I think our listeners are really going to take something away from how you’re approaching this concept, teaching people how to increase their pool of capital to become their own bank. So let’s go ahead and dive in and

For those of you who might not be familiar with your world, give us a thirty thousand foot view, Brian, of what your main focus is these days and what markets you’re operating in.

Brian Fleming (03:07)
Well, first of all, thank you for letting me be on here with you today. I appreciate that. 30,000 overview. there’s two times we need capital. Every day before we die and the day after we die. But we don’t want to have the ability for whatever reason to to save. We should make saving sexy again. There’s nothing wrong with building up a pool of capital so that you can finance things in your life, basically, because we’re gonna need the money at some point in time, but when we need it, when events happen.

If we don’t have a good liquidity source or base of liquidity, where do we go for the money? We have to go to the bank, to the lenders. And if they’re going to give us the money, if is a big key word. Are we going to get it? Now we’re going to be under their control where I teach people how to build this pool of capital so that when events happen, they’ll be in a better position to take advantage of the events instead of the events taking advantage of them.

Meghan Escobar (03:59)
Love that. And you know, one thing that really caught my attention, especially because I have a little bit of knowledge in this area, the way that you’re teaching this concept is to

Help people become the bank. I want to dive in on that a little bit because I’m not sure people understand that they can create their own capital in very unique ways without going to the bank and getting a loan and high interest rates and all those things. Which is not an easy thing to do in this in this climate. Right? The cost of living, what people are earning. So talk to us a little bit about.

How you keep your machine running, how you’re helping clients.

Brian Fleming (05:35)
Sure. Well, first of all, education. I mean, we should never ever stop learning. So I’ve got a great source of education. I’ve got courses I offer to people. It costs nothing but their time. I’m more than willing to really press in the people who want to learn and learn how to be the bank. I mean, banks are the most profitable business in the world, I would think, because the way they operate and what they do. you know, Meghan, if you put $10,000 in the bank, what are they gonna do with that? They’re gonna give you one quarter of one percent return.

They’ll loan $2,000 to Sally at 5%, $3,000 to Billy at 8%, the other $5,000 to George at 12%. And all of those people are going to make these payments back to the bank. And now those payments come in and the bank relends out your money at other interest rates. And all those payments come back in and relend out your money at more interest rates, giving you one quarter of 1%. But we seem to be very accepting of that when we shouldn’t be. So when you start to learn how to build this pool of capital to have an ever-increasing pool of money.

And have it compounding uninterrupted, it’s very, very powerful. Because again, we’re gonna need there’s gonna be a need for money in our lives. And if we don’t have it available to us relatively easily, we have to go to someone else and play it by their rules. I mean, let’s just talk about equity in a house. You know, I’ll I’ll ask people, Do you have equity? Yeah, whose is it? Well, it’s mine. Okay, well, what do you have to do to get at it? Well, I have to go to the bank. And then if you don’t have a job or don’t have good credit, are they gonna give it to you? Well, no.

Whose equity is it? Well, I guess it’s the banks. So they’re in complete control of this whole process. But when you understand what banking is, it’s not having a checking account or savings account. It’s turning money over and over again in your world, in your life, and you’re building up this ever-increasing pool of capital because your money is always growing even as you’re using it and it comes back and forth to you instead of someone else.

Meghan Escobar (07:25)
That’s a really incredible concept and a great perspective. I think our listeners will definitely gain something out of that. And I really love the Monopoly analogy that you used, Brian, before we actually hit record here. And so if you’d like to share that, I’d love for the guests to hear that as well.

Brian Fleming (07:43)
Sure. I mean, again, we’re talking with real estate investors, and I’m sure a lot of them know and have read Robert Kiyosaki’s books, you know, the The Cashflow Quadrant, Rich Dad Poor Dad. He’s got a board game called CASHFLOW. so I ask people, have you ever played that game? Have you ever played Monopoly? The Game of Life. Well, yeah, yeah, yeah. So who has the most money? Who is in control of the most money when you play those board games? Well, it’s the banker. Right. So why don’t we want to be the banker and have the most control of our money? Because

When we give up control of our money to someone else, we lose money. We’re giving control to someone else. We should be in complete control of our money, not someone else, and so that we can have a better aspect of where it goes and how it grows.

Meghan Escobar (08:25)
Absolutely. And I think that is an analogy people can resonate with because it’s so simplified, right? I think everyone you know has played one out of three of those board games. And so it becomes a aha moment. At least it did for me when you mentioned it. So thank you for that. And Brian, you know, every entrepreneur and operator that I have ever had the opportunity to sit with, you know, there’s always a moment where things got real that

potentially maybe a deal going sideways or where they second guessed their expertise or you know, just a time that felt they needed to pivot really fast or things could go south. Would you mind sharing one of those moments for you?

Brian Fleming (09:08)
In my real estate investing world or or elsewhere?

Meghan Escobar (09:11)
Wherever you find fit.

Brian Fleming (09:14)
well, I I I guess, you know, because I used to actually run a real estate investors association or club. And what was interesting is people think that they have to buy real estate, they have to buy whatever. And and the market was different back then, that’s for sure. And I remember someone who was coming to my meetings, talked about a deal that they had to go get. They had to get it, they had to get it. all of a sudden you see them on the foreclosure list.

Because you got to make sure you buy the deal right, you know? So you don’t wanna be in a position where you buy this thing and it falls apart as it did in this particular person’s life. Fortunately for me, with with everything I’ve done in the real estate investing world, it’s been very, very good to me. and with what I teach, it’s just been nice to have that again, that a pool of available capital. So when a deal comes to you, when opportunities find you, you’ll have the finances to take care of them. But things do fall apart.

And that’s why having a a a liquidity position, a strong liquidity position, is good because when you have the funds, you’ll be in a better position to take care of things when they fall apart if they do.

Meghan Escobar (10:57)
Solid advice again. Thank you. And you know, this is the kind of stuff that most people don’t talk about as owners and operators and entrepreneurs. And it’s I think super important for us to not just highlight the wins and the the the toys and the things that success is bringing, but what it takes to actually get there. Right. And these this this is also what separates folks who are here to just

Dabble versus those who are in the game long term. And Brian, you’ve been doing this now for 14 years. So I think that says a a lot about your character. And let me ask you this. What are you what are you most focused on solving or scaling next? Like what’s the next real big goal for Brian Fleming and Financial Fortress Builders?

Brian Fleming (11:54)
Really, it’s just to talk to more people. again, it’s unfortunate that sometimes well, we are by nature a lazy people. We don’t want to take time to do things that we should do, investigate research, things like that. So the more people I can talk to about money so they have more of it working for them instead of them working so hard for it, the better off we are. you know, what you just said recently about the toys and whatever and all that kind of stuff. So I was doing a presentation recently with someone in

When he saw a particular slide in this PowerPoint, he’s like, Man, that hit me right between the eyes. And the slide said, think about all the money you earned over the last ten years. How much of that do you have available that you could write a check for today? It’s very little for most people. And that should hit everybody between the eyes. So then think about, okay, what about the next 10 years? Wouldn’t you want to have a bigger pool of money available for you for the next 10 years?

Instead of always it just never around. It’s gone and gone forever. So, you know, helping people understand how to do that and be in a very safe position, have lots of liquidity, and to have the again this ever-increasing pool of capital to be in a better position. But again, just teaching people, helping them understand, again, don’t stop learning. So as we talked before, we started recording. Yeah, when you stop learning, you might as well just crawl in the grave and die.

Meghan Escobar (13:14)
Mm-hmm. Yeah, absolutely. So with you being able to position yourself and and get in front of more people, what does that fulfill for you?

Brian Fleming (13:27)
Well, I I again I I think I’m doing a service to people just by helping them understand. I don’t have to do business with anybody or everybody. I don’t even have to do this business. I’m blessed to have a pension as a retired police officer. I’ve got some rental income coming in. But I wholeheartedly believe that we as a society need to understand more when it comes to our money. so the more I can do that, whether it’s through the webinars that we offer once a month with the agency I’m with,

the the live workshops that I do locally, whatever the case may be, just to get the word out about how money works and have more of it working for you.

Meghan Escobar (14:07)
So, Brian, when you talk about this stuff, I can feel that the energy and the passion shining through. And one thing that we talked about again prior to the podcast was that you’ve always been some sort of protector, right? Obviously, as a police officer, you’re protecting and serving society. now in this world, you’re learning to teach, you’re not learning. I’m so I apologize. You’re teaching people to learn and understand how to protect their money, their assets.

And so I’m curious to know where that passion for protection has come from with you.

Brian Fleming (15:22)
Well, that’s an interesting question. But yeah, I mean, as a police officer, I protected the money and people and their property. Now I protect the money and their assets. And as a police officer, and I’ve done it, I talked to other police officers as well about this. I said, whether you’re a cop or not, if you were to think as a police officer were to put a prisoner, a person into a cell, a jail cell, and close the door, that’s what we do with our money for all intents and purposes. We lock it up.

We’re taught to put our money in qualified plans, 401(k)s, 403(b)s, like I had at the police department. Nothing really wrong with those, but we have to understand what they are and how they work. But all we’re doing is locking up our money. We’re locking up our employees, our dollar bills. They should be out there working for us. And they’re really not when they’re in these qualified type plans. so when people understand that and want to have maybe another option to have this money constantly flowing and working, they’re gonna be in a better position. I like to liken it to.

We have to have blood pumping moving through our body to stay alive. We have to breathe oxygen in and out to stay alive. You got these wheels on the on a riverside where water turns and moves to turn the wheel to provide energy. We’re gonna be in a much better financial position when our money is always in motion instead of this park and pray mentality of let’s just park it over in this account and pray that it’ll be bigger and better when I need the money.

Meghan Escobar (16:45)
I really like that concept. I think it’s a—I think it makes a lot of sense. It’s like stagnation is never good for anybody when you’re still, right? If you stop using your muscles, they stop growing. If you stop using your mind and learning, you stop growing, right? so why wouldn’t it make sense to keep your money in constant motion for it to grow faster?

And larger potentially. Yeah. Incredible stuff. Now, I know a lot of our listeners are either very early on in their journey, and you know, whether they are looking to just get their feet wet in the real estate world, or they are just looking to level up to the to the next best thing. I think they might

benefit from hearing this when it comes to building relationships and growing your network in your space specifically, you know, as an agent, as a teacher, what what has made the biggest difference for you in creating these relationships?

Brian Fleming (17:57)
Great question. I remember when I was running my real estate investors association, I would tell the people, whether it’s beginners or whatever, if this is what you want to do, this is where you want to be at an organization, a meeting like this, because you’re rubbing shoulders with people who are investing in real estate or wanting to invest in real estate. They’re the ones you want to learn from. You’ll know more about investing in real estate tonight than you did last month. Next month you’ll know more than you did this month.

Because you continue to do this. You don’t want to ask Uncle Charlie, who doesn’t invest in real estate, what the ins and outs are for investing in real estate. So you want to be connected with other like-minded individuals. You know, take an investor to lunch, you know, pick their brain. I mean, there’s plenty out there. I mean, real estate’s in my blood. I’ve been doing it for over thirty years, even though I was a police officer and I’m teaching people how to how how money works, but I’m always looking for deals. I mean, I found one a couple of years ago, just asked the guy, you want to sell this building? Yeah.

It was a sweet deal, so I bought it. so it’s in my blood. The more you connect and and and network with people and people are more than willing to share, whether it’s the real estate thing or me sharing how money works, it costs nothing but your time. That’s the thing to do is to hang out with people, like-minded people. We were just talking about it in in in Bible study this morning about some stuff. And I was when I was a police officer, I would tell kids that were in trouble. I says, you know.

If you start hanging out with kids that are breaking windows, you’re gonna be breaking windows. If you hang out with kids that are playing chess, you’re gonna play chess. So who you hang out with is gonna determine where you wanna go. So you wanna hang out with those who do what you’re looking to do.

Meghan Escobar (19:34)
Yeah. My dad used to always say if you hang around the barbershop long enough, you’ll get a haircut. So yeah, it’s a great concept, right? It’s you’re the average of the five people you spend your most time with. And that’s something that you just can’t fake. You know, relationships are everything in in this space, most certainly in the real estate space, but also in in in the insurance world as well. You know, it’s a people business for sure.

Before we wrap, is there anything else that you want to share with our audience or do you think that we missed or

Brian Fleming (20:12)
Sure. I mean, again, talking about real estate investors and and as I talked about at at my meetings, is there’s so many ways to be in the real estate investor space and world. You know, I told people you you could be a bird dog. You could see, I see this property. It’s got all sorts of long grass, windows are broken. I’m gonna talk to one of my real estate investor friends and tell them about it. They go dig it up, find out who the owner is, put a deal together, they’ll give you a couple hundred dollars, like a finder’s fee for hey, thanks for telling me that. All right, I’ve learned a little bit along the way.

Now going to be a fix-and-flipper. I not only, or now I’m going to be a wholesaler. I’m I see that property. I’m going to do the digging. I’m going to find the owner. I’m going to write the deal or write the contract. And then I’m going to sell that contract to someone else who’s going to do the fix and flip. All right, I learned a lot more along the way there. Now I’m going to do the fix and flip. I find it, I put the deal together, I fix and flip, then I sell it. You’re always on the hamster wheel. There’s nothing wrong with that, but that’s just a way to invest in real estate. Buy and hold.

A landlord is where you really become wealthy. But not everyone can or should be a landlord. They they can’t handle it. You know, real estate’s not a simple way, it’s not a get-rich-quick program, but there are so many ways to invest in real estate. You could be buying notes, you know, paper. you know, I I’m looking to do that right now myself. But yeah, I mean, just as real estate investors, there’s a lot of opportunities out there. yeah, you could also be the bank, right?

I know a lot of real estate investors, they put together, you know, they go to hard money lenders to pay 12% three points, and they’re willing to do that to get this fix-and-flip deal. But somehow these same investors aren’t willing to think about how to build up this pool of money. So they can get those returns of 12% and three points on their money instead of having someone else make the money on it. So yeah, you can be the bank. when I was at a meeting a while ago, there was a guy who says, I’ve been investing in real estate for 13 years, but I decided I wanted to be the bank. Amen.

I shouted from the back of the room. He understands what banking is, how it works in the real estate investing world. but yeah, there’s a lot of opportunities out there in the real estate investing world, a lot of things to do. And I just scratched the surface on the ones I mentioned.

Meghan Escobar (22:19)
Thank you so much, Brian, for sharing your perspective and expertise. And if somebody wanted to reach out to you and connect with you, learn more about what it is that you’re teaching here, what would be the best way for them to reach you? Is it email, phone number, website?

Brian Fleming (22:35)
Well, I’m going to give you my website, which is FinancialFortressBuilders.com. FinancialFortressBuilders.com. And then I say I’m Financial Fortress Builders, powered by Factum. So Factum is an agency I work with where we teach all this financial education. But that’s my website. 414-881-6849 is my cell. 414-881-6849. Those are two good ways to get started.

Meghan Escobar (23:04)
Perfect. Thank you so much for sharing that. I’m sure our listeners will gain some value and want to learn more about how they can become the bank for their for for their industry as well. So thank you again for sharing your story, for giving us your time and sharing your perspective. I think we need more people in this space who are doing things the right way and teaching people unique concepts that aren’t out in their, you know, just

In in in the highlighted areas of life. It’s something you have to learn on your own. And for those of you who are tuning in, and if you found any value here, please be sure to hit subscribe. We’ve got more conversations coming in with owners, operators, and entrepreneurs, just like Brian Fleming here, who are out here building real businesses in real time with real people. We’ll see you on the next episode.