Rebuilding After the 2008 Crash: Brad Andrus on Entrepreneurial Drive, the Power of People, and the Future of AI

Speaker 0

Today, we hear from Brad Andrus. Brad is a Texas based entrepreneur, who's built many different businesses, mostly in real estate, but he's certainly ventured out into different, non real estate enterprises. I really enjoyed this. We I I was trying to keep the episode to under forty minutes, but I'll be honest, I kept it going because I just thoroughly enjoyed this conversation with Brad. We talk about how out of college, he didn't really know what he wanted to do. He got a job like many people do, and then he went into he was doing some real estate investing. He'd built up his net worth when at age twenty seven or twenty eight to approximately one million dollars. And then the two thousand eight crash happened, and that wiped him out almost to zero. And I think his income was less than zero each month, because he had debt to deal with. And we talk about how he's significantly rebuilt. You know, he's got many different companies that he owns now. He could have retired years ago but has that entrepreneurial drive. And toward the end, we talk a lot about AI, and I think you're gonna wanna stick around for that. There's he's doing some really cool things in the AI space. He's got his own podcast that is specifically focused on AI and how and what and what, what they're doing to help companies use AI. So it's not like you need to be the AI expert in the room. Just thoroughly enjoyed this conversation. One of the through lines of with this conversation is just the importance of relationships. And it it's it crops up throughout the the episode is is the power of people and working with other people and having healthy relationships that are win win and and just adding value to others and how, strength in numbers is so powerful. It it's just a very positive, uplifting episode. I think you're gonna enjoy it. 

Speaker 1

Thank you for joining us on From Adversity to Abundance. We hope today's episode has equipped you with valuable insights and practical advice to elevate your real estate journey. For more inspiring stories and resources, visit us at w w w dot adversity to abundance dot com. If this episode has inspired you, please share it with a friend who could also benefit from our conversation. Together, let's turn adversity into abundance. Until next time, keep building your mental fitness and your real estate empire. 

Speaker 0

Welcome, everybody, to another episode of the From Adversity to Abundance podcast. I am your host, Jamie Bateman. And today, we have with us Brad Andrus. Brad is the founder of Northbridge, a commercial real estate company, as well as several other companies that we're gonna touch on as we as we hear from Brad. Brad, how are you doing today? 

Speaker 2

Doing great. Thanks for having me on, Jamie. 

Speaker 0

Absolutely. This has been, this is gonna be a fun, fun conversation. I know we're gonna get a lot out of this. I know you've been, an active entrepreneur and real estate investor for decades 

Speaker 2

now. I can't believe it's been decades, but it has. Yeah. 

Speaker 0

The two and a half decades, really, we're coming up on, it sounds like. So, once you talk for the listener briefly before we jump into your backstory, can you talk about some of the abundance that you're living in that you've been able to experience and and benefit from? I know there's been a ton of ups and downs and hard work. We're gonna get into that. But today, what are you how are you able to to live in abundance? 

Speaker 2

Wow. Okay. Yeah. So I you know, I was just talking to I've got a couple of young guys on our team and was having conversation like this with them recently, and I I just the best example I could come up with, really, the way I feel like my life is playing out right now is I am I'm really grateful and, you know, fortunate that I can kinda look at a mature fruit tree if we wanna use that example, and and there's and it's actually more than one tree. It's a mini it's a little small orchard of fruit trees 

Speaker 0

Nice. 

Speaker 2

That, that I can go out and kinda look at and and look at the look at the growth and what's become of them and and more than anything, see the fruit on hanging off those trees. You know, if it's an apple tree, you know, be able to pluck that pluck that apple and nice juicy bite apple, you know, and enjoy that and give me some nourishment. Right? And so that's what that's where I feel like I am. I'm that this orchard tree or this orchard is not as large as others. 

Speaker 0

Mhmm. 

Speaker 2

My may have their orchards. The trees may not be as as big and as mature. But for for me where they are right now, I I really enjoy kinda where it is, and I still want to continue to grow that orchard and grow Right. Grow let let those trees grow and mature even more. But, really, what I'm describing is the the fruits of of a lots of a lot a lot of labor, many years, and hard hard work and and stress and toil to get to where there's a multitude of investments that are now paying dividends. You know? And and I can look around and I can see the cash flow from this one or, hey, over there. It's not cash flowing, but I see the appreciation in that one that's happening Mhmm. Over here. Like, I know I've got a ton of equity in that. So if I wanna if I need to go do something that that requires some some immediate cash, I can pull from it. You know? I've got a line of credit secured by this one that I can so all these things that have kinda built up over time Right. Allow me to continue to really grow that that orchard in those investments. But also on the on the personal side, you know, we're recently now empty nesters and and having the the freedom, that that that being investing in real estate and some other companies that we'll talk about has has allowed us to yeah. We we get to go travel and take off and and do what we want both have the time to do it and and, fortunately, the the finances too. 

Speaker 0

I love that analogy. And and so the trees in the orchard may be a particular investment or also a a business. Right? Is that what you're saying? 

Speaker 2

Exactly. Yeah. It's there's Yeah. My my path has been and and part of this is pretty, I think, pretty common for entrepreneur Mhmm. You know, entrepreneurial minded people. But I I there's a lot of value in being laser focused on something. 

Speaker 0

Right. 

Speaker 2

But I can't really do that. Yeah. I can't you know, I have a hard time staying laser focused. It doesn't mean that I'm distracted and I don't care still about this, but I'm always, you know, new ideas, new things going on. And so that has created this, yeah, this orchard where they it's not all apple trees. There's apples. There's pears. There's trees. There's, you know, all kinds of different trees that are are paying paying for dividends. 

Speaker 0

Well, I love that you're it sounds like though even though you still have that that drive to build and create, and I'm guessing that will never go away, but sounds like, you've been able to at least step back and and, you know, you mentioned traveling, take some time off, and and enjoy the fruits of your labor. And Right. You know, I think that's where maybe some entrepreneurs just can't seem to do that, and it's, you know, it's just drive, drive, drive. And and, I mean, what's it all for if you can't enjoy it? 

Speaker 2

That is a a question that I have to ask myself, and I've had others ask me just kinda helping me, you know, mentors over the years, like, wins enough enough. And so those are those are things that everybody's gotta wrestle with and and fight with. And, you know, like you said, I think for those of us that are kind of, you know, built in this way to go and go go and create and build, it's a it's a tough thing to wrestle with. You know? And I I still struggle with it. And so I'm I'm trying to balance that and find that right balance. 

Speaker 0

Well and and I think and we'll jump back into your backstory in a minute, but I think that's for one, you know, one of the things we talk about on on the show is that there's no single, you know, prescription or or way to to get to success. And two, success you may define success differently than I do, and that's okay. Sure. And, also, you have seasons in your life. I have seasons in my life. And so just because something just because you were laser focused on this ten years ago doesn't mean you need to be laser focused on that or or anything in particular right now. So 

Speaker 2

Right. 

Speaker 0

You know, it it the it's a the we success does leave clues, but it's not a one size fits all model for, certainly, if you look across someone's entire life For sure. And across the entire population. There's so many variables and ways to, you know, to succeed and be fulfilled and serve others. So, Brad, you mentioned to me before we hit record the year you you mentioned the year two thousand one. Let's jump back there, and let's talk about your backstory because I know you've had some real trials and tribulations. We've we've talked about some of the successes you're currently enjoying, but it has not been easy. So what did two two thousand one look like for you? What was your, just paint the picture for us. 

Speaker 2

Yeah. So graduating college, from from Brigham Young University. My wife and I had been married probably about a a year. I guess it was about a year before graduation. No. Yeah. Oh, I'm sorry. About two years. I had about two years left when we got married. We had our first kid about a year, eight, nine months before graduation. And, you know, coming out of kind of it it the market in the in general was good, but we were kinda coming out of that dot com little bubble. And so there was there was it wasn't a terrible time to be job hunting, but it probably wasn't the best time either. And so, you know, really trying to figure out what I wanted to do. I my undergrad was in marketing and advertising. I was I'd always been a little more on the create you know, enjoyed more the creative side of things. And so thought, hey. That's that's where I want I wanna work for an ad agency. I grew up in the Dallas area. Knew that we we knew that we wanted to move back to Texas, and so started looking around where where I could find a job like that. Ended up working, starting with a community bank as they're 

Speaker 0

Okay. 

Speaker 2

Really, it was a very small community bank, probably about a hundred and fifty million in assets at the time. Mhmm. And they had just gotten to the size where they needed kind of this full time marketing person. You know? It it'd been spread amongst some some of the team there. And so Right. I was their marketing director, which sounded like a really great title coming right out of college. Right. Right. And it was. It was a great opportunity. But, that's that's kinda where I got started. The as I started working for the bank, started kinda looking around. Again, I'm pretty much focused in the the marketing side of things, but started looking around and realizing there's a lot of real estate things going on and other businesses. You know? People that are walking in, what business are they in? Banking, I ended up over over the course of probably the next sixteen, seventeen years or fifteen years, I guess, working in at two different community banks, and that ended up being an amazing foundation for a variety of reasons that we can get into. But one of them was that I I I got to see a lot of investors, entrepreneurs 

Speaker 0

Yeah. 

Speaker 2

Borrowers. You know? And it was just always amazing to me that the variety of ways that people were making money. 

Speaker 0

Right. Right. 

Speaker 2

And, you know, you might have two guys in the same exact industry. This is another real learning lesson for me. It's like two guys in the same industry, same market, and one of them is wildly successful, and the other is just essentially living, you know, paycheck to paycheck even if he's an entrepreneur, you know, has his own business and living job to job. And what's the difference here? What's going well, it's really that guy. It's the operator. How he his mindset and how disciplined he is and the way he goes about running his business. So I was picking up these little clues along the way, but 

Speaker 0

Yeah. 

Speaker 2

That's that's kinda where I I really started my eyes or I've never had any interest in real estate. Didn't really know anything about it. Didn't know didn't have really big aspirations to be an entrepreneur. I didn't, you know, I just was a creative guy wanting to be kinda marketing, advertising. 

Speaker 0

Yeah. Well, I love that that to what you just said about the two different you know, two guys that you're comparing there just because so many people I mean, there are certainly are a ton of external factors that we can't control. Right? I mean and we're gonna talk about two thousand eight to you know, and how that affected you. But at the end of the day, like, if there is a lot you can control and focus on, and there's a lot that you can do as an individual to impact the success of your business and those around you. So that's a really I I love that. Yeah. Yeah. I can relate in a lot of ways. I I got out of college and worked for a title company for a couple years and started seeing real estate investors. Like, wait. This seems pretty cool. You know? And then, and then, but I but I did work a a w two for fourteen years and slowly got into the real estate game. And, but, yeah, just kind of looking around and realizing, like, they're these this is really interesting. How are these people doing this? 

Speaker 2

And Yeah. 

Speaker 0

Didn't know what I wanted to do either. 

Speaker 2

Yeah. You'll you'll really appreciate this, sir. I don't know if your your or your listeners will enjoy it as much, but I I think you might. I my first real estate deal was my my primary our our first home that we bought, you know, is a family. And so, again, that was right in right in two thousand one. We, graduated in the spring, got this job in the fall, and later within a few months, we're like, let's let's buy a home. We were renting a little duplex, and let's buy a home. So was working with the mortgage guy that was at the bank Mhmm. And and kinda talking through him. He was getting a loan approved, going through that process, and everything was tracked along. I get this call one day. Hello? Yeah. This is Kim with, Denton County Title. I'm like, okay. And she says, I'm I'm calling to schedule your closing. I'm like, I don't I don't know who you are. I'm working with Phil over here at the at the mortgage company. And she's like, well, no. I know. But I've my job is to, anyway, describe basically what she does as a title agent 

Speaker 0

Yeah. 

Speaker 2

Escrow officer, and I'm just, like, lost. And so I'm like, hey. I tell you what, I'll get back with you. I don't know if this is a it wasn't I wasn't aware. I wasn't thinking it was a scam, but I 

Speaker 0

was just 

Speaker 2

like, I don't know where this all falls together. And so called Phil, the mortgage guy, and he's like, yeah. This is the normal thing. This Yeah. 

Speaker 0

And when it guys 

Speaker 2

didn't know anything about buying real estate. 

Speaker 0

Exactly. And I I realized that very quickly. I mean, my father was a real estate agent, you know, all the whole time I grew up. So, like, you would think I would know slightly, maybe more than the the next person the same age as me, but, no. I knew nothing. I mean, I had no idea what a settle what a HUD one was. I I didn't understand anything about title insurance, and they don't teach any of this in school. So No. At least they didn't for me. 

Speaker 2

No. My my degree, anyway. Yeah. 

Speaker 0

Yeah. So, yeah, it just opened up my eyes. It's really important information. If you even if you're not gonna be an investor, if you're just gonna buy a 

Speaker 2

house. 

Speaker 0

You know? Yeah. But, anyway so okay. So you worked for two different community banks, and that was, how did that progress? Yeah. There was a 

Speaker 2

little so a little gap. So, basically, again, towards the end of that first working with that first bank that, I left that job in two thousand and, six. Mhmm. Probably the last year, year and a half of that job, I had actually transitioned to the lending side 

Speaker 0

Okay. 

Speaker 2

As a consumer lender, but primarily doing commercial real estate lending. 

Speaker 0

Okay. 

Speaker 2

And so that, again, was just another great step in in the direction I wanted to go Sure. And then I started realizing I wanted to go of understanding real estate. From two thousand one to then, I'd started buying some rent houses, built a couple of duplexes, and so started after buying our first home 

Speaker 0

Mhmm. 

Speaker 2

And I had a buddy call me. He's like, hey. I think we could do this you know, buy this buy this old house and add on to it, turn it into a duplex. We did that together, and that was just like, I'm hooked. You know? 

Speaker 0

I open it. Yeah. 

Speaker 2

Totally hooked. So started doing that for the next three or four or five years. I got into the lending side on the bank, and at that point, it's like, alright. I've got a little war chest here. I've got some things already going. I'm ready to go out of my own and do this Mhmm. For myself. And didn't really you know, a little young and naive for sure. Didn't really give enough thought to what would be the best path to eventually being out on your own. Mhmm. If you're gonna do this. I just had an opportunity through a bank customer said, hey. We could go build some houses together. You know, you've got a little capital. You've got a little know how. I know how to build some houses. Let's go do it. So sounds good to me. 

Speaker 0

This 

Speaker 2

sounds better than sitting behind that desk at the bank all day. And so left left the bank and started building houses. We probably built, seventy, eighty houses, you know, some duplexes and different things. Okay. Most of which we were just selling to others. You know? And so that was going okay. Wasn't great. Wasn't terrible. Realized I didn't love I I I like I love working with people, but I'm I'm kind of a people pleaser. And so if you're building a home Mhmm. For someone, 

Speaker 0

you know, 

Speaker 2

you're always trying to make them happy, you know, you can't make any money. You can't make them happy anyway, but you certainly can't try and make money along the way doing that. Right? 

Speaker 0

So For sure. 

Speaker 2

But, anyway, that, that whole world really came to kind of a screeching halt in two thousand eight. I I was already starting to think this isn't really what I wanna do long term, but two thousand eight made the decision for me. Like, alright. Get out of that little deal. So it that that kind of was my little world that I built. I kept my rent houses and every but everything else, my little war chest that I built, you know, kind of even the dreams I had kinda got crushed. Right? 

Speaker 0

Yeah. I mean, talk about that. And this is you know, this the show is from adversity to abundance. And as you know, I I remember two thousand eight, but, you know, maybe some of our listeners might quickly read about it, but not really appreciate what all was going down. What, I mean, how how did that I mean, you said you already were you were already not loving what you were doing, but really, mechanically, how did that, you know, crush it? 

Speaker 2

Yeah. Where it really impacted me and certainly was it's been now a lifelong, so far, lifelong lesson from it, one of the lessons. But where it really impacted me is, you know, as a home builder, and, again, call ourselves a home builder. We weren't anything major, but Mhmm. We were building houses. We 

Speaker 0

building homes. Yeah. 

Speaker 2

Yeah. We're building homes. So we're home built. So two thousand six and seven, I mean, the market is frothy and and just blowing and going, and you couldn't find builders couldn't find really lots to build on. And if you're building homes for a living, you need you need inventory. You need homes to houses to sell. Mhmm. Well, before that, you need lots 

Speaker 0

to build them. Yeah. 

Speaker 2

Right. And there weren't really there wasn't a lot of options. We had done, like, a twenty lot little redevelopment of the property, and we'd kinda built through that by about two thousand seven. And, it was, like, looking for more opportunities. Well, we ended up saying we we need to control some of our our lot inventory, control our own destiny on that front. And by the way, we can make some money. You know, we can develop this piece of land for this and then build a little profit margin when we when we roll that lot into the house. So great idea. I think it works well in a lot of situations, but in Right. Yeah. Most of them in two thousand eight, it the spigot, you know, just got turned off on it felt like almost overnight. And those lots that we hadn't even finished developing, you know, that we were thinking we'll we'll sell these for forty five, fifty thousand. I mean, practically couldn't give them away, you know, a few months later. By the time we actually finished those lots, I mean, I couldn't find we we weren't building houses anymore. The the the lending side of things for for spec home, new construction, it's it's often the mortgage. Right. You know, the mortgage world had kinda imploded. 

Speaker 0

Right. 

Speaker 2

So it was affecting, you know, buyers and and and certainly builders from in a roundabout way. And so but where I really got stung was, having having several of these land development tracks that had no way of cash flowing, you know, and you've got debt against it that's just mounting up and and just eating you alive. Right? So that's where I really got stung. I I think had I not had those things I mean, again, I was I did manage to hold on to Mhmm. The the small, I don't know, maybe ten rent house portfolio that I had at the time. And that helped a little bit because, I mean, I I still had debt on all those, but each one of them might have been thrown off after debt service and expenses, maybe a couple hundred dollars. And so, cumulatively, there was something there. 

Speaker 0

Sure. 

Speaker 2

You know, it's certainly enough to keep those paid for. But over here on the other side 

Speaker 0

Well, maybe those were some of the seeds that led to your current 

Speaker 2

orchard. Sure. 

Speaker 0

So two things on the, you know, on the two thousand eight front. One, if you wanna get you can get as specific as you want, of course, but, you know, income or net worth wise, what were things looking like beforehand and and then after? And then the second question is more just kind of what would you have what would you do differently? It's almost an unfair question. Nobody saw the crash coming like it did. But, you know, what were your lessons learned, and what what would you do differently if you had to do it all over again? But question number one, like, really financially, how did it impact you? 

Speaker 2

Yeah. I would say that and, again, I was still, you know, early in my 

Speaker 0

my wealth 

Speaker 2

building, and I was still still what? I don't know. Twenty seven, twenty eight. So it wasn't like I've had decades under my belt that I was losing millions and millions of dollars. But for me, it was everything I pretty much everything I had. Again, just fought tooth and nail to hang on to these some of these investment properties I had. But, you know, I don't know. Probably, if I had to I I could go back and look. I've saved all these financial statements over the years, but probably, you know, might have been showing maybe a million dollars in net worth at the time. And we had built the built a home building company where, I think I was drawn about a hundred and twenty thousand dollars, basically ten grand a month as a salary. Plus when a house sold, I'd get little pops that you know, my income might have been couple hundred, you know, two two fifty. I appreciate 

Speaker 0

you sharing that. I mean, that's still and that's more money. You know? That this it was a couple was two and a half decades ago or two decades ago almost rather. 

Speaker 2

Yeah. 

Speaker 0

So, I mean, that's good money for a twenty seven year old. Right? 

Speaker 2

Yeah. But it it all went pretty much flushed down. But, again, some of that again, that that those rent houses and and then the value kinda equity I had in that state. But cash went away, mostly any other assets, any other anything that didn't have some income producing, component to it, I had to let go. I had to work deals with the bank and and get out of them. And so it was it was some dark days. I mean, that so I don't know. That that literally that probably took my network down to I mean, I I'm still positive, I'd say, but only because of some of those rent houses. And so maybe maybe a hundred to two hundred thousand dollar positive net worth. Yeah. 

Speaker 0

I appreciate it. 

Speaker 2

And and income to zero 

Speaker 0

Zero. 

Speaker 2

Essentially closed that, shut that thing down, and now it's 

Speaker 0

Yeah. 

Speaker 2

Negative, all negative money going out the door, nothing coming in. 

Speaker 0

Right. Right. So before we get into lessons learned or what you do differently, how did that financial crash, and I'm talking yours personally, how did that impact your family life and and your personal life? 

Speaker 2

Hard not to separate those things. You know? Yeah. It really is difficult. And and, you know, even over the last couple of decades as things have gotten trended, you know, in a much more positive direction, you know, you're still there there's always little valleys here and there. And and it's for me, it's always been important to kinda not bring that home. I mean, as an entrepreneur and and the guy the the breadwinner and kind of the guy that's that's it's tough to let that go when you walk in the door. But, man, I I think nothing nothing is more important than family and and relationships. And so, you know, we just gotta fight to to kinda check that at the door, but it was tough. It was I I remember, you know, breaking down to my wife and telling her kinda where where things stood, and and it was it it were definitely some hard and dark days, you know. That that led me to you know, it forced me essentially back into banking. And I didn't I didn't hate banking, so it wasn't like it was a terrible option. But the the good news is I had because I had built up a little bit of, you know, relationship in the community and kinda was known. There were there were a couple of banks that said, yeah. You know? Yeah. 

Speaker 0

Well, and you also had banking experience too, which 

Speaker 2

The banking experience. Yeah. They are fall back on. So come two thousand eight, I went back to work for 

Speaker 0

Okay. 

Speaker 2

A community bank, a new community bank. 

Speaker 0

Yeah. Well so I guess it's sort of a two part question, but, you know, could you have done anything? Did you really make mistakes leading into two thousand eight? Like, you know, I'm sure there were little mistakes. But I'm saying, really, could you have done anything differently? And if so, what? 

Speaker 2

Yeah. I mean, I think it's pretty common. I don't know. I for me, in my experience looking around, it's it's not an not unusual that guys will enter into some sort of partnership when they start they wanna go out and do something. And and I I I value partnerships, a good partnership tremendously, and where each party or multiple parties are bringing their strengths. Okay. We've got some weaknesses, but you can offset that. But they're bringing something to the table. What I learned and so if if I had known a little bit better Mhmm. The partnership I went into to build to to do the home building thing wasn't a good partnership. There there was there was just a little bit of, it wasn't it wasn't good because while I had a little war chest, I didn't have deep enough pockets to really fund this this operation. And so what what we needed was a true capital partner that could have carried that piece. Not to mention the kind of the the partner that had the know how and the building side of things just didn't quite turn out to be what what I'd hoped he was. And so, I could have picked a better partnership partner or partnership is one. And the other thing that I I I couldn't have done, I what I outside of having a partner, which could've could've helped. 

Speaker 0

Mhmm. 

Speaker 2

And I remember talking about this in one entrepreneurship class I had in college that, you know, an entrepreneur is like, hey. Would you rather have fifty percent of this big number or a hundred percent of this tiny number? You know? Well, give me fifty percent. So we should have opened the door and said, hey, somebody. Come in with this land deal with us. You can make some money, and you take more of the risk and bring the capital to do it. Mhmm. But we didn't do that. We tried to do it on our own. And so I I I don't know if I I mean, I can see now 

Speaker 0

where the business is. The goal is not to beat you up, and it's, you know Yeah. Easy to look back and say, oh, this is what you did wrong, Brad. It's like but we're trying to you know, they're gonna be may not be two thousand eight exactly, but they're gonna be, you know, similar challenges ahead for people. So, that's that's 

Speaker 2

the the big lessons I mean, yeah, Find good partners if you're gonna if you're gonna go into partners partnerships, but also just just go well you know, be well capitalized. And that's where a lot of times the partnerships come from, you 

Speaker 0

know, 

Speaker 2

is is one guy. I've got the ideas. I got the know how, but I 

Speaker 0

have I 

Speaker 2

have the capital, so I need I need the capital partner. So be be well capitalized in whatever you're doing, and you don't have to use all your own money all the time. You know? Have keep that war chest for for the rainy days or for other investments and and Yeah. 

Speaker 0

Opportunities. A lot of, especially younger real estate investors and entrepreneurs, don't necessarily see it from the capital partners perspective and see the fact that you're solving a problem for them if, you know, assuming it's a good partnership. But you're bringing a lot to the table, and they need you. You know? They Sure. You know? So, it's it's you know? I think it can be easy for people to say, well, why would they wanna give their money to me? It's like, well, no. You're you're providing value to them as well. So so we don't have time to cover all the ups and downs of your career. We're definitely gonna hit on and dive into some of the other things you have going on now. Yeah. But kind of quickly walk us through from, you know, that second banking phase of your career through today. What are some of the companies you've you've created, and how have things gone since then? 

Speaker 2

Yeah. So in in two thousand eight, went back into banking full time. And, really, again, tried I tried to be as honest with, my employer at that time. Hey. Look. I I've always invested in some real estate. I'd like to continue to do it. I'm in a great spot to do that right now, but as things as things improve, I'd like to do that. So I was very upfront with them about that, and they they were very great about it and say, hey. As long as you come to us as your primary lender, we get the opportunity to do it if we wanna do it. You know? And so, really started kind of rebuilding both the the cash war chest, but also starting to build that portfolio up a little bit more. And it was it was almost exclusively, single family rentals 

Speaker 0

Okay. 

Speaker 2

At that time. And and mostly in in the town that I lived in, you know, in in a smaller town outside of Denton. We live in Crum at the time. And this little town, you know, didn't have any real apartment complexes or or anything. I knew I knew so many people there, very well connected in the community. And I found over the fifteen ish years from the first one I bought to when I sold them all, I get into that. I don't know. You know, upwards of twenty, twenty five rent rentals during that time. I mean, I might have experienced I could count on one hand probably the number of months of vacancy across the portfolio that I experienced. 

Speaker 0

Wow. 

Speaker 2

It was just a strong just very limited supply 

Speaker 0

and 

Speaker 2

strong strong market from that sense. And so enjoyed that. But as I was working in the banking in in that bank, that second bank, I really got more and more exposed to commercial real estate. 

Speaker 0

Okay. 

Speaker 2

Doing more of that lending also, you know, some of the business lending. And by about twenty twelve, thirteen, started kinda getting those thoughts back in my head again. You know, I don't think I wanna do this forever. It's a good job. I I was working with a great bank. Good people. I could have been there my whole career. There's no doubt about it. Mhmm. Family life was happy. Everything was going well, but it's like it it wasn't totally scratching all the entrepreneurial edges. You know? So, I I was fortunate to work with a a commercial broker in town who he was referring me business. I refer him business. It was a good relationship. He he kinda approached me in about twenty thirteen and said, hey, man. I've. The market's really picking back up. I think he'd be really good in commercial brokerage. I never thought about that. I'm like, that's a hundred percent commission. Right? He's like, yeah. But and so it took him a couple of years, really, of talking to me, kinda coach me through it, guide me what it would look like, and, ultimately, him coming up with a structure that kinda kinda put a little floor in it. Uh-huh. Yeah. And so I left banking in twenty fifteen Okay. Into broker commercial real estate brokerage 

Speaker 0

Okay. 

Speaker 2

As an agent. Basically a two man shop, and I was his right hand man learning that business and understanding it. And, we one of the things that he felt like was important but never wanted to to mess with or or touch was property management and being, somewhat vertically integrated in that way because he would he would find, hey. He'd represent a client on a retail center that they buy, then they would go hire x y z management company. Mhmm. He might be stay on his leasing, but over time, they were spending a lot more time talking and and working with the property manager who might also have some brokerage in there, and he would start losing clients that way. And then when they go to sell, they're talking to the property manager about selling and maybe their broker that's in house. And so wanted to be a little more sticky in that way. And so I said, you know, that's a business I've always thought would be interesting. I've got my own portfolio that I think is at the point where I was managing it all myself. I'd love to have some help doing that. And so Yeah. We started the property management company at that time. That's Northbridge. That's where the Northbridge came from. And so that's that's become a lot more. But at the time, it was, it was property management. 

Speaker 0

So and that was both residential and commercial property management? 

Speaker 2

It was it was, primarily commercial, but we definitely took residential. We were managing my my rent houses. Right. And then, we had a couple of other small well, one one fairly large multifamily complex. But we knew pretty early and, like, we wanna be commercial. This is we wanna live in the commercial world. 

Speaker 0

Commercial space. 

Speaker 2

Yeah. Took us it took us a few years to kinda get totally a hundred percent there, but yeah. 

Speaker 0

Gotcha. Would you say now I'm I'm much more familiar with, you know, the residential space, but would you say property management in as a whole is very can be very lucrative in and of itself, or is it primarily that you're kind of that sticking that sticky point, if you will, like you already said, that you can really benefit financially from from, you know, other sources because you have the property management arm? 

Speaker 2

Yeah. I we have found that it's not a very profitable business. 

Speaker 0

Okay. 

Speaker 2

I mean, by you know, now we're I wanna talk a little bit about AI and space we're gonna we're using Absolutely. We're using AI in that business to help be us be more efficient. But it it historically has been a pretty, you know, labor, quote, unquote, labor intensive business. I mean, you get a certain number of properties, and that's more than this one person can handle, so you gotta hire another person. 

Speaker 0

Right. Right. 

Speaker 2

Like, every time you get up to the level where you're just starting to make some money Right. You really need to hire another person. Right. And so it's always chasing that around. And so we pretty much acknowledge that and understood that almost from the beginning. But I'll say this. There are so many other benefits to, you know, having property management. From my perspective, from having property management company than than the actual dollars. What it does provide us is this really strong foundation of cash flow. So, I mean, that's that's as we count on this cash flow, we lights on. 

Speaker 0

Right. 

Speaker 2

Yeah. Absolutely. Keep the operation going, including a really strong team of people. 

Speaker 0

Nice. 

Speaker 2

So we'd manage a lot of third party properties, but we also manage everything that we we buy. And we pay ourselves a fee to do that, but it's it's really in house now. I get to see it, touch it, feel it, you know, on a regular basis. What's going on? Know exactly what's going on. The other thing it does is is, like I was describing, is it does make us really sticky in that brokerage world. It gives us and it gives us not not only in the brokerage world. As now as we become more and more investors and and, doing some of our own development things Yeah. We find that through the management company, we get opportunities to 

Speaker 0

buy Yeah. I mean, in in a lesser, scale, and I'm in the Baltimore, Maryland area. But, yeah, my my property manager, we've had many conversations about, you know, do I wanna partner with him or, you know, do how how could this go? But I've seen where I've referred many different clients to him for different things. Property management, he has a rehab arm, and then just Yeah. And I'm not saying I haven't benefited from him either, but it's just I can see how he's benefited in many ways just being a property manager. So you mentioned a 

Speaker 2

I I I I wanna just make one more mention. And this is this is as a real estate investor so I I basically by two thousand seventeen, I said, I wanna I wanna do a ten thirty one. I wanna sell all my house, rent houses, and exchange in a commercial. Yeah. But I believe that some of the success that I enjoy in commercial real estate investing Mhmm. Comes from one, my my work in brokerage and two, our, my work in property management. And we've got a team that really runs I don't do a lot of the actual management. But, again, around it, talking about it enough. You know? I mean, when you run a property management company, you you get to live, like You the really, the nitty gritty of 

Speaker 0

whatever it 

Speaker 2

takes to yeah. And what it takes for a property to be successful. 

Speaker 0

I mean, 

Speaker 2

you you you see, you know, what tenants what tenants value Right. Out of a property. You see the the pitfalls of deferred maintenance. You start to really understand the fundamentals of of how you can make a property good and keep it full. And so those both broker and same thing with brokers. Like, you you get to talk to tenants that they're saying, well, no. I don't like this property because of that. Oh, okay. Well, I Yeah. File that away. Like, I don't wanna buy a property because tenants don't like this. You know? So those you know, as it's it's it's really honed my skills as an investor. Yeah. 

Speaker 0

That makes a lot of sense. And my property manager has a lot of his own investments, and he keeps adding because he knows what to look for. He knows what to buy. And when we say property management, people may not not everyone realizes, like, it's not just the property. And and, you know, there's a as you've alluded to, there's kind of the the leasing arm as well as the actual property management. So Right. Depending on how it's how it's set up and there are variables there. But there's really almost like a real estate agent side of it and then, like, a construction property management side of it as well. So there's a lot going on there that that it's a valuable, you know, position to be in. But you mentioned AI, and I I've Yeah. I've, been or incorporating AI into my business a lot more and and just everyday life. I mean, it's Amazing. It's amazing. It's really it's really fascinating. I mean, there's I could, you know, talk about a lot about it, and, there's still frustration there, and it's never gonna be perfect, I don't think. But, I'd love to talk to you about how you're incorporating AI into your business or businesses. I know you have a podcast that deals with AI as well. So for a a couple minutes here, just the floor is yours. Talk about AI, the the present and the future maybe. 

Speaker 2

Okay. I a couple of minutes. Let me crack it. Yeah. Now everybody's hearing about AI and kinda, hey. We gotta you know, it's such a buzzword. And and and I think most for most of us, our first exposure is probably Chad GPT. Right. 

Speaker 0

It 

Speaker 2

was certainly mine. About a year ago is when I really kinda I was dealing with a, an issue on a property, a a a lease a tenant issue, and I I was like I was asking what one of my brothers who kind of is also does a lot of real estate stuff, and and they even started to think about calling attorneys. Like, hey. Have you have you talked to or kinda interact with chat g p GPT about this? I'm like, no. I don't I don't even think about that. And he's like, we'll try it. And I did, and I'm like, woah. It's got all the answers. It knows exactly what but I've I've since learned, no. It doesn't have all the answers. It's not perfect. But it really did help me through that situation, and I was able to work through it without and not I'm not suggesting that we don't need attorneys anymore, but I was able to work through that particular situation. Wasn't serious real serious, but through the help of of, Chatt GBT. And so that started this snowball of me looking around, talking to other people in my network, other smart guys and entrepreneurs, like, what are y'all doing? And we kinda all looked at each other like, we really don't know what to do. And so we put this little cohort together, and we just started just just meeting, at least once a month, sometimes twice a month, just Mhmm. Brainstorming, talking about what we're doing. Hey. What tools have you tried? That's led to, three of us now that we we've got it's called weeks ahead AI. And so, yeah, that's our podcast. 

Speaker 0

Speaker 2

We think we might be weeks ahead of, you know, the average Joe, so to speak. Right. And so it's not like we're real tech experts or whatever, but we're just trying to trying to test it and and and use it. One of the one of the things that one of the ways we've used it real tangible way we've used it, to 

Speaker 0

give 

Speaker 2

you an example, and then we can move on. But the, I talked about our property management team, and so we we're managing upwards of a hundred property. These are commercial properties that, you know, you you know, you generate a large monthly, property management report, sometimes forty, fifty pages. It's got it's got the full, you know, balance sheet, income statement, rent roll, the full general ledger of all the transactions that have occurred in that month. Mhmm. And and so there's a lot to compile and send out on a monthly basis to, you know, sixty, seventy, owners. Probably not as many owners as there are properties. But Right. And so it's a time consuming process. And and, Rebecca Andreessen that leads our property management team, she's very detailed and very thorough, which is great in a property manager. Mhmm. But when she wants to review each and every one of those before it goes out with a fine tooth comb and I'm sure there's no air, it's just it's just too much. I mean, she was spending days every month, you know, reviewing kind of the the the reports that the accounting and the property management team were putting together for her final blessing before it goes out to the client. Yeah. Well, we built a tool, an agent, an AI agent, and that's kind of a lot of the ways we're thinking now is, like, the LLMs are great for a lot of things. But, you know, where you really move the needle is you build an agent that is very specific to do a very specific task. And this agent's sole job is to take that monthly report, review it for the ten things we've asked it to look for, or or make sure that the name is consistent throughout. Make sure that, you know, that there aren't any errors in the page numbering. You know, some some simple things. Other things are like, if there's a discrepancy in our budget versus actual by more than five percent, point that out to me. So we've built it to say, we're looking for these specific that basically what Rebecca was looking for when she went through the property. Right. And now in a matter of minutes, it runs through it and it spits out. You know, everything's ready. Everything's 

Speaker 0

good. Okay. 

Speaker 2

Look at this area. And so it just it's taken her two days of of review down to a few hours. And Right. 

Speaker 0

So amazing. For someone who's not, you know, I I'm I'm weeks behind you, if I will. But, for someone who's maybe weeks behind me, you know, okay, LLMs are like ChatGPT, Claude. 

Speaker 2

Claude. Yeah. Yeah. The large large language models. 

Speaker 0

Right. Okay. And then to create an AI agent, not you know, we're not gonna get into the weeds on it, but how how does one go about doing that? 

Speaker 2

Well, what we what we're telling people and we're building some tools that, you know, if you jump in and listen to our or get on our our website, weeks ahead dot a I, you can see some of what we're doing. But right now, we one of the things that we found and we're finding beneficial as we we network with other people is just having some guys, some programmers, or engineers that we can refer people to. We don't really build. We're starting to build something that can kinda maybe a a platform Yeah. For people to build some agents and and use. I think it'll be super beneficial. It's not really ready right now. So we hired we hired an engineer. Gotcha. In that case, we paid him, like, seventy five hundred dollars. He built this tool for us, and that's all it is. Mhmm. And at the time and it still does. It seems like such a bargain. But today, even six, eight months later from when we built it, we probably could have that built for two or three thousand dollars. And so the cost of some of these things is 

Speaker 0

Keeps going. 

Speaker 2

As engineers and programmers are getting more accustomed to doing them and using AI to help them do them, you know, the cost is already coming down. But I would find a Yeah. A good programmer. 

Speaker 0

And did you go to, like, Upwork or something like that to find somebody like that? 

Speaker 2

We we found a couple of guys through our network. Gotcha. And these are more local guys that just we Well For us, just we we're a little more known quantities. But Sure. 

Speaker 0

I mean, for for me, I think or for a lot of people, I think that type of that that advice you just gave is comforting because it's like, this can be overwhelming, this whole AI thing. It's like, I must be so far behind. I shouldn't even try. I can't code. I don't know anything. I'm gonna I'm gonna get lost in this. I'll just quit. It's like, no. Like you just said, you can you can hire people to do this. You know? 

Speaker 2

And And and there are times even when we're building that agent. It's like, oh my gosh. This is a lot of work. It's not like, hey. Just here. Go do this, and it overnight, it works. You gotta it's it's really just like training an employee. You know? I had let's say instead, I were to have hired a person that that's their only job. Sure. They won, they're not gonna be perfect at it. No. They're gonna hey. I I need you to make sure you look for this and don't do that. And and that it took that same kind of process. It was probably a quicker learning curve, but same kind of process with this agent. But, man, it's there forever for for seventy five hundred dollars. It's just 

Speaker 0

No. I've, I've gotten into little I've I've lectured ChattGPT on some of my own principles. You know? It's it's kinda it's kinda funny how it goes. It's like I'm like, well, you you said you would have it done, you know, and I by this state, and you didn't. And it's like, I really value when people do what they say they're gonna do, but are you a person? I don't know. But, we're we're we're almost out of time. I've really enjoyed this. I've got some rapid 

Speaker 2

fire questions, Brad. 

Speaker 0

Are you ready? Let's do it. Alright. If you were given ten million dollars today, no doesn't have to be used for anything in particular, what would you do with it? 

Speaker 2

Well, I think I would continue, scaring doing? Wells yeah. I would scatter it amongst various a variety of investments. I would certainly invest some in a safe, you know, investment. It's liquid. Yeah. One of the things that I, you know, I I I've found it. It's like, I I'm not very good at investing in the stock market. I've just never had any luck personally in trying to do that. So I I very much believe in anything you're gonna do. If you don't really know what you're doing 

Speaker 0

Yeah. 

Speaker 2

Pay somebody that does it in a professional lever level, and and that's really their business. So so I'd go find a good, you know, investment, money manager guy Yeah. In miser. And and and and that's what I do. And I work with him, and he does a great job. I mean and it's not like we're we're hitting home runs, but we're, you know, ten, twelve to fifteen percent a year. Maybe it's eight percent on a low year. 

Speaker 0

Right. 

Speaker 2

But the other thing I do with that is I have them set up a line of credit against it, and I use I I'm able to use that line of credit to go kinda be a little more nimble and still keep that growth going on 

Speaker 0

and over. 

Speaker 2

So I would definitely set some of that over there. I'd go buy some I'd go buy some direct real estate that I own solely, hire a good property manager. I know one in a d f w if you need one. I would I would invest in some other businesses as well. The success I've had in in other startups outside of the ones that I've mentioned here that we've been doing directly. The success I've had is identifying good operators. Young guys that have been in an industry for ten, fifteen years, know what they're doing, have relationships, 

Speaker 0

are 

Speaker 2

hungry to do and they wanna do something on their own, but they're kinda working for the man, so to speak, right now. 

Speaker 0

Yeah. 

Speaker 2

Let's bring them over, pluck them out, back them with capital, back them with just general business knowledge and expertise, and and watch them take off. And it has worked, you know, really well. 

Speaker 0

Well, there is a common theme here because you mentioned the partnership and how important it is, right, to pick the best, good partner. And then you mentioned hiring an engineer to do the AI Mhmm. Work for you, and then you just talked about hiring, operators. So, you know, there's I don't think with all this AI talk, the the people side of things is is not gonna 

Speaker 2

We need to talk 

Speaker 0

about that. It's really it's really important. So, if you could go back and give your eighteen year old self some advice, what would that be? 

Speaker 2

Focus on relationships. 

Speaker 0

That's great. 

Speaker 2

And that's that's true in our families, our our with our spouses, our kids. But the the the people we hire are our coworkers. I mean, in real estate, our tenants. I mean, having a good working relationship with your tenant, I I mean, it breaks all the world and everything. You know, you give them a little grace here. They're gonna give you grace when the roots, like, you know, or vice versa. So 

Speaker 0

Right. 

Speaker 2

Focus on relationships. 

Speaker 0

That's really good. If you could have coffee with any historical figure, who would you choose? 

Speaker 2

Have to be Jesus Christ. 

Speaker 0

There you go. 

Speaker 2

That would be that'd be the best cup of coffee ever, I think. 

Speaker 0

It's tough to get better than that one. Yeah. What's a a struggle that you're facing or that you're dealing with in your in your business or professional life right now? 

Speaker 2

Well, I I'm at the and I'm not I'm not at retirement age, but I'm, again, I told you that we're we're nearing we we're recent empty nesters. Mhmm. And starting to think about what the next ten to fifteen years looks like, and what do I want that to look like. And so I've I've been grinding so hard and kinda head down. Mhmm. Go. Go. Go. Go. Go. But what do where do I wanna go? And we talked a little bit about that, kinda trying to find that balance. I I'm I it's a good problem to have, and it's fun to think about, but it is it is a challenge. How do I find a little more balance and and and how do I, you know, build a continue to build a team that allows me to to have a little more of that that leeway and freedom. So 

Speaker 0

Sure. Makes sense. How about a book or two that you could recommend for our listener? 

Speaker 2

I really like Atomic Habits. 

Speaker 0

That's a great one. 

Speaker 2

Hadn't that 

Speaker 0

James Clear. 

Speaker 2

Yep. Check that one out. AI first. I'm sorry. Maybe it's either think AI or AI first. I think it's called think AI first. Something like that. You you find it and draw a blank on the author's name, but read that one recently. And that's been come that's become a kind of a mentality. They the authors recognize this this book is not gonna age well. Like Right. Right. Everything's changing so rapidly. But the print the core principle was whatever challenge you've got, whatever you're facing, think about how AI Mhmm. Think first. How can AI help me through this? And that might just be brainstorming with your favorite LLM or maybe is there an agent I could build? And what we're finding, Jamie, is that there's really no limitations to what it can do. I mean, your only limitation is what you're you're Yeah. You you can think of. 

Speaker 0

That's what I've tried to I've been trying to make instill in my team as far as I I don't know every way that even ChatGPT can help us, but ask ChatGPT. You know? And How can you help me? 

Speaker 2

How can you help me? 

Speaker 0

You know? It's like and, it's just amazing what it can spit out, and then you put then you are more specific with the request, the next request that you give it. So, 

Speaker 2

AI first or think AI. That was a good book. 

Speaker 0

Awesome. Alright, Brad. This this has been fantastic. Where can our listeners find you online? 

Speaker 2

Yeah. So mention the weeks ahead, dot a I. That's that's our AI focus stuff in in our podcast, weeks ahead AI. That's always fun. I think really, really valuable information there. But personally, LinkedIn is the best way. So just k. Brad Andrus, Northbridge Commercial Real Estate. You'll find me on there. I'd love to connect with with your listeners and, really enjoyed being on here and having this discussion with you today, Jim. 

Speaker 0

And for those not, watching, Brad's last name is a n d r u s. That's how it's spelled. Brad, thank you so much. Any parting words of wisdom for our listener? 

Speaker 2

So if you get on the the the the LinkedIn, you'll see that when in my little one of my little tagline is together we can. I I believe that as we all kinda try and work together, share thoughts, Like, there's there's no there needs to there should not be a scarcity mindset. There's plenty of opportunities. We we need to work together, collaborate together, share ideas. That's kinda what was really born out of that that cohort that I I mentioned of of thinking about AI. There's been so much good value created that we've so anyway 

Speaker 0

Yeah. 

Speaker 2

Together we can. Let's let's keep working together. I love it. 

Speaker 0

I know there's a lot of, you know, so much divisiveness and so much, negativity and hate in the world right now. And I was listening to a podcast just real quickly. I just was listening to a podcast yesterday. It was the diary of a CEO, and it was, Morgan Housel, I think is his name, but he wrote the book Psychology of Money. And he was talking about how Yeah. Everything goes in cycles, whether we're talking about financial cycles, like, the Great Depression was obviously a rock bottom for 

Speaker 2

Right. 

Speaker 0

A lot of people. But just it's it's very difficult to see it when you're in you're you're in that negative state that that it can improve and that it will. 

Speaker 2

Yeah. 

Speaker 0

Right? But if you look at history, it it always has. So there's no reason we can't have optimism to collaborate and build a better world together. So that's a great, note to end end the episode on. So, Brad Andrus, thanks thank you so much for spending your time with us. 

Speaker 2

Hey. Thanks for having me, Jamie. 

Speaker 0

It's been a blast. And to the listener, thank you for spending your most valuable resource with us, and that is your time. Thanks, everyone. Take care. 

Speaker 1

Thank you for joining us on From Adversity to Abundance. We hope today's episode has equipped you with valuable insights and real estate journey. For more inspiring stories and resources, visit us at w w w dot adversity to abundance dot com. If this episode has inspired you, please share it with a friend who could also benefit from our conversation. Together, let's turn adversity into abundance. Until next time, keep building your mental fitness and your real estate empire. 

Speaker 0

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