Brian Grimes Turns Existing Structures into Affordable Housing — and Massive Profits
Brian Grimes went to Columbia University, but he traces his success in real estate — culminating in the founding of 24/7 Cash Flow University and the YouTube channel Brian Loves Cash Flow — back to the time he spent on the basketball court with LeBron James.
No, he didn’t play for the NBA — but at 6’4” was nationally ranked by the age of 14, and when he was a freshman in high school he flew to Akron to play LeBron James, then a junior in high school but already on the radar as the next Michael Jordan.
“He was unbelievable,” Grimes said to Michael Duncan on the The Road to Financial Freedom Podcast. “As high as he can jump even now at 38, I mean, this guy could fly at 17, 18 — chest at the rim.”
What stood out to Grimes about LeBron, though, was the work ethic. “He definitely has natural talents and gifts,” Grimes said, “but he puts in that work. He gets in the gym. And even back then he was putting in a lot of work that, you know, high school kids were out partying and not putting in.”
“To he who much is given, much is expected,” he said. “And that expectation is that you will wake up and show up every day and put that 100% in or 110% in every day to get to your goal.”
Starting his post-Ivy League career as a financial advisor, Grimes attacked real estate investing with the same vigor he used to attack basketball. In two years, he had enough cash flow from rental property to cover his bills, fully extracting himself from the nine-to-five in seven years.
But it isn’t “retirement” in the way most people think of it. Grimes loves what he does. “The most successful people in life, they work until they just drop, man,” he said. “They never stop working because they love it.”
Creating Affordable Housing Where None Existed Before
One of the things Grimes loves about his real estate work is the fact that he genuinely gets to help people. Lots of real estate investors talk about “helping people” as their primary motivation, but it doesn’t always ring true.
But the proof is in the pudding for Grimes. His niche is to create affordable housing through “co-living” renovations.
When investors gut-renovate a house in an infill neighborhood, they usually intend to upgrade it to a luxury home and sell it to a well-to-do family. The investor makes a big profit (assuming the renovation goes well) … but people get priced out of the neighborhood.
But Grimes was trying to figure out how to be a real estate investor during the COVID lockdown and ensuing recession, when people were living on their parents’ couches. His solution — gut-renovate houses into three master suites with a shared kitchen, and rent each unit individually to roommates.
“Instead of renting that single bed three bed/one bath for $1,250 a month, I can rent each co-living unit for $750, utilities included, internet included,” Grimes said. “And now I have this product where this property was spitting out $1,250 now spitting out $2,250 a month.”
Reclaiming Lost Communities
This is not only good for Grimes, but good for the tenants, who have an affordable place to live. And it’s good for the communities because it allows more people to move back into neighborhoods they might otherwise have not been able to afford to live in.
“You know, I grew up in the C class area of Philly,” Grimes said, “and I have a passion for going back into communities that need development and just rehabbing them in ways that make sense and that create affordable housing.”
It also means less crime in those neighborhoods. “The way to get rid of crime [is to] put more eyeballs in the house,” Grimes said, “put more eyeballs in the community. That’s more people to call the cops. That’s more people to complain. That’s more people to go to the politicians and write letters. And it runs crime out.”
The Gift of Failure
Today, Grimes teaches people from all over the continent to reproduce his success with the 100 Keys Masterclass, a program designed to accelerate them to 100 “keys” (i.e. 100 rental units) down the road to financial freedom.
His biggest message — don’t be discouraged by the “no’s” you’ll inevitably hear along the way, and don’t be afraid to fail. Failure hurts, but it’s the best teacher.
“I had a contractor run off with $40,000 on my first full gut renovation project,” Grimes said. “That was very painful. But the lessons and value that I got from that were worth $400,000 or $4 million, you know, cuz it was applied over and over again.”
“If you stick with it long term, the lesson you learn from that early disappointment can make you a million dollars if you get the value out of those lessons.”
