Medical device sales was Brandon Cobb’s dream job. It took him years to break in, he believed in the product, and he loved being in the operating room every day. Then one afternoon his boss asked him to meet at Starbucks, and before Brandon could share how much he had sold that day, he was fired.
In this episode, Chris and Brandon talk through what came next: three failed businesses, the discovery of real estate, and the path from house flips to new construction to land development. Brandon opens up about 2022, when rates doubled on his construction debt and he had to make the hardest calls of his career to his investors, and about the routine and mindset that carried him through. Then they get practical: how he structures land deals today to take risk off the table, what he is seeing from national builders, and how he runs his business with a team of AI agents.
Brandon Cobb is the CEO of HBG Capital and a real estate investment consultant specializing in land development and affordable housing communities. A former medical device sales representative, he transitioned into real estate, and his firm now manages over $22 million in land development projects annually.
He is also the founder of Learn Land Development, a mastermind coaching program that teaches students to navigate every stage of land development, from entitlement and development to new construction. Brandon has been featured on the cover of REI Wealth Magazine and Realty 411 Magazine and has been published in Forbes.
What you’ll learn
- How getting fired taught Brandon that nobody would look out for his finances but him
- The consulting course, blog and life coaching business that failed before real estate worked
- How house flips led to new construction, and new construction led to land development
- Why Chris tells his sons it’s okay to fail
- What adjustable-rate construction debt does to a developer when rates double
- Why Brandon picked up the phone and over-communicated with lenders and investors
- The routine that got him through: sleep, the gym, good books and cutting back
- How The Untethered Soul finally taught him to meditate after 15 years of trying
- Why Brandon only does pre-sold deals now, with the buyer’s skin in the game
- How he uses options and entitlements to add value to land before he buys it
- Why he keeps looking for new, growing builders instead of relying only on past relationships
- What he is seeing in the luxury market, townhouses and build-to-rent
- How he built a business around AI agents with no programming background
Resources mentioned:
- Learn Land Development: learnlanddevelopment.com
- Brandon’s free AI webinar: joinaiaccelerator.com
- The Untethered Soul and The Surrender Experiment by Michael Singer
Get a free copy of How to be Financially Free by Forty
Listen to the podcast on your preferred platform:
Christopher Larsen is the founder and Managing Partner of Next-Level Income. Since “retiring” after 18 years in the medical device industry he dedicates his time to helping others become financially independent through education and investment opportunities. Chris has been investing in and managing real estate for over 20 years.
While completing his degree in Biomechanical Engineering and M.B.A. in Finance at Virginia Tech, he bought his first single-family rental at age 21. Chris expanded into development, private-lending, buying distressed debt as well as commercial office, and ultimately syndicating multifamily properties. He began syndicating deals in 2016 and has been actively involved in over $500M of real estate acquisitions.
In addition to real estate, Chris has invested in equities, oil & gas, and small business lending, as well as being active in Venture South, one of the nation’s Top 10 Angel Investing groups. Chris lives with his wife and two boys (and Viszla, Lucy!) in Asheville, NC where he loves spending time with them in the outdoors and enjoying the food and culture that the region has to offer.
Love the show? Subscribe, rate, review, and share!
Join the Next- Level Income Show Community today:
Follow Us On Social Media:
Tagged: Group 4
Subscribe to The Next-Level Income Show