In this episode of the Pick Up The Phone Podcast, host Josue Llanas (CEO of Vancom) sits down with Houston real estate powerhouse Chai Phansalkar to dissect a career built onrelentless pivoting, massive wholesale deals, and an immigrant's unwavering drive. Chai shares the full story of how he went from an engineering student at the University of Houston to a seasoned investor with over 600 real estate transactions — including a single wholesale deal that generated a $1,000,000 assignment fee on a 180-unit apartment complex.

This is not just a success story. It is a masterclass in real estate strategy for 2026 and beyond.

Chai reveals the exact tactics he used to thrive through every market shift — from his first cold

call that landed a $35,000 deal, to building a new construction empire with zero bank leverage

🏠 In this episode of the Pick Up the Phone Podcast, host Josue Llanas (CEO of Vancom) sits down with Houston real estate powerhouse Chai Phansalkar — investor, lender, and developer behind Stepup Capital and Rising Tides Lending. Chai shares his raw, unfiltered journey from an engineering student who came to America from Pune, India with nothing but a dream, to closing over 600 real estate transactions — including a single wholesale deal that generated a $1,000,000 assignment fee on a 180-unit apartment complex.

This is NOT your typical real estate success story. Chai gets brutally honest about the failed businesses, the fear that almost stopped him, the $55,000 non-refundable bet, and the pivots that saved him every single year. If you've ever wondered what it actually takes to build a real estate empire from scratch — this is it.

💡 KEY TAKEAWAYS: ✅ How Chai landed a $35,000 deal on the very FIRST cold call his VA ever made ✅ The $55K non-refundable earnest money bet that led to a $1,000,000 wholesale fee ✅ Why 2026 is the BEST time to buy real estate — more opportunity than 2021 ✅ The "over-rehab and under-price" strategy that made $90K on flips in 2025 ✅ How Chai built a 16-unit development in Houston with ZERO bank debt ✅ The 50/50 profit-sharing structure that replaces banks entirely ✅ Why wholesaling alone is a trap — and how Chai built an ecosystem instead ✅ The Sub2 community Zoom that had 545 students attend on the second call ✅ How Chai went from firing all his staff during COVID to buying 50 homes that same year ✅ The one-stop shop vision: land, construction, hard money lending, and accounting under one roof

📌 CHAPTERS:

00:00 - Introduction: 600+ Deals & a $1M Wholesale Fee

01:09 - From Pune, India to Houston: The Origin Story

05:03 - Discovering Wholesaling Through Lifestyles Unlimited

09:35 - Direct Mail Mastery: 300 Letters, 7 Calls, 1 Life-Changing Deal

13:03 - When Mail Marketing Died: The Pivot to Cold Calling

14:04 - The Secret to a 10+ Year Business Partnership with Praash

17:13 - The $35,000 Deal from the VERY FIRST Cold Call Ever Made

24:05 - The $1,000,000 Wholesale Deal: The Full Story

33:46 - Teaching Underwriting in the Sub2 Community with Pace Morby

40:06 - The COVID Pivot: Buying 50 Homes in One Year

43:20 - Launching a Hard Money Lending Company (Stepup Capital)

47:07 - New Construction: How One Contractor Changed Everything

54:03 - Blueprint: A 16-Unit Development with ZERO Bank Debt

59:38 - BOLD PREDICTION: Why 2026 Is the Best Time to Buy Real Estate

01:05:00 - The Art of the Pivot: Adapting Every Year

01:09:13 - How to Connect with Chai & Final Thoughts

🔗 CONNECT WITH CHAI PHANSALKAR: 📸 Instagram / TikTok: @ChaiFans 🏦 Stepup Capital (Hard Money Lending — Texas): http://stepupcapital.com 🌐 Rising Tides Lending (Brokerage — Nationwide): http://risingtideslending.com

🔗 CONNECT WITH JOSUE / VANCOM: 🌐 Book a Free Strategy Session: http://vancom.io/schedule

🏠 In this episode of the Pick Up the Phone Podcast, host Josue Llanas (CEO of v

Willny shares his raw, unfiltered journey from a 17-year-old in Broward County,

This is NOT your typical real estate success story. Willny gets brutally honest

💡 KEY TAKEAWAYS:

✅ How Willny found his first deal on Craigslist (tied up at $50K, sold at $535

✅ The $5,000 mastermind that completely changed his trajectory

✅ The exact SMS blast strategy that generated a $700,000 land deal

✅ Why "your last win is your worst enemy" (and how to combat it)

✅ The Visionary + Integrator partnership model and why two visionaries fail

✅ How he spent $250,000 on marketing and made $1.1 million in one year

✅ The GoHighLevel lead scoring system that automates his entire follow-up

✅ Why land investing is the most underrated niche in real estate

✅ The brutal truth: wholesaling is a high-paying job, not a business

✅ How his coaching student made $105,000 on his very FIRST cold call

📌 CHAPTERS:

00:00 - Introduction

00:50 - From High School to Wholesaling

02:50 - The First Craigslist Deal

04:30 - Driving 1,200 Miles to Houston Alone

09:00 - Handwritten Letters & the Second Deal

11:00 - The $5K Mastermind That Changed Everything

12:36 - Partnering Up & $400K in Fees

16:31 - Visionary vs. Integrator: Why Partnerships Fail

17:10 - Going Solo & Making $1.1 Million

19:08 - Spending $250K on Marketing to Make $1.1M

21:08 - Leadership Failures & How to Fix Them

24:00 - The $700K Land Deal: Full Breakdown

29:20 - One Deal Can Change Your Life

30:43 - The 21-Unit Apartment: A Brutal Case Study

33:04 - "Your Last Win Is Your Worst Enemy"

36:03 - Sales Is a Spiritual Game

40:04 - The $260K Land Deal in Scottsdale

41:42 - The Land Investing Strategy Nobody Uses

44:38 - What's Next: New Construction & $1.2M Year

47:00 - Coaching: How His Students Make $100K+

50:48 - Salesforce, GoHighLevel & Marketing Automation

52:34 - The #1 Reason You're Losing Deals (Drip Sequences)

54:29 - How to Connect with Willny

🔗 CONNECT WITH WILLNY GUIFARRO:

📸 Instagram: @willygafaro

🔗 CONNECT WITH JOSUE / VANCOM:

🌐 Book a Free Strategy Session: http://vancom.io/schedule

💡 Real estate veteran Gibran BB Hernandez — certified appraiser, broker, and former wholesaling powerhouse — joins host Josue Llanas on the Pick Up The Phone Podcast to break down what it really takes to succeed in today's shifting housing market.

🔑 What you'll take away from this episode:

1. The systems behind 500+ wholesale deals in a single year
2. How the rise of iBuyers and institutional ad spend crushed small wholesalers — and how to survive it
3. What appraisers actually do and why investors need them on their side
4. Gibran's 2024–2025 housing market forecast: a mild recession, a 10–15% correction, and where smart money moves
5. Why multiple marketing streams aren't optional — they're survival
6. From the Great Recession to COVID construction chaos: lessons from every market cycle

📍 Based in Houston, TX — but the insights apply everywhere.

🌐 Website: blancand.com | 📲 Instagram: @lonearappraiser

#RealEstate #Wholesaling #HousingMarket #PropertyAppraisal #RealEstateInvesting #HoustonRealEstate #MarketPredictions #RealEstatePodcast #PickUpThePhonePodcast #CertifiedAppraiser

What does it take to leave everything behind and start over in a new country — and then build a real estate investing business from nothing?

In this episode of Pick Up The Phone, Josue Llanas talks with Kateryna Titenko, a Ukrainian immigrant turned Houston real estate agent and investor. Kateryna shares her journey from arriving in the U.S. to building a property investment portfolio in the Texas real estate market.

Topics covered: • Leaving Ukraine and starting over in America • Breaking into Houston real estate as a new immigrant • How she built her first investment portfolio • Overcoming language and cultural barriers • The mindset shift that changed everything • Advice for aspiring real estate investors

Connect with Kateryna: https://www.instagram.com/k_titenko/

🎤 Episode Sponsors:

🏦 Renovo Lending — Houston DSCR loan expert for real estate investors. Single-family and multifamily. In-house appraisals, easy underwriting, no AMC fees. Contact Andrew Faught: (210) 425-2190

📝 Black Label Title — Investor-friendly title company specializing in pass-through funding and pass-through closing costs. Perfect for double closings. Contact Natalie Murillo: (936) 442-8486

🏠 New Western — Houston's largest dispo team. 20-30 agents calling daily. 72 deals closed last year. Contact Caisen Sullivan: (409) 527-1115

💰 GetHardMoney.com — Connect with local hard money lenders nationwide. Free flip calculators and cash-to-close tools: https://gethardmoney.com

🤖 GetsYou.ai — AI voice agents that pick up every call, qualify leads, and book appointments for your business 24/7. Free demo: https://getsyou.ai

From clocking in at a 9–5 to building a real estate empire.

Derek Kelley’s story is about work ethic, confidence, and refusing to stay stuck.

Derek has completed 400+ real estate transactions in just 4 years, currently runs 30 active house flips, and owns 300+ doors — all while starting this journey with a W-2 job.

He didn’t wait for the “perfect time.”

He worked nights, weekends, and holidays.

He did his own handyman work, bought foreclosure deals, and learned the game while still showing up to work every day at the plants in Baytown.

In this episode, Derek breaks down what it really takes to scale while still working a job — and the mindset required to move from employee to empire builder.

🔑 In this episode, Derek breaks down:

• 🏗️ How he scaled flips while working a full-time W-2 job

• 🔨 Doing his own rehab work early to keep deals alive

• 🤝 Building partnerships — and knowing when to simplify

• 🧠 Why being the right partner matters

• 📈 How he evaluates deals and adds value every time

• 🏠 Running construction while managing multiple projects

• 💥 Lessons learned from a $150,000 partnership loss

• 🪞 Why your only real competition is the person in the mirror

• 🔍 How he filters partners and structures JV deals before LLCs

• 🔢 Running numbers confidently and performing as a closer

• 🚀 How purpose changes as you grow — and why belief unlocks the next level

Derek doesn’t sugarcoat the grind.

Real estate is hard. Partnerships get tested. Mistakes cost money.

But if there’s a problem, there’s always a solution.

This episode is for anyone still working a job but knowing deep down they’re meant for more.

Entrepreneurship is about making calls others won’t. That’s where we come in — combining AI, people, and relentless hustle to fill your pipeline with leads and scale your business.

Click on the link below to see how Vancom can help! 🔗 https://vancom.io/calendar-page

Connect with Us: Instagram / josuellanass

Our guest: Contact Derek Call/Text 281-352-2632

Visit his Facebook page Derek Kelley

👉 Don’t forget to like, comment, and subscribe for more powerful stories of business, real estate, and scaling your business! 🔔

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#From9to5 #RealEstateEmpire #RealEstateInvesting #HouseFlipping #RealEstatePodcast #EntrepreneurMindset #InvestorLife #RentalProperties #ScalingBusiness #JointVentures #RealEstateDeals #ConstructionLife #BusinessOwnership #PickupThePhonePodcast #Vancom

James Toler is the #1 lender in Houston and Galveston County, with over 3,000 loans funded since 2021 and more than 100 flips per year under his belt. He’s the owner of King James Lending and one of the sharpest operators in the Texas real estate game.

In this episode, James breaks down the mindset, strategy, and slow, obsessive improvement that built his empire — from earning just $4,000 in commission on his first flip… to becoming one of Houston’s most trusted lenders.

James shares how early exposure to business shaped him, why confidence is essential in investing, and the real behind-the-scenes truth about contractors, private money, and scaling a team.

This episode is packed with game. 👊🔥

In this episode, James breaks down:

🔥 How he went from making $4,000 commission on his first flip → to 100+ flips a year

💰 The deal that made him $60K and shifted his entire trajectory

🧠 Why “slow improvement” is his secret advantage

🛠️ How he built long-term, reliable contractor relationships

🤝 How he secured his first private investor (and the exact structure he used)

👥 Why culture is everything when scaling a team

💼 How his wife helped streamline operations and scale faster

🏦 How he accidentally became a lender — and funded 70–90 loans with his own capital before scaling

📈 Why sales & marketing are the lifeblood of volume

🏗️ His land holdings, new builds, and long-term investment strategy

📊 What he saw in the 2025 market — and how he adapted to win

🚀 His goals for 2026 and the mindset behind ongoing growth:

“Focus on the actions that produce results — not the results themselves.”

James Toler’s story proves that obsession, consistency, and smart systems can take you further than talent alone.

If you’re an investor, lender, or operator — this episode is mandatory.

Entrepreneurship is about making calls others won’t. That’s where we come in — combining AI, people, and relentless hustle to fill your pipeline with leads and scale your business.

Click on the link below to see how Vancom can help! 🔗 https://vancom.io/calendar-page

Connect with Us: Instagram / josuellanass

Our guest: Contact James Call/Text 832-256-8596

Visit his website https://www.kingjameslending.com/

His personal Instagram jamesrtoler

👉 Don’t forget to like, comment, and subscribe for more powerful stories of business, real estate, and scaling your business! 🔔

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#JamesToler #KingJamesLending #HoustonRealEstate #RealEstateInvesting #HardMoneyLender #HouseFlipping #EntrepreneurMindset #BusinessLeadership #InvestorLife #TexasRealEstate #SalesAndMarketing #RealEstatePodcast #PickupThePhonePodcast #Vancom #FinancialFreedom #RealEstateDeals #RealEstateEmpire