Episode 1: From Greenlight REI to The Potentializer - Why The Real Estate Industry Needs a New Model

You're listening to The Potentializer, the show where small apartment investors learn how to grow wealth faster with less effort, more credibility, and real impact. Hosted by bestselling author and platform builder Lance Edwards, this podcast is your inside track to smarter models, collaborative deals, and overlooked opportunities that create true freedom. Whether you're just getting started or ready to scale with partners, platforms, and purpose, This is Your Launchpad.

Welcome to The Potentializer. This is where we unlock the true potential in people through small apartment real estate platforms and partnerships. I'm your host, Lance Edwards, author, entrepreneur, and founder of the Wealth Mastermind Network. And let me just tell you, this isn't just another real estate show. This is all about scaling wealth. It's about scaling your authority and scaling your impact by potentializing What you already have, whether it's a property, a partnership, or your own untapped brilliance. So if you're an aspiring entrepreneur investor ready to step into your first deal, or you're an experienced small apartment owner looking for leverage, freedom, and legacy, you're in the right place. So let's potentialize what's possible. And I want to welcome you to this inaugural issue under the new banner of The Potentializer. They used to be known as Greenlight REI. So we've shifted this, this episode today is explaining why we've made the pivot from Greenlight REI to The Potentializer, and frankly, more broadly, why the real estate industry needs— needed a new model. And so I want to give you real quickly a little bit of my story, my background. You look at my journey, this upcoming, this July 4th, 2025 will be 20 years ago to the day that I left corporate America. Left at that point a 20-year job, 20-year career in engineering and stepped out into real estate full-time. I had been working real estate part-time for 3 years and that had liberated me. And my niche is small apartments. And so, that was July 4th, 2005. That anniversary is coming up for 20 years. We'll talk about— there's going to be an event I'm using to Make some announcements there. But I left there and was doing very well with small departments. A couple years later, it was— that's July of 2007, I started teaching people, and that launched a seminar and a coaching business that served very well for over 15 years and had lots of clients come through that. We had lots of impact. We had lots of success stories. But things shifted. Certainly, internet became more predominant. YouTube became more predominant. And what became— what was needed is, you know, the information became a commodity. And so, we needed to shift to a new model of transformation for our clients and for the industry. And this new model is one that's built upon a platform of partnerships, a platform of collaboration, And now even a platform of AI and amplified results. And so, with that pivot, that pivot has occurred in my business, and that, you know, we no longer consider ourselves a seminar business. We are a platform and partnership business focused on the niche of small apartments. And so, this is the launch, the inaugural episode. Given that pivot, it's the Potentializer. And the Potentializer name was chosen because this is a phrase that I've coined. And with regards to— I look at what we're doing is going out and getting the true potential in people and the true potential in these properties and the true potential in partnerships and unlocking these overlooked opportunities that are out there. And this has always been my knack. I was really influenced by Jay Abraham so many years ago. And so this, this gives— podcasts will give time to helping you unlock the potential in yourself and see these overlooked opportunities that are all around us, particularly in real estate and small apartments. So as part of this pivot, let me share what I've noticed over the years is with teaching and coaching folks, most people don't fail from lack of tactics. That's not the reason. They fail from lack of structure. They fail from lack of support. Sometimes they lack from— they fail from lack of self-belief. They just don't believe. And so, you know, all the coaching in the world can't coach through that. One of the big problems people have when they're getting started is, oh, you know, who am I going to work with? Who's going to be on my team, etc.? And that's an example of lack of structure, lack of support. And that's on the aspiring side. I've also noticed— Working with small apartment owners for 20 years is most owners simply do not maximize the opportunity in their assets. They don't maximize their revenues. They don't maximize their presence. They don't maximize their authority because they don't see the untapped potential in their properties. And so, that's what also has led to this pivot is this just huge opportunity For us in the small apartment space. And I realized what I do isn't about deals. It's now about unlocking the potential in people, properties, and partnerships, hence the name The Potentializer. So what's new? What's new with what we're doing? What's new with the podcast? Well, this is a shift from information to transformation.

Information.

That's the seminar business. Seminar business. That's largely, largely been commoditized. What's needed is the transformation, is the experience. So, this show now focuses on, of course, continuing the thread with the Greenlight REI is small apartment real estate as the most overlooked wealth vehicle. We can do a whole episode on all the reasons for small apartments. But I'll just rattle some off here real quick. Less competition, the ability to scale, forced appreciation. You can hire good property managers. You can get great low-interest loans. You can do seller financing. You can collaborate with others in your area and you create economies of scale through something we call network department ownership. But this is one of the most overlooked wealth vehicles. Everybody focuses either on single-family or they're, they're on the large institutional-grade Properties, and there's nothing wrong with that. But I'm telling you right now, there's a huge opportunity that's overlooked in small apartments. We continue with small apartments, and I have continued for the past 20 years. This show also now focuses on building scalable platforms for your own authority, so you can attract deals. You can attract partnerships even before you have experience, even before you have experience. And this is a big one, especially for those you they're just getting started out. It also show also focuses on creating wealth through collaborations and co-partnerships. So you're not alone. This is not a solo hustle. One of the reasons people get stuck either getting started or scaling because they're all alone. They're just all alone and that's— they get stuck. This is the opposite of that. This is all about collaboration and co-partnerships. And also the show is going to focus on leveraging AI. There's just no getting around the presence of AI. And it's just— it's here. And so, the ways that we're tapping into it right now in my own organization, the ways we're tapping into it to potentialize my own properties, my own assets, We're bringing that to you and also through proprietary smart systems to go unlock that hidden equity, that hidden potential in the assets you either own right now or that you're going to be acquiring. And then finally, the show is also going to focus on using frameworks like my Potentializer Audit where you can go into existing assets, apartments, small apartments, and you can find those opportunities to increase the revenue and And boost the value and boost the cash flow. And so this is all about a smarter model for small apartment investing and entrepreneurship. So that's what's new. So what's out? What's out with this pivot, with this pivot of my business, with this pivot of the podcast? What's out? Well, the outdated solo operator mindset. I call it the one-man band. And this is how most of us get started. This is true when I got started. This is why I spent a year fumbling around until I realized this wasn't the path. This is how most small apartment operators— owners and operators operate right now as one-man band landlords. And that is not a way to scale. That's not the lifestyle choice you want. It's not a choice of legacy. And so that model and that mindset is out. That's not even what we talk about here. We're talking about a new way to do it. We'll get in that in a moment. What's also out is the guru model. Guru models, which is the— is the— is, you know, gather around, let me share the secrets. Let me give you— again, it's just more information. Let me share the secrets. But what they don't offer in the guru model is the structure. They don't offer deal flow. They don't offer shared upside in partnerships, you're left— for me, when I was left to go figure all this out, and that's why I fumbled around. It wasn't until I got involved in my first partnership that everything opened up for me. I did my first property, this is 20 years ago, bought a fourplex, bought it with 100% seller financing simply because I had a partner who just gave me, you know, loaned me credibility, loaned me authority. From there, I did 50 deals over the next couple years and That's what led to me escaping my corporate job July 4th, 2005. So, this is not about guru models. And it's also not about the traditional syndication models which were built for scaling. The syndication models where it's all about go raise a bunch of money and go buy a bunch of doors. And that's not a model for lifestyle and legacy because what the model there is you have to constantly feed the beast. You have all these investors and you got to feed the beast, you got to feed the beast, you have to have the communications. Now, this is about lifestyle and wealth creation all simultaneously at the same time. And also what's out is— I mean, coaching is great, but coaching that stops at just motivation and rah-rah instead of building the infrastructure or instead of providing the infrastructure is simply not enough. We don't need to be coached on how to be a better one-man band. We need to be coached on here's the symphony orchestra to work with. Here's the collaboration set up for you. You go be the conductor and you play, get the symphony to play to your vision. So, what we're doing through this pivot and in highlighting here in the Potentializer Podcast and what we're doing with Wealth Mastermind Network is we're replacing the old one-man band model with what I call the small apartment symphony where you're the conductor. You're the leader of your symphony and everyone's playing to your sheet music, but all the symphony has been arranged for you. The, the money, the markets, the systems, the playbooks, the collaborations, the brokers, the property managers, everything, everything has been arranged for you. So that's what's out. So why, why does this shift Matter? Why does this shift matter? And why did I make the pivot? And I see this as if I spent the last 20 years doing what I'm doing, this is me, my focus for the next 20 years. Well, I'll tell you a number of reasons. First of all, small apartment owners, besides being all alone, are largely underserved. Everybody's focusing on the single-family space or the big institutional or buying the 200 units and above. We are speaking to the niche of small apartments, which I define as 2 to 100 doors, that is mom-and-pop owned and largely mom-and-pop solo operated. And they're also the backbone of the housing industry, these small apartment properties. So, this is why this is important. The opportunity to make an impact in one of the core housing providers is a small apartment space. At the same time, what's happening within this space, we have economic shifts going on. Anybody that owns real estate or rental property has certainly experienced by now the insurance hikes. I've seen on my properties with my recent renewals a 60%, 6-0%, increase in my premiums. I live in Florida, my home in Florida. Now I live on the coast in Southwest Florida on a house that's been hit 3 times by hurricanes in the last 2 years. 3 times. This past year, it was hit twice in 2 weeks. And so, you know, and we see not only in Florida, but the fires, all these weather-related disasters are putting a strain on the insurance industry. They're trying to figure out how they're going to respond. And so, what they do is everybody's sharing the cost. Everybody's sharing the cost, and and that's one example. Small apartment owners and all rental properties are facing, and so how do you address that? How do you address that? It's one of the topics we'll be talking about in here. And another one is cap rate compression. Now what cap rate compression means is a few years ago values were going up. Values are going up now with interest rates up. They've gone down. How does a small apartment owner? Respond to that. There's these pressures of insurance that are going up, pressures of values that are going down. When your insurance rates go up, your cash flow goes down. And so, how— if you're a solo owner, what do you do? And it's a very— could be a very scary time. And this is why it's important for the— use this platform of the podcast and use the platform we're doing with the Wealth Mastermind Network to provide these solutions. Because— We have solutions. We have solutions. And I think another reason this matters is especially the aspiring investors looking to get started in real estate or maybe looking to shift from single-family into small apartments. They need a faster path to credibility. They need a faster path to the capital, and they need a faster path to the connection. And so we've built the platform to provide all of that. And you'll hear us talking about this as well. What's Where it's a greased chute. Everything is in place. So bottom line, why this shift is important. The industry, especially small apartments, needed a new infrastructure with a platform that delivers results. All the pieces are in place. That's my favorite phrase. All the pieces are in place. It's not just the content. It's not just training videos, but it's all the pieces in place that are required after that. Having the right people. In place, having the right systems in place, and having the right environment to support you and your mindset as you step out here. Because frankly, it's an entrepreneurial endeavor. And if you're brand new to this, we were never taught this stuff in school, it can be downright scary. And so, we need that environment to work on. And if you're the small apartment owner who's out there all alone operating your property by yourself and you get the bill for your insurance and it just went up 60%, gulp, and it's going to squeeze or put you in a negative cash flow, what are you going to do? And so that's having the right people, the right systems, right environment. Having the platform is why this is so important. So this isn't just a podcast. Let's consider it a performance platform, a launching pad for dealmakers, for operators, and experts who want to collaborate and scale together. So this is the inaugural issue. So what can you expect going forward? Well, you can expect real stories for people who are doing this, people who are leveraging a platform, some people who are taking my platform and creating their own platform for their own authority to attract more deals, to attract more partnerships, to attract more capital. You also can expect to hear real frameworks. What works? How are people addressing the insurance crisis. And it's literally a crisis called the National Insurance Crisis. How are people addressing increased interest rates? And all the, you know, problems du jour that are going to come up in real estate ownerships. And also what you expect here is real deal breakdowns where we talk about how these projects are being underwritten, how they're being potentialized. Meaning, how are we boosting the rents? How are we boosting the rents without losing occupancy? That's a big one. People don't seem to They just can't imagine that. We do it every day. And so, we need to shift that mindset. We'll do that through this podcast platform. And of course, what you also can expect here, interviews with collaborators. People that I'm collaborating with, with my Wealth Mastermind network. Consultants and co-creators. And really interviews with what I call the right people. The collaborative people. The ones that want to see the model that we're doing and coming together. And of course, you can expect how-to episodes. And discussions on how to potentialize your property. This is a huge one right now. If you have a, you know, 60% insurance hike, one of the things you can do is you better get your revenues up to cover that. Also is how to, you know, potentialize your own platform. How to build your own platform for authority and how to potentialize your own path. How to get the maximum potential out of everything that you have been born with and everything that's now been provided to you around this platform. And then of course, I'll show you access points to join our Wealth Mastermind Network and come check it out and evaluate it and become part of our platform and movement over there. So, that's what you can expect. I can also tell you that coming up on July 4th, 2025, this year, which will celebrate my 20-year anniversary from literally my last day in corporate America, We're going to be having a launch party. We're going to be doing a live broadcast from the beach, from my home on the beach in Florida, that same home that's been hit by 3 hurricanes in the past 2 years. And so, I'm going— on July 4th, I'm going live from the beach to celebrate 20 years since I left corporate America thanks to small apartments. And also on July 4th, at that live broadcast, I'm going to reveal the future of small apartment investing You'll meet the platform there. You'll hear the stories. You'll see the stories. You get the tools to plug in immediately. It's going to be free. It's going to be live. It's going to be fun. And it's built for people who are ready to scale smarter. Look for the launch information with, you know, here through this podcast. Look for it on our social media. Look for it through our emails. And it's going to be a celebration. Celebration. The next 20 years, the new model for small apartments, the new model for real estate. So that concludes our first episode of the Potentializer Podcast. I want to thank you for listening to the Potentializer. If this episode sparked a new idea or challenged your thinking or gave you clarity on, on your next move, actually do me a favor. Why don't you subscribe? Go ahead and subscribe wherever you're watching this right now. Subscribe there so we can get updates when the information comes out. Leave us a review. Leave us a review if you would and share it with someone who's ready to grow. This is all about, you know, potentializers means grow. We want the potential, the potential of everything. So, if you have someone in your life that's ready to grow, please share this information with them. And if you want to plug into my mastermind or explore partnerships with me and my group and our mastermind group, then head over to wealthmastermindnetwork.com, wealthmastermindnetwork.com, and there you can see how to take your next step. I look forward to seeing you on the next episode of The Potentializer.

Thanks for tuning in to The Potentializer, where we unlock the true potential in people, properties, and partnerships through small apartment real estate. If today's episode helped you see a smarter path to wealth, authority, or impact, be sure to subscribe, leave a review, and share the show with someone ready to grow. To plug into the platform, join the mastermind, or discover how to potentialize what you already have, visit wealthmastermindnetwork.com.