How Real Estate Investors Are Using AI To Make Better Decisions and Scale Smarter

Emily Cortright & Adam Roberts (00:00)

artificial intelligence, I think, has just a massive opportunity to change how much time a business owner spends really working on their business as opposed to in their business.

Scott Bursey (01:42)

Welcome back to the Real Estate Pros podcast powered by Investor Fuel. I’m your host, Scott Bursey. Today we’re joined by a couple of absolute powerhouses who fuel is igniting and empowering the community. Emily Cortright and Adam Roberts of A&E Real Estate Group. Emily’s and Adam’s expertise is just critical in the niche of teaching and coaching.

helping others not just survive, but truly thrive in this competitive industry. In a market where clarity is king, the systems and guidance that these two bring are outstanding. Welcome to the show.

Emily Cortright & Adam Roberts (02:26)

Thanks, Scott. Thanks for having us. Thank you so much.

Scott Bursey (02:30)

Emily and Adam, it is a pleasure having you here. And for our listeners who may not be familiar with your journey, please tell us how your career started and what your focus is now.

Emily Cortright & Adam Roberts (02:42)

Our career started as we were both engineers by trade and we got the real estate investing bug really early in our corporate career. So early that when General Electric GE ⁓ was selling off the facility that I was at, I made the decision to quit my job at 28 years old and pursue real estate investing full time.

And we started with single-family flips, rentals, wholesales. And about five years after that, Adam was able to join me full-time. And around the same time, we transitioned to large multi-family syndications.

like 100 to 300 unit properties. So we have gone from the single family to the multi-family. And then just recently, a few years ago, we made another massive shift in our business and we added mortgage notes to our portfolio. And that was another big learning experience. So we have gone through two very significant shifts in our career and we have been full-time investors, me going on 15 years. So it’s been a great journey.

and we will be full-time investors for the rest of our lives.

Scott Bursey (03:56)

Awesome, what a journey. A couple of seasoned investors. That is awesome, guys. And Emily and Adam, I love hearing about how you two found your fuel. For those who aren’t familiar with some other, your teachings perhaps, your mentorship, can we dive into that a little bit?

Emily Cortright & Adam Roberts (04:20)

Yeah, mean, mentorship for us started very early on, even before we could really define it as official mentoring, if you will. When I left for school, my father, as he took me to college, said, hey, you’re off of the family plan. You’re on your own. Here’s a budget. He helped me put together a budget. But in every year of that budget, he added a rent house to my balance sheet so that at the end of 10 years, it appears

it is if I was making as much in my rentals as I was at say my first engineering job. So that right there, although maybe wouldn’t be considered pure mentoring, that’s what it ended up being, right? And fast forward to today, ⁓ Emily and I have really, we’ve leaned in on the education piece of it. And so any chance we get to be a part of a network ⁓ and join others who have the same mindset as we do or have the same invest

goals as we do, we dive headfirst right in. And so we’ve done that both in the commercial real estate space as well as the mortgage note space ⁓ and we’ve met some great people and some great mentors and folks who we follow and you know want to do what they’re doing and so it’s been really helpful for us.

Scott Bursey (06:26)

That is such an inspiring origin story and it really sets the stage for your focus on education. Speaking of diving in, let’s dive into curriculum. When your approach is teaching, what real estate professionals really want to know is how do you structure your curriculum to ensure that new agents with no prior background get the fundamentals that they need without being totally overwhelmed, I guess.

Emily Cortright & Adam Roberts (06:56)

So I do, I teach ⁓ through Keller Williams and to different KW offices across the nation. And my focus is teaching investing. And we start from the very basics, which is really about tracking your personal financials. Because you can’t, it’s very difficult to invest and have a real solid wealth plan without knowing your financial status and your income, your expenses, your balance sheet, your assets and your liabilities.

So we start with the very, very basics of that, and then we build up to introduce ⁓ rental property financials, ⁓ analysis for different ⁓ asset classes, as well as a variety of asset classes and teaching.

that it’s not all about say single-family rentals. There are so many other opportunities within real estate to invest. And that’s, would, is one of the things that we truly focus on personally teaching and implementing in our own portfolio.

Scott Bursey (07:59)

I agree, having that foundational structure and clear process is what turns ambition into action. Emily and Adam, let’s touch on the mindset piece, which is huge. It’s a huge part of this. Real estate has its share of setbacks, let’s be honest, and failures. So what is the most important lesson you teach your coaching clients about maintaining a resilient mindset and overcoming inevitability in the market adversity?

Emily Cortright & Adam Roberts (08:30)

Well, like Emily said, we really don’t teach anything that we don’t personally do in our own business. And so for us on the mentoring side, as well as the business side, our goals happen to be very clear. At first it was yearly, right? Every year we would put together a set of goals. And then it became evident that as the year would close out, not only did we outperform our own conservative goals, but other things started to filter in there that we

Knew we wanted to achieve we just hadn’t written down. So now today it’s more of a quarterly and monthly ⁓ Outlay of our goals and it’s very clear, you know the things that we want to achieve which turns into the actions and how we want to achieve them and it helps us personally put together our weekly agendas and what we’re what we’re focusing on and It’s really true, right? There’s no you’re in this business long enough. You’re gonna have

of failures. There’s things that will not go right for you whether it’s just being unlucky or making a bad business decision but by actually writing down the things that you’ve accomplished after say a quarter and saying hey here are the things I did well in right and here’s how I took three steps forward even though I did experience that one step backwards. it makes all the difference in the world mentally right it helps you really put together a framework of your success and it’s like I think maybe was it Bill Gates that said hey you

You can put together like a one year plan, what you’re gonna do over a year and you’re, you you may have some failures, you’re gonna succeed and fail, but in 10 years, if you put together a 10 year plan, you’re probably gonna blow that out of the water, right? You’re probably gonna do way better than you think you can do in 10 years and it’s all about writing it down and reflecting on it.

Scott Bursey (10:54)

Absolutely, absolutely. And it sounds like consistency is something that you really concentrate on.

Emily Cortright & Adam Roberts (11:03)

Yep, absolutely. Yeah, you don’t miss a goal date, writing down what you accomplished in the past quarter or the past month. That’s very critical for us.

Scott Bursey (11:12)

The market is always shifting, YouTube. We see interest rates change, inventory fluctuate. So how do you, as a coach, quickly adapt your teaching strategies to make sure your students are prepared for and educated on the dynamic market shifts?

Emily Cortright & Adam Roberts (11:32)

We talk about having a diversified portfolio. And this was a big lesson learned for us because… ⁓

about five years ago, we found ourselves with 80 % of our net worth in a single asset class. And the frustration, the biggest lesson was that we thought we were diversified because we were in multifamily across different states, different sub markets, A class, B class, C class. And we said, we’re diversified. Well, then the market started to shift and it affected all of it, all of it. And it was, that is one of the biggest lessons that we

Talk to within in our groups and our coaching because we we know that different asset classes react differently to different market cycles and What’s important is to have some? that go up when interest rates are good and some that go and then the others that are are good when interest rates are low and so that type of diversification and also and as well as uncorrelated assets assets that don’t

matter what the interest rates are. That has been the biggest lesson for us and that we have tried to portray to ⁓ our clients and our colleagues throughout the past few years.

Scott Bursey (12:55)

It sounds to me that you’re focusing on your principles. And that’s exactly what keeps a business steady when the waters get choppy.

Emily Cortright & Adam Roberts (13:06)

Yeah, yeah tough to time a market.

Scott Bursey (13:07)

Speaking of businesses.

It is, yes, yes. And I’ve got to ask, I know our listeners are going to want to know. So let’s look at the scaling. Beyond just coaching more people, what core operational systems or leverage points do you teach your coaching clients to implement so they can scale their real estate business effectively without burning out?

Emily Cortright & Adam Roberts (13:37)

Yeah, anybody who started a business, whether it’s an investing business or otherwise, is doing things in their day to day that they should be delegating. It’s very clear. mean, we’re all, it doesn’t matter if you’re an expert at this or not, there’s always areas of opportunity where you can improve on this. I can, know, just today, you know, I was talking with Emily about something that we need to do to improve here. And what does that look like for us, for the people that we work with as well as in our own business?

⁓ It’s ⁓ been a lot of delegation to virtual assistants. That’s been very successful over the past, I’ll call it five, six, seven years. And that’s ⁓ as virtual assistants have become more available in the marketplace, it’s been an obvious choice, right? Delegating tasks that, ⁓ know, administratively, even, you know, we have a virtual assistant who’s very, very good. She can do spreadsheets sometimes better than I can. And so,

That’s

a huge strength. Today, over the past 12 months, we’ve been really honing in on artificial intelligence, learning all the inner workings of how that can, I mean, almost put me as a business owner out of work, right? Let the artificial intelligence run the operations in the business, which frees me up to go do strategic things. When I look back, going back to the goal discussion, when I look back over 30 days of activities in my business, only a handful of times,

Am I really being strategic with my business, right? ⁓ Which, if we wanna grow and accelerate, needs to be better, right? So

artificial intelligence, I think, has just a massive opportunity to change how much time a business owner spends really working on their business as opposed to in their business.

Scott Bursey (16:09)

Do you have any strategies to implement AI more in depth over the next 12 to 18 months?

Emily Cortright & Adam Roberts (16:18)

Yes, ⁓ specifically building a artificial intelligence board of directors for our business so that even though Emily and I are the ones accountable for running the business, what I’m gonna do, one of my goals over the next several months is to create

a virtual board of directors and whether it has, you know, maybe six, seven, eight seats, I’m going to define what each person does there. And this isn’t new, by the way. This is not my idea. This is actually a rather popular utilization of AI. But.

⁓ One of the things that we’ve just been blown away by with artificial intelligence is how it can be a thought partner for you. It’s like, okay, I’ve got this major business decision that I have to make and it is so critical that I get this right. Usually it would be just me and Emily, you know, trying to deliberate over, hey, what should we do? Should we do this, that, invest here, there?

It’s amazing how bringing in a third party, virtual third party, can help you make those decisions. So when we talk, Scott, 12 months from now, I’m gonna have a virtual board of directors that’s artificial intelligence based that will be helping me make various decisions based on who I need to talk to on my board.

Scott Bursey (17:46)

That is sound strategy, guys. Emily and Adam, shifting gears slightly to new investors. What is the single most critical simple action step you recommend to someone with zero background who is trying to successfully complete their first real estate transaction, let’s say?

Emily Cortright & Adam Roberts (18:10)

You know, I personally, I think that it is important to pick an asset that you have a passion around and pursue education, read books on that asset class, whether it’s flipping houses, whether it’s mortgage notes, whether it’s ⁓ multifamily, find something that speaks to you that you’re gonna be happy doing and…

books, go to your library, order from Amazon, order on Kindle, read a book or two. When we first got started with single family flips and rentals, I read one book on flipping and one book on rentals, and then I just started doing it. And you have to implement, but you also have to… ⁓

No, you have to learn what you’re doing first, which literally can be as easy as reading one book. So it doesn’t take ⁓ years to start in an asset class. It should only take maybe a few weeks to a month to learn. And then it’s taking that next step of action, of implementation and starting.

Scott Bursey (19:22)

Emily then is a perfect way to build momentum. And guys, in your teaching model, how do you separate between coaching, which is often skills-based, and mentorship, which is more about guidance and experience?

Emily Cortright & Adam Roberts (19:38)

You know, think what that really comes down to is the individual’s personal goals. ⁓

When somebody, so in the commercial real estate space, when somebody comes into your point Scott, maybe they don’t have a whole lot of experience in that space, but they bring other types of skill sets to the table, ⁓ it takes on more of a hey, how do we want to lay this out approach, right? New to the space, we know kind of what we want to accomplish, why? Because we see other people doing it, but how does it really fit for that person with a specific skill set, okay? Maybe they have IT, ⁓

Background, okay, maybe they know how to you know build ⁓ Models, you know and software and all that well that has a space that has a role in in business, right? How can we utilize that? How can we lay that out for the person different than like you said? Hey, I know I want to implement

I have done what Emily talked about. I’ve read the books. I’ve joined the mentoring group. I am networked. I know the people. What’s next for me? Well, it’s really all about…

Handholding right and we we had that early in our career right finding that finding the right business partner that hey I have What my business partner needs and my business partner has what I need and it’s a good business marriage, right? So when it comes to implementation, I think the biggest thing that I like to teach is hey Who are you talking to and in a team environment like commercial real estate’s a great example very big team sport

have you identified the folks you want to work with? That can be a huge piece of it, right? Because you can’t do it alone when you want to implement.

Scott Bursey (21:26)

That is great insight. And what primary role is A &E Real Estate Group going to be focusing on filling for your clients?

Emily Cortright & Adam Roberts (21:41)

You know, we help our clients invest in asset classes that they may not want to learn about. And I think what our strength is is…

learning the new asset classes, implementing. We jumped into mortgage notes three years ago. We bought 25 notes. We really immersed ourselves in that business. And then we have clients or investors that come to us and say, I want to invest in mortgage notes, but I don’t want to take the time and the effort to learn that asset class.

And so we offer them a passive investment structure that allows them to get a good return without taking the time and the effort and all of the work to learn the new asset class. And so that’s one of the ways that we work with our investors.

It’s also how we allow them to get into multi-family real estate and oil and gas and other asset classes. we provide them opportunities, but we also tell them, you go and learn this asset class, you’ll make more, you’ll get better returns. But sometimes people come to us and say, I don’t wanna do what you do. I just wanna invest passively.

Scott Bursey (23:05)

I love that you clearly define those roles and emphasize accountability, Emily.

That was masterful. For our final scenario question, let’s talk tech. What is one piece of technology or a specific platform that you teach your students to leverage that gives them an advantage in today’s real estate teaching and coaching environment?

Emily Cortright & Adam Roberts (23:33)

Google Gemini.

And that’s really fresh on the scene. mean, wasn’t but ⁓ eight months ago that everybody was giving Google a hard time because Chat Cheapie Tea was on the scene.

Scott Bursey (23:37)

Thumbed up.

Emily Cortright & Adam Roberts (23:50)

and Google didn’t have an answer, right? And at the end of the day, the whole artificial intelligence thing, it may be overvalued, it may be overhyped, and people may be jumping in, and we’ll all learn a lesson, but no, I’ll be honest with you. ⁓ I had a coaching call on the commercial real estate side a couple weeks ago, and the student was having a challenge just getting things digested, right? It’s like, this is just too much, right, too much.

Did you did you write down your goals and yes wrote down the goals? Do you have your personal financial statement clearly? Outlines, know so that you know where your money is and you know, yes have that. Hey just throw that into ⁓ Gemini and Ask it a few questions that you know, yes, of course I am going to help you get there But it’s always good to have a thought partner and so ask the same questions of the platform and my gosh It is so clean the feedback

that he got was so so good. It taught me. You know as the teacher it taught me and so yeah I just think I’m so impressed and I’ve been doing a lot more of it lately but jump jump in pick your favorite AI tool jump in and use it.

Scott Bursey (25:06)

Adam, that is excellent perspective on leveraging tech for efficiency and reach. Now it’s time for the money question guys. The question that all of our listeners want answered. A chance to share one of your pro secrets. If you had to boil down all your teaching and coaching into one unsexy, non-negotiable daily or weekly habit that you know without a doubt leads to long-term success in real estate,

What would that habit be?

Emily Cortright & Adam Roberts (25:43)

You, I’ll give one. You want to have an ⁓ operating rhythm to touch base with the folks that are accountable for your investments. In the commercial real estate space, it’s your property manager, okay? Weekly phone call, touch base. Even if there’s no news, no news is good news. You touch base. I’m here, my property manager’s there. It’s a relationship.

That is a fundamental doesn’t matter what type of business you’re running you could be making rubber duckies, right? You want a weekly? Operating rhythm to look over the financials the operations what’s going on? What’s good? What’s bad? Absolutely Mine’s a little bit on the the others this other side of the spectrum a little personal side. I would say

making sure you have me time, self care, taking care of yourself mentally because like you said Scott, the market isn’t always kind. There’s stress in a day to day and for me it’s waking up at 5 a.m. to go to the gym so I can be home by seven when the kids wake up. And it’s the sauna and the cold plunge and whatever we need to do to stay mentally fit.

mentally ready to tackle the day and say, what’s the hardest thing I need to do today? Let me do it first thing. Let me get it done. ⁓ Because to me, that’s what allows us to stay sharp and think clearly during the day as opposed to being foggy and. ⁓

bogged down. So I think the self-care part of it is the, for me, the daily, the weekly routines that contribute to the longevity.

Scott Bursey (27:37)

Excellent, excellent advice guys. Emily and Adam, this has been a sensational deep dive. This has been incredible. And for our listeners that want to reach out, pick your brain, collaborate with you, or maybe partner with you. What’s the best way that they can reach you?

Emily Cortright & Adam Roberts (27:56)

They can go to our website. It’s aeinvest.net and they can send us a message there and we’re very responsive. A-E like Adam and Emily.

Scott Bursey (28:08)

Guys, this has been sensational. Thank you both for being on the show.

Emily Cortright & Adam Roberts (28:14)

We really enjoyed it, Scott. Thank you for having us. Thank you. ⁓

Scott Bursey (28:18)

It is our sincere pleasure and to our listeners, we appreciate each and every one of you. If you got some massive fuel from this episode, please hit that subscribe button. We’ve got more operators coming up just like Emily and Adam in the near future. Until next time, keep your standards high and your vision clear. We’ll see you in the next episode, everyone.