Real Estate Titan and Financial Expert Greg Herlean

Life as the son of an Air Force Officer led Greg Herlean and his three siblings all over the country. He’d moved about ten times before he was fourteen years old, and had to learn to roll with each new move. Starting over –leaving one life to embark upon another- was normal for him.  Perhaps that’s what made one of his biggest moves seem so natural.

On a break during his second year in college, Greg traveled to Las Vegas to visit his parents.  There he was seduced not just by the warm weather, but by a blind date his mother arranged. An amicable meeting with his mother’s choice went from pleasant to life-changing when he agreed to swing by his date’s house. Greg was smitten within moments of arriving at her home – but not by his date.

One image after another struck Greg with awe, and he knew he was hooked for life. There, in the driveway of the palatial home, was a massive boat. A man wielding a hose was washing it off. It was his date’s father. Greg was almost as overwhelmed by the notion that her father was home on a Wednesday afternoon as he was by the obvious affluence in her family.

His parents worked hard and provided for their family, but his dad was never home on a Wednesday, and his family couldn’t afford to imagine such opulence, let alone achieve it.  His date forgotten, Greg introduced himself to her father and made a decision on the spot, “I want this life. Whatever he’s doing, I’m going to figure it out.”

With an absolute conviction that this was the right decision for him, Greg Herlean left college to work with his new mentor. “School just seemed like I was going to keep going, to get a degree that didn’t really give me anything – just a piece of paper. But then I’d have to start from scratch as well and figure it out.”

He wanted the lifestyle he saw that day. He wanted to learn how to succeed to the point that he could not only afford to pay for a lavish lifestyle but have the time to enjoy it. He wanted to be home on a Wednesday afternoon while also making money. He knew that the best education for him was not in textbooks and classrooms, but with real-life experience and one-on-one training by someone who’d already found success in what he wanted to do.

The school of hard knocks suited Greg Herlean just fine.

His paycheck was the education he received under his mentor’s guidance, and Greg didn’t waste a moment.   He was all in. Within the next year, his life changed dramatically. He was married with a baby on the way. His wife worked, bringing home a modest salary, but they both knew even that would end when the baby arrived. It was crunch time. Greg doubled down. “I just had to figure it out, so I did. It’s kind of how I’ve lived my life ever since.”

He was twenty-two years old with no money, no credit, and no friends or family he could borrow from, but he didn’t view any of that as a deterrent.

Instead, he partnered with someone to start his own real estate mortgage brokerage.  Since his partner held a real estate license, Greg did not need to invest the time or money to get his own license. “I didn’t want to stop for a second,” Greg said. His strength was in finding the money to invest in the homes. He invested his time there while his partner handled the transactions. It was another ideal match and over the next five years, their company flipped 450 homes.

Along the way, they’d brought other team members in. Each new recruit had a specific area of focus. Some handled the rehab in each house, others handled selling the homes, etc. With additional people come additional personalities, and not everyone was an asset. “Along the way people hurt you and take advantage of you,“ Greg said. “We’d get rid of them and find someone else,” always moving forward, unafraid to take the less traveled path.

He’d made it. He had the lifestyle he’d envisioned for himself. He’d even gone back to get that college degree. Not because he needed it, but because he felt like a hypocrite while teaching youth the importance of education.

Never one to become complacent, Greg also decided to leap into his next venture, and flip hotels. That, he is quick to confess, was not a smart decision. Hotels are different entities than houses, and far more complex. He managed to flip eight of the eleven hotels he bought, but still has three of his own. He moved on again.

Today Greg Herlean has managed over a billion dollars in real estate transactions.

He is a titan in the financial world and is on a mission to help people take control of their financial futures. He is involved on several levels in several different companies, including Horizon Trust and Flip Bank Live. He doesn’t believe for a second that he is the exception to the rule, and is passionate about showing others how they can achieve financial security as well.

Most people with IRAs or 401Ks shudder in dread at the notion of learning how they work. Greg, a highly sought after speaker on this topic, notes that approximately half of the audience shuts down when the word IRA comes out of his mouth.

He knows that even of those in his audience with these investment plans, there is a good chance none of them pay attention to what those funds are doing. In fact, of the 80 million IRAs in this country, only 2-3% are owned by people who take an active role in managing those funds. Rather, they pay a financial adviser to do so for them, content to receive reports and blindly trust their advisers with their financial futures.

Greg is committed to waking these people up, showing them the untapped potential right beneath their feet. He’s making IRAs sexy and loving every minute of it.

Paperwork and the IRS are arguably two of the most dreaded components of managing money. Horizon Trust is a licensed banking company that allows people to use their money in self-directed IRAs.  While most traditional companies offer limited choices of what can be invested in, Horizon Trust allows the owner of the account to invest in anything he or she chooses, while handling the banking and regulatory side of things for their investors.

Our company actually holds the hands of individuals and helps move money in a way that is tax deferred and lets you choose what to invest in. Our job is to report to the IRS, any contributions and distributions you make, Greg explains.

Who doesn’t want to have a say in what their money does? Who doesn’t want to invest in businesses they believe in, whether it’s their own or someone else’s? Who doesn’t want to learn how to make enough money, to live off the interest or ensure their children and grandchildren are not left responsible for their financial needs?

Life is uncertain enough. Why not remove some uncertainty?

What if tragedy strikes? Losing your spouse for instance – the primary breadwinner. Maybe you have stayed at home caring for the children while your husband worked, or followed your spouse around the world in numerous military moves. The sudden loss of your spouse leaves you not only emotionally distraught but financially vulnerable.

Life insurance lump sum policies can be divided into present and future needs; some for now and some for later. Rather than sock it away in funds someone else manages, you can use a self-directed IRA to launch a business, from which other business or income paths can emerge, all the while growing your own financial future.  This effectively diminishes much of the fear in the future now laden with it.

“If you can understand how exciting and what options you have with IRA it can truly change lives, and that is why I’m so passionate about it,” Greg smiles as he expands upon the various ways his companies have helped people realize financial independence as well as renewed confidence.

He has also been able to use his own success to give back to others by investing in their businesses, showing them how to invest in themselves, and donating his time and effort to raising money for a charity he feels strongly about.

As the father of four, Greg feels particular concern and responsibility to come to the aid of families who are not as blessed with the healthy lives like his family is. He becomes emotional simply thinking about anything happening to one of his own children, and repays his good fortune by helping families who have been struck with cancer.

The Nevada Childhood Cancer Foundation is his outlet for doing so. “Everything changes with a cancer diagnosis. Family, money, siblings,” Greg says. His smile grows wide as he talks about how this foundation impacts families going through painful times, and how humbled he is to be able to be a part of it. His mother, says Greg, was always big into service. His father served our country.

He has always understood the importance of giving as a basic human responsibility and seems surprised when he reflects on how much he has received back in life, from his own philanthropic actions. Now Greg has extended himself further, in appreciation for our military and their families. He has offered to waive all setup and first-year annual fees for any member of the military community who is interested in investing in their own self-directed IRA.

If you want to work with Greg mention “American Snippets Podcast Offer” in your message to him.