Jordan sits down with private money expert Jay Conner to break down how real estate investors can fund more deals without relying on banks.

Jay shares how he raised over $2 million in private money in less than 90 days and explains why securing funding before you have a deal is the key to scaling successfully. They dive into the math behind smart offers, how to remove emotion from your underwriting, how private money is structured, and what new investors can do to get started the right way.

The conversation also explores how AI is beginning to impact deal analysis, follow-up, and even investor conversations, and where human experience still matters most.

If you want to scale your real estate business, access more capital, and think more strategically about funding, this episode is packed with actionable insights.

About Jay Conner

Jay Conner has been buying and selling houses since 2003 in a town of only 40,000 people, with profits now averaging $78,000  per deal.  

He has rehabbed over 475 houses and has been involved in over  $118 million Dollars in Transactions.  

Jay has completely automated his Annual 7-figure Income  Business to where he works in his buying and selling house business for less than 10 Hours per week.  

His passion is motivating and teaching other Real Estate Investors  How to Raise Private Money without ever asking for Money. As a result, Jay has consulted one-on-one with over 2,000 Real Estate  Investors.  

When he lost his lines of credit at the bank in 2009, Jay raised $2,150,000 in less than 90 Days in Private Money when cut off from the banks.  

Jay is also a Commercial Developer of Shopping Centers and  Condominium Communities.  

He is a National Speaker on the topics of Private Money,  Foreclosures, Automation of your business, and Personal  Development.  

In addition, Jay is a 2 Time, National best-selling author and a past president of Business Networking International.  

He and his wife, Carol Joy, reside in Morehead City, NC.

Important Links

Watch & Listen

• Private Money Academy – First month free at jayconner.com/trial
• Free Book: Where to Get the Money – Autographed copy + 2 conference tickets: jayconner.com/book
• smrtPhone – The only phone system built for real estate investors (5,000 free minutes)
• ThatRealEstateTechGuy.com – All episodes and exclusive tech discounts

I can tell you one thing: technology is the single most important aspect of every business that has successfully scaled. It’s time for That Real Estate Tech Guy. It’s your weekly chance to explore how technology can help your real estate business explode. Each week, you’ll hear from real estate investors who have been there and done that and discover their favorite technology tips.

Listen in as Jordan speaks with tech companies and learns about new technologies and new ideas that will help you scale your business. Now join your host, Jordan Samuel Fleming, CEO of smrtPhone, for this week’s episode.

Hello and welcome to this week’s episode of That Real Estate Tech Guy. I’m your host, Jordan Samuel Fleming, Chairman of smrtPhone. This week we’ve got a fantastically fun episode with my man, Jay Conner.

Jay is someone I was introduced to recently because he is a specialist in private money. This episode is less technology-focused and more real estate-focused, but I thought it was important to bring him on because I’m always looking at how I can bring a wider set of knowledge to both our smrtPhone customers and the community at large.

Jay has a very specific insight into private money, and in this episode he really breaks down the details. A lot of people wonder how to get into private money. Maybe you’ve done one or two deals and want to do more. How do you get involved with private money? How do you get it going? How do you develop the right methods and processes to work with it?

Jay dives into all of that. He talks through the math he focuses on and why, if you do the math properly and remove emotion, any deal can stack up. Private money lenders can get their money out because they’re covered by the asset itself.

It’s a really fun episode with a genuinely great guy. We also dive into some AI tools he’s using, what’s worked well, and what hasn’t. Be sure to check the links in this podcast because Jay has generously given access to a trial of his course, a free copy of his book, and two tickets to his private money conference. There are a lot of great free resources available, and we have Jay to thank for that.

I’m going to hand it over now to Jay Conner and our conversation all about private money.

I’m live with Jay Conner. Jay, welcome to the podcast. Why don’t you give everyone a little introduction to who you are and what you’re focused on?

Thank you so much for inviting me to talk about the topic I’m passionate about: private money and private lending for real estate deals. Private money has had more impact on our real estate investing business here in Eastern North Carolina than any other strategy.

We started investing in single-family houses back in 2003. For the first six years, the only thing I knew to do was go to the local bank or a mortgage company for funding. That all changed in January 2009. That’s when I learned about private money. I was able to raise a little over $2 million in new funding in less than 90 days. Since that time, I’ve never missed out on a deal because I didn’t have the money.

That’s fantastic. I want to dive deeper into that. When I look at our customer base at smrtPhone, we have thousands of real estate investors. Some run multi-state, large-scale operations. Others are newer and trying to build and scale their businesses.

At what stage of an investor’s journey can they start looking at private money? Is there certain criteria they need?

That’s a great question. In my community, I have real estate investors who have never done a deal before and are raising private money. I also have members who already have portfolios of over 100 houses and want to scale further.

Unfortunately, many investors have heard, “Just get the deal under contract and the money will show up.” I’m sorry, that’s not how it works. I practice and preach getting the money lined up first without any deal attached. You share the opportunity of what you’re offering. Once they tell you they’re in, then you give them the good news phone call about a deal that matches the criteria you already taught them.

It’s much easier to raise private money when you don’t need it than when you do. Desperation has a smell. Once you burn that bridge, it’s hard to recover from it.

When I hear that, I think of a line of credit at a bank. Is that similar to how private money works?

That’s a great analogy. Right now, I have about $1.5 million in private money sitting on the shelf waiting for the next deal. My lenders want to deploy it. They’re just waiting on the next good news phone call. It’s very much like having a line of credit you can pull down from when a deal comes along.

Let’s talk structure. Suppose I find a house I want to flip. I buy it for $300,000, put $100,000 into it, and plan to sell it for $600,000. It’ll take six months. I need $400,000 in financing. What does that private money deal look like?

First, I advise not borrowing more than 75 percent of the after-repaired value, not the purchase price. In this world of private money, I always bring home a big check when I buy a property. I’m buying at a deep discount and borrowing against the after-repaired value. I get all the renovation money upfront. There are no draws.

Here’s a key point: if you’re renovating a property and you can’t bring home a big check while borrowing no more than 75 percent of the after-repaired value, you’re paying too much.

That’s a great sanity check. So you run your comps, estimate your repairs, calculate ARV, and work backward to your maximum offer. Then you double-check it against that 75 percent rule.

Exactly. I use a formula similar to the Maximum Allowable Offer formula. When paying all cash using private money, I take the after-repaired value and multiply it by 70 percent if it’s under $300,000, or 80 percent if it’s over $300,000. Then I subtract estimated repairs. After that, I subtract an additional $10,000 if ARV is under $300,000, or $20,000 if it’s over $300,000 for unexpected issues.

That gives me my maximum offer. I love this formula because it removes emotion. Emotion does not calculate offers. The math does.

That’s what I love too. The best investors remove emotion and focus on numbers.

If someone is brand new, what can they do to get started with private money?

If you’re borrowing private money and you don’t pay the lender, the property does. It’s secured by the asset. Lenders will make more money through interest than by taking the property, and they don’t want the property. They want passive income.

If you’re new, partner with someone experienced. Don’t start alone. Also, leverage your past experience. Maybe you’re new to real estate but successful in another career. Show that you follow through on commitments.

That makes sense. The asset secures the loan, which reduces risk for the lender.

Everything we do is asset-backed debt. That’s why the SEC doesn’t regulate what we’re doing. If you’re raising money for a fund, that’s different and requires SEC oversight. It all comes down to how you structure the deal.

Tell us about your program and how people can learn more.

I have multiple levels of engagement. One is the Private Money Academy, a monthly membership for $37 per month. I go live on Zoom twice a month. For your community, they can try the first 30 days free at jayconner.com/trial.

I also offer my national bestselling book, Where to Get the Money Now. It breaks down step-by-step how to raise private money without asking for it. There’s no selling or begging. It’s about offering an opportunity. I’ll also include two tickets to my three-day Private Money Conference.

That’s incredibly generous. I’ll make sure our community gets access to that.

Before we wrap, let’s geek out on AI. We talked about removing emotion and focusing on math. Where do you see AI fitting into this world?

Be careful. I tested ChatGPT on maximum allowable offer calculations and it gave incorrect information. If I didn’t have experience, I wouldn’t have known.

On the other hand, I hired a software developer to build an AI Private Lender Script Generator. It asks five questions and then generates a script in your voice based on your business model. That’s working beautifully.

AI will become more involved in math, scripting, and follow-up communication. But don’t rely on AI alone. It can’t replace human experience.

I agree. With guardrails and proper training, AI can be powerful. We’re seeing AI agents consistently outperform humans in certain areas, especially in consistency.

I use an AI assistant named Bailey. She answers calls from direct mail campaigns and identifies herself as AI. Four out of five calls result in an appointment. She’s consistent, never takes a day off, and never has a bad mood.

That consistency is huge. AI agents aren’t just scripts. They’re trained in soft skills and sales skills. They have conversations.

Exactly. Bailey is rock-solid consistent.

Jay, it’s been a pleasure. Before we close, remind everyone how to get your book.

You can get my book, Where to Get the Money Now, at jayconner.com/book. I’ll autograph it, ship it to you, and include two tickets to the Private Money Conference. The book is free. Just cover shipping.

Fantastic. Jay, thank you so much for coming on.

Thanks for listening to another amazing episode of That Real Estate Tech Guy. Head over to thatrealestatetechguy.com to check out all episodes and get special discounts on tons of awesome real estate technology platforms.