What if the biggest thing holding real estate investors back is not the market, the economy, or even interest rates—but their dependence on banks? In this episode, Brett Swarts sits down with Jay Conner, known as “The Private Money Authority,” to unpack the no-bank blueprint that has helped investors fund deals faster, create more flexibility, and scale their portfolios without relying on traditional lenders.
Jay shares how being cut off by banks during the financial crisis forced him to discover a better way: raising private money. Instead of chasing loans, begging for approvals, or waiting on institutions, Jay learned how to build relationships with private lenders and create win-win opportunities that can lead to virtually unlimited funding for real estate deals. Whether you are a new investor looking for your first deal or an experienced operator ready to scale, this conversation reveals how private money can unlock more freedom, more control, and more opportunity in your investing journey.
Episode Highlights Here:
Brett
Before we jump into this episode, I would invite you to join our community to help you become a better steward, scale to billions, and ultimately give more or all of it away. All I want you to do is to click the subscribe button right now. I love your support, it’s incredible to see your comments, and we’re just getting started. I can’t wait to go on this journey with you. Thank you so much for subscribing. It means the world to me. Welcome to the Build to Billions podcast, where we got successful entrepreneurs and investors on their journey from millions to billions. We believe the key to scaling and compounding your wealth in life starts every single day with a mindset and practice of stewardship over ownership and applying billionaire biblical principles. Our ultimate goal is to help you scale and compound your wealth in life, so you can give more all the way to help MVPs. My name is Brett Swarts. In each and every episode, we’re joined by the world’s top entrepreneurs, millionaires or billionaires, and they share their secrets and insights with us, so we can all make a bigger impact. I’m excited about our next guest. He’s out of North Carolina, and he is the expert on helping us to get private money for our deals, bypass the banks, and get unlimited private money to fund your next real estate deal. Our guest is a nationally renowned real estate investor who faced frustrations in his initial investments into large down payments, higher origination fees, and restrictive rules imposed by banks, and the situation worsened when his bank suddenly cut off his funding during a market downturn. This prompted our next, our guest to explore alternative investment strategies like buying properties subject to using and buying with lease options, and so much more. Let’s talk about how to get private money for our next deal with our guest, Jay Conner. Jay, how we doing?
Jay
Brett, thank you so much for inviting me to come along and talk about what I’m so passionate and excited about, and that’s private money for real estate deals. The reason I’m so excited about it, Brett, is because ever since I started attracting private money for my funding without ever asking anybody for money, all the way back in February of 2009 you know what, I’ve never missed out on a deal for not having the funding available and able to close deals within seven days of going under contract.
Brett
Jay, that’s incredible. And we’re going to talk about that right now. Before we get to the art of finding and attracting and unlocking private capital for your next deal. Would you give us just a little bit more about your story and your focus?
Jay
Sure. Well, my wife, Carol Joy, and I, we live here in Eastern North Carolina, and we started investing in single-family houses and flipping houses all the way back in 2003 before HGTV was even on the television, so we started back in 2003 23 years ago, and Brett, those first, those first six years from 2003 until 2009 the only thing I knew to do to get funding for my real estate deals was go to the local bank, I had a line of credit back then. I didn’t know anything about private money. In fact, if you had a decent credit score, you could get an unsecured line of credit. I had a $250,000 unsecured line of credit when I started out, and so for the first six years I relied on institutional money, banks, mortgage companies, etc. but everything changed, Brett. Everything changed in January 2009 I called up my banker, his name was Steve, and I thought I still had a line of credit there. I had two houses under contract to purchase, and I learned over the telephone that my line of credit had been closed with absolutely no notice to me, and I said, Steve, what are you telling me that my line of credit is closed? I got a great credit score, never been late on payments, we’ve done a ton of deals together. Why is the bank closing my line of credit? And Steve said, Jay, don’t you know there’s a global financial crisis going on right now. I said no, but you just gave me a financial crisis. I don’t have a way to fund these two deals, and so I hung up the phone, Brett. I sat here at my desk for a second, and I asked myself a very important question, and that question, this question I’m going to share with you and your audience will help fix anybody’s problem. I don’t care if it’s career, financial, relationships – doesn’t matter, by the way. These people running around saying every problem is an opportunity. I want to throw up. I didn’t have an opportunity, I had a problem, but it did become an opportunity because I wouldn’t be here on your show unless this has happened. Here’s the powerful question that I asked myself. I said, Jay, who do you know that can help fix your problem? You know it’s not how, it’s who. And when I asked myself that question, I immediately. Thought of Jeff Blankenship, dear friend, know each other from church, gospel, acappella, singing events. He was investing in single-family houses in Greensboro, North Carolina, at the same time. And I said, maybe Jeff can.
Brett
So, if you like this little, short clip of the interview I just did, click over here to watch the full interview, and please don’t forget to subscribe. Thanks so much, everybody
Watch the episode here:
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About Jay Conner
Jay Conner is a real estate investor, speaker, author, and private money expert known as “The Private Money Authority.” After being cut off by banks during the 2009 financial crisis, Jay discovered the power of raising private money to fund real estate deals without relying on traditional lenders. Since then, he has raised millions in private capital and built a reputation for teaching investors how to structure win-win relationships with private lenders.
Through JayConner.com, his books, events, coaching programs, and the Raising Private Money podcast, Jay helps real estate investors learn how to attract funding, close more deals, and scale their businesses with confidence. His message is centered on helping investors move away from bank dependency and toward greater freedom, control, and opportunity through private money strategies.
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