$500M PORTFOLIO: REAL ESTATE MOGUL ON BUYING PROPERTIES & BUSINESSES || ABRAHAM GRAY || EPISODE 092
Episode of The Code To Winning · October 20, 2026 · 57 min
Entrepreneur Abraham Gray describes building a gold-buying chain and a 225-property portfolio, and shares his rules for buying businesses, real estate, partnerships and negotiation.
Summary
Abraham Gray, an Atlanta entrepreneur, recounted starting his first business at 15 selling sports cards after a childhood spent moving between foster families and a boarding school. He said his drive came from wanting independence from others and that he reinvested nearly all early earnings rather than buying depreciating assets.
Gray described how a friend in New Jersey introduced him to buying gold at hotel road shows around 2007, and how he turned the model into permanent "We Buy Gold" storefronts in Atlanta that grew to some 300 locations across eight states. He said 2011, when gold peaked near $1,890 an ounce, was his most profitable year, and that he funneled profits through an older partner to buy hundreds of distressed Atlanta-area homes during the post-crash period, many of which have since multiplied in value.
On current strategy, Gray argued the housing market is too high to buy ordinary rentals, so he mostly does fix-and-flips and keeps only properties acquired with owner financing or subject-to deals. He said commercial property is far more profitable as a long-term rental, that buying businesses is riskier than buying real estate for average people, and that sellers should carry significant owner financing to deter misrepresentation. He valued businesses at roughly three to four times profit.
Gray also discussed partnerships, emphasizing honesty, generosity and skin in the game; lessons from bad lending deals; the greater importance of terms than price in negotiation; the need for deal flow; and his preference for a modest, nonchalant lifestyle. He defined winning as happiness.
Chapters
- 3:03
Introduction
The host introduces Abraham Gray and his business and real estate credentials.
- 5:02
First business at 15
Gray describes selling sports cards as a teenager and the independence-driven mindset behind reinvesting his money.
- 8:58
Evaluating businesses and growth industries
Gray explains valuing businesses on profit multiples and his interest in home service companies.
- 12:07
Sales, negotiation and rapport
Gray argues rapport comes first, followed by sales and negotiation, which go together.
- 16:29
Scaling Goldmax
Gray recounts learning gold buying from a friend and expanding it into roughly 300 storefronts.
- 21:31
Buying real estate after the crash
Gray describes funding a partner to buy hundreds of cheap Atlanta homes around 2011 and later building his rental portfolio.
- 26:22
Current market strategy
Gray says prices are too high for ordinary rentals and explains his fix-and-flip and creative-financing approach.
- 31:38
Business vs. real estate risk and getting started
Gray compares acquisition risks, explains owner-financing leverage, and advises beginners to learn from trusted experts.
- 35:37
Commercial vs. residential and management
Gray explains why commercial rentals earn most of his income and how managers and partners run his holdings.
- 41:25
Partnerships and character
Gray discusses structuring partnerships, vetting partners, and judging character through generosity and helpfulness.
- 50:24
Key lessons and lifestyle
Gray names speed and rapport as his main business lessons and explains his modest lifestyle.
- 55:33
Price vs. terms and deal flow
Gray argues terms matter more than price and warns against emotional attachment to single deals.
- 59:59
Learning from bad deals
Gray recounts lessons from bad partners and losing lending deals.
- 1:02:20
Values and the meaning of winning
Gray describes how he wants to be known and defines winning as happiness.
Key points
What was said, by whom, with the exact words. Timestamps jump to the moment.
- Abraham Gray
Gray says growing up dependent on foster families made him value the independence money provided.
“I just got addicted to the fact that the more money I made, the more stuff I can do, the less I had to listen to people”
- Abraham Gray
Gray says average businesses sell for about three to four times profit, with weak ones at one or less.
“Average businesses are three to four times a multiple. A crappy business could be one or less”
- Abraham Gray
Gray argues home service businesses will always be in demand and fit his real estate operations.
“People are always going to need people to plumb their house and do the flooring and paint their house”
- Abraham Gray
Gray holds that sales and negotiation are inseparable skills.
“I would say that to be good at sales, you have to be good at negotiating. So they kind of go together”
- Abraham Gray
Gray recounts that his innovation was replacing hotel road shows with permanent gold-buying storefronts.
“what if I get a store, a storefront, good signage, good visibility on a busy road, just put us out”
- Abraham Gray
Gray says the gold-buying business grew to about 300 stores nationwide from its Atlanta start.
“I ended up having 300 stores throughout the whole country. I started in Atlanta”
- Abraham Gray
Gray says he acquired most of his current real estate during the depressed market of 2010 to 2014.
“I bought most of my real estate that I own now back in 2010 to 2014 when the market was not worth much”
- Abraham Gray
Gray argues current home prices are too high to buy many properties to hold, with more downside than upside.
“Right now what I'll say is the market is super high. So I don't think it's a great time to buy a ton of stuff right now to keep”
- Abraham Gray
Gray says he typically puts 10 to 20 percent down on businesses and has sellers finance the rest to keep leverage over them.
“I usually I'm putting down 10%, 20% on the, on the high side and then getting them to owner finance the rest pretty much”
- Abraham Gray
Gray argues buying a business is riskier than buying property for an average person because more can go wrong.
“for an average person, buying a business is much more risky because there's way more things that can happen in the business”
- Abraham Gray
Gray advises beginners without a knowledgeable contact to buy mentorship but warns most programs are poor.
“you probably need to buy some sort of mentorship and learn from somebody. But you've got to make sure most mentorships are garbage”
- Abraham Gray
Gray says commercial property is far superior to residential as a long-term rental investment.
“If you want to keep stuff long term as rentals, commercial is 100 times better than residential”
- Abraham Gray
Gray says partners should always have their own capital at stake so they take the venture seriously.
“You always want people to have some skin in the game because they're going to take it more seriously and care about it”
- Abraham Gray
Gray names speed and decisiveness as his most important business lesson, alongside building rapport.
“be quick, be able to figure out stuff right away because the best deals are going to go to the people that could do the fastest”
- Abraham Gray
Gray contends that the flashiest-looking people are often the least wealthy.
“the people that look the fanciest and everything else are the brokest like people trying to trick everyone”
- Abraham Gray
Gray argues deal terms matter more than price, to the point he would overpay greatly for the right terms.
“I think that's probably more important than the price. Like I could pay someone 100 times what it's worth if I get the terms I want”
- Abraham Gray
Gray warns investors against emotional attachment to single deals and urges maintaining high deal flow.
“you've got to have lots of deal flow. And if you have lots of deal flow, you could pass on tons of shit”
- Abraham Gray
Gray says his losing loans share the trait of deferring interest to the end rather than collecting monthly.
“They're all where I don't collect monthly interest payments. I let people pay me at the end. Those are the ones that go bad”
- Abraham Gray
Gray defines winning as enjoying life and being happy rather than accumulating wealth.
“Winning means enjoying life. So winning, if I had to pick one word, winning equals happiness”
People
In the conversation
- Kagiso DikaneHost and publisher of The Code To Winning podcast, based in Utah
- Abraham GrayAtlanta-based entrepreneur and real estate investor, co-founder of the gold-buying chain Goldmax USA
Topics
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From the publisher
In this episode, we sit down with Abraham Gray, a self made entrepreneur with an estimated net worth of $500 million, who started his first business at just 15 years old. Over the years, he has built an empire that includes ownership of more than 50 companies and a real estate portfolio of 225 properties. He also sold his company We Buy Gold for $100 million, a milestone that cemented his place among the most successful young business owners in the country. He is known as a true powerhouse in the entrepreneurial world, having launched over 100 businesses and made his first million by the age of 19. Abraham takes us through the full journey, from a teenager with a bold idea to a business owner operating across multiple industries. His background spans trendy businesses like axe throwing and escape rooms as well as serious investments in real estate, and he explains how he decides what to buy, what to build from scratch, and when to walk away. He also shares his experience in the lending business, his thoughts on investment opportunities like gold and hard money lending, and the hard lessons he has learned from failure along the way. We talk about what it really takes to grow a gold business into a $100 million exit, and how that win opened the door to everything that followed. This conversation is packed with practical insight for anyone who wants to build real wealth through business and real estate. Abraham breaks down how he manages a portfolio of 225 properties, how he builds and leads dozens of companies at once, and why branding can set your business apart. Whether you are an aspiring entrepreneur looking for your first idea or a seasoned owner ready to scale, this episode will show you what is possible when you start early, think big, and never stop building. Chapters 00:00 Intro 02:20 First Business at Age 15 06:30 How to Evaluate a Business to Buy 10:02 Sales vs Negotiation & Building Rapport 11:44 Scaling Goldmax to 300 Locations 17:53 Buying Real Estate i…
Summary, chapters and key points were generated from the episode transcript on October 23, 2026. Quotes are checked word for word against the transcript.