Built For Wealth

Ep 026 | From Nothing to $130M A Year in Real Estate Development with Johnny Inch

Josh Swart Season 2 Episode 26

What does it really take to build a $130M-per-year real estate development business; starting with no money, no college degree, and a background in construction and landscaping?

In this episode of the Built for Wealth Podcast, Josh sits down with  @johnnyinchjr   a real estate developer and entrepreneur who scaled from small residential projects to large-scale multifamily, commercial, and industrial real estate development across multiple markets. Johnny shares how he transitioned from hands-on construction work to becoming a multifamily developer, raising capital, underwriting complex deals, and managing risk at scale.

This conversation dives deep into real estate investing, real estate development, raising private capital, and what it actually looks like to grow a real estate company beyond single-family rentals. Johnny also opens up about faith-driven entrepreneurship, leadership under pressure, navigating bad partners, surviving market cycles, and why real estate is a long-term wealth-building game, not a get-rich-quick strategy.

If you’re interested in multifamily investing, commercial real estate, underwriting deals, scaling a real estate business, or raising capital the right way, this episode delivers real-world insight from someone actively doing it.

In this episode we cover:
- Johnny’s origin story (family trades, landscaping, construction → development)
- The first deal: trading a $75K landscape project for a townhome
- Doubling down for 15 years 
- How he thinks about risk tolerance, stress, and leadership
- Raising capital and being a “steward” of investor funds
- Walking away from deals after spending $300K–$500K in entitlement/dev costs
- Why “passive income” is mostly a myth (until real scale)
- Working with banks: negotiating DCR, workouts, and asking for “impossible” terms
- Development strategy: go where they want you 
- NIMBY battles, public meetings, and staying grounded in the mission
- How Johnny Inch views legacy, giving, and raising kids with abundance

If you’re into real estate development, multifamily investing, raising capital, underwriting, or scaling a real estate business, this one’s packed.

Follow Josh + the show: builtforwealthpodcast.com
Connect with Johnny: Instagram DMs (shared in episode)

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