Episode #28
Success Measured in Lives Changed, Not Deals Closed | Augie Byllott
Augie Byllott has completed more than 600 real estate transactions using traditional bank financing only twice, built five businesses, and authored four books, but this conversation with Jason Seward centers on something else entirely: what he calls real estate's role as a "wheelchair," a vehicle that carries you toward a deeper purpose rather than an end in itself. Augie traces that idea back to a chance conversation with a colleague at Chase Manhattan Bank in 1982, and forward through a corporate retirement at 50, two years in seminary, and an unplanned pivot into full-time real estate and ministry after moving to Florida. The real focus of the episode is Chair the Love, the wheelchair charity Augie has directed since 2017, which has grown from delivering one shipping container of wheelchairs every two years to twenty containers, over 5,000 wheelchairs, in its best year. Augie shares specific, moving stories from distribution trips to Uganda and Kenya, breaks down exactly how donor dollars are spent, and introduces his own "Real Estate Challenge," donating a wheelchair for every closed transaction. If you've ever wondered what it looks like to build serious wealth and use it as a vehicle for something bigger, this conversation is a direct, personal answer. What You'll Learn in This Episode How a chance conversation with a colleague in 1982 introduced Augie to buy and hold real estate Why Augie reframes retirement as a "four letter word" and what he does instead How Chair the Love sources, funds, and distributes wheelchairs to people in developing countries What percentage of donor dollars go directly to the mission, and how corporate partnerships stretch that further How to start small with generosity, using Augie's "one or two smiles a day" framework What the "Real Estate Challenge" is and how to build charitable giving directly into your transactions Timeline Highlights [0:16] – Introducing Augie Byllott: 600+ deals, four books, and chairman of Chair the Love [4:01] – The wheelchair analogy for real estate as a vehicle, not a destination [9:49] – Meeting a colleague named Al at Chase Manhattan Bank in 1982 who changed everything [13:36] – Buying his first rental two years later, and house hacking before it had a name [17:32] – Setting a goal to retire at 50, and entering seminary in his mid-40s [19:12] – Moving to Florida and being pushed into full-time real estate and ministry work [20:33] – Helping homeowners facing foreclosure after 9/11 in Central Florida [22:34] – Redefining retirement: "It should be a four letter word" [31:36] – The first distribution trip that led him to Chair the Love [33:13] – Breaking down the numbers: a container equals 260 wheelchairs and about $52,000 [34:05] – Growth from one container every two years to twenty containers in a single year [36:19] – How Chair the Love selects countries and verifies genuine need [37:16] – A story from Uganda: delivering a wheelchair to a man named Stephen after a nine year wait [40:10] – How donor dollars are spent, and Chair the Love's roughly 80% efficiency rate [42:55] – Corporate partnerships with AdventHealth, Rotary Clubs, and the Philippine Red Cross [44:24] – Introducing the Real Estate Challenge: donating a wheelchair per closed transaction [52:06] – What the world would look like if success were measured by lives changed, not deals closed [59:42] – Starting small: the "one or two smiles a day" approach to building a habit of generosity [1:00:30] – Chair the Love's upcoming gala and golf outing, and where to learn more Resources Mentioned Chair the Love: https://www.chairthelove.org The Virginia Investor Podcast (Augie's episode with Stephen Glover): https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-virginia-investor-podcast/id1823747224 The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen Covey 608B Capital: https://608bcapital.com Elite Dealmakers Discount Program: https://elitedealmakers.com/discount Connect and Subscribe If Augie's wheelchair analogy hit you the way it hit Jason, take it as your own challenge: whatever vehicle you've built, business, real estate, deals, ask what it's actually driving you toward. Go check out Chair the Love if this got you thinking about where your own generosity could go, and consider building something like the Real Estate Challenge into your own transactions. Subscribe, leave a review, and share this episode with someone serious about leveling up. Dealmaker Catalyst is rooted in the culture built by Jim Ingersoll and the nationwide Dealmaker community.
