At the close of the first quarter of 2016, FortuneBuilders CEO Than Merrill announced the real estate education company and its partner organizations were on track to experience large growth in the upcoming year. Merrill has devoted much of his time to expanding and diversifying other areas and niches of the real estate business. FortuneBuilders, based in Pacific Beach, expects to welcome more students to its program this year than any previous year, and has been gearing up for the expected growth. The education company announced plans to double its amount of immersion classes in smaller markets, and add a third more bootcamp live events in larger markets for its students. Additionally, they will grow their students’ program offerings by expanding the current curriculum, adding continuous access to calls with real estate coaches, and redesigning their entire online education platform. “What sets us apart from other real estate education companies is that we are constantly improving, building, and using the systems that we teach to our students,” Merrill said. “The better the tools and programs we can provide to our students, the more successful the businesses they develop will be.”  Over the last year, FortuneBuilders’ partner investment company CT Homes launched their own development company, Pacific Building and Development Inc. The company will primarily focus on the CT Homes’ internal construction projects, which allows them to cut costs on investment overhead.
As a result, FortuneBuilders is now able to instruct their students on how to better manage construction projects, and has added several new construction courses and live training events to their curriculum. During that same time frame, Grand Coast Capital, an SEC regulated investment fund co-founded by Merrill, hit its goal of reaching $100 million in funding. The fund has been growing since its launch in 2013 and generates steady returns for investors through residential and commercial real estate investments. The investment fund is available to students who meet certain requirements and are in need of a hard money lender to close a real estate deal. FortuneBuilders partners at Realeflow, a real estate lead source software company, have also been busy redesigning their user interface. However, their most notable move is their acquisition of FlipComp, a new tool for investors that promises to provide users with the most accurate MLS listing info available, as well as sort through properties by after repair value (ARV). The company continues to expand with 180 new hires brought on in 2015. Merrill plans to continue growing additional parts of the business, and promises new and exciting things are to come in the year ahead.