Welcome to GRID Gaithersburg
meetup.com/grid-gaithersburg
meetup.com/grid-gaithersburg
Who we are
Founded October 2024
Welcome! GRID Gaithersburg is a real estate investment community based in Gaithersburg, Maryland—built by investors for investors. We are a group of real people doing real deals in our local marketplace.
Our core mission is to connect to, learn from, and collaborate with like-minded people interested in growing their businesses and creating long-term wealth.
We welcome investors of all experience levels. We are life-long learners and believe everyone has value to share.
How it works
We meet once a month, 12 months a year, on the same day, week, and time of the month.
Each month we cover a different investing topic in the lifecycle of an investor—ranging from wholesaling to rehabbing to becoming a bank through private lending.
Our meetings are not sales pitches.
They are opportunities for us to dive deep into a real estate topic, connect with local experts in our marketplace, and build long-term relationships with other doers.
Meet your GRID Community Leader
About Nick
Nick Chaconas is a Montgomery County native. After 20+ years in real estate, he thought he saw it all as an agent.
Then he turned his attention to becoming a real estate investor and has had his eyes opened on more than one occasion. In addition to building his own real estate investing business, his life’s work now also revolves around mentoring agents and investors to achieve optimal growth.
Having lived through the highs and lows of entrepreneurship, personal challenges, and reinvention, he has mastered the art of integrating resilience, strategic thinking, and mindfulness into every aspect of life.
Drawing from a wealth of experiences that range from overcoming financial struggles to pushing his physical limits in Spartan races (Aroo!), he has built a mindset that embraces doing hard things, protecting time, and mastering emotions. He helps agents and investors achieve clarity in their goals, create enduring habits, and align their daily actions with long-term visions of success.
His coaching is rooted in practicality. Whether it’s scaling businesses, fostering deep relationships, or committing to personal development, he believes in actionable strategies that deliver tangible results.
Inspired by a drive for excellence, he blends the wisdom of meditation, physical fitness, and business acumen to help individuals create lives of impact and fulfillment. If others are ready to transform their lives by challenging the norm and unlocking their potential, he is eager to connect. Together, they can elevate every aspect of their journeys.
About Karen
Karen Parnes is a real estate investor and a licensed Maryland Realtor with over 20 years of experience.
Her journey into real estate began in 2003 when her family and she purchased their first home. Although it was not the right house for them, the experience became the spark that ignited her real estate career. She recognized the need for a better way for buyers and sellers.
Karen learned how to help families, like her own, escape financial hardships through creative real estate solutions. She focuses on education, explaining the process and options while giving clients the knowledge they need to make informed decisions, preventing them from going through what her family experienced.
Over the years, she has had the honor of helping hundreds of clients achieve their real estate goals. Her background includes being on the ground level of launching two prop-tech startups, owning her brokerage, and building systems that help agents, teams, and investors succeed.
Passionate about coaching, she now mentors both agents and investors by guiding them through deals and allowing them to learn hands-on by observing her work and processes.
Watch our event playbacks on YouTube
What people are saying
Participating in the real estate conference hosted by Smith Real Estate Ventures was a transformative experience for me! The organizers went above and beyond, delivering invaluable insights and networking possibilities that surpassed all expectations.
— Garrett Montgomery
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
The real estate workshop hosted by Brown Realty Enterprises was truly a game-changer for me! The organizers surpassed all expectations, offering exceptional insights and networking opportunities that were immensely valuable.
— Cassidy Johnson
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
Attending the real estate seminar organized by Johnson Properties was a complete game-changer! The event far exceeded my expectations, offering incredibly valuable insights and networking chances. GRID is exactly the kind of group I had been looking for as a new investor with a lot of questions and not sure who to trust for answers.
— Michael Dorita
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
