Rental Property Owner & Real Estate Investor Podcast

Hello & welcome to episode 250.  We’ve reached the quarter-century mark and I thought I'd do things a little differently to celebrate this milestone.  We’re not going to have a guest today, I’m just going to spend a little time talking with you about the show: giving you a behind-the-scenes peek at how we put it together, answering some of your questions and feedback, and sharing the systems, technology & lessons I’ve learned from hosting this show over the past 249 episodes. I'll also be discussing some of the deals I've done with people I've met through the show, as well as my outlook on the real estate market and the property I just closed on this week that we intend to develop. You'll also find out why one of my favorite all-time episodes is the one that will be going live next week. I hope you enjoy this behind the scenes tour.  I'm very grateful for the opportunity to share these past 250 episodes with you, and want to thank the incredible team at the Rental Property Association for making it po

When you live in a high cost area such as the San Francisco Bay community, you have to apply some serious out-of-the-box thinking to achieve profit in real estate investing.  Over the last six years, today’s guest has taken over 50 multifamily units from negative to high cash flow positions using the traditional BRRRR model as well as fix & flips.  She's also figured out a way to double her money in multifamily investing in under two years. Sri Latha has been investing in multifamily since 2014 and she brings her experience as a data scientist and researcher to the finding, analyzing and acquisition of commercial multifamily.  Sri and her husband are also under contract for several hotel-to-multifamily conversions. Today Sri is going to share how she’s able to double her investment within one to two years as well as her strategy for buying in high-cost, rent-controlled areas of California.  We’ll also be doing a deep dive into Sri’s three favorite techniques, which are Cash For Keys, ADU’s (Accessory Dwel

Today we’re going to talk to someone who has achieved huge success investing in commercial multifamily and apartments.  Recently he’s grown his company’s portfolio from 2,500 units owned & operated to over 6,200 units.  He’s raised money from both institutional and individual investors through syndications and closed-end asset funds. John Azar is an Executive Vice President and Managing Member of MACC Venture Partners where he directs acquisitions, strategic development, capital management and growth.  In his past roles, John has been a commercial banker in various financial institutions and understands inside & out debt and equity financing as well as deal structure and how to grow successful companies. Today John is going to explain how he structures his deals, sources his financing, and the types of investors he works with and the returns they expect.  John will also share how his experience as an immigrant to the U.S. has shaped his perspective on success. I know you’re going to score a wealth of

You may remember a podcast conversation I had with UK investor Susannah Cole several months ago where she shared the HMO concept – Homes of Multiple Occupancy.  This is somewhat unique in the United States, but very prevalent in the UK, and it basically is a co-living situation where professionals rent out rooms in a shared house.  I wasn’t really aware of this concept in the U.S. outside student housing, group homes and boarding houses, but apparently my guest today has been quite successful at it. Shortly after Susannah’s episode aired I was contacted by Ron Thomas, an investor out of Albuquerque, New Mexico who has not only developed this model for his real estate business, but claims it works better than any other real estate strategy he’s tried. Ron has been developing and perfecting his sytems for Shared Residence since 2009, and teaches his model to other local real estate investors.  Today he’s going to explain how it works and how he’s averaging $1,000 net per property.  We’ll also discuss the type o

Investing in Performing or Non-Performing Notes can yield incredibly lucrative results for those who know what they're doing.  But if you are a beginner there will be many pitfalls and challenges you'll need to overcome in order to be successful.  Back in February 2020 at the RPOA Annual Conference we held an expert panel roundtable to discuss best practices and the situations note investors should avoid.  You'll enjoy hearing our expert's many stories and examples, as well as their greatest hits & losses. Donna Bauer is a trainer and coach who has done every type of real estate transaction: buying, selling, leasing – everything having to do with real property.  She’s also done every type of note deal whether it be performing, non-performing, seller-financed or anything in-between, and she will tell you that hands-down she prefers paper over property any day of the week.   Gene Chandler has 46 years of real estate investing experience and is the asset manager for Chandler & Chandler Financial, which s

I’ve been an admirer of today’s guest ever since I came across his Cash Flow Diary podcast many years ago.  J Massey has raised capital for, and invested in, single-family homes, notes, cell phone towers, commercial real estate and apartments.  And today he’s going to tell us about the new path his investing business has taken and why he sees a world of opportunity is short-term rentals. J has built his very own 34-unit, 46-bedroom, short-term rental business from scratch and has shifted his Cashflow Diary brand to focus exclusively on building and training short-term rental entrepreneurs. J is also going to share how you can build a successful business with your spouse, his special sales tips for new business owners and entrepreneurs, and how he’s dealing with the unique challenges of operating a business during the Covid-19 pandemic. Whether you’re a Short-Term Rental Investor or not, you’ll get a lot of great tips & advice in today’s conversation.  You can contact J Massey through his website & pod

One of the things I’m trying to accomplish during this Coronavirus Pandemic is systematizing and streamlining my business in order to become a leaner and more efficient real estate investor in this new and uncertain economy. One of the ways I’d like to do that, but I don’t really understand it or know how to execute on it, is through the use of Virtual Assistants. How do I find the right fit and in what ways can they make my business even more successful? That’s why I’m looking forward to our conversation with Amy Ransdell today.  Amy is the CMO for virtual assistant provider REVA Global and lead generation company Deal-Dialers.  She also runs an investment team and brokerage sales team in Marietta Georgia and has been buying, renovating, and wholesaling homes for over 18 years.  Amy’s deepest passion is to empower people to grow their investment skills and entrepreneurial fortitude, and today she’s going to help us do that by sharing how we can best utilize virtual assistants. Amy is going to explain the min

What does it take to raise OPM “Other People’s Money” in order to acquire larger real estate deals than you’d ordinarily be able to do by yourself?  Should you be thinking about raising OPM in order to take your investing business to the Next Level? According to my guest today, it takes a certain type of person to thrive in syndicating and 40% of the people he’s seen do their first syndication deal never do it again. That’s why he wrote a book about Syndication and its pitfalls called “Syndicating is a BI#@H: And Other Truths You Haven’t Been Told”. And today Bruce Petersen is here to discuss these truths and help you figure out if syndication is a road you want to travel. Bruce built his Apt-Guy empire and wealth by syndicating over 1,100 units in real estate, and today he’s going to share his secrets to success. We’ll be discussing the importance of having a mentor or coach, how he raised money for his first syndication without having a track record, and the many challenges and surprises he encountered whil

Up until early March we were in a booming real estate market with high valuations and a bright economic future.  Now, seemingly overnight, we find ourselves in a new kind of recession and it’s hard to see just how it will end and whether real estate will hold its value. One thing I can tell you from my experience going through the last great recession is that there will be incredible opportunities for those who have the capital to go after them.  And that’s what we will be talking about today – How do we find, educate, and prepare investors for the real estate opportunities that will be available in the next 3 to 12 months? My guest today, Dr. Adam Gower, is considered to be one of the country’s foremost real estate crowdfunding experts who founded his company GowerCrowd to assist sponsors and developers raise unlimited equity capital online.  Adam is a published best-selling author and has decades of experience in real estate investment and finance.  Adam is going to share his tips on content creation and ho

My guests today know what it's like to go through a major economic downturn and reposition their business in order to survive and thrive. Jason Roberts and Rachel Schneider owned their own mortgage company when the Great recession hit back in 2008.  Once the market crashed they pivoted to real estate investing and have since closed over 300 transactions.  Many of them were pre-foreclosures, short sales, wholesales, probates, you name it, they’ve done it. Now that coronavirus has brought our economy into another recession, it will be helpful to get Jason and Rachel’s perspective on how they plan to survive and thrive once again.  Jason and Rachel run a top coaching program where they share their knowledge and experience with other investors, and they also own a profitable hard money lending company with over 2 million dollars in loans out at any given time.  They’re also co-owners of their local REIA and continue to flip houses. Today they’re going to discuss the marketing systems they’ve put in place and how

As real estate prices increase, and the supply of new construction fails to keep pace with demand, the need for middle income housing is a steadily rising challenge that many communities are experiencing.  Today we’re going to discuss Workforce Housing.  What is it, who benefits from it, and how is it being developed? And here to have this conversation is Scott Choppin, a seasoned real estate developer with hundreds of millions of dollars of experience and specialization in workforce housing.  He’s also the founder of Urban Pacific, which specializes in the development of a unique type of Urban TownHome. Scott is going to share the development model that he’s employing in middle-income neighborhoods that cater to co-living and inter-family residents.  We’ll discuss the cost saving techniques he’s employing to develop and build these properties without any type of government subsidies.  We’ll also discuss the defensive nature of this type of housing against economic downturns and the financial fallout from the

My guest today is a big fan of the Keanu Reeves movie “The Matrix”, and he believes that most people really are living in the Matrix and it’s his job to help them escape. He does this by teaching them the benefits of multifamily and apartment real estate investing Since leaving a successful corporate America career, Jerome Myers has become a thought leader in the multifamily development space.  Jerome leads The Myers Development Group which focuses on buying broken apartment building businesses and using innovative thinking and solid execution strategies to optimize the operational efficiency of the business.  Jerome asset manages 90 units and 90,000 square feet of workforce housing across Virginia and North Carolina and he’s on a mission to hold 1,000 doors in the next 8 years.  He also hosts the podcast “Myers Methods Presents Multifamily Missteps”. Today Jerome will take us through the process of acquiring, rehabbing and profiting from two of his multifamily properties, and we’ll also discuss why he prefer

Today’s guest is going to talk about ‘Time’. Specifically, ‘Time Freedom’ and how you can achieve it through Real Estate Investing.  He’s also going to discuss how you can transition from being an active investor to 100% passive. Travis Watts is a full-time passive investor who has been investing in real estate since 2009.  He’s invested in multi-family, single-family and vacation rentals.  He’s also the Director of Investor Relations at Ashcroft Capital which was co-founded by Joe Fairless. Travis has invested in over 27 passive syndications and has made it his mission to share passive investment strategies in order to help others achieve and maintain wealth in real estate. Today Travis is going to describe his transition to Passive Investing, what he looks for in the sponsors and operators he invests with, Best Practices for Investor Communications, and specific examples of the deals he’s invested in. I know you’re going to enjoy this conversation with Travis. You can contact him in the following ways: Down

As real estate values increase, so too does the idea of selling your investment property and taking your profits off the table.  One of the major considerations in doing so however, are the tax consequences.  Many investors choose not to sell because they simply don’t want to pay taxes on their long-term gains. There is a way, however, to take those gains and not pay taxes on them by transitioning those profits into a different investment property. I’m talking about the 1031 exchange, and it’s a tool that you can use to delay paying those taxes. Dave Foster is a 1031 Exchange Expert, and he’s here today to help us understand how it works.  Dave is the Founder & CEO of the 1031 Exchange Investor, and he’s also a degreed accountant and serial real estate investor, as well as a qualified intermediary and consultant.  Today he’s going to share his tax saving strategies in order to help you maximize your real estate investment returns. We’ll be discussing the timeline you must follow when doing a 1031 exchange

To many people the real estate market may seem unpredictable, and the very real fear of losing money has been a huge psychological hurdle to overcome.  Many investors don’t want to be at the mercy of the economy and the banks. My guest today has found a way to circumvent that fear and risk by investing in real estate on His Terms.  Chris Prefontaine is rewriting the rules of real estate and coaching investors on how to scale and automate their business without using their cash or credit.  His family business has done over $80 Million in real estate transactions. Chris is also the Best-Selling author of 2017’s “Real Estate On Your Terms” and this year’s “The New Rules Of Real Estate Investing”. Chris and his family are acquiring 5 to 10 properties every month and control between $20 to $30 Million --- all done on Terms without using their own cash, credit, or signing for loans.  Today we’re going to discuss what it means to invest in Real Estate on Your Terms, the two strategies Chris recommends that new inves

One of the highlights of the RPOA's 2020 Annual Conference was the Expert Panel on Short Term Vacation Rentals, and today you get to listen to this Pre-Covid-19 Conversation.  We assembled an incredible group of experts and investors to help us understand the best practices for owning & operating short term vacation rentals, the biggest challenges facing the industry, and why its so important for the industry to professionalize and improve its perception in the community. Ed Bodman has over 7 years of experience owning & operating short term rentals.  Ed has become an expert in hospitality, hosting, maintenance, marketing, cleaning, staging, furnishing, buying right, and working with city government to promote his community. Kim Post has a House and 10 cabins in Cadillac Michigan that will all be converted to short-term vacation rentals by fall.  Currently the House and 6 cabins are online.   Kim’s been a real estate investor for over 30 years and is the owner of Post & Associates Appraisals and N

One of the best ways to increase your net operating income and cashflow is to get control over your utility expenses.  Whether it’s through improving your existing systems and mechanicals, adding renewable sources such as solar panels, or installing water saving aerators to your faucets, there are many ways you can improve the energy efficiency of your properties. However, this does require an investment of time and money. If you don’t have the funds to make this investment, you may be missing out on a huge profit opportunity. Today we’re going to be discussing some of the energy efficient and cost-saving changes you can make to your investment property and the different types of programs and loans available that will cover the costs. With us today is Scott Ringlein, the founder and CEO of The Energy Alliance Group of North America, who’s mission is to develop and deploy innovative solutions to energy, waste, and environmental challenges through the combination of technical and financial solutions.  Scott wil

You’re about to hear an incredibly informative conversation I had with Chris Ressa about Commercial Retail investing.  We recorded this on March 11th, just before our country went into lockdown, and as we all know, retail has taken quite a beating over these past months.  What I’d love for you to do is to listen through this conversation to get a detailed understanding of how retail investing works, and then at the very end you’ll hear my follow-up conversation with Chris that we recorded this past week. Chris is going to update us on how his $3 billion portfolio has survived during the past three months.  Definitely stick around to the end, because you won’t want to miss it! Every time I drive by a strip mall with a TJ-Maxx, or a ROSS Dress For Less, or a Burlington Coat Factory, I always wonder, “Who owns that property, and what does that investment actually look like?”  Today we’re going to talk about investing in retail. What are the factors that make this a profitable asset class, how do we value it, wha

One of the asset classes that’s expected to hold up well during this Coronavirus Pandemic is Self-Storage.  In fact, it tends to do well no matter how the economy is performing.  Today we’re going to take a look at the factors that make Self-Storage so attractive and help you understand how to successfully invest in this sector. And here to take a deep dive into this strategy is Kris Benson, the chief investment officer for Reliant Investments, a subsidiary of Reliant Real Estate Management, which is one of the top 25 commercial Self-Storage operators in the U.S.  Reliant has completed over $650 Million in Self-Storage acquisitions and dispositions in the past 5 years. We’ll also be discussing what it takes to put together a $50 Million fund, and Kris’ role in raising money for Reliant’s portfolio. For those of you who are syndicators or raising money for your own fund, you’ll definitely benefit from learning how Kris raises money from investors, how Reliant structures their investment opportunities, and the

My guest today made a lifestyle real estate investment in an asset class that most of us can only dream of. He bought an Island!  And he’s turning that island into the world’s sexiest off-the grid private luxury resort featuring over-water villas, treehouse jungle suites, and the world’s first over-water beach on stilts. You may know Dan Behm from his online blog called “Why I bought an Island”, and if you’re from the West Michigan area you may know him as the Founder and Past CEO & President of the wildly successful tech company ‘OST’, or Open Systems Technologies. Dan is also an entrepreneur and investor focusing on residential and commercial real estate, small businesses and international resorts. He’s received many awards over the years including the Ernst and Young Entrepreneur of the Year and the West Michigan MSU Business Person of the Year. And today, Dan is going to tell us why he bought this island in Panama, the engineering and structural challenges his team had to overcome to turn it into a wo