Built For This Show

Episode Description: Andrea Lane attended a presentation by Robert Mohan and brought back insights that most real estate investors never talk about — protecting the financial identity that makes wealth-building possible in the first place. This episode covers freezing your credit, boosting your credit score, and building strategic bank relationships. Key Topics Covered: Freeze Your Credit (Beyond...

Andrea Lane shares her proven framework for building a scalable real estate investment business through systematic processes. Learn her core business loop: finding houses, finding money, and creating systems that allow others to handle the operations. Key Topics Covered Finding Houses Sourcing Strategy: Working with wholesalers and personal contacts Quick Evaluation Method: Using pictures as the f...

Guest: Phyllis McConnell | Contact: Phyllis. McConnell@gmail.com About Phyllis Phyllis is the founder of Zhe Rockz (ZHEROCKZ), a cleaning company serving all of New Jersey and New York. Her journey into real estate began when she was hired to do a clean-out for a female contractor, who inspired her by building homes and creating opportunities for others. Real Estate Experience Previously owned a h...

Andrea Lane, the Fearless Real Estate Investor, joins co-host Alissa Bickar to break down Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) — what they are, why they matter, and what to measure when buying and selling investment properties. Note: rental portfolio KPIs are not covered in this episode. What You'll Learn Why KPIs Matter KPIs indicate how your business is performing across different functions and hel...

In this co-host-only episode, Andrea Lane — the Fearless Real Estate Investor — breaks down why understanding your location is the single most critical step before analyzing any real estate deal. Key Takeaways Location must come before deal analysis — your location defines how well your property will perform and whether you'll actually make money. Three layers of "location": Your marketplace (city...

In this host-only conversation, co-hosts Alissa Bickar ("The Consultress") and Andrea Lane ("The Fearless Real Estate Investor") break down the essential free and low-cost resources every real estate investor should leverage. Whether you are caught in "analysis paralysis" or jumping straight into action without a blueprint, Alissa and Andrea highlight powerful tools hiding in plain sight—from loca...

Andrea Mullen shares her real estate journey across nearly 20 years, from social worker to pharmaceutical sales rep to real estate investor. Guest Background Graduated from Rutgers University in New Brunswick; started in social work Transitioned to pharmaceutical sales, then pursued a real estate license Licensed at a brokerage specializing in bank-owned properties Real Estate Portfolio Previously...

Andrea and Alissa tackle a topic most real estate investors oversimplify: the difference between maintenance budgets and reserve funds — and why treating them as one bucket can cost you dearly.  🔑 Key Takeaways Maintenance Budget = day-to-day repair costs  Covers small fixes: broken toilet, floor repair, minor plumbing A starting point of ~10% of monthly rent is common  Over time, as the property...

In this episode, Andrea and Alissa break down a topic that's near and dear to every real estate investor's heart: the difference between asset management and property management and why understanding both is critical to protecting your investment.  🔑 Key Takeaways Property Management = day-to-day operations  Tenant satisfaction, complaints, lease compliance Reactive: fix what's broken, keep it li...

From Debris Removal to Real Estate Investing: Building an Unfair Advantage In this episode of Built For This, Alissa Bickar, The Consultress, sits down with Anthony Forque of A&A Debris Removal to explore how growing up around real estate, working in demolition, and running a service business have shaped his path as a real estate investor. Anthony’s real estate journey started early. By eighth...

In this episode of Built For This, host Alissa Bickar sits down with long-time real estate investor and mortgage expert Philip Ganz. What began as a necessity-driven purchase at age 21 turned into a decades-long real estate journey spanning multiple markets along the East Coast. Philip shares how he became an “accidental investor,” the lessons he learned from buying, holding, renovating, and manag...

In this episode, Andrea Lane and Alissa Bickar sit down with real estate wholesaler Luis Guerrero to discuss how a difficult experience in corporate America became the catalyst for his entrepreneurial journey. After being wrongfully terminated from a corporate job, Luis decided he no longer wanted someone else controlling his income or future. That decision led him into the world of real estate wh...

🎤 Built For This Show S2E2: The Entrepreneurial Seizure: Building the Business of Real Estate | Built for This Show featuring Mark Abramovich In this episode, co-hosts Alissa Bickar (The Consultress) and Andrea Lane sit down with real estate investor, lender, and company founder Mark Abramovich. Spanning a 20-year journey that started completely "by accident" in a vacation community, Mark breaks...

Reggie Reavis is a real estate investor with 10 years of experience who owns 3 single-family properties in North Carolina and Virginia. He previously did wholesaling but transitioned to focus on the stability of rental properties as market conditions changed. Key Discussion Points Why Reggie Got Into Real Estate: Initially entered for the money and retirement security Stayed because of the people...

In this inspiring episode, we sit down with Kannon Callis—a software-salesman-turned-property-manager—who shares how he made the leap from tech to real estate and built a purpose-driven investing business. Originally from Texas and now thriving in Boise, Idaho, Kannon shares his journey from accidental landlord to intentional investor and entrepreneur. Kannon opens up about the hard lessons learne...

In this heartfelt and value-packed episode, Brian Biernat shares how two life-altering events led him and his wife Amy to step away from the corporate world and dive into real estate investing—with zero experience. From their early (and costly) missteps to building a diversified portfolio that includes long-term rentals, furnished housing, notes, JVs, and turnkey projects, Brian pulls back the cur...

What does it take to buy seven properties in just one year—while working full-time, parenting a toddler, and managing renovations? This week, Amy Brooke joins us to share how she and her husband scaled their real estate portfolio in Ontario, Canada with grit, strategy, and serious mindset work. Amy talks about her journey from buying her first home at 19 in the UK to diving into Canadian real esta...

In this episode of The Built For This Show, Daniel Zammata joins Alissa Bickar and Andrea Lane to talk about the often-overlooked grind behind real estate investing. Originally from Colombia, Daniel shares why he’s intentionally chosen markets like Oklahoma and Ohio over the usual real estate hot spots—and how staying grounded and gritty has paid off. Daniel walks us through his transition from pr...

In this episode of The Built for This Podcast, hosts Alissa Bickar and Andrea Lane chat with Rob Gibbs, an IT professional-turned-investor based in Austin, Texas. Rob shares his journey from purchasing his first property sight unseen to building a sustainable portfolio of short, mid, and long-term rentals—all while working full-time and managing his properties remotely. You’ll hear how Rob leverag...

In this episode, we sit down with Carrie Howder—a dog-loving, detail-oriented former paralegal turned real estate investor—who shows us what it really means to take the leap and bet on yourself. From a spontaneous start in South Boston to building a lifestyle business centered around pet-friendly short-term rentals in Maine, Carrie shares her journey of agility, grit, and resourcefulness. Carrie w...

In this episode of the Built For This Podcast, hosts Alissa Bickar and Andrea Lane sit down with real estate investor and entrepreneur Josh Meisel to uncover his unique journey from corporate employee and stock market investor to real estate owner and CEO of a short-term rental property management business. Josh shares how he started out diversifying investments through real estate after getting b...

What do you do when your dad tells you that your skills might not cut it in the job market? If you're Cris Sohmer, you take that as a challenge and build your own path—starting with a civil service career and eventually becoming a full-time real estate investor. In this episode of The Built For This Podcast, Alissa and Andrea sit down with Cris to uncover how she turned real estate from a side hus...

What does it really mean to be built for this? In this powerful episode, we meet Kris Fleming—real estate negotiator, investor, and creator of The Genius Cultivator—who turned a childhood of poverty and homelessness into a life of wealth and impact through real estate. Kris shares her raw and inspiring journey of buying her first home at just 18 after aging out of foster care, and how she develope...

This episode of the Built For This podcast features Nana Hong, a former PhD student turned full-time real estate investor with a 20-unit portfolio in Pittsburgh. Co-hosts Alissa Bickar and Andrea Lane dive into Nana’s inspiring transition from academia and biotech sales to building a purpose-driven real estate business. Nana shares how her analytical background, experience in sales, and deep perso...

In this episode of The Built for This Podcast, Alissa and Andrea sit down with Shona Lepis—Portland-based real estate investor and coach—to uncover what it really takes to build a profitable buy-and-hold real estate business. From her roots in graphic design to scaling a thriving portfolio of midterm rentals, Shona shares how creative financing, smart design, and strong community ties have shaped...