Multifamily Real Estate Investing

Send us Fan Mail In this episode of the Multifamily Real Estate Investing Podcast by Mara Poling , hosts Lauren Torres and Lauren Messina break down what these year-end reconciliations really mean, why they matter, and how they influence cash flow. You’ll learn: How escrow accounts for property taxes are analyzed at year-end Why unexpected tax assessments changes can affect cash flow How proactive...

Send us Fan Mail This Halloween, we’re digging up one of multifamily’s scariest stories — The Curse of Deferred Maintenance.   You know the type: a property that looked great on paper, the numbers checked out, and due diligence was a breeze… until that first summer exposed a graveyard of hidden issues. Plumbing issues and failing HVACs — suddenly your “light value-add” becomes a financial nightmar...

Send us Fan Mail Ever wondered how multifamily budgets are built—and what goes into those line items that drive performance? In this episode, The Laurens break down the annual budgeting process for Mara Poling’s portfolio. Lauren Torres explains how property teams, asset managers, and the finance department collaborate to forecast expenses and revenues. Lauren Messina takes a closer look at proper...

Send us Fan Mail Leasing slows. Residents get busy. But The Laurens are here to turn the holiday slump into a strategy win.  In this episode, Lauren Torres and Lauren Messina share tips on boosting renewals, creating smart leasing incentives, engaging your community, and managing operations so your properties finish the year strong—and start Q1 even stronger.

Send us Fan Mail In this episode of Multifamily Real Estate Investing from Mara Poling , we’re taking you inside the engine room of multifamily operations with John Jones, COO at Mara Poling. While most conversations center around financials and investor strategy, this week we focus on where performance truly happens: onsite execution. John shares what a typical week looks like overseeing property...

Send us Fan Mail What happens when you put two multifamily investors on the spot with 20 rapid-fire questions? In this episode of Multifamily Speed Dating , Lauren Torres and Lauren Messina tackle everything from their favorite markets and biggest red flags to crazy tenant stories, value-add strategies, and the biggest mistakes they see new investors make. It’s fast, fun, and full of quick insight...

Send us Fan Mail Due diligence can make or break a multifamily investment. In this episode of Due Diligence Done Right , The Laurens unpack the critical items lenders and insurers zero in on — from structural issues and life-safety systems to hidden environmental risks. Learn how to identify red flags before closing, avoid costly repair escrows, and set your property up for long-term cash flow suc...

Send us Fan Mail They say nothing is certain except death and taxes — and in multi-family real estate, property taxes are often the single biggest expense you can’t escape. In this episode, we sit down with Tyler Dowell and Kyle Moon from KE Andrews , one of the nation’s leading property tax consulting firms, to unpack how owners can fight rising assessments, navigate appeals, and protect their NO...

Send us Fan Mail The Struggle is Real: Turning Around a Property with Occupancy & Cash Flow Challenges Join The Laurens as they take you behind the scenes of asset management at Mara Poling. Not every property runs smoothly all the time — so what happens when occupancy dips and cash flow tightens? In this episode, Lauren Torres and Lauren Messina share how they diagnose the issues, partner wit...

Send us Fan Mail The Multifamily Real Estate Investing presented by Mara Poling podcast has two new voices at the mic — meet your hosts, Lauren Torres (CFO) and Lauren Messina (Investment Manager), aka The Laurens . Kicking off Season 10, in this episode they share what’s ahead for the show — from expert guest interviews to deep dives on trends shaping the multifamily real estate industry.  Questi...

Send us Fan Mail Excited to share the news. After 400 episodes and 9 seasons, we are thrilled to announce the all new Multifamily Real Estate Investing presented by Mara Poling. New content, new hosts, guests, interviews and so many other updates. Keep an eye out in the next few weeks for more on this - we announce the new launch date next week.

Send us Fan Mail Join Pat for a 3 part discussion of the State of The Nation's Housing in 2025 as prepared by the Joint Center for Housing Studies of Harvard University. This week in Part 3 Rental Housing Overall Housing Challenges The Outlook Is Uncertain

Send us Fan Mail Join Pat for a 3 part discussion of the State of The Nation's Housing in 2025 as prepared by the Joint Center for Housing Studies of Harvard University. This week in Part 2 Demographics driving the home ownership and rental housing markets Home Ownership Rates are Faltering

Send us Fan Mail Join Pat for a 3 part discussion of the State of The Nation's Housing in 2025 as prepared by the Joint Center for Housing Studies of Harvard University. This week in Part 1 What is this report and who is JCHS? Big Picture - Home Prices are Up, as are Inventories, Barriers to Home Ownership Rise, Rental Demand is Strong, Housing Costs are Up Across the Board...The Future Is Un...

Send us Fan Mail Reaching back into our archives we visit one of our most popular episodes - Goldilocks and the Three Classes of Multifamily Real Estate. Every wonder what an A is ? or a C? and why we invest in B? Then join Pat for a look back at one of our most popular episodes ever.

Send us Fan Mail As an investor, do I focus on earnings, cash flow for my retirement? or growth for my estate? Join Pat for a discussion of how multifamily real estate can provide income for your retirement and serve as a cornerstone of your estate plan.

Send us Fan Mail As multifamily real estate investors we want to grow average revenue per unit (ARPU). Lower vacancy rates with stable rents generate higher revenue...and...higher rents with stable vacancy also generate higher revenues. Which is better? Join Pat for a discussion of the interactions between vacancy and rent in the optimization of ARPU.

Send us Fan Mail Fortunes have been made, and some lost, investing in stocks, bonds, gold, even real estate. But never has anyone lost money improving their knowledge and experience as an investor. No where is this more true than Multifamily Real Estate. Join Pat for a look at 5 ways to build your real estate investing knowledge base and one that is guaranteed to make you a better investor.

Send us Fan Mail How many households rent? Who rents? How much do they spend on rent? Join Pat for a discussion of the most current multifamily rental data for 2025.

Send us Fan Mail Most if not all of us are happy to pay our fair share of taxes for the benefits we all receive from our cities, counties, states, and the federal government - and I can't recall meeting anyone who wants to pay more than they should. Adding real estate, specifically multifamily real estate, to your investment portfolio has significant tax advantages you will not see with more...

Send us Fan Mail Growing demand is accelerating the imbalance in multifamily housing. Conservative estimates are for 4.3M units required over the next 10 years, with a more likely number being 5.4M. Join Pat to learn what is driving demand, and a peak at the inability for supply to respond.

Send us Fan Mail We sincerely appreciate all the kind feedback we receive. Often it leads to a simple question, why do it? Join Pat and take a walk through the origin of The Learning Center and why Mara Poling is committed to multifamily real estate education.

Send us Fan Mail Goldilocks taught us about "fitness." The value of an item is relative to its "fit" with our purposes. Join Pat for a discussion of scale in multifamily real estate investing - just what is too big, too small, and just right.

Send us Fan Mail What goes into searching for and selecting a property for acquisition? Mara Poling is currently working on acquisitions - what are we looking for? Join Pat for a review of the characteristics that Mara Poling targets when searching for acquisitions.

Send us Fan Mail What is going on with the economy? Are we up? Down? What happens next? There are lots of questions in the minds of investors these days. Join Pat to see why Mara Poling isn't worried and the role underwriting plays in the security and stability of multifamily real estate investing.