Real Estate Milestones

Would rather hold real estate debt or equity during a recession? Obviously, there is no simple answer to this question, and it always depends on the specifics of the deal, but regardless of your choice, investment strategies need to change with the times… Today’s guest has seen about a 20% drop in real estate prices from recent highs, as a holder of both residential debt and equity, she’s not too...

I’ve spoken to quite a few real estate investors over the past 3 weeks, and all of them are getting ready to invest in discounted opportunities over the next 18 months. However, I’m interested to see how they get deals done if lenders continue to hold back… Some investors are seeking Private Money loans , which are loans from high-net-worth individuals who want exposure to real estate without need...

When I drive past a rundown house with overgrown grass and a tattered fence, I used to think it was a shame that the owner would leave their property in such a condition… Now, when I drive past, I wonder how much the owner is willing to sell the house for! This is because the eyesore represents an opportunity. No matter what the reason is for the property's condition, odds are that the owner does...

Sam Bates is the founder of Bates Capital Group, a real estate investment company committed to acquiring value-add investment opportunities for their investors. Their principal objective is to acquire high-quality assets that provide risk-adjusted returns to their investors. In today's episode, Sam Bates talks about the hottest real estate markets and the best strategies for navigating them. Keep...

If you are a student in college, the last thing you are probably thinking about is retirement. However, Right Now, many of us have a unique opportunity to set ourselves up to retire in paradise by making a few wise choices… For example, if you start investing your money in a Roth IRA Now, while you have a low or no tax rate, you will not have to pay any taxes on the gains when you withdraw during...

There is one particular Megatrend that’s barreling toward us and nobody wants to talk about it… I don’t blame them, it’s not the most exciting. However, we need to face the facts… Every day, 10,000 Baby Boomers turn 65, and… By 2030, 1 out of every 5 Americans will be over retirement age. That means there will be more retirees than people under 18 years old! The question is, where are all our love...

Where do good business ideas come from? Some ideas are crafted over years of careful planning. Some people are just struck by sudden inspiration… Often, the best ideas are standing right in front of you. If you experience the same problem repeatedly day after day, you might be on the brink of something great… Grant Weiss started his career working in institutional real estate investments, and afte...

Here’s a question you’ve heard for as long as you can remember: “What do you want to be when you grow up?” Most of our answers have changed over time, and many of us are still asking the question. Now, think back to the first answer you had to this question… Many of us probably wanted to be an astronaut, an athlete, or a firefighter! No matter what you wanted to be as a child, I challenge you to a...

Starting a podcast is like diving into the deep end before learning how to swim. But we all know you can’t learn to swim by just standing on the edge of a diving board… After 40 episodes of Real Estate Milestones, I have grown in more ways than I could have ever imagined. In today’s episode, Adam Carswell and I reminisce on how each of our journeys in podcasting began and how much each of us has g...

This might sound counterintuitive, but I’ve learned more from my favorite fiction books than from the most informative non-fiction books… When I first started learning about real estate, I would read book after book, practically pumping my brain full of information. Once I began seeing the same points over and over, I thought, “now what?” Needing a break from the business books, I picked up “Out o...

There are so many reasons I love living in New Orleans, but hurricanes are not one of them… Hurricane Ida did $120B in damage, and 99% of New Orleans was left without power. Unfortunately, Ida is probably not the last hurricane to affect our coastal cities and towns. Thankfully, we have inventors with the audacity to design a solution. David Atkinson is the Creator of the Z Sphere , which is a hur...

Do most people start their real estate investing journey with single-family homes? Many of my friends in the industry have told me the story of their transition from SFRs and fix&flips to CRE investing. Here are a few of the reasons people have made the switch: Better cash flow and appreciation. Better financing options. Economies of scale. Easier to invest from a distance. Can hire better 3rd...

When I heard this fact, I was shocked… Before I met today’s guest, I thought dry cleaning was harmless. But, little did I know… The environmental contaminants produced by dry cleaners are even harder and more costly to clean up than gas stations! Jim Cinelli is an Environmental Engineer and owner of Liberty Environmental , a consulting firm that helps real estate owners with their toughest environ...

Wait… Inflation is bad, right? In his recent speech, Fed Chairman Jerome Powell emphasized his commitment to bringing inflation back down to his 2% goal (we are currently at 8.5%). However, if you owned multifamily real estate over the last few years, inflation has been your friend as unprecedented rent growth has driven up property values and cash flow. The question is: Will the Fed’s actions to...

Who else thinks that the real estate industry is long overdue for a technology upgrade? The industry contributes almost $4 Trillion to global GDP every year, but most of the software the industry runs on looks like it was developed before I was born. Luckily we have entrepreneurs like Perry Zheng , who is leading the way in bringing Silicon Valley speed and elegance to the real estate industry! Pe...

Real estate is more expensive than ever, interest rates are rising, and the stock market is down over 20%... Despite the less than rosy picture, it seems like most people are not fearing the worst. Furthermore, just as the economy has two consecutive quarters of declining GDP, we’re told that a Recession is too complicated to have a definition. While economics can be a complicated topic, we’ve see...

Have you ever considered investing in real estate out of the country? Given the many benefits and strong fundamentals of US real estate, most of us rarely venture off of our home turf. However, we might be overlooking tremendous opportunities halfway around the globe. I was super surprised to learn that prior to the pandemic, Australia had 30 straight years of GDP growth and a population growth ra...

We can’t open up our favorite news app without reading something about electric vehicles. However, personal passenger vehicles account for less than 10% of carbon emissions . Guess how much comes from real estate… When you add up embodied emissions (created through the construction and procurement of buildings) and operational emissions (energy consumption and operations) - real estate is responsi...

Teamwork is one of the most powerful ways to succeed in real estate because a team can accomplish things you could have never done alone. The wealthiest real estate investors have known this all along, which is why they have been forming partnerships for centuries. However, it has not been easy for ordinary investors to group invest until today’s guest began making his dream a reality! Travis Smit...

When you look around at the economy and world, it’s not hard to see that the entire financial system is undergoing a massive change. For most of our lives, we focus on accumulating wealth, whether through our job, investing in real estate, or starting companies. However, in this chaotic environment, if we do not create a capital allocation plan, we run the risk of losing what we’ve worked so hard...

Would you live in a Tiny Home??? In a world that is becoming increasingly digitized, Americans are needing less and less space to live. According to recent studies, 23% of all Americans (and 34% of Americans age 18-34) say they would live in a tiny home or heavily consider living in a tiny home. Additionally, tiny home development is expected to increase by $3.5 billion by 2026! So, what is a tiny...

What if there was an app where you could start investing in real estate with only $10? It’s no question that real estate has been one of the best investments since before financial markets were even invented. However, in the 21st century, real estate is expensive and many deals are only available to accredited investors, which makes it difficult for the majority of people to invest in real estate....

As most of us have noticed, the stock market has been very volatile in the past few months. While I don’t mean to be the bearer of bad news, I’m feeling for the many Americans who may be hoping to retire in the near future but might have to sell some of their stocks in a down market. Although it’s very hard to time any investment market, many smart real estate investors are not terribly worried ab...

When you hear “Mobile Home Parks” you might think of the shady and dirty trailer parks often depicted on TV. In reality, MHPs are very different from the pop-culture stereotype. Not only do residents benefit from very affordable housing and homeownership, investors like today’s guest, invest heavily in creating safe, clean, and amenitized communities that the residents love for years! If that is n...

In an industry where everyone is constantly on a hunt for their next deal or for the money to even make their deal possible, sometimes we overlook the true source of value creation… The execution of the business plan. For a deal to be as great in reality as it looks on paper, investors need to have a system for ensuring that value is added to the property, while staying within the confines of thei...