The Housing Dept. Podcast

What if the biggest thing holding you back isn't money or experience—but fear? In this episode of The Housing Dept. Podcast, Terence sits down with Lina, an independent living home operator from Pennsylvania, to talk about a challenge many aspiring entrepreneurs face but rarely admit: anxiety. Lina shares how she pushed through the fear of calling landlords, case managers, and referral partner...

Running an Independent Living Home isn't just about finding residents—it's about managing your business efficiently. In this episode of The Housing Dept. Podcast, Terence sits down with Dave Spooner, co-founder of Innago, to discuss how housing operators can simplify rent collection, automate administrative tasks, and manage their properties without paying for expensive software. Built spe...

What if your first investment property only required $3,000 down? That's exactly how Andres Martinez got started. In this episode of The Housing Dept. Podcast, Terence sits down with Andres to unpack how he went from working as a full-time waiter to building a portfolio of 14 co-living homes using creative finance. Instead of waiting years to save for a large down payment, Andres shares how he use...

Building one Independent Living Home is challenging. Building a 75-bed housing operation is a completely different game. In this episode of The Housing Dept. Podcast, Terence sits down with Kevin Anderson to break down how he built a 75-bed Independent Living Home business, the lessons he learned along the way, and what operators need to know to grow beyond their first property. After experiencing...

Most housing operators are focused on finding their next property. Remy is focused on changing entire communities. In this episode of The Housing Dept. Podcast, Terence sits down with community developer Remy Jeus to discuss how housing providers can work alongside cities, nonprofits, and local organizations to create larger housing solutions that go far beyond a single home. While many people are...

Some businesses start with an opportunity. Others start with a personal mission. For Darnell, it was both. In this episode of The Housing Dept. Podcast, Terence sits down with Darnell Gibson, founder of Gibson Way, to share how his experience with homelessness as a teenager shaped his desire to help others find safe and stable housing. What started as a vision to serve people in need eventually be...

Can you really run an independent living home business inside a mobile home? Most people would immediately say no. But in this episode of The Housing Dept. Podcast, Terence sits down with Larry — a Las Vegas real estate investor and housing operator who shares how he successfully turned a mobile home into a profitable shared housing opportunity. From buying a manufactured home in cash…to filling b...

Most beginners think they’re too late to start an independent living home business. Too old. Too inexperienced. Too far behind. But Michelle’s story proves otherwise. In this episode of The Housing Dept. Podcast, Terence sits down with Michelle — a former nurse who started her independent living home business later in life after major career and life changes. She had no background in real estate,...

Before the homes… before the systems… before the results…There was someone who believed in the vision from Day 1.In this episode of The Housing Dept. Podcast, Terence sits down with Alyssa—his now fiancée—to talk about the journey of building a group home business from the ground up, the early struggles, and what it really looked like behind the scenes. From putting up flyers at bus stops in the r...

Most people think you need money, credit, and experience to get a rental…She got her first home with no deposit, no first month’s rent, and no credit check. In this episode, we break down exactly how she did it—and how you can start finding landlord partners in 2026.What we cover:How she got her first rental with $0 upfrontThe exact Zillow message that gets landlords to respondWhy most beginners f...

Most people stay stuck in “analysis paralysis”…Meanwhile, Vincent built 40+ rental properties, flipped 30 homes, and now buys deals with $0 of his own money. In this episode, we break down exactly how he did it—and how you can get started even as a beginner. What we cover:How to start in real estate with little or no moneyThe BURR strategy explained (simple + beginner-friendly)How to invest out of...

Starting a group home sounds simple… until your first mistake costs you thousands. In this episode, Michel shares how he launched his first home from scratch, what went wrong, and the exact lessons that saved his business. If you're just getting started, this will save you time, money, and stress. What we cover:• The #1 beginner mistake that cost $2,000• Why you should NEVER rely on one organi...

She failed the test 3 times… and almost gave up. In this episode of The Housing Department Podcast , we sit down with Lanita, who shares how she went from struggling to pass the assisted living test to opening her very first group home and filling it with residents. This is a real, beginner story of what it actually takes to become a group home investor without having everything figured out. Insid...

In this episode of The Housing Dept. Podcast, we sit down with Darcy, a grant expert with over 5 years of experience, to break down how to find and win business grants — using AI.Darcy shares how she got started with grants, how she won her first grant and quit her six-figure job, and how entrepreneurs today can access free money for their business without taking on debt. We also talk about how to...

In this episode of The Housing Dept. Podcast, we sit down with Erica, an insurance expert with over a decade of experience, to break down one of the most confusing parts of starting a group home — insurance. Erica shares what type of insurance you actually need when starting an independent living home, why many people struggle to get approved, and what insurance companies are really looking for wh...

In this episode of The Housing Dept. Podcast, we sit down with Brittany, a member of The Housing Dept. community who launched her first independent living home. Brittany shares how she found her purpose during a 9-day fast, took action, and turned that clarity into her first property. From hearing multiple “no’s” from landlords to finally getting a “yes,” she walks through how she got her home up...

In this episode of The Housing Dept. Podcast, we sit down with Prudence Nguyen, who currently manages 26 properties across independent living homes, Airbnb, and corporate leasing. Prudence shares how she and her husband got started with their first property after deciding not to sell a home they already owned. What began as an Airbnb in 2020 eventually expanded into corporate housing and independe...

In this episode of The Housing Dept. Podcast, we sit down with Idris, also known as “The Pretty House Guy,” to talk about his journey from incarceration to managing 17 properties. After getting out of prison with just $300, Edris had to rebuild from scratch. He shares how he generated his first deals, used creative real estate strategies like lease options and rental arbitrage, and scaled to 11 ho...

In this episode of The Housing Dept., we sit down with Shakeria to talk about what it really looks like to get started in the Independent Living Home space without a clear roadmap—and how she course-corrected along the way. She opens up about securing a property first, only to realize she didn’t yet have the referral relationships or systems in place to actually fill the home. We walk through the...

In this episode of The Housing Dept., we sit down for an honest, behind-the-scenes conversation with a client from our Accelerator Program who made the pivot from Airbnb into her first Independent Living Home—and hasn’t looked back since. We talk through why she originally planned to scale short-term rentals, what caused her to rethink that path, and how Independent Living ultimately became the mo...

In this episode of The Housing Dept., we sit down with Marisol as she gets just one bed away from fully filling her first Independent Living Home. She walks through what it’s really been like moving from the idea stage into execution, including the unexpected challenges, delays, and decisions that came up along the way. We dive into the trials she faced while opening the home, what nearly slowed h...

She tried the traditional group home route first… But the real opportunity ended up being student housing. In this episode of The Housing Dept. Podcast , Deltrice shares how she transitioned from traditional real estate investing into co-living for college students—and why the demand completely surprised her. We talk about how she found the opportunity, the challenges of managing shared student ho...

Most group home owners are overwhelmed… Missed calls, follow-ups, emails, paperwork, and trying to manage everything manually. In this episode of The Housing Dept. Podcast , Cherry breaks down how AI and automation tools can help independent living home operators save time, improve follow-up, and build better systems behind the scenes. We talk about AI employees, automated workflows, missed call t...

Before “house hacking” became a trend… Shellie was already doing it. In this episode of The Housing Dept. Podcast , Shellie Carter shares how she accidentally discovered the co-living and shared housing model back in 1997 after signing a massive commercial lease that almost financially ruined her. Instead of giving up, she transformed the space into multiple rentable units, lived rent-free, and cr...

She was balancing a 9–5 job, a PhD program, motherhood… And still opened a luxury senior living home. In this episode of The Housing Dept. Podcast , Selena shares how she built her independent living business in Houston, Texas—from pitching landlords with confidence to navigating the permit process and creating housing that actually feels like home. We also talk about what it takes to get started...