The Lo-Down

In this episode of The Lo-Down Podcast, I sit down with David Kamenetsky to break down the exact operational playbook he used to scale a 50-unit temporary housing and property management business. David shares how his company targets corporate relocations and insurance housing clients to extract massive premiums from standard real estate assets—including a deep dive into a case study where they to...

Discover how Josh McEachron turned a simple shipping container into a luxurious, organic Airbnb experience in Pioneer, California. From land acquisition to permitting hurdles, learn the story behind this innovative stay, and get actionable advice for creating your own unique hospitality venture. Main Topics: -The organic evolution of a shipping container into a luxurious and unique Airbnb retreat-...

Leah Krebs spent 32 years in nursing — 16 at the bedside and 12+ as a Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetist, including trauma anesthesia at the nation's busiest trauma center. After a series of pivotal personal and professional moments, she and her husband founded Priority 1 Capital, a multifamily real estate firm built specifically to help healthcare professionals earn passive income through...

In this episode, Lorenzo sits down with Cory Jacobson, co-host of the Wealth Juice Podcast, to unpack how he went from making $35K working for the Philadelphia 76ers to building an 80-unit real estate portfolio alongside his business partner Ryan. Cory shares the power of house hacking, long-term thinking, authentic networking, and why successful partnerships are built on trust, communication, and...

What if every bill you paid was secretly funding your next luxury vacation? That's exactly what real estate investor Jaina Pallasigui figured out — and she's accumulated over 2 million credit card points and redeemed $175,000 in free luxury travel to prove it. Jaina breaks down exactly how she runs her entire real estate business through credit cards, turns renovation expenses into busines...

Josh Dobken and Diana Ossa managed billion-dollar architecture projects before buying a blank-slate hotel in Palm Springs, and turning it into a Vogue and Forbes-featured boutique property in under a year. In this episode of The Lo-Down, they break down exactly how they did it. With 15+ years of commercial architecture experience and 40+ short-term rentals across multiple states, Josh and Diana sh...

In this episode of The Lo-Down, Lorenzo sits down with Joshua Massari, co-host of The Broke Millionaires podcast, to unpack how he and his wife built millions in real estate equity while living in one of the most expensive markets in the U.S. — Orange County, California. Joshua shares how they used a live-in value-add strategy (a twist on BRRRR), buying fixer-uppers as primary residences, renovati...

What does it really take to go from working full-time jobs to raising $8,000,000 in private capital and building a multi-state real estate business? In this episode of The Lo-Down Podcast, I sit down with Grace & Michael Santos, a therapist and nurse who built a thriving out-of-state flipping and mid-term rental business without using their own money . They break down exactly how they started...

What does it really look like to build generational wealth while being a present parent? In this episode of The Lo-Down Podcast, I sit down with Stephanie Lombardo, a real estate investor who has completed 200+ house flips, scaled a rental portfolio across multiple states, and intentionally built ownership not just for herself—but for her daughter. Stephanie breaks down: • How she bought her 3-yea...

Serg Lupescu went from living in his car to owning 255 licensed assisted living beds. In this episode of The Lo-Down , Serg shares the raw truth about walking away from nursing to build an assisted living business from the ground up. He opens up about the sacrifices, mistakes, and lessons learned while scaling from his first small facility to a multi-location operation. This conversation goes beyo...

Lorenzo Mercado sits down with Hemant Mahajan—Bay Area real estate developer, hard money lender, founder of Newbridge Equity, and author of Buying Back Your Life —to explore what really changes when you operate as both the lender and the investor. Hemant breaks down how seeing deals from both perspectives completely transforms risk assessment, deal structure, exits, and long-term wealth creation....

In this episode of The Lo-Down , Lorenzo sits down with trader and educator Kam Dasani , who became a millionaire by 30 and now trades seven-figure prop-firm capital without risking his own money. But this conversation isn’t about hype or shortcuts — it’s about the mindset, emotional control, and disciplined decision-making that separate the top 1% of traders from everyone else. Kam opens up about...

Darius McClelland has lent out over $620,000 of his own money and built a six-figure passive income business doing it. In this conversation, he breaks down exactly how private money lending works, how he made $20,000 on his first deal without lifting a finger, and why this strategy might be one of the most overlooked wealth-building tools in real estate. He also reveals how one Instagram post help...

What if you could buy real estate with friends or even strangers without needing $100K upfront or dealing with endless paperwork? In this episode of the podcast, host Lorenzo sits down with Stella Han, Co-founder & CEO of Fractional, to uncover how she’s changing the game of real estate investing. Fractional allows anyone to co-own real estate legally and easily through investment clubs, no ac...

After eight years as a travel nurse, Ian Duffy — better known as Scrubs2Estates — walked away from the bedside to pursue real estate investing and multifamily development. In this conversation, we dive into the reality of nursing burnout, the toll healthcare can take on your health and life balance, and the pivotal moments that pushed Ian to step away from a “safe” career to bet on himself. He ope...

What if you could build a 184-unit Airbnb portfolio without owning a single property in just two years? In this episode, I sit down with Kevin Leong, who scaled from 0 to 184 Airbnb arbitrage units in just two years. At his peak, his business pulled in over $1.1M in a single month. After grinding through the early days, Kevin built systems, hired a team of 20+ VAs, and now runs the entire operatio...

What if homes could be printed instead of built? In this episode, I sit down with Nan Lin, founder of 4DIFY and Kaizen Capital , who built California’s first fully permitted 3D-printed housing community. We get into how he went from mortgage lending to real estate investing, and how that journey led him to launching a company that’s changing how we think about construction. Nan shares how they got...

In this deeply personal soLo episode, I share the raw, unfiltered story behind one of the best decisions I’ve ever made: quitting alcohol and all other drugs — and how that choice transformed every area of my life. From blacking out in Vegas to losing myself to weekend benders, drinking was more than just a habit… it was my identity. But two years ago, everything changed. In this episode, I dive i...

In episode 30 of The Lo-Down , Lorenzo Mercado sits down with Nick Rossi — a former chief engineer on tugboats, turned real estate investor and construction business owner — to unpack how he leveraged grit, mentorship, and a 3.5% FHA loan to break into multifamily real estate and scale a construction company. Nick shares practical advice on managing contractors, buying or building businesses, and...

In this episode of The Lo-Down , Lorenzo Mercado sits down with Tony Hoong — better known as The CPA Dude — to break down practical, legal tax strategies that can help you keep more of what you earn in 2025 and beyond. Whether you’re a W2 employee, side hustler, small business owner, or real estate investor, this episode is packed with actionable tips your CPA probably isn’t telling you. Stick aro...

In this episode of The Lo-Down , Lorenzo Mercado sits down with Charles Lee, founder and CEO of Palmetto Superfoods — one of the fastest-growing açaí bowl brands in California. What started as a single store in San Francisco has quickly become one of the most talked-about health food brands in California. Charles shares how he went from concept to execution, the mindset it took to scale brick-and-...

In this solo episode, Lorenzo Mercado pulls back the curtain on his latest moves in real estate. He shares real lessons from his recent house flips—including costly delays—and how those setbacks are shaping his mindset. Lorenzo also dives into his next big play: boutique hotel investing. He breaks down why he’s making the shift, what he’s learning, and how it fits into his long-term vision of buil...

In this episode, Lorenzo Mercado sits down with Clay and Jonathan Velarde—brother entrepreneurs who turned a $15K investment into Parking Pros , a thriving valet and parking shuttle company. They share how they went from working in their father’s valet business to launching their own operation during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. The conversation dives deep into their growth journey, the ch...

This week on The Lo-Down , we dive into the powerful journey of a Alex Kamenetsky, who went from heroin addiction and hitting rock bottom… to rebuilding his life with clarity, purpose, and action. It wasn’t real estate that saved him—it was his brother, who stepped in when no one else could, and a rehab program in Israel that gave him a second chance. Once sober, he poured himself into learning th...

In this episode of The Lo-Down, I sit down with Abbas Mohammed, founder of RemoteLeverage.com and a powerhouse real estate entrepreneur. Abbas shares his journey from humble beginnings as a real estate agent to becoming one of the top producers in the Bay Area, CA—all by working smarter, not harder. We dive into how Abbas used virtual assistants (VAs) to multiply his productivity, build systems, a...