The Real Estate Real Life Podcast

Dr. Katrina Skinner was still in residency when she bought a vacant lot, and built her own medical office from the ground up. Six weeks after graduating, she was seeing patients. That decision set the tone for everything that followed in her life — private practice ownership, commercial real estate investing, and eventually founding two communities for physicians. Women in Pediatrics connects fema...

In this episode of The Real Estate Real Life Podcast, Nick and Dr. Elaine Stageberg share what they took away from a local real estate summit — and why the most valuable investing insights are almost always found close to home. They talk through the principle of hyperlocal investing, what it really means to understand a market from the inside, and how long-time orientation separates investors who...

In this episode hosted by Black Swan Real Estate Director of Communications Rachel Bernard, special guest Dr. Ted Lin shares his journey from full-time physician to building a life supported by multiple streams of passive income and long-term real estate investing. Dr. Lin is board-certified in family and sports medicine and spent more than a decade working as a locum tenens physician while steadi...

In this episode of The Real Estate Real Life Podcast, Dr. Elaine Stageberg and Nick Stageberg break down one of the core frameworks that has shaped every major decision in their investing journey: security first, optionality second. What started as a coaching conversation about comparing real estate loan proposals turned into a much bigger discussion about wealth-building, risk management, cash re...

In this episode Elaine walks through the practical side of the ALLSET™ framework. You will hear guided exercises across all five domains — Skillset, Mindset, Heartset, BODYSET™, and Soulset — along with real examples of how misalignment shows up in the lives of high achievers and what it looks like when those five areas start working together.  Enrollment in ALLSET™ Mastery is open through April 2...

In this episode, Dr. Elaine Stageberg takes listeners inside the ALLSET™ framework for the very first time in a live setting. If you caught the recent promo and have been curious about what ALLSET™ actually is and how it works, this is the episode to start with. Elaine walks through all five domains — Skillset, Mindset, Heartset, BODYSET™, and Soulset — and explains how most high achievers spend y...

Financial freedom isn’t the finish line—it’s just the beginning.  In this episode of the RERL Podcast, Nick and Dr. Elaine Stageberg break down why financial freedom is a “gateway drug” to something much bigger: a truly fulfilled, purpose-driven life. They unpack the hidden challenges that come after achieving passive income and why money alone won’t make you happy.  You’ll learn the ALLSET™ Frame...

Learn more and join the waitlist for the Secure Freedom Fund: securefreedomfund.com View the slides referenced in this episode: blackswanteam.com/updates In this episode of The Real Estate Real Life Podcast, Nick and Dr. Elaine Stageberg share a detailed Q2 update across Black Swan Real Estate’s portfolio. They walk through acquisitions, leasing performance, rent growth, and operational execution,...

In this episode of The Real Estate Real Life Podcast, we explore a shift in perspective that changes how you think about time, progress, and where you actually are in the process of building a life and portfolio. It is easy to feel behind. It is easy to measure yourself against outcomes that take decades to fully materialize. When you are in the early or middle stages, the work can feel slow, uncl...

In this episode of The Real Estate Real Life Podcast, we introduce a different way to think about wealth, one that goes beyond income, net worth, or traditional financial milestones. We break down the concept of “wealth span,” a framework that measures how much of your life is actually supported by the assets you’ve built. It shifts the focus from how much you make to how much freedom your investm...

In this special episode of The Real Estate Real Life Podcast , Dr. Elaine Stageberg walks through a practical framework for building a real estate investing plan that actually aligns with your life. Most investors do not struggle with a lack of options. They struggle with decision-making. Too many paths, too many opinions, and not enough clarity. This episode breaks that pattern by introducing a s...

In this episode of The Real Estate Real Life Podcast , we share a behind-the-scenes look at the White Coat Investor Conference and what it revealed about the current state of real estate investing. Being in the room with hundreds of investors created a different level of clarity. The questions people are asking, the concerns they are carrying, and the decisions they are trying to make all point to...

In this episode of The Real Estate Real Life Podcast , we break down a framework that has shaped how we have approached real estate investing over the past 15 years. Many investors spend time trying to refine strategy, but strategy only works when it is built on the right foundation. We talk through the sequence that has proven most durable for us over time: starting with fundamentals, then buildi...

Markets change fast. Strategy should not. In this episode of The Real Estate Real Life Podcast, Nick and Elaine talk about what it actually means to be anti-fragile in a market defined by uncertainty. Not just surviving change, but positioning yourself to become stronger because of it. They walk through the difference between strategy and tactics, and why many investors struggle when conditions sh...

In this episode of The Real Estate Real Life Podcast, Nick and Dr. Elaine Stageberg share the story of one of the most intense moments in their investing journey: raising $10 million in a single night. What began as a narrow window of opportunity quickly turned into a test of focus, decision-making, and trust under pressure. They walk through what it actually looked like behind the scenes, from ba...

In this episode of The Real Estate Real Life Podcast, Nick and Dr. Elaine Stageberg turn to a part of the business that often gets overlooked: operations. They share how growth in real estate is not just driven by deals, but by the systems and structure that support everything behind the scenes. They talk through what it looked like to build operational capacity in real time, from hiring their fir...

In this episode of The Real Estate Real Life Podcast, Nick and Dr. Elaine Stageberg explore a counterintuitive idea: sometimes the most strategic move is to pause. After seasons of rapid growth, they share what it looks like to step back, reassess, and create space before making the next decision. They talk through the tension between momentum and clarity, and how constant forward motion can start...

In this episode of The Real Estate Real Life Podcast, Nick and Dr. Elaine Stageberg share the story of one of the biggest transitions in their journey: Nick’s decision to leave his career in technology and go all in on real estate. They reflect on the years of joyful sacrifice that led up to that moment and the mindset shift required to step into a new season. They talk through the framework that...

In this episode of The Real Estate Real Life Podcast , Nick and Dr. Elaine Stageberg reflect on one of the most unpredictable chapters in their journey: the arrival of the COVID-19 pandemic just as their real estate business was beginning to grow. Drawing on the idea from stoic philosophy that “the obstacle is the way,” they share how unexpected setbacks often become the catalyst for growth. They...

One of the earliest lessons in real estate investing is that discipline matters. The harder lesson is discovering what discipline actually looks like in practice. This chapter of Nick and Dr. Elaine Stageberg’s origin story takes place during what they later came to call a season of joyful sacrifice. Not suffering for its own sake, but choosing a demanding season because the opportunity in front o...

Every investor has heard the phrase “time in the market beats timing the market.” Nick and Dr. Elaine Stageberg learned that lesson while building a life together, long before they were running a real estate investment firm. The first episode of The Real Estate Real Life Podcast begins with Nick and Elaine's origin story. It starts the way many good stories do: with how they met. There are ea...

Every real estate investor eventually learns that the business is not as clean as it looks on paper. The early deals are rarely perfect, and most of the lessons come from figuring things out along the way. The second chapter of Nick and Dr. Elaine Stageberg’s origin story takes place during those apprenticeship years. Elaine was still in residency, they had one child and another on the way, Nick w...

In this trailer, we introduce The Real Estate Real Life Podcast and the conversations ahead. You’ll hear what drives this show and why we believe strategy and lifestyle belong in the same room. Subscribe now so you don’t miss what’s coming next. For deeper resources and behind-the-scenes insights, visit blackswanteam.com. Support the show Listen and follow the show on your favorite podcast platfor...