Investing In The U.s. - An Aussie's Guide To U.s. Real Estate

Ready to dive into more tips that will help you make better business decisions for 2023? Tune into this week’s episode with a very good friend of mine, Ryan Parker. Ryan Parker is a seasoned commercial real estate professional with extensive experience in financing, leasing, originating, and more. He is the Associate Director of Walker & Dunlop, responsible for originating for Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, multifamily value-add, and commercial real estate debt placement. Ryan discusses the unique needs, risks, and difficulties associated with investing in industrial real estate. Specifically, we go into how to get a tenant in, what the market is like coming out of COVID, and Ryan’s opinions on how the debt markets will affect conservatism, refinancing, and investor or buyer behavior—plus many more topics that every real estate investor wants to hear in today’s uncertain times. KEY TAKEAWAYS 1. One of the most critical factors of industrial real estate investing is the proximity to major transportation thoro

What it’s like managing a demanding W-2 job and a full-blown rental business? How can you create a unique experience for your short-term guests that will give you an advantage over the traditional hotel stay? Dr. Rachel Grainsbrugh and her husband ground through their early careers, paying off hundreds of thousands of dollars in student loans and raising five dogs. Then, she realized that sticking with her W-2 alone won’t be sustainable in the long run—and the rest is history. Today, she owns and manages 18 luxury short-term rental properties, all while raising a family and managing a full-time career. What’s her secret sauce? How did she get started in real estate with no prior experience? How does she leverage her resources to only have to work on her rental business for 2 hours a week? In this week’s episode, Dr. Grainsbrugh gives us a crash course on creating unique, short-term luxury rentals based on her own experiences as an investor and business owner. Whether you’re set on creating an Airbnb or sti

Have you ever thought about leaving your comfort zone? Perhaps switching your focus to a new asset class? Or starting a new venture you know nothing about? Bryan Underwood is the Principal Founder of Responsible Real Estate, Inc. (RRE), which purchases land and develops multi-family properties in California. Before RRE, Bryan played a vital role in acquiring over 1.5 million square feet of self-storage while working as an Acquisitions Manager at Caster Properties, Inc./ A-1 Self Storage. Bryan started his real estate journey at just 24 years old, having borrowed $50,000 from a family member. Today, he partners with multiple investors to secure amazing real estate deals in San Diego, Boise, Austin, & Raleigh. Bryan sits down with us today to share his story about working for a decade in the family business before finding his own way. Spoiler alert: it wasn’t easy. Let’s hear how Bryan left a comfortable path, ignored the naysayers, and took the courage to “do his own thing.” KEY TAKEAWAYS 1. Some of us

Have you ever wanted to belong to a community where everyone helps each other find success? Jim Pfeifer went through five careers before discovering his passion for finding sponsors and educating people about real estate investing. He is the founder of Left Field Investors, a community of aspiring investors who want to achieve financial freedom through passive investing in real estate. An educator by heart, Jim dedicates his career to helping others learn about real estate, find investment opportunities, and build actual cash flow. With other founders of Left Field Investors, he teaches and learns with the community through networking, collaboration, and the Passive Investing from Left Field podcast. Jim gives us a glimpse of what his community at Left Field Investors is like and their collective goals. We also get into Jim’s opinions on dealing with sponsors, riding out deals under challenging situations, and keeping your business running with so many unknowns in the future. If you’re interested in joini

We’re pumped to welcome another engineer on the show today—Chad Sutton! Tune in to this week’s episode to learn how Chad transitioned from a high-paying corporate job to a full-time real estate investor. Chad Sutton is the Managing Partner at Quattro Capital, a real estate investment firm focused on residential multifamily assets. Before he became an entrepreneur, Chad was an engineer and executive leader for GE Aviation. With his experience in the corporate world, Chad took the big leap to become a full-time entrepreneur. In this jam-packed episode, Chad and I delve into how his team went from buying to operating to selling, what it was like to work with family, and how Chad does business in today’s climate. We also get into an in-depth discussion about the challenges investors might face when buying with poor strategies today; something a lot of us need to hear with an impending recession. KEY TAKEAWAYS 1. Taking a risk can lead you to greater things. 2. When working with family members, you have to trea

About a month ago, David Robinson invited us to his podcast, The Lead Sponsor. Today, David is on the other side of the table and tells us how he built his 18-year-old business from scratch. David Robinson is the CEO and Founder of Canovo Capital, a multifamily real estate investment firm that helps investors build passive income through multifamily assets. David has participated in over $400 million worth of acquisitions, sales, and brokerage throughout his career. David pivoted to multifamily with the goal of solving a problem for investors who want to build generational wealth. In this episode, we delve into how David built his business from scratch, including finding operators and partners. David also shares what he sees in the appetite for small multifamily, the shifts in demand throughout the years, the challenges he helps his investors solve, and more. With his two decades’ worth of experience, David is one of the best people to ask about what we can expect with a recession looming. If you want to l

It’s always a blast having a fellow ex-pat share their experiences in investing in the US. Today, we have Zain Jaffer, a lifelong entrepreneur and successful investor, on the show. Zain Jaffer started his first company at 14 years old and later moved to the US, where he founded Vungle, which was sold to Blackstone for a whopping $780 million in 2019. Today, Zain is an accomplished investor, a Partner at Blue Feed Capital, the host of PropTechVC, and the owner of Zain Ventures. Zain shares what his business does, the challenges he had to overcome, and how he figured out the secret sauce to his operations. We also talk about how Zain pivoted from focusing on his gaming app to diversifying his portfolio with real estate investments, something that required a lot of learning from his end. Our interview with Zain is a jam-packed story of his experiences in startup and real estate investing. Let’s learn how Zain learned to let go of his biggest startup, transitioned into real estate, and built his ventures from

Today, we have another returning guest on the show—my good friend Todd Dexheimer! A lot has happened in the past four years since we’ve had Todd on this show, and we’ll find out what he’s been up to in this week’s episode. Todd Dexheimer is the owner of Endurus Capital and VitaCare Living. Over the past 14 years, his company has acquired 4,000 units of multifamily and senior housing and made 150 flips, including a mobile home park and a ski resort. Todd shares the principles he lives by and his experiences throughout his career, including the changes we went through to reach success. We also talk about safeguarding assets in times of economic uncertainty, the current state of the market (from his perspective), expected changes from inflation, and much more. If you want to check out our first episode with Todd, check out RG 135 from 2018. KEY TAKEAWAYS 1. You have to understand what you’re looking for when searching for deals in another part of the country. 2. As you grow as an entrepreneur, your goals and

How do you leverage your existing skillset when leaving your corporate job for real estate investing? Craig Stevens the Founder and President of Groundbreaking Real Estate, an investment company that helps investors achieve sustainable returns on multifamily assets. He started his career in 2014, and over the past eight years, Groundbreaking has owned and operated over ten buildings with a fair value of about $5.8 million, housing more than 35 tenants. Craig came from a humble background, living in a trailer park with other families in similar financial situations. Growing up in that environment has helped Craig safeguard his wealth, and other people build wealth and success. Like many other investors, Craig used to be part of corporate America. He was a CPA until he realized he didn’t want to work at a desk until he retired, then everything changed. How did Craig leave the corporate world and enter real estate? What drove him to invest in the short-term rental space? What gaps in the area did he manage to

How did this young entrepreneur raise over $1.5 BILLION in just ten years? Zamir Kazi is the CEO of ZMR Capital, a real estate investment firm that acquires, develops, and operates in multifamily, single-family, industrial, and hospitality asset classes. Zamir started his real estate career in 2013 after dropping out of his senior year of med school. Over nine years, Zamir and his team have acquired over 1.5 billion dollars in assets. In this week’s episode, Zamir gives us a run-down of his relatively short yet highly successful career in real estate. We also talk about everything an investor needs to know to set yourself up for success, including managing growth, buying in a volatile market, making good impressions on brokers, and so much more. And we know what you’re thinking, “What does it take to raise over 1.5 billion dollars in ten years?” Zamir gives us a peek into the mindset, strategies, and business goals that help him obtain high-value deals across healthy markets. KEY TAKEAWAYS 1. Moving too q

With the US heading into a recession, how do you prepare for a distressed market? Jake Harris is the founder and managing partner of Harris Bay, a real estate investment and management firm that helps investors find opportunities in secondary and tertiary markets. He is also the author of Catching Knives - A Guide to Investing in Distressed Real Estate, a regular podcast guest, and a high-value coach. Jake started his real estate journey by learning about the trades, specifically construction. Over the years, he hustled his way through his first million before the age of 30. But then, he hit rock bottom. Jake lost everything and had a negative balance. Then, he started reinvesting and built his business from the ground up. Today, Jake enjoys the fruits of his hard work. Let’s hear what Jake had to go through to get to where he is today, including the ups and downs of his career. We also talk about what system he applies to run his properties, his strategies for investing in a distressed market, and what we

It’s always interesting to hear how other ex-pats built their empires here in the US. Let’s hear how Prashant Kumar, a fellow ex-pat investor, found success in real estate after leaving his corporate job. Prashant is the CEO and President of MyRealtyGains Management, a real estate investment firm that helps aspiring investors find hassle-free opportunities to achieve financial freedom through passive investing. Before he started managing millions of dollars in assets, Prashant was like so many of us. He worked a day job in the corporate world, clocking in 40 to 60 hours weekly, until he found a way to make his money work for him. In this week’s episode, Prashant walks us through his transition from his day job to real estate investing. We also go into detail about the assets he invested in, including hotels and assisted living facilities, as well as his specific strategies for investing in these properties. Whether you need another inspiring story from a fellow ex-pat or are interested in investing in ass

How do you create content that brings value to your audiences? Let’s learn all about what goes into content creation for investors with a former corporate marketer and a good friend of mine, John Casmon. John is another returning guest on the show with us this week to share how far they’ve come since we had them on the podcast. For those who don’t know John from our previous episodes, he is the founder of Casmon Capital Group, a company that helps investors meet their goals through apartment investing. He is also the host of the Multifamily Insights podcast, a co-founder of the Midwest Real Estate Networking Summit, and a former corporate marketing professional who has worked with big names like General Motors, Nike, and Coors Light. Despite his success now, John is no stranger to obstacles. What does he do to overcome imposter syndrome? What strategies does he use to manage all the platforms he’s growing? How does he share content in a way that brings value to other people? Let’s find out in today’s jam-p

What is it like investing in a hotel? How is it different from investing in multifamily assets? Let’s talk about it. Jonathan Twombly was an accomplished Wall Street lawyer before he entered the world of real estate. In 2011, he became a full-time multifamily real estate investor and eventually created Two Bridges Asset Management, an LLC helping aspiring investors achieve capital growth through multifamily investment opportunities. Jonathan was on our show hundreds of episodes ago, and a lot has happened in his business since then. In this week’s episode, we talk about Jonathan’s journey in the past eight years, including his challenges with investing in a different state, looking for new markets, buying a hotel, and so much more. Our conversation focuses on what it’s like investing in a hotel, which Jonathan can give us a lot of insight into. We talk about gauging the potential value of a hotel (in terms of location and appeal), the underwriting process (and how it differs from multifamily investments),

We’re psyched to have an old friend on the show today, none other than the all-around all-star Vikram Raya! Vikram excels in just about anything. He is a cardiologist, high-performance coach, international speaker, functional medicine specialist, and avid real estate investor. He has raised over $100 million in private equity and spearheads Viking Capital, a real estate company that helps busy physicians create multi-general wealth through multifamily investments. How does Vikram do it? In this week’s interview, Vikram and I talk about his journey of being a cardiologist while building up multiple businesses from scratch. We touch on what it’s like combining his career and his business, becoming an entrepreneur with traditional family background, the steps to scaling up, and so much more. Starting a business doesn’t mean you should quit your first passion. Tune in to this episode to learn how Vikram managed to balance the best of both of his worlds. KEY TAKEAWAYS 1. You don’t have to separate your day job

Let’s welcome an old friend who joined our podcast way back in 2019—Jens Nielsen! What has Jens been up to in the past two years? Let’s find out. Jens is a seasoned multi-family real estate investor and certified high-performance coach. He is also the principal at Open Doors Capital, a private equity firm that helps individuals build passive income through real estate. More than that, Jens teaches other people how to start investing in multi-family real estate through his coaching business. Tune in to this episode and learn how Jens helps other people achieve passive income, the key areas of influence, the importance of role modeling in real estate, and so much more. Whether you’re in need of a coach or an aspiring coach yourself, Jens’ story can teach you a thing or two about high-performance coaching. If you want to learn more about Jens’ background, check out his first interview in Episode 159! KEY TAKEAWAYS 1. Once you start addressing what’s holding you back, things will start taking off. 2. Teaching

In business, rewards are not immediate. It takes time to find your groove while starting a business from scratch. Fellow entrepreneur and podcaster Andrew Schutsky is here to tell us his secret sauce to building a business while working a day job. Andrew Schutsky is the founder of Redline Equity, a real estate investment firm providing passive investment opportunities to busy professionals; the CIO of TE Connectivity, a $700 million medical technology company, and the host of the Crushing Cashflow podcast. Andrew found out early on much opportunity there is in real estate. Like most entrepreneurs, he started his real estate journey working through limitations before he found strategies that worked for him. In today’s interview, we talk about finding the balance between your day job and business, how to prioritize while starting from scratch, the importance of understanding what niche you are in, and a whole lot more. Building a business from the ground up is not easy, nor is it quick. If you’re struggling

Derek and Dr. Sophie Clifford are two nomads traveling the world while handling Elevate Equity, a real estate investment company helping busy professionals create multiple degrees of freedom. Both Derek and Sophie are passionate educators and seasoned investors, working hand in hand to help others find a way out of the 8-to-5 grind. Let’s take a look at the dynamics of this power couple’s relationship, what it’s like investing in real estate with your spouse, and the importance of being on the same page in a partnership. We also learn about the relationship between financial and physical wellness, the three types of freedom Elevate Equity is helping others achieve (time, financial, location), and how Derek and Sophie became full-time nomads. Interested in learning how to enter the real estate business as a couple? Click that ‘Play’ button now and listen to Derek and Sophie’s story! KEY TAKEAWAYS 1. When you’re working for someone else, you know you’re dispensable. 2. People looking for financial wellness

Today, another fellow immigrant shares his story of how he got started in US real estate investing. Join me in welcoming Van Sturgeon to the show, renovation expert and mentor with over three decades of experience in the game. Van Sturgeon is a seasoned real estate investor, flipper, multifamily specialist, and business owner. Over 30 years ago, Van’s family bought an apartment building in the middle of an economic crisis. Through grit and hard work, Van and his family made it through by doing the hard jobs. Thirty years later, Van owns multiple businesses, has flipped thousands of properties, and helps other investors become millionaires through real estate investing. In this episode, we get to hear how Van got to where he is today. We talk about his early days in real estate investing, the importance of building an ecosystem in your business, and how you can get started investing with something you can afford. KEY TAKEAWAYS 1. Establishing relationships is the hardest part of real estate investing. 2. O

Have you ever thought about investing in wines? How about comic books? Or vinyl records? Stefan von Imhof is with us here today to talk about alternative assets and how you can make good money from them. Stefan von Imhof is one of the great minds behind Alts.co, a unique alternative investment community, fund, and investment platform. He is also a seasoned writer, product leader, and traveler. We touch on quite a lot of exciting topics in this episode. Stefan shares his golden tips on attracting traffic to your website through the most cost-effective options. Plus, we talk about investing in alternative assets on Alts.co, from comic books and video games to wines and vinyl. If you’re interested in investing in alternative assets, this episode makes a good crash course before you dip your toes in the market. Learn more about alternative investments from vaulting, value calculation, depreciation, and more! KEY TAKEAWAYS 1. Traffic is the most important thing for a website. 2. You can build traffic in many w