Multifamily Insights

Jeff Weller is the co-founder and Co-CEO of Lion Real Estate Group, a vertically integrated real estate investment firm he launched in 2007 with partner Mory Barak. Jeff began his career in advertising in New York before returning to Los Angeles to work as a commercial real estate broker with Cushman Realty and Cushman & Wakefield.

Lion started with a seven-unit apartment building in Santa Monica. Today, the firm owns about 8,000 apartment units across the country, is a part owner of a West Coast office platform, manages its own private equity funds, and runs an affordable housing separate account...

This week, learn seven popular strategies investors use to grow and scale a real estate portfolio, plus a bonus strategy John plans to focus on more moving forward. John walks through single-family rentals, fix and flips, small multifamily, large apartments and syndications, short-term rentals, wholesaling, and REITs, covering how each one works, who it suits, and where investors run into trouble.

Drawing on his own experience house hacking a two-unit property and losing money on three fix and flip projects while working full time in corporate America, John explains why many investors struggle after choosing a strategy...

Andrew Cramer is the founder of Bridgeview Asset Management, which invests in value-add manufactured housing communities across the greater Pacific Northwest. He has completed more than 40 manufactured housing community (MHC) transactions, and his team focuses on home technology, park development, and operations.

Andrew entered manufactured housing in 2011 with no real estate background, buying his first mobile home park with a 12% loan from a family connection. Over roughly 15 years, he has also invested in apartments and single-family homes. Today, he pairs investment management with active advocacy for manufactured housing as an affordable housing solution.

In this...

This week, learn how to set yourself up for a strong exit on a multifamily deal. John points out that investors spend plenty of time on underwriting, finding markets, and raising capital, but rarely talk about the disposition, even though much of a successful exit is decided by the assumptions made on day one.

John walks through how to identify the ideal buyer for your asset, why he gets a broker opinion of value (BOV) on every property at least annually, how loan terms and interest rates shape what the next buyer can pay, when a refinance...

This week, learn how to decide whether you should be an active or a passive real estate investor. John explains that many investors learn about one or two strategies, pick one, and never check whether it matches their goals, financial situation, employment, and available time.

John defines both roles, then walks through a framework built on your investing background, what you actually want, and whether you have the systems and team to operate a property. He also takes on the belief that hiring a property manager turns a rental into a passive investment, using the math on...

David Tashjian is the Senior Vice President of Comcast's Xfinity Communities national business unit, where he leads strategy, transformation, and performance for one of the company's fastest-evolving growth segments. He has spent more than 20 years at Comcast and over three decades in telecommunications.

David started his career in restaurants, bars, and retail management before moving into telecom in the mid-1990s. He took on his first leadership role at 19 and has worked with multifamily properties throughout his telecom career.

In this episode, John sits down with David Tashjian of Comcast's Xfinity Communities to break down...

This week, learn how to decide whether to sell or hold a multifamily property you already own. John Casmon answers a question many investors are asking him, and explains why holding an asset indefinitely can cost you upside. The longer your equity stays locked in one deal, the higher the opportunity cost, and there is an ideal window to sell and maximize returns.

John walks through the questions he asks before making the call: how the property is performing today, how the current market would receive it, what you plan to do next, how much upside remains...

Tom Brodie is a National Account Executive with CSSI, the nation's premier engineering-based consulting firm specializing in tax law surrounding commercial buildings. With over 23 years of experience and more than 65,000 studies completed, CSSI has a proven track record of delivering significant tax savings without triggering a single audit.

Tom spent 27 years at Shell Oil before taking early retirement and moving into the scuba industry, where he worked for a Houston-area scuba retailer. Wanting work that was less dependent on discretionary spending in an oil-driven local economy, he found cost segregation and assumed every building owner already knew...

Jonathan Berryhill is a former US Army infantry sergeant and law enforcement officer turned real estate entrepreneur, broker, and multifamily investor. He has built multiple seven and eight figure businesses, three real estate brokerages, and a team of over 50 agents. Today he specializes in multifamily investing, real estate growth, leadership, wealth building, discipline, and entrepreneurship.

Jonathan grew up dirt poor in a broken home, served in the Army, worked narcotics in law enforcement, and walked on to play linebacker at the University of North Alabama at 25. He moved into medical sales, became a chief operations officer, then...

This week, learn how John evaluates the current multifamily market and decides whether to buy, sell, or hold. John opens with the question he hears most often from investors in the current portfolio: what is the outlook, and where does the firm stand as a buyer or a seller today?

John explains what has changed. Higher interest rates raised the cost of capital and made it harder to find deals that pencil, while higher savings rates gave investors a low risk alternative that did not exist a few years ago. He walks through the framework he uses...

Richard McGirr is the co-founder and CEO of Property Llama and Property Llama Capital, an income focused fund sponsor that helps accredited investors move underperforming real estate equity into passively managed, cash flowing investments. He also hosts Unlimited Capital on the Best Ever CRE network, where he covers capital raising, fund operations, and the business of building an investment platform.

Richard and his partner Chris Lopez launched their own firm roughly two years ago, after raising about $55 million in 18 months at a previous shop. The first twelve months were a grind. Today the firm runs about $42 million...

Jacob Kosior has over ten years of experience in the multifamily housing industry, spanning operations, marketing, and centralization efforts across conventional, student housing, affordable housing, and build-to-rent communities. He previously served as Vice President of Centralized Services at Cardinal Group Management and has held leadership positions with BH Management, The Dinerstein Companies, and CA Ventures.

In 2022, while founding a centralized services team at Cardinal Group, Jacob began testing AI tools across the housing space and co-developed a delinquency AI product for rent collection with the EliseAI team. Today he is at EliseAI, where he works with operators...

Richard McGirr is the co-founder of Property Llama and Property Llama Capital, an income focused fund of funds sponsor that helps accredited investors turn underperforming real estate equity into passively managed, cash flowing investments. He also hosts Unlimited Capital on the Best Ever CRE network, where he covers capital raising, fund operations, and the business of building investment platforms.

A lifelong entrepreneur, Richard started his first company in college and later spent eight years in China building a software engineering services firm to more than 85 employees. Wanting assets that worked for him instead of headcount, he moved...

John McNellis is a veteran real estate developer and founding partner of McNellis Partners, where he has spent more than four decades developing over 100 properties across Northern California, primarily supermarket anchored shopping centers. He started as a journalism major, went to law school, and practiced litigation for less than a year before shifting into real estate law, where he learned to structure large transactions and met the people who would fund his first deals.

John built his first shopping center in 1983 alongside an older developer client and has worked with the same two partners, Beth Walter and...

Leo Young is the founder and managing partner of Cornell Communities, a private equity real estate firm revitalizing manufactured housing communities across eight states. He studied finance in college, then moved into sales at Tesla to build the communication skills he knew he was missing, working his way up to top regional salesperson before leaving to pursue real estate full time.

After earning his real estate license, working in brokerage, and investing passively in apartments, Leo launched his own firm. Cornell Communities acquires and operates middle market mobile home parks, expanding access to affordable housing while delivering...

David Bacon has a background in digital marketing, investor acquisition, and growth strategy, with a focus on alternative investments and expanding access to real estate backed opportunities. At Worthy Wealth, he focuses on investor education and connecting everyday investors to income generating real estate strategies, including senior living and other demographic driven sectors.

In this episode, John talks with David Bacon about how Worthy Wealth is democratizing real estate investing through $10 senior living shares and housing bonds. David explains how pooling small investments into a diversified portfolio spreads risk, why the company charges no fees, and how...

Episode 800 brings the show full circle. Tryfon Christoforou was the very first guest on this podcast, back when it was still Target Market Insights and his brokerage was little more than himself, his partner, and one other agent. Today 3CRE runs 42 agents and brokers, and Tryfon returns to break down how he reads the Cincinnati market, how investors can identify strong markets and submarkets anywhere, and how to build and scale a team that performs in any economy.

Make sure to download our free guide, 7 Questions Every Passive Investor Should Ask, here.

Bobby Casey is an international tax strategist and lifelong entrepreneur. He is the founder of Business Anywhere and a managing partner of Global Wealth Protection, helping entrepreneurs legally reduce taxes, protect assets, and run borderless businesses. Raised in an entrepreneurial family, Bobby started his first company at 19 and went on to build and sell several businesses, including a restaurant, a real estate company, and an installation company that served Fortune 500 clients. After hiring a specialist to handle his own asset protection and company structuring, he became fascinated with the work and turned it into Global Wealth Protection. Business Anywhere...

Whitney Elkins Hutten is the director of investor education at Passive Investing, one of the nation's fastest growing private equity real estate firms with over $1.5 billion in assets under management. She is also the author of Money for Tomorrow: How to Build and Protect Generational Wealth, which helps high income earners turn strong earnings into long term, stable wealth through a four part framework built to reduce volatility and improve decision making.

A returning guest on the show, Whitney started with single family rentals, scaled into active multifamily ownership, and moved into syndicated raises as both an...

This week, John Casmon breaks down the lessons behind Brandon Turner reportedly losing $15 million of investor capital, and why the headline misses the point. Rather than pile on or use the story as fuel for fear, John makes the case that apartments and syndications are not the problem. The real issue is understanding how to identify and manage risk. In this episode, John walks through the factors that actually sink deals, the questions every investor must ask before investing, and how to mitigate risk on both the active and passive side.

Make sure to download...

John Gravelyn spent most of his career in engineering, managing technical launches at Ford and then Rivian. He grew up wanting to work on cars, but after buying his first house he realized he loved ownership more than the cars themselves. After succeeding at Rivian and later being laid off, he launched his own company, First Principles Partners, where he helps engineers and other analytical professionals approach real estate the way they approach engineering problems.

Based in central Michigan, John builds deal-analysis tools and calculators that help investors evaluate properties, and he coaches clients to stay in...

Marcy Sagel is the founder and principal of MSA Interiors, a commercial interior design firm specializing in multifamily housing, student housing, senior living, affordable housing, and other complex commercial projects. With over 30 years of industry experience, Marcy has built a reputation for creating innovative, functional spaces that align with her clients' strategic and financial goals. She also co-founded Designer Bank, an online education platform that teaches design skills, space planning, software, and product knowledge to developers, investors, and aspiring designers.

Make sure to download our free guide, 7 Questions Every Passive Investor Should Ask...

Kevin Jacobson is the CEO of Foxen, a proptech company modernizing multifamily operations with value-add compliance and financial wellness solutions. A former investment banker and private equity professional, Kevin built his career working on technology M&A transactions, IPOs, and capital allocation before moving into operating roles at high-growth SaaS companies. He previously served as CEO of LogicGate and CFO at Kapow.

At Foxen, Kevin leads a platform that has served approximately 3 million residential units across the country, offering renters insurance compliance, resident rent reporting, and pet compliance solutions to multifamily owners and operators.

Nicholas Lares is the founder of Insur3Tech, a syndicated insurance group built for real estate owners and operators. Before entering real estate insurance, Nicholas was one of the largest brokers for Amazon's logistics network. When carrier exits threatened his clients' ability to operate, he helped them build a collective, self-insured alternative rather than accept the market's terms. That same model now powers Insurer Tech, which enables property owners, operators, and investors to retain the profits traditional insurers keep, averaging $28 million in annual distributions per 100,000 units.

Make sure to download our free guide, 7...

Spencer Vickers began his career at Invesco Real Estate, working across industrial, retail, and multifamily assets on their U.S. platform. He then moved into healthcare real estate acquisitions and development for a group in Dallas before serving as senior analyst at D.R. Horton's multifamily platform in Central Florida. In June 2024, Spencer founded The Fractional Analyst to give independent syndicators and fund managers access to institutional-grade back office support, deal analysis, and investor reporting systems without the overhead of a full-time hire. His team serves clients ranging from individual operators to groups with up to $2 billion in assets...

This week, learn why waiting until you feel ready to raise capital is the exact mindset keeping you on the sideline. John Casmon makes the case that you will never feel fully ready, and that confidence comes from preparation. In this episode, John breaks down three practical steps to start raising capital today: building your reps, assembling the right team, and shifting your focus from yourself to the people you are trying to serve.

Make sure to download our free guide, 7 Questions Every Passive Investor Should Ask, here.

Will Harvey began his real estate career in 2015 as a residential loan officer before transitioning into direct real estate investing. After building a small portfolio of rental houses, he moved toward multifamily investing as both a limited partner and general partner, eventually focusing more on the finance, capital allocation, and deal analysis side of the business. Today, Will leads Harvey Capital and invests across opportunities where he can evaluate risk, structure capital, and identify value.

Make sure to download our free guide, 7 Questions Every Passive Investor Should Ask, here.

<...

This week, learn why property managers can make or break your multifamily investment. John explains that once you decide to scale, you cannot do everything yourself, which means your success depends heavily on your ability to find the right property manager, understand what good management actually looks like, and stay actively involved enough to guide performance without getting buried in the day-to-day.

Drawing from his own experience self-managing a two-unit building and later overseeing larger apartment assets, John breaks down the real work property managers handle, from turns and leasing to inspections, vendors, communication, and performance tracking...

This week, learn why many investors stay stuck not because they lack effort, but because they lack exposure to bigger strategies. John breaks down how most people are taught to think about real estate through a narrow lens, usually one single-family rental at a time, and why that approach can limit both scale and freedom. He explains how apartment syndication opens a different path, one where you can invest at scale, partner with others, and avoid being the person handling every tenant, contractor, and maintenance issue yourself.

John also explains why scale changes the economics of real...

This week, learn how apartment investing can help you keep more of what you earn by using the tax code the way it was designed. John breaks down why the tax code rewards certain behaviors, how multifamily investing fits into that system, and why tax strategy matters just as much as income growth if you want to build long-term wealth.

John also explains how bonus depreciation works at a high level, why apartment syndications can offer tax advantages that many other investments do not, and how passive investors can think about ownership, downside protection, and scale when...

Todd Heitner has spent roughly 20 years helping real estate investors improve their online presence, with the last decade focused on multifamily apartments and syndication. After seeing capital raisers struggle not because they lacked tools, but because they lacked strategy, Todd expanded from providing websites and ready-made marketing assets into helping syndicators attract investors more effectively. His current focus includes leveraging other people's audiences, improving investor-facing strategy, and using AI in ways that build trust instead of eroding it.

Make sure to download our free guide, 7 Questions Every Passive Investor Should Ask, here.

John Casmon breaks down the two major barriers that prevent most investors from achieving meaningful growth in multifamily real estate. In this solo episode, he explains why many aspiring investors stall before getting started and what separates those who scale from those who remain stuck.

Rather than focusing on tactics alone, John highlights the mindset and execution gaps that consistently hold people back. He discusses how clarity of goals and consistent action create momentum, while hesitation and lack of direction lead to missed opportunities.

This episode is designed for investors who feel like they're spinning...

Ari Rastegar is the founder of Rastegar Capital, a real estate investment firm that works with public pension funds, insurance companies, institutional capital partners, and hundreds of accredited investors. Starting with just $3,500 in student loans, Ari built a platform that has invested across 38 cities, 13 states, and seven different asset classes.

With a background as an attorney and an English major, Ari emphasizes the role of relationships, mindset, and relentless action in building a successful real estate career. Today, his firm focuses heavily on development opportunities, zoning, entitlements, and transforming underutilized land into multifamily and mixed-use developments.

This week, learn the five critical steps you need to take immediately after purchasing a multifamily property. From setting up your ownership structure and bank accounts to notifying tenants, coordinating utilities, managing vendors, and communicating with investors, this episode walks through the operational moves that turn a successful closing into a well-run investment.

Make sure to download our free guide, 7 Questions Every Passive Investor Should Ask, here.

Establish your business structure and operating bank accounts before beginning property operations

Clearly notify residents about...

This week, learn three key takeaways from the Best Ever Conference that can shape how you approach multifamily investing in today's market. You'll hear why AI is becoming a competitive advantage for operators, what a 35% drop in multifamily values really means for buyers and sellers, and how the "thinning of the herd" is creating new opportunities for disciplined investors ready to act.

Make sure to download our free guide, 7 Questions Every Passive Investor Should Ask, here.

Surround yourself with committed investors by attending paid conferences...

Dominic Forth is the CEO of Thought Leaders America, where he helps founders, operators, and investors earn trust and raise capital through credible media visibility. With a background training at the BBC and working across major U.S. TV markets including Kansas City, Tampa, San Francisco, Tulsa, and Denver, Dominic brings more than two decades of media and research experience to the entrepreneurs he serves.

Make sure to download our free guide, 7 Questions Every Passive Investor Should Ask, here.

Leverage credible media placements to build...

Curtis Grimes is a Florida real estate professional with 20+ years of investing experience. He's a licensed Realtor in Florida, a certified general contractor, a certified home inspector, and a certified elevator instructor. Curtis and his wife work as a team under "The Grimes Group," with Curtis primarily focused on buyers and his wife primarily focused on listings.

Make sure to download our free guide, 7 Questions Every Passive Investor Should Ask, here.

Key Takeaways

Avoid overextending and keep capital in reserve so you can survive downturns...

Alan Porter is a former U.S. Army Black Hawk instructor pilot turned nationally recognized financial educator, bestselling author, and certified financial fiduciary. After a long military career and success in real estate and mortgage lending, a series of family health crises reshaped his understanding of financial planning, life insurance, and long-term care. Today, Alan specializes in advanced tax-free retirement planning, wealth preservation, business exit strategies, and legacy planning for high-net-worth individuals and entrepreneurs.

Make sure to download our free guide, 7 Questions Every Passive Investor Should Ask, here.

This week, learn how to protect yourself from scams that quietly destroy returns and credibility in multifamily investing. You'll explore real-world examples involving questionable wholesalers, unethical contractors, property management fraud, tenant scams, and misleading coaching programs, along with practical safeguards you can put in place. The core message is simple: the fastest way to lose money in multifamily isn't market cycles, it's trusting the wrong people.

Make sure to download our free guide, 7 Questions Every Passive Investor Should Ask, here.

Focus first on not losing...

Phil DePaul is a home-services entrepreneur and the CEO of Boom Zell Enterprises, which includes United Water Restoration Group of Long Island and 1-Tom-Plumber Long Island. Raised in a blue-collar household with a father who was a plumber, Phil spent more than a decade helping scale a family-owned plumbing wholesale business before leaving to build companies of his own. Today, he focuses on restoration, plumbing, and related services, with a leadership philosophy centered on action, accountability, and restoring people before properties.

Make sure to download our free guide, 7 Questions Every Passive Investor Should...