Overview

One disciplined opportunity can change everything, but forcing ten years of progress into one deal is how developers get hurt. Forth Heffner joins Eugene Gershman to talk about the business lessons behind real estate execution: why failures are often the tuition, why collecting 100 no's can make outreach less fragile, how culture and operating systems shape a company, and why leaders need to understand their own highest an...

Accounting may be boring, but Richard Boyd makes the case that boring is exactly where developers get protected. A growing real estate business can look profitable and still run into trouble if the owner does not understand cash flow, capital structure, debt service, work-in-progress accounting, and worst-case planning before the market changes.

Guest Bio

Richard Boyd started an accounting practice in 2021 to help small businesse...

Mobile home parks are not really mobile, and the best operators are not just collecting rent from a row of trailers. Leo Young breaks down why manufactured housing communities can be a recession-resilient, infrastructure-heavy, relationship-driven asset class, and why the biggest fear is not sewer, roads, insurance, or resident issues. It is the problem no one budgeted for.

Guest Bio

Leo Young is the founder and managing partner of...

A failed motivational blog, a risky early move with retirement money, and a career setback all became part of the path that led Brandon Cobb into one of real estate’s most overlooked value-creation plays: land entitlement. In this conversation with Eugene Gershman, Brandon breaks down how raw land can be taken from a simple parcel to a 50-, 100-, or 200-home community, why builders often prefer buying finished lots instead of...

A five-year lease signed right before lockdown turns into an 1,800-square-foot “soccer field” of emptiness and a million-dollar headache. That pain sparks an idea with a big question behind it: if Airbnb unlocked the value of spare bedrooms, what’s the value of all the unused nooks and slices of commercial space hiding in plain sight? The conversation explores a “Craigslist-style” approach to commercia...

A big real estate sale can create an even bigger tax bill, and that’s where Ashley Romiti steps in. She walks through how investors use a 1031 exchange to defer capital gains and depreciation recapture, what the “45 days to identify and 180 days to close” timeline really feels like in practice, and why many long-time owners eventually trade hands-on management for passive ownership through Delaware Statutory Trust...

Digital nomads aren’t just a trend—they’re a demand shift that’s changing what “success” looks like for overseas real estate. Michael K. Cobb shares how his team thinks about building the right product for renters who stay three to six months at a time, why “clusters” create momentum for entire markets, and what it really takes to develop across borders without getting “skinned ...

Preserving affordable housing doesn’t have to mean sacrificing investor returns. Dr. Canaan Van Williams breaks down how his firm targets naturally occurring affordable housing properties—older, often overlooked apartments, manufactured home communities, and SRO motels—and keeps rents 20–30% below market while still structuring “sustainable bonds” that (at the top tier) advertise a 75% total retu...

What does a dry cleaning business have in common with mobile home parks and private debt funds? According to Ian Noble, everything. In this candid conversation, Ian shares his journey from running a family dry cleaning business in Austin to becoming a thoughtful and selective real estate investor. He talks about selling his company in 2023, the mindset shift it took to move into passive investing, and how he now vets operators not ...

David Webb once powered his home by running extension cords from his car. Today, he owns over 100 doors in his real estate portfolio, all acquired without using his own money. In this gripping episode, David shares the raw truth of his journey from evictions and utility shutoffs to structuring multimillion-dollar real estate deals using creative financing. He explains how growing up in Detroit with no examples of financial independ...

A potato farmer who quietly bought an entire town, a septic system that failed almost the moment after closing, and a self-storage facility where thieves cut through every door just days before the sale—this episode goes deep into the real, unfiltered side of mobile home parks, RV parks, and self storage. Eugene talks with investor and podcast host Gabriel Petersen about how he transitioned from a corporate role at Microsoft ...

Real Estate Cycles, Cross-Border Capital, and Why Raising Money Is Its Own Business — with August Biniaz

Why is now potentially the best time in years to enter real estate — and yet one of the most complex? August Biniaz, co-founder of CPI Capital, breaks down the current state of the real estate cycle, likening it to a clock that’s nearing “six o’clock” — the bottom of the market — an...

From House Hacking to Neighborhood Revitalization: Cameron Philgreen’s Journey to 35 Real Estate Units in Waco, Texas 

Cameron Philgreen did not begin his real estate career with a blueprint or a mentor—he started with a broken-down house in Waco, Texas, and a desire to offset his mortgage. By renting out his garage and basement, he turned his primary residence into a cash-flowing asset. That first step eventually l...

From Chaos to Control: Building a Self-Sustaining Contracting Business with Liz Chism 

Working 100-hour weeks, brewing beer, and managing international shipments while raising a toddler might sound like a recipe for burnout—but for Liz Chism, it was a wake-up call. In this powerful conversation, Liz shares how she transitioned from running a multi-million-dollar craft brewery to helping contractors escape the hamster whee...

A 27-Year Maui Project, Septic Setbacks, and Real Estate Wisdom from Both Sides of the Border

What do you do when a condo development takes nearly three decades to complete? If you're Dr. Jennifer Salisbury—real estate investor, educator, and ex-Navy Nuclear Propulsion Engineer—you grit your teeth, pivot with purpose, and document every lesson along the way. From her multi-year condo build in South Maui to launching a 48...

From planting his first seeds at age six to advising large-scale developments today, Belgian landscape architect Matthieu Mehuys has built a career around one mission — proving that working with nature is not only good for the planet, but also good for business. In this episode, Matthieu shares the journey from his family’s farm to studying in Munich, traveling the globe to learn from regenerative projects, and ultimate...

From $3B in Transactions to Building Smart: How Michael Kron Strategically Scaled a 13,000-Unit Real Estate Empire 

Decades before net lease funds became hot topics and Texas and Arizona dominated multifamily headlines, Michael Kron was already ahead of the curve—swapping out California C-class properties for A-class opportunities in emerging Sunbelt markets. In this wide-ranging conversation, Michael pulls back the curta...

Fuquan Bilal on Financial Friends, Flexibility over Freedom, and Building Trust in Real Estate 

Fuquan Bilal remembers the moment clearly: stuck at a toll booth without 35 cents, just months after earning a $40,000 check on his first real estate deal. That jarring contrast fueled a new chapter in financial discipline and long-term vision. In this episode, Fuquan shares how he turned early struggles and hard-won lessons into a p...

What do NASA, AI, and real estate investing have in common? According to Alexander Harmsen, quite a lot. In this episode, Alexander—a seasoned entrepreneur and the mind behind PortfolioPilot—shares how his background in aerospace and autonomous navigation systems led him to rethink financial advice entirely. After selling his previous company and navigating his own wealth management challenges, he saw firsthand the emot...