REL Freedom Podcast

We’re celebrating 300 episodes and 5 years of the REL Freedom, the real estate investing podcast designed to help you build wealth, grow your business, and create financial freedom. In this special anniversary episode, host Mike Swenson shares the origin story of the podcast, the biggest lessons learned from interviewing top real estate investors, entrepreneurs, and industry leaders, and some behind-the-scenes stories from the jour...

Nick Price, Florida-based real estate investor, broker, and founder of First Lending Network. With over a decade of experience flipping houses, house hacking, and leading $30M+ in real estate transactions, Nick shares how he built businesses, scaled investments, and now helps investors unlock smarter financing solutions. 

Through his brokerage, Price Properties, Nick has guided buyers, sellers, and investors across everything from r...

In this episode, From Tesla to Target: Real Estate vs. Stocks When Executives Cause Chaos, we dive into how high-profile scandals and polarizing decisions from executives at companies like Tesla, Target, Bud Light, and Cracker Barrel have shaken investor confidence and sent stock prices tumbling. While Wall Street investors are left riding out the volatility, real estate investors enjoy more control over their financial future thro...

Steven Carroll is a former financial planner who has discovered the benefits of real investing and is focused on helping others learn how to "do money better." Through the power of building great relationships with amazing real estate investors and entrepreneurs, Steven has been able to invest in multi-family properties, mobile home parks, motels, short-term rentals, as well as other small businesses. Find out how Steven ...

Imagine working helping to grow a tech company from 20 to 1,000 employees, going to New York for the celebration of taking it public, and then getting let go just 2 days after returning from paternity leave with your first child. This is one of Kyle Luetkehans' most difficult challenges that he's turning into his greatest success story. Instead of feeling sorry for himself, he rolled up his sleeves and used this as his op...

Fuquan Bilal’s story is proof that hustle, strategy, and vision can turn obstacles into opportunities. Starting from scratch 25 years ago, Fuquan built his real estate empire during one of the toughest markets in history—the 2008 financial crisis—while others were running for cover. By mastering creative investing strategies, he transformed distressed properties into profitable assets and built a track record that’s raised over $50...

Cherie Walters & Nicole Juarez are two faith-driven moms growing businesses inside of real estate. Cherie has spent 13 years on the lending side. With a goal to outwork everyone, she specializes in VA loans, loves serving people, and stays committed to her daily routine and personal development. Nicole is an agent with 10 years experience. She navigates meeting the needs of her clients while still being able to be available to ...

Joel Friedland is a 43+ year real estate investing veteran specializing in single-tenant industrial properties in the Chicago area, with a track record of acquiring 104 buildings valued at over $300 million for more than 300 investors. Known for his ultra-conservative, debt-free syndications and long-term hold strategy, Joel brings a uniquely risk-averse mindset shaped by weathering four economic downturns. Many of his deals involv...

Joel Miller is a seasoned real estate investor who has been building wealth through rental properties since 1978 and flipping houses since 1991. With a background in accounting and a trailblazing career as a mobile DJ (with over 5,000 appearances), Joel found his true passion in real estate—eventually flipping over 100 properties and transitioning into hard money lending in 2018 to support new investors. A longtime educator and lea...

Mike Kron serves as Chairman of the Guardian Net Lease Fund, where he is focusing on finding single tenants on net leases of the top Fortune 350 companies. In addition to that, Mike helps to manage a family office consisting of over 14,000 multi-family units in multiple states as well as being a real estate broker and attorney. He got his start in college after buying a 6 unit complex in Michigan renting out to fellow students whil...

Finding success in real estate today can be a challenge. For Jessica Di Re, she was able to take her background in marketing and events and apply it to her role as a real estate agent in the Montreal suburbs. She blends strategic marketing with the science of human connection to help clients make smart decisions. She discusses the importance of daily habits, being a woman in real estate, the differences of the US & Canadian rea...

On the surface, you can say that Brian Tibbs was able to retire from his job as a missionary, where he and his wife Jill averaged making $9.20/hour over the course of 16 years. However, it was due to his investing in real estate before that time that helped him build the momentum over those 16 years overseas to make it possible. In a 3 year period, he got married, quit his job, sold 60% of his real estate and moved to Guatemala wit...

Joseph began his career in healthcare when he was still in high school at the age of 18. Currently, he is a high-income W2 Travel PA-C and a real estate entrepreneur. He got his start house-hacking his primary residence, renting out rooms to friends and building cashflow and equity along the way. He's done a couple of flips, purchased single-family homes out-of-state, and even participated as a limited partner in a couple of m...

This week, we’re revisiting another standout episode from our Best Of series, featuring guest Ryan Chaw.

Ryan Chaw is a pharmacist turned real estate investor. By investing in 15 properties while working his full-time job, in August 2023 he was able to replace his pharmacist salary and walk away from his job to pursue real estate investing full-time. Growing up, Ryan saw the power of real estate investing from his Grandpa, who was a...

This week, we’re revisiting a standout episode from our Best Of series, featuring guests Jenn and Joe Delle Fave.

Jenn started out as a middle school English teacher while Joe was stuck working at a car dealership in Upstate New York. Over time, they slowly started chipping away at their real estate goals through the use of creative financing and the rent to own strategy. What started out as a 1 month long trip to Florida turned int...

Matin Haghkar has an inspiring story coming from nothing to building multiple real estate companies. He is the owner of RE/MAX Plus in the Philadelphia area, Wize Mortgage, Team Leader of The Haghkar Group, a property management company (with over 1,000 units) and title company. He bought his first house at the age of 18 and now is ranked in the Top 5% of all Realtors in his MLS and did over $110 Million of production within the pa...

Nathan Street, founder of Novum Wealth, helps real estate investors secure 100% financing through hard money, private money, and creative financing strategies. A lifelong entrepreneur, he started his first business at 10 years old selling candy out of his bedroom window. Fast forward, and Nathan has flipped properties, built and sold a lead generation company, ghostwritten for some of the biggest names in real estate education, and...

Aaron had prided himself on being a hybrid real estate professional. Over the last few years, while living and working in 3 different states, Aaron and his wife were able to build up a portfolio of 8 cash-flowing rental properties in 3 different states. Oh, and he's been able to do it while working a full-time job and raising 3 kids under the age of 3. Aaron is also the founder of The Hybrid Real Estate Professional Podcast an...

With a construction background and adding value to properties, Cody Stegeman has been able to amass a rental portfolio of over 50 units in 5 years. In doing so, he's able to recycle his money, grow his portfolio, and add more cash-flowing assets. While many people think you need to come from money or have a huge network to start, this is not Cody. He's just an "average person" that's focused on self-educati...