Playbooks from investors doing the deals
Every article starts from a real conversation on one of our shows, then gets turned into a step-by-step guide.
What to Fix Before Listing: An Inspector’s Deal-Killer List
An inspector, contractor, and agent in one explains what to fix before listing a house — the panels, rot, and systems that kill deals, and the cosmetics that pay.
AI Marketing Automation for Agents: One Broker’s Claude Stack
How a Montana broker runs two linked Claude projects for YouTube content, expired-listing email and directory audits — plus the real time cost and lead timeline.
Hiring Your First Employee: The KPI Test Before You Post
Robert Syfert says most owners who feel ready to hire aren’t. The test: can you document what comes off your plate and the KPIs that define success?
Lead Source Tracking: Know Which Marketing Actually Pays
How to tag every lead to its source, calculate CAC and LTV, and fix attribution before you spend more — from fractional CMO Danielle Hollembaek.
Buying Undivided Interests From Heirs: Messy Title Deals
How investors buy an undivided interest from heirs: the deal profile, 10–30 cents pricing, five-factor underwriting screen, cash-only funding, and holdout remedies.
Office Condo Development: Selling Suites Instead of Leasing
Office condo development sells 1,200–1,500 SF suites to owner-occupants instead of leasing. How developers pick sites by rooftop count and presell before delivery.
AI Property Management: What a 107-Tenant Operator Automated
How one operator runs 107 co-living tenants with no staff: the AI property management build order, real token costs, guardrail failures, and what still needs a human.
Trading Up Rentals: Seller Carry, 1031s, and Long Holds
How James Hayden turned a $25,000 seller-financed rental into a six-door portfolio using 1031 exchanges, subdivision upside, and a formula he refuses to break.
Manufactured Homes on Infill Lots: A West Coast Build Model
How one West Coast operator buys vacant infill lots at $27K and sets new manufactured homes on them — lot basis, subject-to financing, permits and exit rents.
Rent-by-Room Investing: Underwrite to Half-Full Occupancy
How to underwrite rent by room investing: buy so half-full occupancy covers the mortgage, find the spread in cheaper submarkets, and avoid the parking trap.
Pocket Listing vs MLS: Why Off-Market Can Cost a Seller
A 27-year LA brokerage veteran on why private exclusives cost sellers money, when off-market genuinely fits, and the four things that decide if a listing sells.
Small-Balance Private Lending: Leverage, No-Doc, and Bailouts
What small-balance private lenders actually fund: $500K–$5M loan sizes, 90/100 leverage for first-time flippers, no-doc commercial options, and bailout loans.