The Best Ever CRE Show

Zach Feldman joins Matt Faircloth for a conversation about the intricacies of student housing, a niche yet highly profitable sector within real estate. He explains how student housing has evolved from informal setups to institutionalized assets, offering unique investment opportunities.They also talk about the importance of location, amenity design, and market research in achieving rent premiums, and how these factors differentiate student housing from traditional multifamily properties. He also highlights the significance of branding and community building in attracting tenants and ensuring high occupancy rates. Zach Feldman Current role: Partner, Aptitude Development Based in: New York, New York Where to find them:  https://www.linkedin.com/in/zacharyrfeldman/https://www.e77h.com/ Book your free demo today at bill.com/bestever and get a $100 Amazon gift card. Visit ⁠www.tribevestisc.com⁠ for more info. Try QUO for free PLUS get 20% off your first 6 months when you go to quo.com/BESTEVER  Join us at Best Ever Conference 2026! Find more info at: https://www.besteverconference.com/  Join the Best Ever Community  The Best Ever Community is live and growing - and we want serious commercial real estate investors like you inside. It’s free to join, but you must apply and meet the criteria.  Connect with top operators, LPs, GPs, and more, get real insights, and be part of a curated network built to help you grow. Apply now at⁠ ⁠⁠⁠www.bestevercommunity.com⁠⁠ Podcast production done by⁠ ⁠Outlier Audio⁠ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Amanda Cruise, owner of Voyage Investing and experienced mobile home park operator, walks through why these communities are an overlooked affordable housing asset. She discusses declining park supply, tax and macro advantages, infill and infrastructure value plays, management models for different park sizes, and what to vet before investing. Short, practical, and focused on strategic opportunities.

Fernando Angelucci joins Amanda Cruise and Ash Patel to share how he scaled from single-family investing into a 55-facility self-storage portfolio by intentionally building three parallel businesses: marketing, capital raising, and operations. He explains why focusing on direct-to-seller acquisitions and seller financing helped insulate his deals from rising interest rates, and how working directly with community banks allows for long-term construction-to-permanent debt. The conversation also covers SEC compliance, what actually defines a “sophisticated investor,” and why many syndicators ran into trouble relying on short-term bridge debt. Fernando challenges the idea that self-storage is broadly overbuilt, arguing that demand is hyper-local and increasingly driven by housing affordability pressures. Fernando AngelucciCurrent role: Self-storage investor and operatorSay hi to them at: https://ssse.com Book your free demo today at bill.com/bestever and get a $100 Amazon gift card. Visit ⁠www.tribevestisc.com⁠ for more info. Try QUO for free PLUS get 20% off your first 6 months when you go to quo.com/BESTEVER  Join us at Best Ever Conference 2026! Find more info at: https://www.besteverconference.com/  Join the Best Ever Community  The Best Ever Community is live and growing - and we want serious commercial real estate investors like you inside. It’s free to join, but you must apply and meet the criteria.  Connect with top operators, LPs, GPs, and more, get real insights, and be part of a curated network built to help you grow. Apply now at⁠ ⁠⁠⁠www.bestevercommunity.com⁠⁠ Podcast production done by⁠ ⁠Outlier Audio⁠ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Seth Bradley explains why many common capital-raising practices in real estate are quietly illegal and increasingly risky as regulators, investors, and institutions pay closer attention. He breaks down why intent and deal quality do not matter if securities laws are violated, and why compensation tied to capital raised is the fastest way to cross the line. Seth walks through the three legally distinct roles in capital raising active participant, passive participant, and third party and shows how co-GP and finder models are frequently abused. He concludes by explaining why compliant fund-to-fund structures are rapidly becoming the preferred path for scalable, defensible capital aggregation. Compliance Is Currency in Modern Capital Raising with Seth Bradley Why Co-GP and Finder Models Are Quietly Dying with Seth Bradley The Real Legal Risks Behind Raising Capital the Wrong Way with Seth Bradley Active Passive and Third Party Roles Explained with Seth Bradley Building a Scalable Capital Raising Business the Compliant Way with Seth Bradley If you want, I can also sanity-check this against your last correctly done solo episode to make sure the tone and length are dead-on before you publish. Title Options Book your free demo today at bill.com/bestever and get a $100 Amazon gift card. Visit ⁠www.tribevestisc.com⁠ for more info. Try QUO for free PLUS get 20% off your first 6 months when you go to quo.com/BESTEVER  Join us at Best Ever Conference 2026! Find more info at: https://www.besteverconference.com/  Join the Best Ever Community  The Best Ever Community is live and growing - and we want serious commercial real estate investors like you inside. It’s free to join, but you must apply and meet the criteria.  Connect with top operators, LPs, GPs, and more, get real insights, and be part of a curated network built to help you grow. Apply now at⁠ ⁠⁠⁠www.bestevercommunity.com⁠⁠ Podcast production done by⁠ ⁠Outlier Audio⁠ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Richard McGirr, founder of Unlimited Capital and CRE operator, explains why 2026 will flip the script for real estate with autonomous AI agents. He introduces OpenClaw and contrasts agents with chat tools. He demos agents tracking legal drafts, automating CRM sales intelligence, and replacing repetitive VA reports. He also warns about serious security and permission risks.

Forecasts for 2026 jobs, payroll slowdown, and demographic headwinds set the scene. The surprising GDP boost from AI and data center spending gets unpacked without claiming big job creation. Shifting office attendance, workplace negotiation power, and markets with improving vacancy are explored. Multifamily repricing, Sunbelt risks, and attractive sectors like retail, industrial, and storage are highlighted.

John Casmon interviews Matthew Pezon, who shares his journey from being told he was the “worst employee” in his engineering job to building a vertically integrated multifamily portfolio in Pennsylvania. Matthew explains how early mentorship, relentless deal touring, and making dozens of offers helped him build confidence and land his first deals through distressed single-family and small multifamily properties. The conversation digs into Matthew’s shift away from long-term buy-and-hold thinking toward what he calls the “velocity of capital,” recognizing when equity becomes trapped and redeploying it into larger value-add assets. After becoming a father of twins, he realized brute-force solo investing no longer scaled, pushing him to trade up into 20–40 unit properties and build leverage through people, systems, and capital. Matthew also breaks down how long-term relationships with agents and investors unlock off-market deals, why certainty of closing often matters more than top-dollar pricing, and how maintaining a reputation for not retrading sellers has fueled his growth. He closes by sharing how in-house property management, acquisitions staff, and clean financial reporting have helped him scale to hundreds of units while reclaiming time with his family. Guest Info Matthew PezonCurrent role: Founder and owner, Pezon PropertiesBased in: Lehigh Valley, PennsylvaniaSay hi to them at: https://pezonproperties.com Book your free demo today at bill.com/bestever and get a $100 Amazon gift card. Visit ⁠www.tribevestisc.com⁠ for more info. Try QUO for free PLUS get 20% off your first 6 months when you go to quo.com/BESTEVER  Join us at Best Ever Conference 2026! Find more info at: https://www.besteverconference.com/  Join the Best Ever Community  The Best Ever Community is live and growing - and we want serious commercial real estate investors like you inside. It’s free to join, but you must apply and meet the criteria.  Connect with top operators, LPs, GPs, and more, get real insights, and be part of a curated network built to help you grow. Apply now at⁠ ⁠⁠⁠www.bestevercommunity.com⁠⁠ Podcast production done by⁠ ⁠Outlier Audio⁠ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Matt Faircloth interviews Brian Burke, reflecting on the prolonged multifamily downturn and why 2025 failed to deliver the recovery many investors expected. Brian explains how elevated construction deliveries, negative rent growth, and mispriced cap rates have kept deal fundamentals from penciling, especially for assets acquired with high leverage. The conversation dives deep into the dangers of bridge debt, emphasizing that loan maturity risk, not floating interest rates, is what ultimately puts lenders in control. Brian also shares why he has shifted capital into assisted living, citing demographic tailwinds, improving fundamentals, and a supply-demand imbalance that contrasts sharply with multifamily. Brian BurkeCurrent role: Founder & CEO, Praxis CapitalBased in: CaliforniaSay hi to them at: www.PraxCap.comwww.linkedin.com/company/praxcapwww.linkedin.com/in/praxiscapitalhttps://www.facebook.com/praxcap/https://twitter.com/praxcaphttps://www.instagram.com/praxcap/https://www.instagram.com/investorbrianburke Book your free demo today at bill.com/bestever and get a $100 Amazon gift card. Visit ⁠www.tribevestisc.com⁠ for more info. Try QUO for free PLUS get 20% off your first 6 months when you go to quo.com/BESTEVER  Join us at Best Ever Conference 2026! Find more info at: https://www.besteverconference.com/  Join the Best Ever Community  The Best Ever Community is live and growing - and we want serious commercial real estate investors like you inside. It’s free to join, but you must apply and meet the criteria.  Connect with top operators, LPs, GPs, and more, get real insights, and be part of a curated network built to help you grow. Apply now at⁠ ⁠⁠⁠www.bestevercommunity.com⁠⁠ Podcast production done by⁠ ⁠Outlier Audio⁠ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Pascal Wagner interviews Shawn Owen, CEO of Salt Lending, to unpack how crypto holders can responsibly leverage Bitcoin for liquidity without taking on unnecessary risk. Shawn shares his journey from traditional real estate investing through the 2008 financial crisis and into early Bitcoin adoption, explaining why lending against crypto mirrors familiar tools like HELOCs more than speculative margin trading. The conversation explores how Bitcoin-backed loans work, what happens during sharp drawdowns, and how Salt structures products to protect both borrowers and lenders. They also discuss why institutional adoption, regulation, and long-term credit infrastructure are critical to Bitcoin’s role as a serious financial asset. Shawn OwenCurrent role: CEO, Salt LendingBased in: United StatesSay hi to them at: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/shawn-owen-052a6153 ​Twitter/X: https://x.com/Shawn_OwenJ​SALT Lending Twitter/X: https://x.com/SALTLending​SALT Lending Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/reel/DRmyfzXjus8/​ Company profile and blog: https://saltlending.com/?utm_source=best-ever-CRE&utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=shawn-owen-podcast-YT-2-4-2026&utm_id=btc-inc-feb-march-2026&utm_content=youtube Book your free demo today at bill.com/bestever and get a $100 Amazon gift card. Visit ⁠www.tribevestisc.com⁠ for more info. Try QUO for free PLUS get 20% off your first 6 months when you go to quo.com/BESTEVER  Join us at Best Ever Conference 2026! Find more info at: https://www.besteverconference.com/  Join the Best Ever Community  The Best Ever Community is live and growing - and we want serious commercial real estate investors like you inside. It’s free to join, but you must apply and meet the criteria.  Connect with top operators, LPs, GPs, and more, get real insights, and be part of a curated network built to help you grow. Apply now at⁠ ⁠⁠⁠www.bestevercommunity.com⁠⁠ Podcast production done by⁠ ⁠Outlier Audio⁠ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Amanda Cruise interviews Neil Wahlgren, a partner at Mad Capital Partners, about investing in industrial real estate through long-term sale-leaseback strategies. Neil explains why his firm focuses on large, single-tenant industrial facilities with absolute net leases, how reshoring and e-commerce continue to support long-term demand, and why industrial behaves very differently from multifamily. He breaks down how cap rates, rent escalations, and conservative leverage create durable cash flow, while shifting operating risk almost entirely to the tenant. Neil also shares lessons on underwriting tenant credit, navigating vacancy risk, and why smaller-bay industrial can be an attractive entry point for newer investors. Neil Wahlgren Current role: Partner, Mad Capital Partners Based in: San Francisco, California Say hi to them at: ⁠https://www.magcp.com⁠ | ⁠neil@magcp.com⁠ | https://www.linkedin.com/in/neilwahlgren/ Visit ⁠www.tribevestisc.com⁠ for more info. Try QUO for free PLUS get 20% off your first 6 months when you go to quo.com/BESTEVER  Join us at Best Ever Conference 2026! Find more info at: https://www.besteverconference.com/  Join the Best Ever Community  The Best Ever Community is live and growing - and we want serious commercial real estate investors like you inside. It’s free to join, but you must apply and meet the criteria.  Connect with top operators, LPs, GPs, and more, get real insights, and be part of a curated network built to help you grow. Apply now at⁠ ⁠⁠⁠www.bestevercommunity.com⁠⁠ Podcast production done by⁠ ⁠Outlier Audio⁠ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices