The REI Agent

Mattias and Erica Clymer

Welcome to The REI Agent Podcast, where real estate meets holistic living! Hosted by Mattias and Erica, this podcast is your go-to source for insights, inspiration, and strategies from top agents and investors who are living their best lives through real estate.

  1. Oct 27

    Secondary Market Real Estate: Moises Garcia on Selling Idaho to Out-of-State Buyers

    Moises Garcia — Moe — was working a casino on the Idaho–Nevada border when the economy turned. He moved across to dealing blackjack, then ran the pit, and it still wasn't for him. A friend who'd just got his licence talked him into following. That was fifteen years ago. He now runs Forever Idaho Real Estate, a team inside Westerra Real Estate Group, serving Twin Falls and the Magic Valley. The heart of this one is AI, and it's the most clear-eyed take the show has had. He has automated his daily newsletter almost end to end: Gemini reads his morning email and drafts it, Claude tightens the writing, he picks which stories survive. Half an hour at most. Then he draws a hard line — the AI assistant that answers his inbound leads gets switched off as fast as he can reach it, because "I've seen them get frustrated and then opt out of communication before I have had a chance." Use it on your own work; never put it between you and a person. Also: a clear read on the Idaho migration, the cheap deal he talked a client out of because there was nothing in the town, why days on market lies in his market, the bridge-loan route instead of a contingent offer, and why agents who treat a transaction as winners and losers were never properly mentored. Find Moe: @foreveridahorealestate on Instagram · foreveridahorealestate.com Also mentioned: The Pumpkin Plan by Mike Michalowicz Full show notes and a free weekly newsletter at reiagent.com

    Secondary Market Real Estate: Moises Garcia on Selling Idaho to Out-of-State Buyers
  2. Oct 20

    From Nigerian Chemical Engineer to a $100M Houston Portfolio with Wale Lawal

    Wale Lawal came to the United States from Nigeria to study chemical engineering, took the master's, and spent five years in oil and gas before going looking for something that would fund a retirement. Everything pointed at real estate. He went to crypto instead, then Forex, then transportation, lost money in all three, and went all in on real estate in 2020. Today he owns 30+ rental units, has closed over $100 million, and has helped 400+ investor clients buy their own. He is refreshingly unwilling to sell anyone a strategy. He has had clients spend $50,000 on coaching programs and own zero properties. His own BRRRR ended with the city condemning a fourplex that has been an empty lot since 2021 — and the lesson he draws is cheap and specific: the structure has to be good before anything else is true. The most actionable minute is about builders. He buys new construction directly and times it to their fiscal year — September, October, November, when D.R. Horton and Lennar are discounting to hit annual targets. Mattias calls it a golden nugget on tape. Also: a clear read on Houston after the 2020-21 run, a duplex closed $35,000 under appraisal, the ON FIRE acronym for picking an agent, why new agents should gladly hand over 50% of their first commissions, and the book he gives people — The One Thing. Find Wale: @wale_lawal on Instagram · networthbuilders.com His coaching program: networthbuildersacademy.com Also mentioned: The One Thing by Gary Keller and Jay Papasan Full show notes and a free weekly newsletter at reiagent.com

    From Nigerian Chemical Engineer to a $100M Houston Portfolio with Wale Lawal
  3. Oct 6

    From Behind the Iron Curtain to $80M in Real Estate with Vessi Kapoulian

    Vessi Kapoulian grew up behind the Iron Curtain, in a Bulgaria where travel was almost impossible and every apartment belonged to the government. Her mother made her a promise with no obvious way to keep it: if you learn English, I'll send you abroad. Then the wall fell, and Vessi studied her way to a full scholarship in the United States. She did the conventional thing after that — school, job, corporate ladder, and most of a career in commercial lending, managing over a billion dollars in commercial credit portfolios. Then she walked into her office one morning with no notice and learned that 70% of her immediate team had been let go. "You're an employee, and you may think you're the greatest person in the world, but you're disposable, you're replaceable. And that's kind of harsh to say. It's also very harsh to hear, but that's the reality." She was spared, and is careful to say it was not because she was smarter. These are cost decisions. So she asked what she could actually control, and the answer was real estate: a turnkey rental in Memphis, then a duplex, then an 11-unit, and now 150-plus-unit apartment syndications. DBA Capital Group — Dream, Believe, Achieve — runs approximately $80 million in assets under management across Florida, Tennessee and Georgia. The second half of this conversation is a former commercial lender explaining, plainly, how syndications work and where they go wrong. Why a preferred return is not a promise of monthly cash flow. Why you should plan on your money being locked for five to seven years and not invest if you might need it. Why the bridge-debt extensions are running out. And why the 2011–2021 run, when falling cap rates bailed out even bad operators, is not coming back — the next decade, she says, belongs to the operator. Her golden nugget flips a famous line. Reagan said trust but verify. She says verify before you trust, and the first question she asks on any deal is not what it returns, but how she loses money on it. A holistic approach to life through real estate.

    From Behind the Iron Curtain to $80M in Real Estate with Vessi Kapoulian
  4. Sep 29 ·  Bonus

    From Two Houses in Five Months to $45M a Year with Bunny Terry

    In 2012, three months after moving to Santa Fe, Bunny Terry was diagnosed with stage 4 colon cancer. She has a letter from that year, written so she could cash out her life insurance, saying she had twelve months. This is what she built afterwards. She sold two houses in her first five months at a new brokerage and borrowed money from her son to attend a conference. Today she is on a pace of roughly $45 million a year — $12.5M in 2023, $18.5M in 2024, just over $30M in 2025 — and more than 85% of it comes from her digital presence. The mechanics are unglamorous and she says so. 5,700 Instagram followers. B-roll bought from a local kid with a drone. A Thursday email listing three things happening Friday, three Saturday, three Sunday, with the weather and a reminder to bring a jacket. Nobody has unsubscribed in three months. The principle: "We're not talking about how we do real estate. We're talking about how you live in our city." There is also a 67-year-old on her team who told her he did not want anyone to see his face. He now posts four or five videos a week and gets a call a day from them. CHAPTERS 00:00 Cold open 00:22 Welcome 01:06 Meet Bunny Terry — Santa Fe, 22 years, $45M pace 01:23 A paralegal who became a realtor out of necessity 02:19 Ranches and lake property in a town of 1,100 05:05 Moving to Santa Fe — and a stage 4 diagnosis 07:05 The partners who kept splitting commissions 08:34 Showing up every day in a market where she knew nobody 09:46 Two houses in five months, and borrowing from her son 10:45 Building community before building a pipeline 12:10 Her father's answer: "I'd have to be two people" 14:03 A prognosis letter, and choosing your perspective 17:35 The red notebook and the daily top three 20:58 Your brain finds what you tell it to look for 24:02 Breaking into a closed market with a blog 26:09 "I'm not 22" — putting her face on video at 60 28:04 The numbers: $12.5M to $30M to a $45M pace 28:42 Hiring a full-time marketing director 29:39 Why Santa Fe is a second-home market 31:16 The 67-year-old who refused to be on camera 31:56 Sell the city, not the house 32:54 The Thursday email nobody unsubscribes from 34:07 Consistency wins — and no marketing is bad marketing 36:01 "I am an expert at starting over" 36:30 Golden nuggets 39:29 The question that changed after loss 41:31 Favorite book: U Squared by Price Pritchett 43:20 Being purposeful, and nearly quitting 44:08 Where to find Bunny FIND BUNNY Instagram: @therealbunnyterrysantafe Book: Lifesaving Gratitude, on Amazon THE REI AGENT Newsletter and episode blogs: reiagent.com A holistic approach to life through real estate.

    From Two Houses in Five Months to $45M a Year with Bunny Terry
5
out of 5
10 Ratings

About

Welcome to The REI Agent Podcast, where real estate meets holistic living! Hosted by Mattias and Erica, this podcast is your go-to source for insights, inspiration, and strategies from top agents and investors who are living their best lives through real estate.