CRE Playbook Podcast

John Heisler
  • 5.0 (1)
  • Investing
  • Updated Weekly

John Heisler spent years in residential real estate before making the switch to commercial, and it changed everything! Now he's sharing the playbook he wishes he'd had from day one. Solo breakdowns of deals and strategies that actually move the needle. Raw conversations with experienced operators and investors actively in the game, some with decades of wins, some right in the middle of their first deal... No fluff. No theory. Just real conversations about building wealth through Commercial Real Estate. New episodes every week on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and YouTube!

Episodes

  1. Aug 6

    A Brutally Honest Breakdown of Every Major Commercial Real Estate Asset Class

    Hey folks! John's back for a brand new episode of the CRE Playbook Podcast, talking about real deals on the show that take you from zero to one in getting your first commercial building! This one is John's honest, unfiltered breakdown of the Big 5 commercial real estate asset classes: retail, office, industrial, self-storage, and multifamily. He owns buildings in all five categories, and he has strong opinions about which ones beginners should actually start with. He walks through each asset class one by one, covering the pros and cons from real experience. Retail isn't dead, community strip centers are busier than ever, and the value-add play of pairing nationally accredited anchor tenants with mom-and-pop local businesses at market rent is one of his favorites. Class A downtown office is dead, but Class B and C office is quietly one of the best buying opportunities in 2026. Industrial is his top pick for beginners: simple buildings, triple net leases, tenants who handle their own repairs, and almost zero maintenance calls. Self-storage sounds passive but is operationally intense, especially small facilities, which John says beginners should avoid entirely. And multifamily scales the best but demands elite operations, and on-market deals in that space are almost never worth buying. He closes with something most commercial educators won't say: you don't have to pick one asset class and stick with it forever. Explore, buy, learn, and let your experience tell you where you're built to operate. 🎙️ New episodes every week. Real deals. No fluff. Follow us on our socials!Instagram:   / cre.playbook   Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?... X: https://x.com/cre_playbook Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/033kjB5... Apple Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/es/podcast... Follow John Heisler on his socials!Instagram:   / john.w.heisler   Facebook:   / john.heisler.142

    A Brutally Honest Breakdown of Every Major Commercial Real Estate Asset Class

  2. Jul 29

    The Exact Script to Start a Capital Partner Conversation (Without It Feeling Like a Sales Pitch)

    Hey folks! John's back for a brand new episode of the CRE Playbook Podcast. Talking about real deals on the show that take you from zero to one in getting your first commercial building! This is Part 3 of the Raising Capital series, and, as John says, it's the most important one. Parts 1 and 2 gave you the Deal Triangle and the LLC Partnership structure. This episode gives you the actual conversation. John walks through exactly how to approach capital partners, starting with the people already in your phone. He covers the three investor avatars to look for in your network, the one opening question that starts every conversation without pressure, and why you should never mention a deal address in the first meeting. He breaks down the four things that make someone say yes (trust, clarity, risk mitigation, and access), the three things that make them say no, and how to handle the classic "let me think about it" response without chasing or losing momentum. He also tackles the question every new operator faces: what do you say if you've never done a deal before? And he closes with the mindset shift that makes all of this easier: you are not asking for money. You are offering access to something they could never do on their own. Homework: take your phone, go through every contact from A to Z, and write down everyone who might belong in one of the three investor avatars. That list is where your capital raising starts. 🎙️ New episodes every week. Real deals. No fluff. 📩 Want to see a real deal pitch deck? Email us at john@cre-playbook.com and we'll send you one of John's previous examples.Follow us on our socials!Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/cre.playbook Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61572282477159 X: https://x.com/cre_playbook Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/033kjB56cEZQ7OJwuUDkaD?si=Z16dre_QSL-LcKeOzqJlfQ Apple Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/es/podcast/cre-playbook-podcast/id1896868504 Follow John Heisler on his socials!Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/john.w.heisler/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/john.heisler.142/

    The Exact Script to Start a Capital Partner Conversation (Without It Feeling Like a Sales Pitch)

  3. Jul 24

    Why We Don't Do Syndications And What We Do Instead to Raise Capital

    Hey folks! John's back for a brand new episode of the CRE Playbook Podcast, talking about real deals on the show that take you from zero to one in getting your first commercial building! This is Part 2 of John's Raising Capital series, and it's where things get real. After laying the foundation with the Deal Triangle in Part 1, John gets into the actual nuts and bolts of how he funds commercial deals using what he calls the LLC Partnership Method. He walks through his very first deal (an $850K office building with a $150K rehab budget) and breaks down how two private capital partners came in to fund the equity layer while the bank covered the senior debt, leaving none of John's own money in the deal at the closing table. From there, he unpacks exactly how each deal gets its own LLC, how ownership is structured between general partners and limited partners, how distributions work quarterly and at exit, and why he limits each deal to just 2-5 capital partners instead of running a large syndication fund. He also covers the SEC regulations that kick in the moment you sell an equity position, 506B vs. 506C, what accredited investor status actually means, and when you need a securities attorney. And he closes with the principles behind taking other people's money the right way: their return always comes first, and overcommunication is the foundation of every lasting capital partner relationship. Part 3 covers how to actually go have those conversations. This is the framework that makes those conversations possible. 🎙️ New episodes every week. Real deals. No fluff. 📩 Want to learn how to get your first commercial deal? Follow us on our socials! Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/cre.playbook Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61572282477159 X: https://x.com/cre_playbook Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/033kjB56cEZQ7OJwuUDkaD?si=Z16dre_QSL-LcKeOzqJlfQ Apple Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/es/podcast/cre-playbook-podcast/id1896868504 Follow John Heisler on his socials! Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/john.w.heisler/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/john.heisler.142/

    Why We Don't Do Syndications And What We Do Instead to Raise Capital

  4. Jul 16

    Commercial Real Estate is a Team Sport. Learn NOW How the Deal Triangle Works!

    Hey folks! John's back for a brand new episode of the CRE Playbook Podcast. Talking about real deals on the show that takes you from zero to one in getting your first commercial building! This one's a solo episode, and it's the foundation of everything. John kicks off a three-part (or more...) series on raising capital for commercial real estate, starting with the two myths that hold most beginners back: that you need a lot of your own money, and that you have to do everything yourself. The centerpiece of this episode is the Deal Triangle. A framework John borrowed from his friend Paul Sparks that breaks every real estate deal into three components: Sourcing, Operations, and Funding. All three have to happen for a deal to close. But the game-changing insight is that you don't have to be the one doing all three. You only need to be elite at one. John walks through what each part of the triangle actually involves, breaks down the three types of senior debt (conventional loans, bridge loans, and seller finance), explains the full equity layer of a deal (down payment, closing costs, pursuit costs, rehab budget, reserves, and acquisition fees) and does the math on a real $1M deal to show where $475K actually has to come from beyond the bank. He closes with homework: figure out which part of the Deal Triangle is already your superpower, and start there. 🎙️ New episodes every week. Real deals. No fluff. 📩 Want to learn how to get your first commercial deal? Follow us on our socials! Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/cre.playbook Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61572282477159 X: https://x.com/cre_playbook Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/033kjB56cEZQ7OJwuUDkaD?si=Z16dre_QSL-LcKeOzqJlfQ Apple Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/es/podcast/cre-playbook-podcast/id1896868504 Follow John Heisler on his socials! Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/john.w.heisler/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/john.heisler.142/

    Commercial Real Estate is a Team Sport. Learn NOW How the Deal Triangle Works!

  5. Jul 10

    John Kleisch Made His Building Cash Flow From Day One by Signing Two Tenants Before Closing

    Hey folks! John's back for a brand new episode of the CRE Playbook Podcast, and he's joined by: JOHN KLEISCH. Talking about real deals on the show that take you from zero to one in getting your first commercial building! The seller was getting $7,500 a month on this building. John Kleisch walked in, didn't change the footprint, didn't do a gut renovation, and now it brings in $14,000 a month. That's what a value-add industrial deal actually looks like. In this episode, John and John break down the full story of John Kleisch's very first commercial deal: a $1.5M industrial building in Phoenix, Arizona, found on Crexi, purchased on seller finance at 5% interest with a 30-year amortization and 8-year balloon. They cover everything from the first broker call (one blew him off, the next one had the deal) to leasing the building to two tenants before they even closed, so the property cash flowed from day one. Along the way they dig into the due diligence scope ($83K–$143K roof quotes, 6 broken swamp coolers, a cracked block wall that got them $40K off the down payment), how they shopped insurance from $17K down to $5,800, why the seller finance structure saved them $1,500/month compared to a bank loan, and what managing an industrial building actually looks like week to week (almost nothing). If you've been wondering what a real first deal looks like, number by number, start to finish, this is it. 🎙️ New episodes every week. Real students. Real deals. No fluff. 📩 Want to learn how to get your first commercial deal? Comment "CRE" down below! Follow us on our socials! Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/cre.playbook Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61572282477159 X: https://x.com/cre_playbook Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/033kjB56cEZQ7OJwuUDkaD?si=Z16dre_QSL-LcKeOzqJlfQ Apple Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/es/podcast/cre-playbook-podcast/id1896868504 Follow John Heisler on his socials! Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/john.w.heisler/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/john.heisler.142/ Follow John Kleisch on his socials! Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/john.kleisch/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/john.kleisch

    John Kleisch Made His Building Cash Flow From Day One by Signing Two Tenants Before Closing

  6. Jun 30

    Buying 71 Rental Units: What an 84-Door Portfolio Actually Looks Like

    Hey folks! John's back for a brand new episode of the CRE Playbook Podcast, and he's joined by: BOB SCHNEIDER. Talking about real deals on the show that takes you from zero to one in getting your first commercial building! This deal fell apart. Twice. The appraisal came in $1.5 million short. The hard money lender backed out two weeks before closing. $75,000 in earnest money was gone, non-refundable. And somehow, it still closed. Bob Schneider, student, coach, broker, and now owner of a 45-building, 71-unit portfolio, sits down with John to break down exactly how he and John bought this $4.625 million deal together, from the first cold call to a 900-page closing day. They cover negotiating sight-unseen, walking 84 doors in 3 days, discovering 60% of the roofs needed replacing, losing two lenders back to back, and finding a $250,000 math error buried in a 168-page appraisal that flipped the whole deal back in their favor. This isn't a highlight reel. This is the real, stressful, occasionally infuriating version of buying commercial real estate, and proof that even hard deals can still be good ones. 🎙️ New episodes every week. Real students. Real deals. No fluff. 📩 Want to learn how to get your first commercial deal? Follow us on our socials!Instagram:   / cre.playbook   Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?...X: https://x.com/cre_playbookSpotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/033kjB5...Apple Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/es/podcast... Follow John Heisler on his socials!Instagram:   / john.w.heisler   Facebook:   / john.heisler.142   Follow Bob Schneider on Social Media!!Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bobbyvschneider/Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/bob.schneider.773

    Buying 71 Rental Units: What an 84-Door Portfolio Actually Looks Like

  7. Jun 17

    Cold Calling Brokers is Like Talking to Regular People. Here's How To Start Doing It Today!

    Hey folks! John's back for a brand new episode of the CRE Playbook Podcast, and he's joined by: JOHN KLEISCH. Talking about real deals on the show that takes you from zero to one in getting your first commercial building! Six weeks after joining the CRE Playbook, John is here with us, telling us about how he made his very first call to a commercial broker, heart racing, hands shaking, fully convinced he had no business talking to "sophisticated commercial guys." Today, he has a building under contract, landed through seller financing. In this episode, John and John break down exactly what those first six weeks looked like: the anxiety before that first dial, how his call volume and confidence changed day by day, the realization that brokers are just regular people, and the exact line he uses to make a lowball offer land professionally. They also walk through the wild story of how his current deal fell out of contract with another buyer and became his deal five days later, why he chose seller finance, and his honest long-term goals — covering his lifestyle with cash flow, then building toward a $15M net worth. If you've ever felt too nervous to pick up the phone, this episode is proof that the fear fades fast once you just start dialing. 🎙️ New episodes every week. Real students. Real deals. No fluff.

    Cold Calling Brokers is Like Talking to Regular People. Here's How To Start Doing It Today!

  8. Jun 9

    Wholesaling is a Grind With No Equity. Commercial Real Estate Builds Wealth While You Sleep!

    Hey folks! John’s back for a brand new episode of the CRE Playbook Podcast, and he’s joined by: JOHN KLEISCH. Talking about real deals on the show that takes you from zero to one in getting your first commercial building!In this episode , John sits down with student John Kleisch for his full origin story. John K has been grinding in real estate for years, from a brutal W2 at a Chevy dealership, to building a wholesale operation that hit $350K in a single month, to pivoting to land, to eventually shutting it all down and starting over. He's not a guru. He's someone who kept searching for the right vehicle, and finally found it in commercial real estate. In this episode: ✅Quitting a W2 and getting a job offer in real estate ✅Building a wholesale business that peaked at $350K/month, then collapsed when rates rose ✅Why he walked away from land investing even when it was working ✅The honest truth about running a real estate team (and why he thinks it might be the hardest business to run) ✅What finally made him go all in on commercial real estate ✅His superpower, his weakness, and how both show up in CRE DISCLAIMER ⚠️ This episode was recorded in August, 2025 If you've been grinding in real estate and wondering if there's a better way, this episode was made for you! 🎙️ New episodes every week. Real students. Real deals. No fluff. 📩 Want to learn how to get your first commercial deal? Comment "CRE" down below!Follow us on our socials!Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/cre.playbook Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61572282477159 X: https://x.com/cre_playbook Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/033kjB56cEZQ7OJwuUDkaD?si=Z16dre_QSL-LcKeOzqJlfQ Apple Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/es/podcast/cre-playbook-podcast/id1896868504 Follow John Heisler on his socials!Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/john.w.heisler/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/john.heisler.142/ Follow John Kleisch on his socials!Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/john.kleisch/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/john.kleisch

    Wholesaling is a Grind With No Equity. Commercial Real Estate Builds Wealth While You Sleep!

  9. Jun 3

    Why Commercial Real Estate? The Smartest Way to Invest

    What is commercial real estate, and why should you care? 🏢💰In this first episode of our CRE Playbook series, we break down:✅ What commercial real estate really is (and why it’s better than residential)✅ The 2 Buy Boxes every CRE investor needs to knowIf you’re tired of chasing small rental profits and want to start investing smarter, this is the video for you!

    Why Commercial Real Estate? The Smartest Way to Invest

  10. Jun 3

    I Bought a Commercial Building by Complete Accident… Here’s What Happened

    In 2021, I bought my very first commercial building… completely by accident.I wasn’t looking for it. I wasn’t ready for it.And honestly? I had no idea what I was doing.But that unexpected phone call, and the deal that followed, completely changed the direction of my life, my career, and my family’s future.In this video, I’m breaking down:🏢 How I stumbled into my first commercial deal😅 The mistakes I made (yes… there were many)🧠 The lessons I learned the hard way💰 Why that one deal changed everything🚀 And how it led me to build a multi-million-dollar CRE portfolioWhether you’re coming from residential real estate, a W2 career, or you’re just curious about how to get started in commercial, this story will show you that you don’t need experience, luck, or a fancy background.You just need the courage to say yes when opportunity shows up.

    I Bought a Commercial Building by Complete Accident… Here’s What Happened

  11. Jun 2

    One Phone Call Turned Me Into a Commercial Real Estate Investor

    I was a critical care PA working 80 hours a week. One random phone call about a warehouse I never asked about led me to Commercial Real Estate... and completely changed my life. Here’s the full story!In this video, I share how I went from working nights, weekends, and holidays in the ICU to owning 15 commercial buildings across every asset class. I’ll walk you through the accidental phone call, the first deal, the mistakes, and what I’d do differently.

    One Phone Call Turned Me Into a Commercial Real Estate Investor
  • 11 Episodes

About

John Heisler spent years in residential real estate before making the switch to commercial, and it changed everything! Now he's sharing the playbook he wishes he'd had from day one. Solo breakdowns of deals and strategies that actually move the needle. Raw conversations with experienced operators and investors actively in the game, some with decades of wins, some right in the middle of their first deal... No fluff. No theory. Just real conversations about building wealth through Commercial Real Estate. New episodes every week on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and YouTube!

Information

  • Creator
    John Heisler
  • Years Active
    2026
  • Episodes
    11
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © John Heisler
  • Show Website
    CRE Playbook Podcast