The Real Estate Investing Club

Gabe Petersen

Real estate pros share their stories on how they got started investing in real estate and then grew from their first deal to a portfolio of cash-flowing properties. In each episode you'll learn the strategies our guests used to create generational wealth for themselves and their families, and the steps you can take to do the same in your own back yard. Our goal at The Real Estate Investing Club is to teach you the fastest ways to start and grow your real estate investing career in today's market - from multifamily, to self-storage, to mobile home parks, to mix-use industrial, you'll hear it all! Our guests share their career peaks and valleys and the best advice, greatest stories, and favorite tips they learned along the way. Want to create wealth for yourself using the vehicle of real estate? Getting mentorship is the fastest way to success. Get an REI mentor and check out our REI course at https://www.therealestateinvestingclub.com.

  1. 1D AGO

    The Hidden Real Estate Asset Class Making Millionaires

    Join an active community of RE investors here: https://linktr.ee/gabepetersen WELCOME TO THE REAL ESTATE INVESTING CLUB 🎙️ Welcome back to The Real Estate Investing Club! I'm your host Gabriel Petersen, and today I'm joined by Mark Ainley of GC Realty and Development in Chicago — also the host of the Straight Up Chicago Investor podcast. With over two decades in real estate, Mark covers single family investing, industrial real estate, and property management at the highest level. Whether you're a new investor looking for your first deal or a seasoned pro wanting to diversify into commercial real estate, this episode is loaded with the kind of insight that fuels real financial freedom. 🏆 MARK AINLEY'S PATH TO REAL ESTATE SUCCESS 💪 Mark's story starts in the nineties with dreams of Wall Street that faded fast. He shifted into real estate, made costly early mistakes, got his license in 2005, and gradually built one of Chicago's most respected property management and investing businesses. He has completed 482 BRRRR deals, manages hundreds of residential and commercial units, and broke into industrial real estate through the relationships he built over years of property management. His passion, he admits, was never about the money — it was always about the thrill of the deal and the adrenaline of solving problems in real time. His journey proves that consistent action — even through failure — is how real wealth is built in this business. PROPERTY MANAGEMENT: THE REAL OPPORTUNITY COST INVESTORS IGNORE ⚖️ Mark breaks down the true value of professional property management for any landlord. In heavily regulated markets like Chicago, one legal misstep can cost you double security deposit plus attorney fees — a skilled manager dramatically reduces that risk. Beyond legal protection, the time savings are enormous, freeing investors to focus on finding new deals instead of fielding calls. Mark also reveals how being a property manager gave him a first-look at off-market deals as long-term owners approached him first when they were ready to sell. #RealEstateInvesting #IndustrialRealEstate #PropertyManagement #ChicagoRealEstate #FinancialFreedom Want to learn more about our guest? Connect here: https://www.gcrealtyinc.com/ Want to learn more about the REI Club Podcast, how to invest with Gabe at Kaizen, or join our community of active real estate investors on Skool? Visit the podcast website at https://www.therealestateinvestingclub.com or click here: https://linktr.ee/gabepetersen Send us Fan Mail Join the Online Community here: https://linktr.ee/gabepetersen. Support the show

    33 min
  2. 3D AGO

    Build Cash Flow Faster With This Seller Finance Trick

    Join an active community of RE investors here: https://linktr.ee/gabepetersen In this episode of The Real Estate Investing Club podcast, I sit down with Emanuel Stafilidis from Capable Capital to break down a powerful real estate investing strategy that focuses on low purchase price single family homes, seller financing, and becoming the bank. If your goal is financial freedom through real estate investing, this conversation dives deep into how investors can create consistent monthly income, scale faster, and reduce risk by using creative financing instead of relying only on traditional rental property strategies. WHAT IT REALLY MEANS TO BECOME THE BANK One of the biggest mindset shifts we discuss is why many experienced real estate investors eventually realize that the people making the most money in real estate are often the lenders, not the landlords. Emanuel explains how his strategy focuses on buying affordable properties, paying them off quickly, and then selling them with seller financing so the investor collects monthly payments just like a bank. This approach allows investors to generate long-term passive income while avoiding many of the headaches that come with managing tenants, repairs, and unpredictable expenses. WHY CHEAP HOUSES CAN CREATE BIG RETURNS A lot of investors focus on large multifamily properties or expensive real estate markets, but this episode explores why low cost single family homes can actually produce higher returns when used with the right strategy. By buying properties under market value and forcing appreciation, investors can create strong cash flow while keeping risk lower. We talk about how monthly payments are structured, how deals are engineered, and why affordable housing continues to be one of the most consistent opportunities in real estate investing today. This episode is perfect for anyone interested in real estate investing, passive income, creative finance, seller financing, rental properties, or building long-term wealth through real estate. Whether you are just getting started or already own properties, this conversation will give you new ideas on how to structure deals, reduce risk, and move closer to financial freedom. #RealEstateInvesting #PassiveIncome #SellerFinancing #FinancialFreedom #RentalProperty Want to learn more about our guest? Connect here: www.capablecapital.net Want to learn more about the REI Club Podcast, how to invest with Gabe at Kaizen, or join our community of active real estate investors on Skool? Visit the podcast website at https://www.therealestateinvestingclub.com or click here: https://linktr.ee/gabepetersen Send a text Join the Online Community here: https://linktr.ee/gabepetersen. Support the show

    39 min
  3. MAR 12

    Build Generational Wealth Before the Next Market Crash 🏆

    Join an active community of RE investors here: https://linktr.ee/gabepetersen  Build Generational Wealth Before the Next Market Crash 🏆 WELCOME TO THE REAL ESTATE INVESTING CLUB 🎙️  I am beyond excited to bring you this powerhouse conversation with Rod Khleif — one of the most recognized names in multifamily real estate investing. Rod is a Dutch immigrant who grew up eating expired food and wearing Goodwill hand-me-downs in Denver, Colorado, and went on to build an empire owning over 2,000 single-family homes and thousands of apartment units. He watched his net worth climb $17 million in a single year, then lost over $50 million in the 2008 financial crisis — and rebuilt it all from zero. Today his podcast is approaching 30 million downloads and is widely regarded as the largest in the multifamily space. Whether you are just getting started in real estate investing or are a seasoned investor looking to scale, this episode delivers transformational insights you simply cannot afford to miss. 💰🏠  ROD'S STORY: RAGS, RICHES, RUINS, AND REDEMPTION 🔥  Rod's journey is one of the most compelling in all of real estate investing. Inspired at age 17 by watching his immigrant mother quietly make $20,000 in her sleep on a simple real estate deal, Rod skipped college and dove straight into the business. By his third year he had already 10x'd his income to over $100,000 — back in 1980. He built a massive portfolio, then faced the unthinkable when the 2008 market collapse wiped out over $50 million of his wealth. The mindset strategies he used to recover from that devastating loss are the exact same tools any investor can use to get started or bounce back from any setback. No obstacle — from a broken water heater to a total market crash — is ever truly insurmountable. 🏆  THE MINDSET THAT SEPARATES WEALTHY INVESTORS FROM EVERYONE ELSE 🧠  Rod is famous for teaching that 80 to 90 percent of your success in real estate investing comes down entirely to mindset and psychology. In this episode, he breaks down the powerful "Be, Do, Have" goal-setting framework that has already helped thousands of his students transform their financial lives. He explains why making a real decision means cutting off every alternative and going all in — not one foot in and one foot out. He also makes a passionate case for fearing regret rather than fearing failure, citing research showing the number one regret of people at the end of their lives is not living the life they were truly capable of living. ✨  #RealEstateInvesting #MultifamilyRealEstate #FinancialFreedom #RealEstateInvestingClub #SeniorHousing  Want to learn more about our guest? Connect here: www.RodKhleif.com  Want to learn more about the REI Club Podcast, how to invest with Gabe at Kaizen, or join our community of active real estate investors on Skool? Visit the podcast website at https://www.therealestateinvestingclub.com or click here: https://linktr.ee/gabepetersen Send a text Join the Online Community here: https://linktr.ee/gabepetersen. Support the show

    37 min
  4. MAR 10

    Build a Portfolio That Pays You Even When Markets Crash

    Join an active community of RE investors here: https://linktr.ee/gabepetersen EPISODE OVERVIEW 🎙️ In this episode of The Real Estate Investing Club, I sit down with Patrick Grimes of Passive Investing Mastery — an investor who lost everything in a speculative pre-development deal before the 2008 crash and rebuilt himself into a diversified portfolio operator spanning commercial real estate, industrial assets, retail, energy, legal finance, and medical investments. Patrick's story is raw, honest, and packed with the kind of hard-won insights that can genuinely reshape how you think about building lasting financial freedom. 💡 FROM LOSING EVERYTHING TO BUILDING REAL WEALTH 📉💰 Patrick's journey starts with one of the most powerful wake-up calls in real estate investing. Before the subprime mortgage collapse of 2008, he signed a personally guaranteed loan on a speculative pre-development deal — and when everything fell apart, he not only lost the investment but was later hit with an income tax bill on the bank's forgiven debt after foreclosure, something most investors never even know is possible. Rather than walking away from real estate forever, Patrick doubled down on his engineering career, earned advanced degrees, and spent years studying exactly how wealthy people protect and grow their money outside of the stock market. What he discovered changed the entire trajectory of his financial life. WHAT DOES RECESSION-RESILIENT REALLY MEAN? 🏡📊 One of the most eye-opening parts of this conversation is Patrick's breakdown of what recession resilience actually looks like in practice. It is not just about asset class — it is about the precise combination of location, asset type, and business strategy working together. Drawing on Federal Reserve housing data, Patrick explains how Houston's three-bedroom, two-bath single-family homes barely moved during the 2008 collapse while other markets spent over fourteen years trying to recover. This kind of rigorous, data-driven thinking is the foundation of how Patrick invests today, and he shares exactly how you can apply that same framework to your own real estate portfolio. WHERE SMART INVESTORS ARE PUTTING MONEY RIGHT NOW 🏭💼 With commercial real estate valuations down 10 to 30 percent nationwide, Patrick sees a generational buying opportunity for investors who are prepared and paying attention. His team is actively acquiring distressed industrial warehouses and small retail strip centers through direct-to-owner outreach — bypassing brokers entirely and going straight to motivated sellers before anyone else gets to the table. At the same time, they are also lending to small-balance commercial operators at elevated interest rates, generating strong income while continuing to identify the right acquisition opportunities in the market. 💰 #RealEstateInvesting #PassiveIncome #FinancialFreedom #RealEstateInvestor #WealthBuilding Want to learn more about our guest? Connect here: https://passiveinvestingmastery.com/ Want to learn more about the REI Club Podcast, how to invest with Gabe at Kaizen, or join our community of active real estate investors on Skool? Visit the podcast website at https://www.therealestateinvestingclub.com or click here: https://linktr.ee/gabepetersen Send a text Join the Online Community here: https://linktr.ee/gabepetersen. Support the show

    40 min
  5. MAR 5

    He Bought 80 Condos During COVID and Here's What Happened

    Join an active community of RE investors here: https://linktr.ee/gabepetersen WELCOME TO THE REAL ESTATE INVESTING CLUB 🏡 Host Gabriel Petersen sits down with Yuval Golan, co-founder of GetWaltz.com, for one of the most globally expansive real estate conversations the show has ever featured. Yuval has invested on multiple continents — from China to Greece to Brooklyn — and built a strategy centered on passive income and long-term financial freedom. Whether you are a seasoned investor or just getting started, this episode delivers real, actionable insights on finding deals, selecting markets, underwriting properties, and using technology to build wealth through real estate. 🌍 HOW ONE INVESTOR SPOTTED A ONCE-IN-A-GENERATION OPPORTUNITY 📈 When COVID-19 hit, most investors froze. Yuval did the opposite. After leaving China in December 2019, he immediately recognized that a global shutdown of construction materials and labor would create a severe housing shortage and a historic buying window. He traveled to seven countries, ultimately buying Brooklyn condos at peak COVID and a hotel in Greece, proving that bold, contrarian real estate investing remains one of the most powerful paths to building long-term passive wealth. 💰 WHAT SMART REAL ESTATE INVESTORS LOOK FOR IN A MARKET 🔍 Yuval shares the exact criteria he uses to evaluate every real estate deal. He targets properties at least 15 to 20 percent below market, seeks high-median-income areas with 70 to 80 percent owner-occupancy, keeps vacancy rates under 10 percent, and sticks to post-1980 construction. He also studies FRED historical appreciation data to avoid markets that have dramatically outpaced national averages and are primed for a correction. This disciplined approach to real estate is precisely what separates those who build generational wealth from those who simply get lucky. 🔑 THE BEST STATES FOR REAL ESTATE INVESTORS RIGHT NOW 🗺️ Yuval is unambiguous about where he puts his money: Florida, Texas, Georgia, and Arizona. These landlord-friendly states protect your investment and give you legal recourse when tenants stop paying. He shares a cautionary story about a publicly traded tenant that used Greece's slow courts to avoid leaving his hotel property, causing major financial damage and reminding every real estate investor that understanding local landlord rights before closing a deal is not optional — it is essential to protecting your cash flow and your returns. 🚫 HOW AI IS REVOLUTIONIZING REAL ESTATE INVESTING 🤖 Yuval founded Waltz, a fintech platform that works like the Amazon checkout experience for real estate investment. Waltz uses AI agents to handle identity verification, LLC formation, business banking, insurance, and mortgage financing all in one streamlined workflow, closing deals in as few as 14 days at competitive lending rates. For any investor who has watched a deal fall apart because of paperwork delays, GetWaltz.com is exactly the innovation that makes scaling a real estate portfolio faster and far less painful. 🏦 #RealEstateInvesting #PassiveIncome #FinancialFreedom #RealEstateInvestor #WealthBuilding Want to learn more about our guest? Connect here: https://www.getwaltz.com/ Want to learn more about the REI Club Podcast, how to invest with Gabe at Kaizen, or join our community of active real estate investors on Skool? Visit the podcast website at https://www.therealestateinvestingclub.com or click here: https://linktr.ee/gabepetersen Send a text Join the Online Community here: https://linktr.ee/gabepetersen. Support the show

    29 min
  6. MAR 3

    The Asset Class Most Investors Ignore (And Regret It)

    Join an active community of RE investors here: https://linktr.ee/gabepetersen  ABOUT THIS EPISODE  In this episode of The Real Estate Investing Club, I sit down with Stewart Heath, CPA and founder of Harvard Grace Capital in Tennessee. Stewart spent decades building his real estate investing career — from a 200-door residential portfolio to a focused commercial strategy along the I-65 corridor between Nashville and Birmingham. 🏢 Whether you are new to investing or a seasoned pro exploring commercial real estate, syndications, or regional market focus, this episode is packed with insights to accelerate your path to financial freedom.  THE COMMERCIAL REAL ESTATE PIVOT 💼  Stewart spent years managing 200 residential units before making a full pivot to commercial real estate investing. He breaks down exactly why dealing with business tenants rather than residential renters changed everything for him as an investor. 💡 He also shares a powerful warning about vertical integration — owning your property management company, construction firm, and investing business all at once — and why dividing your focus too many ways almost always means no single part of the business grows the way it needs to.  WHY MEDICAL OFFICE IS THE HIDDEN GEM 🏥  Stewart's favorite commercial real estate asset class is medical office, and this episode shows exactly why smart investors are paying attention. Medical tenants sign 10-year leases and personally fund expensive build-outs, making them extraordinarily sticky. 📈 Triple net lease structures and tenants who rarely push back on rent per square foot create predictable, inflation-adjusted income streams. Stewart recently acquired a Birmingham medical office building at nearly a 9% cap rate with financing at just over 6%, generating powerful positive leverage and exceptional cash-on-cash returns for his investors.  THE POWER OF REGIONAL INVESTING 🗺️  Harvard Grace Capital invests exclusively along the I-65 corridor from Nashville to Birmingham, and Stewart makes a compelling case for why geographic focus is one of the most underrated competitive edges in real estate investing today. 🎯 Going deep on a region you know means stronger broker relationships, better deal flow, and hands-on asset management that remote investors simply cannot replicate. If you have ever wondered whether to specialize by asset class or by location, this conversation will give you a fresh and convincing perspective.  #RealEstateInvesting #CommercialRealEstate #MedicalOffice #PassiveIncome #RealEstateSyndication  Want to learn more about our guest? Connect here: https://harvardgracecapital.com/  Want to learn more about the REI Club Podcast, how to invest with Gabe at Kaizen, or join our community of active real estate investors on Skool? Visit the podcast website at https://www.therealestateinvestingclub.com or click here: https://linktr.ee/gabepetersen Send a text Join the Online Community here: https://linktr.ee/gabepetersen. Support the show

    37 min
  7. FEB 26

    The Multifamily Wealth Blueprint Nobody Tells You About

    Join an active community of RE investors here: https://linktr.ee/gabepetersen 🏠 WHAT THIS EPISODE IS ALL ABOUT In this episode of The Real Estate Investing Club, host Gabriel Petersen sits down with Ashley Garner of ABG Multifamily — a multifamily syndicator with over 40 years of hands-on real estate experience. Ashley's journey started not in a classroom, but with a hammer helping his father subdivide houses near West Virginia University in the mid-1980s. That ground-level foundation shaped a career built on discipline, conservative underwriting, and long-term wealth creation — not acquisition fees. If you are serious about multifamily investing and real estate syndication, this is a must-watch. 🔑 💡 FROM SINGLE-FAMILY TO 196-UNIT MULTIFAMILY DEALS Ashley walks through the full arc of his investing career — from a first single-family home, to duplexes, to a 10-unit property he still owns today, all the way up to a 196-unit apartment complex closed just eleven months ago. He shares his take on the age-old debate: should new investors start small and scale, or go big right away? His answer is grounded in decades of experience. The key insight? If you want to skip the ladder and jump straight into large multifamily deals, you need a mentor who has already done it. The shortcut exists — but only through the right relationship. 📊 CONSERVATIVE UNDERWRITING IN A WORLD OF OVERPAYING SYNDICATORS What separates wealth-building syndicators from fee-chasers? Ashley explains that ABG Multifamily underwrites every deal as a true long-term investor. He has watched deals close at prices he could never justify, and rather than chasing volume, he sticks to his criteria. His team targets 200-unit-plus properties exclusively in North Carolina — a market he believes holds more strong multifamily investment opportunities than they could ever exhaust. This disciplined, geography-focused approach is a masterclass in focus and execution. 🎯 🤝 BUILDING A LEAN TEAM & KEEPING INVESTORS IN THE LOOP Ashley breaks down how a lean team — an analytical partner, a dedicated CPA, a third-party property manager, and a marketing firm — can run a sophisticated multifamily syndication with weekly video meetings across each group. Quarterly Zoom calls with LP investors keep communication transparent in both good times and rough patches. For anyone raising capital for real estate, this section is essential. Consistent, face-to-face communication is what keeps trust strong and capital flowing back into future deals. 💼 🤖 AI, INFINITE RETURNS & THE POWER OF THE CASH-OUT REFI Ashley shares how his team uses AI tools like ChatGPT and Perplexity for forensic bank statement analysis, marketing strategy, and tenant demographic research. He also dives into one of real estate's most powerful and underrated wealth strategies: the cash-out refinance. His 10-unit property, purchased in 2013, has been refinanced three times and now generates returns on essentially zero invested capital — the true definition of infinite return and passive income. This is how multi-generational real estate wealth is built. 🚀 Whether you are a first-time investor, a growing syndicator, or a passive LP, this episode delivers real, actionable insight on multifamily investing, apartment syndication, conservative underwriting, team building, and using AI to operate smarter. Subscribe, leave a comment, and share your biggest takeaway! 👇 #MultifamilyInvesting #RealEstateSyndication #PassiveIncome #ApartmentInvesting #RealEstateInvestingClub Want to learn more about our guest? Connect here: www.abgmultifamily.c Send a text Join the Online Community here: https://linktr.ee/gabepetersen. Support the show

    33 min
  8. FEB 24

    The Secret Rental Strategy That Doubles Your Income

    Join an active community of RE investors here: https://linktr.ee/gabepetersen 🏠 The Secret Rental Strategy That Doubles Your Income WHAT IS A FULLY FURNISHED MIDTERM RENTAL? If you've been searching for a smarter real estate investing strategy with higher income and less operational headache than Airbnb, this episode is for you. Host Gabriel Petersen sits down with Angela Healy, CEO of Avenue West — a corporate housing company operating since 1999 — to unpack the world of fully furnished midterm rentals, a powerful and widely overlooked niche in real estate investing. Unlike long-term rentals where tenants supply their own furniture, or short-term vacation rentals where guests rotate every few days, midterm rentals sit in the sweet spot between the two. 🏡 Fully furnished and move-in ready — internet, streaming, linens, all included — these units are leased to corporations housing relocating employees for an average of about 99 days. That means roughly four tenant turns per year, far fewer headaches than a vacation rental, and significantly higher rent than an unfurnished unit. HOW MUCH MORE MONEY CAN YOU MAKE? The numbers are compelling. In Denver, a one-bedroom condo renting unfurnished for $1,800 to $2,000 per month can command $3,500 to $4,000 per month as a corporate rental. 💰 That is nearly double the income from the same property. Furnishing costs run about $10,000 for a one-bedroom and around $20,000 for a three-bedroom. When you factor in the premium corporations pay for quality housing, that initial capex gets recouped quickly. FINDING THE RIGHT MARKET AND PROPERTY TYPE Ideal markets have a diverse mix of corporate employers across tech, healthcare, oil and gas, and manufacturing. Denver is highlighted as a proven midterm rental market, while Abilene, Texas is emerging as a hotspot due to a manufacturing investment boom. 📍 About 70% of midterm rentals are one-bedroom condos or apartments, but single-family homes also work well for executives relocating with families. Prioritize Class A properties with doormen, fitness centers, pools, and controlled access — the amenities corporations expect when paying top dollar. HOW TO FIND CORPORATE TENANTS This strategy requires a different approach than listing on Zillow. Angela's team at Avenue West has dedicated staff managing corporate relationships and bidding on RFPs from large employers. 🤝 For individual investors, platforms like Furnished Finders and CorporateHousingByOwner.com are excellent starting points to attract corporate and traveling professional tenants. Partnering with an established corporate housing company unlocks Fortune 500 clients, and even after paying a management commission, most investors net more than going it alone. MARKET TRENDS AND THE FUTURE OF CORPORATE HOUSING A major trend fueling demand right now is the return of U.S. manufacturing, creating surging corporate housing needs in smaller cities. 🏭 Healthcare also remains a consistent driver of midterm rental demand across virtually every market. Angela frames this strategy as a portfolio diversification tool — if you have a condo underperforming as a long-term rental, converting it to a midterm furnished rental could unlock its highest and best use. LESSONS LEARNED AND AI TOOLS FOR INVESTORS Angela's biggest investing lesson: be adaptable. When a deal goes sideways, the winners pivot rather than freeze. 💡 Her advice to new investors — trust your gut and get started today. She also recommends FYXER, an AI email management tool that prioritizes your inbox and drafts replies in your own voice — a game-changer for any active real estate Send a text Join the Online Community here: https://linktr.ee/gabepetersen. Support the show

    28 min
4.9
out of 5
95 Ratings

About

Real estate pros share their stories on how they got started investing in real estate and then grew from their first deal to a portfolio of cash-flowing properties. In each episode you'll learn the strategies our guests used to create generational wealth for themselves and their families, and the steps you can take to do the same in your own back yard. Our goal at The Real Estate Investing Club is to teach you the fastest ways to start and grow your real estate investing career in today's market - from multifamily, to self-storage, to mobile home parks, to mix-use industrial, you'll hear it all! Our guests share their career peaks and valleys and the best advice, greatest stories, and favorite tips they learned along the way. Want to create wealth for yourself using the vehicle of real estate? Getting mentorship is the fastest way to success. Get an REI mentor and check out our REI course at https://www.therealestateinvestingclub.com.

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