Carson's Corner: Entrepreneurship & Investing

Aug 27

Getting Paid to Be Patient: Whitney Elkins-Hutten on Debt Funds, the Capital Stack, and Protecting Your Compounding Curve

Send us Fan Mail Whitney Elkins-Hutten is the Director of Investor Education at PassiveInvesting.com and the author of Money for Tomorrow: How to Build and Protect Generational Wealth (BiggerPockets). She's done 40+ fix-and-flip projects herself, and today she helps investors diversify across the capital stack instead of stacking all their chips on equity. In this episode of Carson's Corner, Whitney breaks down why her firm launched a real estate debt fund in 2020, why short-duration single-family fix-and-flip loans carry a different risk profile than long-dated commercial bridge debt, and the two risk factors she wants every private credit investor to understand first: loan duration and asset valuation. She also explains why separating the capital-raising team from the origination team creates the check-and-balance most investors never think to ask about — and why the debt funds in trouble right now almost always shared the same two flaws. Carson and Whitney get into hard money pricing (why a borrower happily pays 13.75% when banks are at 6%), how fix-and-flip lenders close in ten days or less, the truth about MCA and short-term business loans dressed up as "helping small business," and the four stages of building generational wealth most people skip. They close on what's ahead: whether a real wave of multifamily foreclosures is coming, why being a year late beats being six months early, protecting your compounding curve, and how to think about diversification with the AI trade running hot. Whether you're a passive investor sitting on idle capital or an operator waiting for the right entry point, this one is about getting paid to stay patient. Connect with Whitney: passiveinvestingwithwhitney.com (book a one-on-one), ashwealth.com for coaching. For fix-and-flip lending: rehabwallet.com (Southeast) or https://consistentcapital.com (nationwide). Support the show For business or property evaluations you can reach me at 615-212-5524 Or Carson@passive.investments Connect with me: https://www.linkedin.com/in/carsonjones/ Other Episodes: https://carsonscorner.media/ https://passive.investments/podcast/ Watch all episodes with no commercials on Vimeo here: https://vimeo.com/showcase/12248178 https://rumble.com/c/Carsonscorner Disclaimer: This podcast is for informational and educational purposes only and should not be considered professional advice. Always consult your attorney, CPA, or financial advisor before making any financial decisions. All investments and property ownership carry risk, including the potential loss of principal.

Aug 25

Real Estate Insurance, Syndicated: How Owners Can Get 30% Back with Nicolas Lares

Send us Fan Mail Most real estate owners treat insurance like a tax — money you light on fire every year and hope you never need. Nicolas "Nico" Lares built a company that hands it back. In this episode of Carson's Corner, Nico breaks down the model behind Insur3Tech: "real estate insurance, syndicated." Instead of paying premiums to a carrier whose shareholders are somebody else, owners join a group cell captive where the customers are the shareholders. Whatever's left after claims and expenses gets distributed back pro rata — the same structure as an LP syndication, except the asset is an insurance company. He's reporting a roughly 20% average decrease in insurance costs, over a million doors insured, and a projected ~32% return to members this year. Carson and Nico get into the mechanics most owners never see: why there's no minimum premium to join a group cell, why the sweet spot is $10–20M TIV per property instead of trophy high-rises, how reinsurance means a bad year costs members nothing extra, and how insurance companies actually make money — underwriting spread plus float. Nico also explains how he learned this world building a captive for Amazon's logistics network when traditional carriers walked away, and how the same playbook now runs across multifamily, self-storage, industrial, IOS, retail, triple net, and single-family rentals — including resident renters policies and tenant GL written into the lease. They also cover the part that makes the model work: incentives. When your profit distribution depends on the group's claims, you stop filing nuisance claims and you only refer operators you'd trust with your own money. It's why Insur3Tech doesn't buy stadium naming rights — and why the referrals it gets are better than the leads it would. Whether you own five units or five thousand, if insurance is eating your NOI, this one's worth the 40 minutes. Connect with Nico: insur3tech.com (that's "insure tech" — I-N-S-U-R, the number 3, T-E-C-H), nicolas@insur3tech.com, or find him on LinkedIn. Schedule a call or submit your portfolio details right on the site — quotes typically turn around in 48 hours to a few days. Support the show For business or property evaluations you can reach me at 615-212-5524 Or Carson@passive.investments Connect with me: https://www.linkedin.com/in/carsonjones/ Other Episodes: https://carsonscorner.media/ https://passive.investments/podcast/ Watch all episodes with no commercials on Vimeo here: https://vimeo.com/showcase/12248178 https://rumble.com/c/Carsonscorner Disclaimer: This podcast is for informational and educational purposes only and should not be considered professional advice. Always consult your attorney, CPA, or financial advisor before making any financial decisions. All investments and property ownership carry risk, including the potential loss of principal.

Aug 17

Mobile Home Parks, Self-Storage & Sale-Leasebacks: Why Mark Khuri Passes on 98% of Deals

Send us Fan Mail In this episode of Carson's Corner, Carson sits down with Mark Khuri, co-founder of SMK Capital Management, a private equity firm invested across 32 states in mobile home parks, self-storage, industrial, and multifamily. With 21+ years of real estate investing experience, Mark breaks down how his team reviews two to three deals every single day — roughly 700 a year — and invests in only the top 1-2%. Mark explains why secondary and tertiary markets beat the big metros for cash flow right now, why he avoids the coasts and ultra-cheap housing markets, and the "delta" rule he uses to make sure his affordable housing communities stay the low-cost provider in town. He also pulls back the curtain on how AI and dynamic pricing are transforming self-storage operations, why triple-net industrial sale-leasebacks with 20-25 year escalating leases are one of his favorite inflation hedges, and how his operating partner landed a portfolio at a 28% discount to appraised value after cold calling the same family for 20 years. Plus: Mark's biggest early mistake — a "printing money on paper" Cleveland fourplex that turned into a war-zone nightmare — and the lesson every investor should take from it: if the cash flow looks too good to be true, it probably is. Topics covered: mobile home park investing, self-storage automation and dynamic pricing, triple-net industrial sale-leasebacks, secondary and tertiary market selection, supply risk in overbuilt metros like Nashville and Texas, direct-to-seller deal sourcing, and passive investing for accredited investors. Connect with Mark: smkcap.com | Find him on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/mark-khuri/ Support the show For business or property evaluations you can reach me at 615-212-5524 Or Carson@passive.investments Connect with me: https://www.linkedin.com/in/carsonjones/ Other Episodes: https://carsonscorner.media/ https://passive.investments/podcast/ Watch all episodes with no commercials on Vimeo here: https://vimeo.com/showcase/12248178 https://rumble.com/c/Carsonscorner Disclaimer: This podcast is for informational and educational purposes only and should not be considered professional advice. Always consult your attorney, CPA, or financial advisor before making any financial decisions. All investments and property ownership carry risk, including the potential loss of principal.

Jul 31

4X'd Revenue in 2 Years, Came Home to an Empty House — Then Won It All Back | Tim Elizer

Send us Fan Mail Tim Elizer started sweeping floors at a 1,500 sq ft sign shop at 16 years old. Today he owns that company — Magnitude — and has done over $30 million in business, wrapping national vehicle fleets and handling signage for 30,000+ multifamily doors across 20 states. But the road there nearly cost him everything. In this episode, Tim opens up about getting rejected by 11 banks before finding financing to buy the business, growing 400% in his first two years as an owner, and the chaos that came with it — cash flow crunches, bad accounting data, COVID hitting two months after tripling his building, and the moment he came home to a big, beautiful, empty house. He shares how he earned his wife's heart back, rebuilt his family stronger than ever, and restructured his company around culture, EOS, and a team empowered to run the numbers without him. We also get into why he niched down from "everybody's a client" to just two verticals (multifamily signage and fleet wraps), why he hires talented creatives over industry experience, how his team interviews and effectively hires their own coworkers, ADA-compliant signage most apartment owners don't know they need, and his move from LP apartment investing into funding businesses through alternative lending. Tim's book, Signs of Success, covers the whole journey — the wins, the losses, and the comeback. Connect with Tim: Magnitude: wearemai.com Book: TimElizer.com LinkedIn: Tim Elizer Support the show For business or property evaluations you can reach me at 615-212-5524 Or Carson@passive.investments Connect with me: https://www.linkedin.com/in/carsonjones/ Other Episodes: https://carsonscorner.media/ https://passive.investments/podcast/ Watch all episodes with no commercials on Vimeo here: https://vimeo.com/showcase/12248178 https://rumble.com/c/Carsonscorner Disclaimer: This podcast is for informational and educational purposes only and should not be considered professional advice. Always consult your attorney, CPA, or financial advisor before making any financial decisions. All investments and property ownership carry risk, including the potential loss of principal.

Jul 30

Mobile Home Parks, Apartments, Oil & Gas — Angel Williams' Playbook for Diversified Investing

Send us Fan Mail What happens when you fire your property management company? Angel Williams learned the hard way: don't poke the bear on their way out the door. In this episode, Carson sits down with fellow Baylor Bear Angel Williams — longtime investor, coach, and co-founder of The Academy Presents — for an unfiltered look at what diversified real estate investing actually looks like behind the scenes. Angel and her husband Jason have built a portfolio spanning single-family rentals, multifamily syndications, mobile home park development, and oil & gas — and she's candid about the wins and the losers on both sides. In this episode: Switching property management companies — what can go wrong and why you shouldn't burn the bridge until you have your recordsSelf-managing vs. third-party PMCs, and why lenders often require an arms-length managerWhy "we're scaling fast" is a red flag in any operator or PMCDeveloping a resident-owned mobile home community in Waco's best school district — affordable homeownership as an investment thesisClass A concessions crushing B/C multifamily, LIHTC (low-income housing tax credits), and where the multifamily market goes from hereOil & gas investing: mineral rights vs. syndications, why producing fields still miss, and the real operating costs nobody talks aboutWhy going wide across asset classes beats going deep right now — and why Angel will never sell her single-family portfolioThe marketing mindset shift from Dan Kennedy's No B.S. Marketing to the Affluent Connect with Angel: Join her free community at theacademypresents.com (virtual meetups every Monday and Friday) or find Angel Williams on LinkedIn. Support the show For business or property evaluations you can reach me at 615-212-5524 Or Carson@passive.investments Connect with me: https://www.linkedin.com/in/carsonjones/ Other Episodes: https://carsonscorner.media/ https://passive.investments/podcast/ Watch all episodes with no commercials on Vimeo here: https://vimeo.com/showcase/12248178 https://rumble.com/c/Carsonscorner Disclaimer: This podcast is for informational and educational purposes only and should not be considered professional advice. Always consult your attorney, CPA, or financial advisor before making any financial decisions. All investments and property ownership carry risk, including the potential loss of principal.

Jul 17

Inside the Deal Makers Roundup: Why Relationships Beat Hard Pitches — Plus Opportunity Zones & Cost Segregation

Send us Fan Mail The Deal Makers Roundup is headed to Knoxville, Tennessee! Join us September 10th at The Vault — a stunning repurposed bank vault in downtown Knoxville — for an evening of authentic networking with investors, business owners, developers, and property owners. Request your invitation at https://dealmaker.events In this episode, Carson Jones sits down with co-host Adrian Del Rio (PCG Commercial),Eddie Austin (JE Capital) and John Vachon (Covalent OZ) to recap their event in Murfreesboro and preview what's coming to Knoxville. The theme of these events is simple: no hard pitches, no timeshare-style traps — just real conversations between entrepreneurs, deal makers, and investors who want to build relationships that lead to deals. They also dive into the strategies they'll be unpacking in Knoxville, including starting and operating businesses in Opportunity Zones, cost segregation studies with 100% bonus depreciation back, self-directed IRAs with sponsor Madison Trust, 1031 exchanges, and deferred sales trusts. Adrian shares a candid story about the six-figure tax mistake he made by skipping a cost segregation — and why he'll never let it happen again. Knoxville is one of the fastest-growing markets in the Southeast, and this event is an easy drive from Nashville, Atlanta, Asheville, the Carolinas, Kentucky, and Cincinnati. A group hotel rate is available at the Hyatt across the street — details on the website. Request your invitation now at https://dealmaker.events Connect with the hosts: Eddie Austin — eddie@jecapitalinv.com | Adrian Del Rio — adelrio@pcgcommercial.com or LinkedIn | John Vachon — john@covalentoz.com A special thank you to our sponsors, Madison Trust https://www.madisontrust.com, Eaton Construction https://www.eatonprojects.com, and JE Capital & Eddie Austin https://www.jecapitalinv.com Support the show For business or property evaluations you can reach me at 615-212-5524 Or Carson@passive.investments Connect with me: https://www.linkedin.com/in/carsonjones/ Other Episodes: https://carsonscorner.media/ https://passive.investments/podcast/ Watch all episodes with no commercials on Vimeo here: https://vimeo.com/showcase/12248178 https://rumble.com/c/Carsonscorner Disclaimer: This podcast is for informational and educational purposes only and should not be considered professional advice. Always consult your attorney, CPA, or financial advisor before making any financial decisions. All investments and property ownership carry risk, including the potential loss of principal.

Jul 13

No money. No network. No excuses. How Linda Holtz went from immigrant to multifamily millions.

Send us Fan Mail Linda Holtz arrived in the U.S. from France at 22 with no network, no real estate experience, and a door-to-door sales job. Today she syndicates 200+ unit multifamily deals across Texas with her husband through Married 2 Real Estate. In this episode of Carson's Corner, Linda shares how a property management job taught her the operations side most investors never learn, how house hacking a Chicago triplex during COVID became her on-ramp to commercial real estate, and why she and her husband moved to Texas to scale into large multifamily syndications and even a ground-up retail development outside Houston. Carson and Linda dig into what really matters in a deal — why "who's doing the deal with us" now drives 70-80% of their decision, how they vet a property's condition beyond the pretty pictures, why over communicating with passive investors beats surprises every time, and what it takes to build a real estate business with your spouse. They also get into where real estate is headed over the next decade: AI, automation, and why relationships and trust will still win. Whether you're a busy professional looking at your first passive deal or an operator scaling into bigger syndications, this conversation is proof you don't need money, a background, or a network to start — just relentless work and the right partners. Connect with Linda: LinkedIn (Linda Holtz), married2realestate.com, Instagram @M2RETX, or her weekly online networking call, Save the Chat. Support the show For business or property evaluations you can reach me at 615-212-5524 Or Carson@passive.investments Connect with me: https://www.linkedin.com/in/carsonjones/ Other Episodes: https://carsonscorner.media/ https://passive.investments/podcast/ Watch all episodes with no commercials on Vimeo here: https://vimeo.com/showcase/12248178 https://rumble.com/c/Carsonscorner Disclaimer: This podcast is for informational and educational purposes only and should not be considered professional advice. Always consult your attorney, CPA, or financial advisor before making any financial decisions. All investments and property ownership carry risk, including the potential loss of principal.

Jul 7

From Single-Family Doors to Passive Pockets with Paul Shannon - LP, GP & Beyond

Send us Fan Mail Paul Shannon walked away from corporate America in 2019 and built a 200+ unit portfolio through deep value-add deals. Then he did something most operators never do: he stepped back — right at the peak of the 2021 euphoria, when floating-rate bridge debt and 18% IRR projections were everywhere. That unpopular call saved his investors from the wipeouts that followed, and it shaped the perspective behind his new book, Both Sides of the Table, out now on Amazon. In this episode of Carson's Corner, Paul breaks down how he evaluates deals today as founder of InvestWise Collective — why yield on cost matters more than cap rates in value-add underwriting, how he builds margin of safety with multiple exit options, and why he's hunting distressed opportunities directly through lender workout departments. He also shares the story of pulling his fund out of a 14% debt fund when the sponsor denied access to the loan tape — a masterclass in reading red flags and acting on them. Carson and Paul get into the mindset shift every passive investor needs: going from "syndication consumer" to capital allocator. Why the default answer to any pitch deck should be no, how misaligned fees and IRR-driven waterfalls pushed operators to over-promise, what counterparty risk really means as a fund manager, and how diversification across markets, asset classes, and sponsors builds an all-weather real estate portfolio. Whether you're an LP writing your first check or a GP navigating a foggy market, this conversation is about pricing risk honestly — before it prices you. Connect with Paul: investwisecollective.com, LinkedIn (Paul Shannon), his book Both Sides of the Table on Amazon, or the PassivePockets community. Support the show For business or property evaluations you can reach me at 615-212-5524 Or Carson@passive.investments Connect with me: https://www.linkedin.com/in/carsonjones/ Other Episodes: https://carsonscorner.media/ https://passive.investments/podcast/ Watch all episodes with no commercials on Vimeo here: https://vimeo.com/showcase/12248178 https://rumble.com/c/Carsonscorner Disclaimer: This podcast is for informational and educational purposes only and should not be considered professional advice. Always consult your attorney, CPA, or financial advisor before making any financial decisions. All investments and property ownership carry risk, including the potential loss of principal.

Carson's Corner: Entrepreneurship & Investing

Getting Paid to Be Patient: Whitney Elkins-Hutten on Debt Funds, the Capital Stack, and Protecting Your Compounding Curve

Real Estate Insurance, Syndicated: How Owners Can Get 30% Back with Nicolas Lares

Mobile Home Parks, Self-Storage & Sale-Leasebacks: Why Mark Khuri Passes on 98% of Deals

4X'd Revenue in 2 Years, Came Home to an Empty House — Then Won It All Back | Tim Elizer

Mobile Home Parks, Apartments, Oil & Gas — Angel Williams' Playbook for Diversified Investing

Inside the Deal Makers Roundup: Why Relationships Beat Hard Pitches — Plus Opportunity Zones & Cost Segregation

No money. No network. No excuses. How Linda Holtz went from immigrant to multifamily millions.

From Single-Family Doors to Passive Pockets with Paul Shannon - LP, GP & Beyond

About

Information