The Pete Podcast

Jon Nolen
  • 5.0 (7)
  • Investing
  • Updated Weekly

Join us on The Pete Podcast as we discuss the latest in REI tech, trends and collaborations!

  1. 21h ago

    E45: Why Renting By The Room Is An Asset Class And Not A Side Hustle with Clara Arroyave

    This week Jon Nolan sits down with Clara Arroyave of Co-Living Cashflow, the person he trusts most in the co-living space. Clara has spent about ten years in the asset class, founded what was at the time the largest co-living company in the country with $42 million in assets under management, and built the first Slack maintenance bot for her portfolio years before automation like that was common. This conversation covers what co-living actually is as an asset class, how Clara built a free national calculator that prices rent by the room down to the zip code, and the $7,700 vibe coding lesson she learned the hard way before rebuilding it properly. She also walks through the fake deed that nearly cost a client $350,000 and how AI caught it in minutes.   Episode Highlights [1:07] – Clara defines co-living as housing, period, and explains who it actually serves [2:08] – Why renting by the room is a product and an asset class, not a business model [3:07] – A Disney trained operations director and the first Slack maintenance bot in her portfolio [4:06] – Building the first database of the right price per room by zip code across the United States [5:39] – The vibe coding disaster that burned $7,700 in credits over a single weekend [6:22] – Relaunching after conference feedback and the decision to make the calculator free forever [7:05] – Why she gives it away, an eight million unit shortage and too many deals done blind [9:03] – Red, yellow, and green market scoring plus the push for the Room Act nationwide [13:36] – What investors are missing, the coming consolidation of small proptech companies [14:27] – Where investors are overspending right now and why lead gen advertising keeps getting worse [15:02] – The fake deed that would have cost $350,000 and how convincing the forgery was [17:31] – Where AI makes its next big move, acquisitions analysis and back office operations [19:14] – Why you have to train AI on your own criteria and tell it to challenge your assumptions [20:26] – A Charlotte build to rent portfolio of 300 lots narrowed down to the right two [23:00] – Rapid fire, the platforms she regrets paying for and why the leads were the problem   5 Key Takeaways Co-Living Is A Product, Not A Business Model. Treat it as an asset class layered onto residential property with shared common areas and private bedrooms, not as a separate kind of company you have to become. No Code Has A Ceiling. A landing page is one thing. Something that pulls data, integrates an API, and processes payments is another, and Clara found that out when a weekend of credits cost $7,700 and left her features scrambled. Know Your Demographics Before Your Property. How many people in that zip code earn under $40,000, how many live alone, and what a studio costs there tells you whether the demand exists before you underwrite anything. AI Is Best Used To Catch What You Would Miss. Reading a deed for inconsistencies caught an address mismatch and a bogus registration that saved a client $350,000, and that is a better use of the tool than generating more content. Train It And Then Tell It To Push Back. Off the shelf AI will agree with you. Feed it your best and worst case examples, define your thresholds, and instruct it to challenge every assumption you bring to it.   Closing Remark Clara represents what it looks like to build in a niche you actually care about, giving away the tool that could have been the business because the industry needs better deals more than she needs another revenue line. Between the honesty about what vibe coding cost her and the fake deed she caught with a careful prompt, this episode is a practical look at where AI earns its keep and where it just burns money. If you enjoyed this episode, make sure to rate, follow, share, and review The PETE Podcast so more investors can learn how to build smarter real estate businesses.

  2. Jul 31

    E44: How a 20-Year-Old Investor Does 700 Outbound Touches a Week Solo with Elias Harris

    In this episode of The PETE Podcast, host Jon Nolen sits down with Elias Harris, a 20-year-old investor out of Dayton, Ohio who has already built a portfolio of rentals and closed wholesale and seller-finance deals as a one-person operation. Elias isn't a tech guy by trade, but he's leaned hard into automation to punch far above his weight. They get into how Elias went from running zero systems to automating nearly every stage of his pipeline inside PETE, hitting 700 outbound texts and calls in a single week solo. Elias shares his take on where AI is headed for wholesalers, why he switched from phone closes to in-person appointments, and how the lessons he learned in sales carry into youth ministry and the rest of his life. This one's for newer investors who want to scale with technology instead of headcount.   Timeline Summary [0:00] – Jon introduces Elias Harris, a 20-year-old investor from Dayton doing wholesale, owner finance, and rentals [0:50] – Elias shares his origin story, from a Christian summer camp at 16 to a calling toward ministry and business [2:18] – Landing his first wholesale deal at 18 and building his foundation reading Never Split the Difference [2:43] – How Elias got connected to PETE and started learning the CRM from scratch [3:36] – The numbers so far: 12 rentals and a couple of wholesales in about 18 months [4:15] – Walking through his tech stack and the two months he ran with no workflows or systems [4:53] – Discovering long-term follow-up automation and calling it life-changing [5:17] – Running a follow-up AI agent, a front desk agent, and a workflow on nearly every status [6:20] – The quantitative jump: 700 outbound texts and calls in his highest week, solo [7:13] – Using technology instead of staff to free up time and keep overhead low [8:05] – Mid-roll: the Lead to Close Health Check assessment [8:51] – The Steve Trang appointment strategy that threw Elias off when he dropped his phone script [10:07] – Weighing phone closes versus in-person appointments and the rapport tradeoff [11:11] – How PETE replaced printing and emailing contracts with one-click e-signatures [12:39] – Where tech still falls short for Elias and his wish for a simpler CRM interface [13:39] – His prediction that elite wholesalers will separate from the pack by going all-in on AI [14:54] – What Elias says to investors who are nervous or dead-set against AI talking to sellers [16:19] – Why an AI agent never takes a sick day and where world models could take things next [17:00] – How the sales lessons Elias learned carry into youth ministry and the rest of life [18:48] – Rapid fire: tech tips, the one tool he can't live without, and a bandit sign regret [22:47] – Where to find Elias and the seller-finance deal on the house he and his fiancée will live in   5 Key Takeaways Automation Lets One Person Scale — Running solo with a follow-up agent, a front desk agent, and workflows on nearly every status, Elias hit 700 outbound texts and calls in a single week. Automation handled the repetition so he could focus on live seller calls. Tech Aids Action, It Doesn't Replace It — Elias is clear that automation only works if you know how to run the system underneath it. You still have to audit it, understand your statuses, and put in the reps talking to sellers. AI Will Separate Elite Investors From The Rest — His prediction is that the wholesalers who shove AI into everything will pull far ahead. He frames AI not as a way to treat sellers like numbers but as a tool to help more people solve real problems. In-Person Appointments Build Deeper Rapport — Phone closes are easier and let you reach more sellers, but Elias sees in-person appointments as the less risky long game once you have the experience and the script down. Good Sales Is Diagnosing Pain, Not Convincing — Elias reframes selling as pulling out the need a person already has rather than pushing them. It's the same approach whether he's talking to a motivated seller or a student in youth group.   Links & Resources The Lead to Close Health Check (free 6-minute assessment): https://peterei.com Never Split the Difference by Chris Voss: https://www.blackswanltd.com/never-split-the-difference Elias Harris on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/elias_harris24 Elias Harris on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com   Enjoyed This Episode? If Elias doing 700 outbound touches a week as a solo operator got your attention, this one is worth a share with any newer investor who thinks they need to hire before they can scale. Follow The PETE Podcast, leave a rating, and drop a quick review so more investors building with technology can find the show.

  3. Jul 24

    E43: The AI Tech Stack Running a 2200 Unit Property Management Company with Tyler Casey

    Tyler Casey bought his first fixer upper at 18, held 48 doors and a couple dozen flips by 24, and went on to build a 500 unit property management company in Pittsburg, Kansas. Today he's the CEO of PropEx Property Management, running over 2,200 units across six markets in Kansas, Missouri, Arkansas, and Florida. Jon and Tyler break down the full PropEx tech stack, from AppFolio and Tenant Turner to Haven AI voice agents and a custom speed to lease system built on GoHighLevel, Retell AI, n8n, and the Claude API, plus the AI prospecting tool that bombed and the all in one platform Tyler is building to replace everything. If you're a real estate investor or property manager trying to figure out which prop tech tools are worth the subscription, this episode is your shortcut.   Timeline Summary [0:44] – Jon welcomes Tyler Casey, CEO of PropEx Property Management, managing over 2,200 units across six markets [1:09] – Tyler's start at 18: buying fixer uppers in Pittsburg, Kansas while attending Pittsburg State [2:26] – 48 doors and a couple dozen flips by age 24, buying 2008 foreclosures for under $10,000 [4:03] – The transition underway: three years building a custom all in one property management platform [5:20] – Why piecing together prop tech means subscription sprawl, messy dashboards, and 100 options per problem [7:02] – AppFolio, Tenant Turner, and Logitout explained: PMS, 24/7 self showings, and key tracking at scale [9:33] – Haven AI voice agent handles tenant leasing and maintenance calls, work order intake, and vendor assignment [11:46] – The custom speed to lease agent built with Fireflies, Retell AI, GoHighLevel, n8n, and the Claude API [13:10] – Jon on why Pete exists: mismatched KPIs and systems that quietly stop talking to each other [15:33] – The tool that bombed: a voice AI prospecting agent Tyler killed after 3 to 4 months [17:31] – Slowing down idea implementation and testing before anything goes live [19:37] – Why Tyler walks away from any platform that demands a two year contract [20:21] – Measuring tech ROI with KPIs: occupancy, turn times, delinquency, CAC, LTV, and ROAS [22:08] – The blind spot costing investors billions: not benchmarking asset performance against the market [23:59] – The V2 owner portal showing turn times, days on market, and true market rents versus current rents [27:24] – Rapid fire: when not to build a tech stack, the one tool Tyler can't run without, and the Salesforce regret [36:00] – LivApex today and the vision to automate 50% of operating real estate at scale   5 Key Takeaways All In One Beats Tool Sprawl — Stitched together stacks mean multiple subscriptions, multiple dashboards, and integration upcharges. Both Tyler and Jon built their own platforms because mismatched systems lose leads and money. Test on Your Own Portfolio First — Tyler has run his new software on his own 200 doors, about 10% of the business, for nearly a year before any client sees it. Find the problems at 200 units, not 2,200. Never Sign a Two Year Contract — If a software vendor needs to lock you in long term, they're not planning to earn your business daily. Tyler walks away no matter how good the tech looks. Measure Tech With KPIs, Not Vibes — Every tool should move a trackable number: occupancy, turn times, days on market, cost to acquire, lifetime value, or ROAS. If it doesn't, cut it. Benchmark Assets Against the Market — Clean statements hide underperformance. Deferred maintenance, high turnover, and rents $500 under market leave billions on the table across the industry.   Links & Resources PropEx Property Management — URL unclear in audio, verify before publish LivApex (Tyler's property management software) — https://www.livapex.com (spelling and URL garbled in transcript, verify against audio) Iron Harbor Real Asset Fund — URL unclear in audio, verify before publish Tenant Turner — https://tenantturner.com Logitout — https://www.logitout.com AppFolio — https://www.appfolio.com GoHighLevel — https://www.gohighlevel.com Haven AI (voice AI for property management) Retell AI — https://www.retellai.com Fireflies — https://fireflies.ai n8n — https://n8n.io ShowMojo — https://showmojo.com Peter Lohmann's property management newsletter — via LinkedIn Inman — https://www.inman.com Lead to Close Health Check: https://leadtoclosetest.com/   Enjoyed This Episode? If you've ever wondered whether that voice AI tool pitching you a two year contract is actually ready for showtime, Tyler's story of the prospecting agent that hurt his outreach is worth the listen alone. Share this one with an investor or property manager who's drowning in subscriptions and dashboards. And if you're getting value from the show, follow, rate, and review the Pete Podcast so more investors can find it.

  4. Jul 17

    E42: The Five-Minute Leak Quietly Killing Your Real Estate Deals

    This solo episode of The PETE Podcast tackles the single most expensive and most invisible leak in a real estate investing business: response time. The speaker breaks down why lead volume isn't the real problem for most investors and how the first five minutes after a lead comes in decide whether it ever turns into a deal. Drawing on KPIs and AI agents used inside a real acquisitions operation, this episode shows exactly how to make fast follow-up structurally unavoidable instead of relying on discipline. If you've ever wondered why good leads go cold, this one is for wholesalers, flippers, and investors who want to stop losing deals in the gap between a lead coming in and someone picking up the phone.   Timeline Summary [0:00] – The biggest leak in most investing businesses hides in the first five minutes and stays invisible [0:13] – Why lead volume isn't the problem and most investors actually have a response problem [0:20] – MIT research: wait past five minutes and you're 21 times less likely to ever reach the lead [0:34] – What sellers really do while they wait, and why they move on to the next investor fast [0:55] – The lead didn't go cold because of the market, it went cold because you were too slow [1:14] – How the speaker's real estate business solved response time with KPIs on first response [1:34] – The late-night hole in live phone answering and how an AI agent now qualifies callers [1:51] – Using Front Desk from Discipline to handle new calls and book appointments automatically [2:11] – Responding to web, PPC, and pay-per-lead traffic with AI agents inside 60 seconds [2:36] – The AI debate and using AI as a backup when a human misses the 60-second window [2:54] – Why sellers don't sit and wait for your callback, they fill out the next form on Google [3:20] – What happens when two, three, or four leads hit at once while you're already busy [3:41] – Why discipline isn't the fix and speed has to be made structurally unavoidable [4:05] – Building a rapid-reach backup so a lead gets contacted even if a human doesn't respond   5 Key Takeaways Response Time Beats Lead Volume — More leads won't fix a business that's slow to respond. The real leak is the gap between a lead coming in and someone actually reaching them. The Five-Minute Rule Is Real — MIT research shows waiting past five minutes makes you 21 times less likely to ever connect. Every minute of delay quietly kills the deal. Track First Response Time — You can't fix what you don't measure. Put a KPI on how long it takes your team to talk to anyone who submits a lead. Use AI To Close The Gaps — An AI agent can qualify late-night calls and reach web leads within 60 seconds, covering the holes humans can't. Many sellers never even realize they're talking to AI. Make Speed Structurally Unavoidable — Discipline fails when you're at a wedding or juggling four leads at once. Build a rapid-reach backup so fast follow-up happens no matter what.   Links & Resources The Lead to Close Health Check (free 6-minute assessment) — https://peterei.com Front Desk by Discipline (AI phone agent) — https://peterei.com   Enjoyed This Episode? If the idea that a lead can go 21 times colder in 30 minutes made you rethink your follow-up, this episode is worth passing along. Share it with an acquisitions manager or partner who's still betting on discipline instead of systems. And if it helped, follow The PETE Podcast, leave a rating, and drop a quick review so more investors can plug this leak.

  5. Jul 10

    E41: The 5 SOPs Every Real Estate Investing Business Should Write Down First

    This solo episode of The PETE Podcast breaks down the five standard operating procedures every real estate investor needs to stop deals from slipping through the cracks and scale beyond what one person can hold in their head. The guest lays out a systems-first approach to real estate operations, drawn from lessons learned running acquisitions, valuation, and contractor management. If your business would grind to a halt the moment you stepped away, this is the operational playbook that fixes that. You'll learn exactly how to document lead intake, property valuation, contract-to-close, contractor management, and post-deal review so a new hire can run the process as if they were you. This one's for wholesalers, flippers, and investors who want to turn chaos into a repeatable system that actually scales.   Timeline Summary [0:00] – The five-document test: could your business run for a week if you got hit by a bus tomorrow? [0:15] – Why keeping everything in your head caps your growth and stops you from bringing on a team [0:51] – What breaks when you scale from three to four to ten deals without documented systems [1:04] – SOP #1: Lead intake and qualification, and how the phone gets answered [1:33] – Why speed to lead is everything and how waiting five minutes loses the seller for good [2:15] – Building a system for logging notes so key seller details never get lost [2:39] – Capturing the small details, like a seller's diabetic dog, to build real connection on follow-up [3:19] – Setting clear disqualification criteria so your team stops chasing deadbeat leads [3:46] – Handling retail sellers, realtor referrals, and hybrid agent-investor options in your SOP [4:21] – SOP #2: Property valuation and offer, and why virtual investing needs a consistent process [4:43] – What to actually look at in property photos: structural issues, not trash and junk [5:21] – Nailing down ARV and repair costs so two people don't produce two different values [5:49] – How to build the offer and whether acquisitions agents can move 1% on price [6:15] – Why identifying your dispo method before offering prevents flips that turn into rentals [7:02] – SOP #3: Contract to close, and the communication ball wholesalers drop after signing [7:42] – Managing contractors with a clear scope, a payment schedule, and never prepaying [8:04] – SOP #5: The post-deal review most investors skip and why hospitals and the military do it [9:20] – Where to store SOPs so your team can actually find them and the "what's the SOP say?" rule   5 Key Takeaways Systems Beat Being Indispensable — If your business can't run for a week without you, you don't own a business, you own a job. Five documented SOPs turn what's in your head into a process a team can run. Speed To Lead Wins Deals — Every minute you wait to call a new lead lowers your odds of ever reaching them. Answer fast, ask the right questions in the right order, and log the details before the day ends. Define ARV And Repairs Explicitly — Without written guidelines, two team members will value the same property differently. Lock down how you calculate after repair value and rehab cost so offers stay consistent. Pick Your Dispo Method First — Decide whether a deal is a wholesale, flip, or hold before you make the offer. Skip this and you end up with a rental you thought was a flip and a rehab budget that blows up the numbers. Run A Post-Deal Review — The SOP most investors skip is looking back at what went right and wrong after a deal closes. That feedback loop is how high-level operators refine and stop repeating expensive mistakes.   Links & Resources • The Lead to Close Health Check (free 6-minute assessment) — https://peterei.com   Enjoyed This Episode? If you've ever watched a deal slip through the cracks somewhere between the first call and the closing table, this episode hands you the exact five documents that plug those leaks. Share it with a partner or team member who's still carrying the whole operation in their head. And if it helped, follow The PETE Podcast, drop a rating, and leave a quick review so more investors can find it.

  6. Jul 3

    E40: How Every Real Estate Investor Should Be Using AI with Brandon Cobb

    Brandon Cobb is an accidental entrepreneur who got laid off from a medical device sales job and turned that setback into HBG Capital, a Middle Tennessee land development company that now has 650 to 750 units in various stages of development and sells finished lots to national builders like Lennar and D.R. Horton. He's a licensed general contractor, founder of the Land Development Accelerator, and host of the Recession Resistant Real Estate Radio podcast, and in this conversation he opens up about how he racked up $98,000 in credit card debt and did over 187 transactions before he found his lane. Most of this episode is about something Brandon only started doing in March 2026: building AI agents that have quietly replaced a $90,000 controller, a $40,000 bookkeeper, and an executive assistant inside his business. He breaks down exactly what those agents do, why he thinks every business owner who ignores this will be left behind within a year, and where custom software actually makes sense versus where it's a waste of time. If you're a real estate investor wondering whether AI is hype or a real operational edge, and how to think about land development as the next step past wholesaling and flipping, this one is for you.   Episode Highlights [0:48] – Host introduces Brandon Cobb and how he scaled from flipping and wholesaling into HPG Capital land development [1:31] – Brandon's origin story as an accidental entrepreneur after losing his medical device sales job [3:26] – The hard lesson that nobody protects your financial well-being but you, and the debt he took on early [4:22] – The fire-damaged house that made three times more as a new build and became his lightbulb moment [6:23] – Breaking down the three phases of development: entitlement, horizontal lots, and vertical construction [8:52] – Real timelines per phase, from a 15 to 16 month entitlement deal to homes going up in 6 to 8 months [10:39] – Why development isn't only for the wealthy, and controlling a 30 unit project with $50,000 [13:21] – Brandon reveals the land due diligence AI agent he trained over 30 hours to replace 5 hours of work [17:47] – How he replaced a $90,000 controller, a $40,000 bookkeeper, and an EA with AI agents since March [21:33] – The AI meeting agent that takes notes, tracks everyone's to-dos, and texts reminders automatically [23:11] – Why Brandon says this is the worst these tools will ever be and business owners must act now [25:15] – Thinking of AI as an employee that builds and manages other autonomous sub-agents for your business [26:38] – The truth about rebuilding SaaS with AI, and why the last 20% of custom software is where it breaks [29:56] – Why the software companies that survive will be the ones releasing API keys for AI agents [32:36] – Where to find Brandon, the Land Development Accelerator, and his investor waitlist   5 Key Takeaways Nobody protects your finances but you. Brandon had his whole identity wrapped up in a job he loved until he was let go on a Friday afternoon, and that moment taught him that any career can vanish through a merger, restructuring, or downsizing no matter how much you've invested in it. New construction can beat flipping by multiples. The turning point for Brandon was a fire-damaged house he rebuilt as a new build and made three times the profit he would have made flipping it, which pushed him to move his entire business into development. Development is more accessible than people think. You don't need millions to start, and with around $50,000 and some real estate foundation you can control a 30 unit project, since the city approval process is nearly identical whether the deal is 20 units or 200. AI agents can replace real operational overhead. Brandon spent about 30 hours training a due diligence agent that now does 5 hours of analysis in minutes, and since March he has used AI to replace a $90,000 controller, a $40,000 bookkeeper, and an executive assistant. Treat AI like an employee you train, and start now. Brandon argues these tools are the worst they will ever be, that progress is exponential rather than linear, and that owners who don't learn to build and manage AI agents will struggle to compete within a year. Closing Remark Brandon Cobb represents the kind of operator this show exists to highlight, someone who turned a layoff and $98,000 of debt into a development business selling lots to national builders, and who is now using AI to run it leaner than most companies ten times his size. If his point about the last 20 percent of custom software stuck with you, or the idea that these tools are the dumbest they'll ever be, take that as your nudge to start learning before the curve leaves you behind. If you enjoyed this episode, make sure to rate, follow, share, and review The PETE Podcast so more investors can learn how to build smarter real estate businesses.

  7. Jun 26

    E39: The Private Lending Playbook for Investors Who Want Passive Returns Without the Headaches with Mike Seidl

    Mike Seidl is a true private money lender who keeps roughly $30 million deployed at any given time across his own funds and a small investor community he and his partner Zack have built together. Before landing in private lending, he built and sold two companies: one in the medical alert industry and one in property damage construction, doing 250 to 300 repairs a year. That background in systems, operations, and human behavior turned out to be the perfect foundation for a business where the numbers are the easy part and reading people is everything. In this conversation, Mike and host Jon Nolen go deep on what separates private money from hard money, why a 2% interest rate difference almost never matters as much as speed and relationship, how Mike underwrites deals across 15 states without setting foot in the market, and what his years working with at-risk youth in Massachusetts taught him about judging character before extending capital. If you want to understand how professional private lenders actually think, this is the episode to study. Episode Highlights [0:00] – Mike opens with his philosophy on lending: the numbers are math, but judging character and integrity is the real job [1:02] – Host Jon Nolen introduces the show and welcomes Mike Seidl, a true private money lender with $30 million deployed [1:46] – Mike's background: three companies across decades, from medical alert systems to property damage construction to private lending [2:59] – What pushed Mike toward lending over flipping: a 45-minute call with an economics-minded mentor in early 2020 changed his direction entirely [5:04] – The real difference between hard money and private money: institutional infrastructure vs. relationship-based speed and flexibility [6:36] – The $2 million same-day close: how a 3-year relationship saved a borrower whose LP capital evaporated 24 hours before closing [9:29] – Why a 2% rate difference rarely matters: the math of spending two extra hours chasing a cheaper lender vs. closing another deal [13:04] – How Mike and Zack met through a Facebook group in 2020, connected in Vegas, and eventually merged their operations for mutual trust and more vacation time [15:06] – The investor community side of the business: why most aspiring lenders hear about the 110-point checklist and immediately ask to invest instead [18:41] – Foreclosure reality check: two foreclosures since 2017, and why over-discerning borrower selection is a feature, not a bug [19:45] – How Mike's years working in psychiatric hospitals and with abused youth trained him to read body language and facial expressions in borrower calls [21:53] – Where Mike lends: legal in 39 states, active in 15, and why the borrower always comes before the market [23:02] – The 7-to-8-angle underwriting system for verifying ARVs across unfamiliar markets, including Housing Alerts, PropStream, Redfin, and Google Earth [25:40] – How Mike and Zack automated their underwriting spreadsheet with Manus AI, cutting a two-hour process down to 20 minutes [28:38] – Parting wisdom: Mike sold his first company after starting it with zero industry knowledge, and believes the only real barrier is mindset 5 Key Takeaways The deal is math. The borrower is everything. Numbers either work or they don't, and that part is relatively simple. The hard work is evaluating character, because when things go sideways, the only question that matters is whether that person is going to get up and get it done. Speed and relationship have real dollar value. A lender who costs 2% more but can close in hours on a text message is almost always cheaper than a lender who costs 2% less but runs you through an underwriter, a loan officer, and a supervisor who can each kill the deal. Verify from multiple angles before you trust any ARV. Mike uses at least seven data sources including Housing Alerts, PropStream, RicherValues, Redfin, Google Earth, street-level Google views, and direct calls to local contacts before getting comfortable with a borrower's numbers. Automation should free your team, not replace them. Using Manus AI to handle underwriting data entry and financial statement coding cut hours of work down to minutes, and the assistant who runs it is now more valuable because her capacity opened up for higher-level work. The only ceiling in business is the one you build yourself. Mike started his first company knowing nothing about the industry, figured it out anyway, and sold to a public company ten years later. The information exists. The mentors exist. The question is whether you believe you can figure it out. Closing Remark Mike Seidl built three companies across three decades by staying systems-focused, reading people carefully, and never confusing the complexity of an industry with an actual barrier to entry. If you enjoyed this episode, make sure to rate, follow, share, and review The PETE Podcast so more investors can learn how to build smarter real estate businesses.

  8. Jun 19

    E38: Making Data-Driven Decisions with Boring & Repeatable Processes with Andrew Becker

    What does it look like to build a real estate business that runs without you? This week on The PETE Podcast, host John Nolan sits down with Andrew Becker, a serial entrepreneur and systems architect out of the DMV area who spent seven years working nuclear weapon policy at the Pentagon before pivoting into real estate in 2013. Over an 11-year run leading his investment team, Andrew built a playbook-driven operation across wholesaling, flipping, and retail — and eventually stepped out of day-to-day operations entirely, handing the business to his team while launching new ventures including a PPC agency, a team software platform called Billions, and his current coaching program, Probate Engineers. In this episode, Andrew and John dig into the operational philosophy that made it all possible: systematizing every role through department-specific playbooks stored in Google Workspace, automating multi-step processes down to a single form submission in the CRM, and using KPI data to make decisions without emotion or gut feel. They also unpack probate as a lead source — why Andrew considers it one of the highest-revenue, most consistently available lead sources in any market, and how Probate Engineers teaches investors to build a full probate department inside their operation in just four weeks.   Episode Highlights [0:03] – Opening clip: why one-action CRM automation beats asking your team to remember 11 steps [1:16] – Andrew's background: from nuclear weapons policy at the Pentagon to 11 years running a real estate investment team in the DMV [2:28] – The ventures Andrew has launched alongside and after his real estate team: Billions, Brighter PPC, Team Talks podcast, and Probate Engineers [3:34] – The hardest part of scaling: how to actually let go of operations and put your business in someone else's hands [4:38] – How codified playbooks and SOPs make delegation possible — and what Andrew learned about systems from the U.S. Air Force [5:48] – The moment that changed everything: the first time his phone rang and he didn't have to answer it [7:35] – Where and how Andrew stores playbooks: Google Workspace organized by department, with version control and permission levels built in [9:15] – The 52-week playbook strategy: one new playbook every Saturday morning for a full year [10:54] – How to handle the gray areas: giving team members ownership of playbooks and building in a culture of iteration [13:12] – The CRM automation layer: turning a multi-step appointment process into a single form submission that triggers everything else automatically [16:17] – Introducing Probate Engineers: building a full probate department inside your operation in four weeks [17:46] – Why probate is one of Andrew's 80/20 lead sources — and why it never stops generating new records across 3,100 counties nationwide [19:47] – How to approach probate leads with genuine help first, not just a buy or list offer, and why that separates you from everyone else [21:27] – The Probate Engineers motto: don't compete, separate — be the 1% who specialize in this space [22:53] – Using KPIs at the individual county level to project and predict probate revenue across a full state operation   5 Key Takeaways Systematize before you delegate. The only way to confidently hand off a role is to have it fully documented first — Andrew built playbooks for every department so that anyone stepping into a role has a clear, auditable foundation to work from, not just a verbal rundown from the person who used to do it. Make playbooks living documents, not monuments. Each playbook has a single assigned owner who is responsible for updating it when a better method is found — the goal is always the most efficient, effective version, not the original one. Automate the checklist into the action. If a process requires your team to remember 11 separate things after completing one task, you've already created a data integrity problem. The solution is to collapse all downstream actions into a single CRM trigger so the system does the work, not the person. Probate is a built-in, never-ending lead source. People pass away every single day in every county in America, and most of those estates involve real estate. The investors who take the time to understand the probate process and approach those families with genuine help — not just an offer — are operating in a space with almost no competition. Data-driven decisions require boring, repeatable processes. Andrew's operational philosophy comes down to one thing: if your team is cutting corners or doing things inconsistently, you can't trust your KPIs — and if you can't trust your KPIs, you're making decisions on gut feel. Boring consistency is what makes the math work.   Closing Remark Andrew Becker represents what's possible when a real estate operator commits fully to systems, data, and the discipline to do things the same way every single time. Whether you're trying to step out of your own operations or add a reliable new lead source, this episode has something you can implement this week. If you enjoyed this episode, make sure to rate, follow, share, and review The PETE Podcast so more investors can learn how to build smarter real estate businesses.

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Join us on The Pete Podcast as we discuss the latest in REI tech, trends and collaborations!

Information

  • Creator
    Jon Nolen
  • Years Active
    2025 - 2026
  • Episodes
    45
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © 2025
  • Show Website
    The Pete Podcast