The Pete Podcast

Jon Nolen
  • 5.0 (6)
  • Investing
  • Updated Weekly

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

  1. 5d ago

    E51: Where AI Actually Fits in a Real Estate Business with Jake Reaves

    Jake Reaves is a Columbus, Mississippi real estate investor and MMA/jiu-jitsu gym owner who grew up swinging hammers on his family's flips and now runs rentals, commercial retail, and a direct-to-seller acquisition business, plus hosts the Big Thinkers Podcast. He built his gym out of a $13,000 year on pattern-interrupt marketing, and he's applying those same hard-won lessons to scaling his real estate operation. This episode is a straight-talk conversation about building a real estate tech stack when you're not a "tech person," why a real system beats a written SOP, and how to make your business "me-proof." If you're an investor trying to fix your follow-up, analyze rentals over the long haul, and figure out where AI actually fits, this one is for you.   Timeline Summary [0:49] – Jake introduces himself: jiu-jitsu gym owner and Mississippi investor who almost turned down a "tech" show [1:43] – His lean stack: Rent Manager for property management, Pete for acquisitions and lead management [2:33] – Building a gym on pattern-interrupt Facebook marketing in a 22,000-person market below the poverty line [4:23] – Why Rent Manager beats per-door pricing for his mix of low-ticket office and single-family doors [5:29] – Analyzing rental data over 5 to 10 years instead of month to month to pick better properties [5:59] – The hidden turnover cost: one move-out every five years can quietly erase $300 a month in cash flow [8:19] – Exiting 4 to 5 underperforming rentals and keeping the exact same net cash flow [10:42] – Know yourself: hire and build systems around what you're bad at so nothing falls through the cracks [11:56] – Why he needed a "me-proof" CRM to fix his follow-up problem without breaking the bank [12:54] – Ten minutes in GoHighLevel before switching to a done-for-you CRM built for investors [14:52] – Systems vs SOPs: without a way to track it, an SOP is just a checklist [16:42] – Jake's backstory: growing up on his dad's flips with no money and grinding a gym for 7 to 8 years [20:59] – Why glorifying the grind is a trap and grinding should be a season, not a lifestyle [22:25] – The gym analogy for habits: consistency beats intensity, straight out of Atomic Habits [26:19] – Where AI fits for him: content, brainstorming, and first-touch seller contact on weekends [38:24] – Rapid fire: why trying AI now is low-risk, plus the $25k mastermind that scammed him   5 Key Takeaways Make Your Business Me-Proof — Build your systems around your weaknesses, not your strengths. Jake picked his CRM specifically to catch the follow-ups his ADHD brain would otherwise drop. A System Beats an SOP — A written procedure you can't measure is just a checklist. A real system lets you trace a broken number back to the exact step that failed. Zoom Out on Rental Data — A property that cash flows on paper can lose money once you factor in turnover. Judge rentals over 5 to 10 years, not month to month. Exit What Underperforms — Jake sold 4 to 5 weak rentals and his net cash flow didn't move. Freeing trapped capital beats holding doors that only look good on gross. Consistency Over Intensity — The grind should be a season, not a badge. Like starting at the gym, small habits repeated for years beat going all-out and burning out by day three.   Links & Resources The Lead-to-Close Health Check (free 6-minute assessment) — https://leadtoclosetest.com Pete (CRM built for real estate investors) — https://peterei.com Rent Manager (property management software) — https://www.rentmanager.com Riverside (recording and editing) — https://riverside.fm Atomic Habits by James Clear — https://jamesclear.com/atomic-habits Investor Fuel (real estate mastermind) — https://investorfuel.com Big Thinkers Podcast on Instagram — https://instagram.com/bigthinkerspodcast Jake Reaves on Facebook (search "Jake Reaves") Big Thinkers Podcast on YouTube, Spotify, and Apple Podcasts   Enjoyed This Episode? If Jake's "me-proof" approach hit home, take an honest look at where your own follow-up is slipping and whether your SOPs are actually systems or just checklists. Share this one with an investor who's still glorifying the 16-hour grind, and if it helped, follow The PETE Podcast and leave a quick rating and review so more investors can find it.

  2. Sep 11

    E50: Acquisition Manager or Transaction Coordinator (Which Comes First)

    The PETE Podcast tackles one of the most expensive mistakes real estate investors make: hiring the wrong seat first out of panic instead of strategy. Told through a real first-hire story (nearly bringing on a salesperson before a last-minute pivot to a back-office role that sent purchase volume climbing), this episode reframes how investors should think about their very first hire. You'll learn the exact question to ask before hiring, why "I need help" is a symptom and not a job description, and the capacity and cash-readiness test that keeps a hire from sinking your payroll. If you're a real estate investor deciding between an acquisition manager and a transaction coordinator, or just trying to figure out when it's finally time to hire, this one is for you.   Timeline Summary [0:00] – Why hiring the wrong seat first is one of the costliest mistakes investors make, and why almost everyone does it [0:11] – "Help is not a job description." How a panic response gets confused for a real role [0:32] – Every hire should solve a specific constraint, with clear tasks, expectations, and a timeline [1:00] – If you can't define what success looks like, you can't expect a new hire to succeed [1:21] – The one question to ask first: what task, if off your plate, would let you make more money? [1:42] – Why the instinct to hire a salesperson first felt obvious, and how his wife talked him out of it [2:21] – The back-office hire that freed him to buy more properties and sent his purchase rate up [2:44] – The two seats investors commonly fill first: acquisition manager and transaction coordinator [3:29] – When a transaction coordinator should be in-house versus using a service like David Olds [3:48] – The capacity and cash-readiness test, and why you should never hire on hopes and dreams [4:09] – Every hire should increase capacity, and the "can I fund 90 days" question people skip [5:16] – The "I can do it all" trap, and the 24-hour lead that proves you already need help [5:58] – Use your documented SOPs to decide which role to hire when two feel equal [6:40] – Define and document the role, training, and expectations before you ever post the job   5 Key Takeaways "Help" Is Not a Job Description — Hiring because you're overwhelmed is a panic response, not a plan. Every hire needs a defined role with specific tasks, expectations, and a timeline, or you're setting them up to fail. Hire Against Your Biggest Constraint — Ask what task, if taken off your plate, would let you make more money. The answer often isn't more salespeople, it's freeing up the person already driving revenue. Back Office Before More Sales — Sometimes the smartest first hire is the one that protects your highest-value activity. Offloading back-office work let him buy more properties and pushed his purchase rate up considerably. Run the 90-Day Cash Test — Don't frame a hire as a $50k-a-year commitment. Confirm the role will actually increase capacity and that you can fund the position for the next 90 days before you commit. Define and Document Before You Post — Have the role, training plan, and 30/60/90-day expectations written down before the job goes live. Investors who scale best hire strategically, not frequently.   Links & Resources The Lead-to-Close Health Check (free 6-minute assessment) — https://leadtoclosetest.com   Enjoyed This Episode? If you've got a lead that's been sitting for 24 hours or you keep telling yourself you can do it all, this episode is your sign to look at the numbers before you make a move. Share it with an investor who's stuck deciding on their first hire, and if the first-hire framework helped, follow The PETE Podcast and leave a quick rating and review so more investors can find it.

  3. Sep 4

    E49: How to Get Your Real Estate Business Recommended by Google's AI and ChatGPT with Trevor Mauch

    In this episode of The PETE Podcast, host Jon Nolen sits down with Trevor Mauch, founder of Carrot, for a deep dive into how AI is reshaping search and what real estate investors need to do to get recommended by Google's AI overviews and ChatGPT. Trevor makes the case that search isn't dying, it's exploding, and the investors who understand the new rules can leapfrog competitors who've held rankings for years. Trevor walks through real case studies, including a 30-year-old roofing company with no website that became the top AI-recommended business in 60 days, and an Ohio investor who closed over $100K in deal profits from ChatGPT leads. He breaks down what AI search actually looks for (hint: brand mentions and trust, not backlinks), how to build a "trusted expert conversion hub" instead of just a website, and the specific content moves that get you mentioned. This one is essential listening for any investor who wants to be found online in the next 12 months. The video version is highly recommended since Trevor shares his screen throughout.   Timeline Summary [0:00] – Cold open: Trevor and Jon on using Whisper Flow and Claude to work faster [0:30] – Jon introduces Trevor Mauch, founder of Carrot, and the topic of AI search [1:03] – Why the same search strategies work across real estate and home services [1:41] – The predicted death of Google that never came, and how searches nearly doubled [2:30] – Google searches went from ~8 billion to ~14 billion a day, with longer queries [2:58] – How AI overviews are moving from the middle to the top of search results [3:44] – The indicator that Google trusts the AI answer, and why links may fade [4:19] – How ads fit in: ChatGPT rolls out ads and why ad revenue isn't going anywhere [6:06] – Why what works for AI search also works for traditional SEO, but not vice versa [7:23] – Why AI search rewards business trust, letting newer websites compete fast [8:01] – Case study: a 30-year-old roofer with no website becomes the top AI recommendation [10:20] – Ranking on page one in 60 days with zero backlinks, and 11 leads in [11:02] – Testing the same business in ChatGPT and landing the number one pick [12:31] – The monthly AI Search Challenge and a free ticket offer for listeners [13:22] – Case study: Ohio investor Dave closes $100K+ in profits from ChatGPT leads [14:30] – Why AI leads are lower volume but much higher quality than Google organic [15:01] – The tracking problem: Google reports AI leads as "search" or "direct" [16:46] – Leads now showing up from ChatGPT, Claude, and even Grok [17:38] – Why Reddit isn't the first move for AI search, despite the hype [18:34] – How building the right tech hub lifts both AI mentions and Google rankings [19:15] – Carrot's internal AI website builder "Cake" and why performance beats pretty [19:33] – Why AI-built sites hit 80% and tank rankings in novice hands [21:20] – How long it takes to recover rankings after a bad website switch [22:14] – The URL structure mistake that forces you to retrain Google from scratch [23:19] – The core mindset shift: within 12 months, AI search is just search [24:21] – What AI systems look for, and why backlinks dropped to the bottom of the list [26:11] – Why ChatGPT weighs Google's index but doesn't look at backlinks at all [26:51] – Brand mentions at the top: news articles, videos, and reviews without a link [27:40] – Understanding "entities" and how AI stitches your business facts together [28:48] – Foundation moves: Chamber of Commerce, BBB, Google Business Profile, Yelp, Facebook [30:09] – Why every profile must match name, phone, and address character for character [30:28] – Structured data and delivering content in an order AI can follow [31:12] – Why generic AI-written content dies, and feeding in specific business proof [32:41] – Using Claude to pull sentiment from Google reviews and prove what you're great at [34:08] – Replacing stock photos with real properties, real projects, and real testimonials [35:09] – Location pages: why swapping the city name no longer works [36:27] – Writing genuinely local content using housing age, weather, and neighborhoods [37:11] – Why AI search rewards FAQs and how they surface in AI overviews [39:00] – How often to refresh a site and why content freshness is a ranking factor [40:03] – Carrot's vision of a "marketer in your pocket" using Search Console and call tracking [41:00] – Capturing new objections, situations, and deals to fill content gaps monthly [43:22] – Rapid fire: keep your first tech stack simple, and start with a paper CRM [44:22] – The one tool he can't live without: Slack, Claude, and Whisper Flow [45:43] – The tool he regrets: getting locked into a CRM that cost $1M+ to stay on [47:17] – Advice on adopting AI, and the four levels from chat to fully autonomous [47:56] – Building your "company brain" so every AI answer is informed about your business [48:55] – Staying current on REI tech through this podcast, Facebook groups, and asking Claude [49:54] – The prompt tip that makes AI output 10x better: tell it to ask you questions first [50:30] – Where to find Trevor and the free monthly Carrot AI Search Challenge   5 Key Takeaways Search Isn't Dying, It's Doubling — Daily Google searches jumped from roughly 8 billion to 14 billion, and queries are getting longer. AI overviews are moving to the top of results, and within a year "AI search" will just be "search." Trust Beats Backlinks Now — AI search ranks brand mentions, reviews, and sentiment at the top and backlinks at the bottom. ChatGPT doesn't look at backlinks at all. A trusted business with a strong Google profile can outrank a five-year SEO veteran in 60 days. Build A Trusted Expert Conversion Hub, Not A Website — Get listed on the Chamber of Commerce, BBB, Google Business Profile, Yelp, and Facebook, with your name, phone, and address matching character for character across all of them. That's 80% of the foundation. Prove It, Don't Just Say It — Generic AI-written content dies in AI search. Feed in specifics: years in business, neighborhoods served, real photos, real testimonials, and location pages genuinely tailored to each market's housing stock and quirks. The Right Tool In Novice Hands Still Fails — AI website builders get you to a pretty 80%, then rankings tank when someone who doesn't know the nuances drives. Trevor watched a site tank in 30 days after a switch made to save $200 a month.   Links & Resources Carrot: https://carrot.com Free Carrot AI Search Challenge: https://carrot.com/challenge Trevor Mauch on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/trevormauch Whisper Flow (voice-to-text tool): https://wisprflow.ai Claude (AI assistant): https://claude.ai   Enjoyed This Episode? If Trevor's breakdown of AI search changed how you think about getting found online, this is one to share with any investor still pouring money into backlinks. Follow The PETE Podcast, leave a rating, and drop a quick review so more investors can get ahead of the curve. And for the full walkthrough, catch the video version on YouTube since Trevor shares his screen throughout.

  4. Aug 28

    E48: From Scattered Docs to One System That Runs Your Deals with Jon & Mark

    Jon Nolen, founder of Pete and a longtime real estate investor, kicks off a new recurring format with Mark, Pete's sales lead, to talk systems, processes, and how operations actually get better. Between them they've run investing teams, mapped lead-to-close processes on four-by-six-foot flow charts, and learned the hard way what happens when your SOPs quietly fall out of date. This episode breaks down how real estate investors build standard operating procedures their team will actually use, why most documentation dies in scattered Google Docs, and how Pete's new Playbooks feature pulls it all into one place. If you've ever lost a deal to follow-up that never happened, or watched three people run the same role three different ways, this one is for you.   Timeline Summary [0:00] – Jon welcomes Mark for the first episode of their new format on systems, processes, and getting better [0:21] – Why "systems and processes" makes most entrepreneurs' eyes glaze over, and why that's a costly mistake [1:03] – How SOPs get built once, go stale, and quietly break as roles drift over the years [2:35] – The real question every investor wrestles with: does your SOP need 5 steps or 25? [3:24] – The time Jon asked his team to document their processes and they all thought they were being fired [4:33] – The four-by-six-foot Lucid flow chart Jon built that nobody but him ever used [5:58] – The first SOP every investor needs: who owns which role, so you don't get too many cooks [6:44] – Building a lead process flow, and why you can never afford to miss a web lead you paid for [7:15] – The follow-up gap after a property goes under contract that quietly costs investors deals [8:21] – "People can take bad news. They can't take no communication." Keeping sellers from walking [9:06] – How a dropped CRM phone number cost Jon a deal worth 10 to 15 thousand dollars [11:00] – The tension between a great SOP and a great team, and which one actually drives results [12:11] – Why Pete built Playbooks and SOPs into the platform instead of scattered Google Docs [13:27] – Version history, edit permissions, and giving your team ownership of their own process [18:05] – The fastest way to create your first SOP: a voice memo and AI, no typing required [19:15] – Why chasing a "perfect" SOP is a trap, and how the 80 percent version beats nothing   5 Key Takeaways SOPs Aren't Just for Big Teams — Even a solo investor or a two-person shop needs documented processes, so when something changes you know exactly what you're changing and you're not reinventing the wheel every day. Ship the 80 Percent Version — A perfect SOP is a myth because processes always change. Get something down at 50 to 80 percent, then tweak it as real situations expose the gaps. Silence Loses Deals — After a property goes under contract, a quick "no update is an update" check-in keeps sellers from drifting to a competitor. People can handle bad news, not being left in the dark. One Source of Truth Beats Scattered Docs — Processes buried across Google Docs, texts, and someone's memory get lost and cost money. Keeping playbooks, forms, and version history in one operating system is what makes them actually get used. Record It, Don't Type It — Most entrepreneurs freeze at the thought of typing an SOP. Talk through the process into a voice memo, then let AI turn it into clean bullet points or a Pete playbook.   Links & Resources Pete, the real estate investor operating system — https://peterei.com Pete on Facebook — https://facebook.com/PeteREI Jon Nolen on Instagram (the flipping it guy) — https://instagram.com/theflippingitguy Pete Users Facebook Group — for current Pete customers, referenced in the episode   Enjoyed This Episode? If you've ever lost a deal to a follow-up that never happened, or watched your team run the same job three different ways, this conversation is your nudge to finally get it documented. Share it with a partner or team member who keeps everything in their head. And if the show is helping you build a tighter operation, follow, rate, and review so more investors can find it.

  5. Aug 21

    E47: The 85% Rule: How to Actually Use AI in Your Investing Business with Bob McIntosh

    In this episode of The PETE Podcast, host Jon Nolen sits down with Bob McIntosh, a Buffalo-based investor who bought his first deal in 2008 and has since built a 31-unit rental portfolio, a marketing agency for real estate investors, and a hard money fund. A former bank-hacking IT security pro, Bob now builds AI systems that hunt down deals for investors while they sleep. Bob breaks down the AI agent stack his team built that pulls listings across your counties every morning, runs comps and photo-based repair estimates, checks them against your buy box, and emails you the day's deals in ranked order. He and Jon get into where AI still falls short, why "grind culture" and vibe-coding are traps that pull investors away from real money, and how the whole game is shifting to speed. This one's for investors who want to use AI as leverage instead of a shiny object, with a Myspace-era detour along the way.   Timeline Summary [0:00] – Jon introduces Bob McIntosh: 20 years in real estate, rentals, a marketing agency, and AI tools [1:25] – Bob's background from hacking banks to flipping houses in Buffalo with his dad [2:01] – His current operation: 31 rentals, a marketing company, and a sub-$150K hard money fund [2:43] – Bob's tech stack: a custom GoHighLevel build, ClickUp, local AI models, and Lovable [4:13] – What Hermes is and how a "harness" lets AI act like an employee executing tasks [4:39] – Using AI for marketing content, research, and SEO, and why he still posts natively [5:24] – The agent stack that finds, comps, and ranks real estate deals automatically every day [6:51] – Why he preaches MLS deals and how 40% of his own deals came from the MLS [7:50] – Getting AI repair estimates to 85% accuracy and where photo-based guesses break down [9:10] – Treating AI like another employee that gets you most of the way, then a human takes over [11:12] – A plain-English breakdown of APIs and the horse-and-harness analogy for Hermes [13:13] – What hasn't worked: AI marketing copy still leans on cliches and stalls around 85% [14:48] – Why AI misses the nuance between residential, commercial, and investor real estate [16:28] – Company world models, why they shine for larger firms, and why most investors lack SOPs [18:13] – The 85% rule: AI copy is a huge multiplier if you couldn't do it well yourself [18:34] – Bob's prediction: AI deal-vetting accuracy tightening to within a few percent by year end [20:28] – Why it's adapt or get left behind, and the false confidence AI can create [21:22] – Where hype outruns reality: old marketing tactics being forced as they get shut down [23:23] – The marketing cycle from direct mail to texting to cold calling to AI and back again [23:46] – Grind culture as a trap and why grinding should be a phase, not the goal [24:25] – The vibe-coding rant: an investor bragging about a workflow that took six man-hours [26:35] – Focus on getting deals, not on becoming a developer, unless that's truly your thing [26:54] – The hidden cost of vibe-coded apps: maintenance, changing APIs, and security [28:16] – Rapid fire: keep your starting tech stack simple and add features over time [29:08] – The one tool he can't run his business without and why Google Workspace is underrated [29:59] – The tool he regrets: roughly ten grand spent on cold email with nothing to show [30:26] – Why adopting AI isn't optional if you don't want to be outpaced on every deal [31:05] – How AI turns real estate into a game of speed and who gets the leftover thin deals [33:02] – Where he stays current: masterminds, local REIAs, younger people, and an AI news agent [35:15] – The Myspace-era throwback and how young people flock to new tech the way we learned HTML [35:39] – Where to find Bob and the AI tools he's building to help investors get more deals   5 Key Takeaways AI Finds The Deals, Humans Close Them — Bob's agent stack pulls listings, runs comps and photo-based repair estimates, checks them against your buy box, and emails ranked deals daily. It gets you ~85% of the way so a human can focus only on the highest-probability deals. AI Is An Employee, Not A Miracle Or A Gimmick — The mistake is thinking AI either does everything or is useless. Treat it like a team member that gets you most of the way for a fraction of the cost, then a person takes it home. The Game Is Becoming Speed — AI won't thin out deals directly, it just makes the people using it faster. If you can call the agent at 8am with comps already in hand and your competitor can't until 9, you've already won the deal. Stop Vibe-Coding, Go Get Deals — Investors burn hours building apps and workflows to brag about, when buying an existing tool and spending those same hours on deals would make far more money. Focus on the thing, and the thing isn't being a developer. Old Marketing Tactics Are On A Timer — Direct mail, texting, and cold calling cycle in and out, and several are being actively shut down by changing rules. When everyone says a channel is working, that's often the signal to move on.   Links & Resources The Lead to Close Health Check (free 6-minute assessment): https://peterei.com Bob McIntosh's contact card: https://dsg.co/3/bobmcintosh Hermes (AI agent harness): https://peterei.com Lovable (AI app builder): https://lovable.dev ClickUp (project management): https://clickup.com Google Workspace: https://workspace.google.com   Enjoyed This Episode? If Bob's take on AI as leverage instead of a shiny object shifted how you think about your next deal, pass this one along to an investor still stuck in grind mode. Follow The PETE Podcast, leave a rating, and drop a quick review so more investors can find the show.

  6. Aug 14

    E46: The Real Estate Investor's Tech Stack (What You Actually Need vs. What's Just Noise)

    In this solo episode, Jon Nolen cuts through the noise around the real estate investor tech stack and lays out the short list of what an operation actually needs. Jon built Pete because his own business had a CRM in one place, a phone system in another, task automation somewhere else, and files scattered across all of it, and he has spent years watching other investors make the same mess in slower motion. This conversation covers the five elements every serious operation needs, the three questions your stack should be able to answer on demand, and the four question audit Jon runs on every subscription once a quarter. He also gets honest about his own history with shiny object syndrome, why AI is the newest and most seductive version of it, and why flexibility without standardization is just chaos with more options.   Episode Highlights [0:14] – Start with the jobs that need doing, then find the tools, never the other way around [0:34] – The five elements every serious investing operation needs from lead to contract [1:19] – Why Pete was built, and what a CRM should function as inside the business [1:46] – The three questions your stack should answer immediately about leads, deals, and follow up [2:09] – The contrarian take on AI as the newest and most convincing shiny object [2:33] – Jon's own history with shiny object syndrome and what it cost in missed opportunity [3:23] – Why a tool built for the industry beats a general platform that needs a consultant [4:08] – The costs nobody prices in, onboarding, training, maintenance, and mental overhead [4:36] – Bringing property management into Pete and why consolidation beats a good standalone tool [5:04] – Eleven platforms in use and only two or three of them actually being used well [6:05] – The silo problem, and what happens to acquisitions notes when Dispo cannot see them [6:43] – The flexibility counterargument, and why it only works after you standardize [7:03] – Why a solo investor and a thirty deal a month operation do not need different stacks [7:58] – The quarterly subscription audit and the four questions to run every tool through [10:06] – Software compounds advantages or complexity, and the goal is right tools, not fewest   5 Key Takeaways Define The Job Before You Shop. Investors go looking at tools first, get pulled sideways by what a platform can do, and end up moving laterally when they meant to move forward. Clarity on the work comes first. Your Stack Should Answer Three Questions On Demand. How many leads came in this week, where are the active deals, and what follow up is overdue. If pulling those takes real effort, that is your signal to change something. The Subscription Price Is The Smallest Cost. Onboarding time, training, maintenance, and the mental overhead of managing another platform all sit underneath the monthly fee, and none of them show up on the invoice. Fragmented Systems Create Silos That Cost Real Money. When acquisitions notes about the roof live somewhere Dispo cannot reach, questions go unanswered or get answered wrong, and you are not going to buy a second license just to fix it. Audit Every Tool Once A Quarter. Does it touch a lead, a deal, or a dollar. Is the team actually using it. Does it integrate cleanly or create copy and paste work. And if you shut it off tomorrow, would anything obvious break.   Closing Remark Jon represents the operator's view of technology rather than the enthusiast's, which is what makes this episode useful. The point is not to run the leanest possible stack, it is to make sure every tool in it has a job and that the jobs connect to each other. If a tool would genuinely help and it does not exist in Pete yet, he says use it, but get past the shiny and confirm the substance first. 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. Aug 7

    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.

  8. 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.

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Information

  • Creator
    Jon Nolen
  • Years Active
    2025 - 2026
  • Episodes
    51
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © 2025
  • Show Website
    The Pete Podcast