Welcome to the Best Ever CRE Show, the world’s longest-running daily COMMERCIAL real estate podcast. Founded by Joe Fairless, a co-founder of Ashcroft Capital who went from buying $35,000 homes to controlling more than $2.7 billion in real estate assets, the Best Ever CRE Show provides commercial real estate expert insights, education, and timely information to our community of active and passive investors who want to build wealth, build a legacy, and do more good in the world.
So if you want the real stories behind the good, the bad, and the worst ever deals — plus, insights into what really goes on in commercial real estate investing — you’re in the right place. Our hosts interview commercial real estate experts every day to uncover secrets and strategies YOU can use to become a better, more informed investor. This is the Best Ever CRE show.
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On this week’s episode of Passive Income Playbook, Pascal Wagner interviews Jon Jasniak. Jon shares how he built a multimillion-dollar land business since 2017, completing over 30 subdivisions and selling more than 10,000 acres, often doubling investor capital in months. He explains why land—though overlooked compared to multifamily and storage—can deliver outsized returns through subdividing and seller financing, while also breaking down misconceptions around cash flow, liquidity, and risk. Jon...
On this week’s episode of Best Ever CRE Show, Ash Patel interviews Clay Hepler. Clay shares his unconventional path from aspiring ambassador and multifamily investor to becoming a full-time land investor, scaling his business to 15–20 deals a month. He explains why land is less competitive than other asset classes, how he uses creative marketing to target different demographics, and how subdividing and entitling land can unlock outsized returns. Clay also reflects on mistakes, including a nightm...
On this week’s episode of Best Ever CRE Show, Matt Faircloth interviews John Edwin. John shares his journey from selling Cutco knives and becoming a top trainer in Philadelphia to building gyms, flipping houses, and eventually achieving financial freedom through real estate investing. He reflects on life lessons learned from wealthy clients, the turning point that pushed him toward passive income, and the resilience it took to pivot after COVID shut down his fitness business. John also discusses...
On this week’s episode of Unlimited Capital, Richard McGirr interviews Jeffrey Holst. Jeffrey shares how his life philosophy of “no bad days” grew from overcoming leukemia and later melanoma, and how reframing adversity has shaped his entrepreneurial journey. He discusses coping mechanisms for setbacks, including evaluating worst-case scenarios, creating empowering personal identities, and leaning into intentionality in both mindset and presentation. The conversation also explores resilience in ...
On this week’s episode of The Horizon, John Chang unpacks how shifting government policies around tariffs, immigration, and a potential shutdown could shape commercial real estate over the next several years. He explains why rolling tariffs are inflationary rather than transitory, how tighter immigration reduces labor supply and pushes wages higher, and why delayed government data complicates the Fed’s rate-cut path. John also maps sector-level ripple effects, from construction and value-add cos...
On this week’s episode of Multifamily Mastery, John Casmon interviews Jack Mullen. Jack shares how his background in banking and his advisory firm, Summer Street Advisors, have positioned him to help both institutional and family office investors navigate due diligence, capital calls, and distressed real estate opportunities. They dive into how LPs should evaluate whether to reinvest in troubled deals, the pitfalls of 1980s vintage multifamily projects, and why execution—not just capital markets...
On this week’s episode of the Best Ever CRE Show, Matt Faircloth interviews Amanda Cruise. In this fireside chat, they dive into Amanda’s journey from a corporate career at Capital One to building a business around manufactured housing and mobile home parks, including her first “Lonnie deals” and lessons on affordability-driven demand. They compare mobile home parks to multifamily, highlighting financing differences, investor demand, and why the mobile home space has seen less distress. The conv...
On this week’s episode of the Passive Income Playbook, Pascal Wagner interviews Peter Sack. Peter, Managing Partner at Chicago Atlantic, dives deep into how his firm has deployed over $2 billion across private credit, cannabis lending, and institutional-grade real estate through both public and private funds. He breaks down what makes cannabis lending such an attractive risk-adjusted opportunity, the mechanics of private credit versus equity, and how regulation and legalization could reshape the...
On this week’s episode of Best Ever Show, Ash and Amanda interview Ian Noble. Ian shares how fourteen years of running a family dry cleaning business led to burnout, a brutal COVID revenue collapse, and the realization that passion and systems matter more than social media hype about “boring businesses.” He explains his pivot to real estate as both an LP and fund-to-funds syndicator, why he favors low-risk private lending and mobile home parks, and how he structures deals so investors get equal ...
This episode features Ash Patel passionately advocating for authenticity in real estate and social media, sharply criticizing clickbait and hollow vanity metrics. He exposes the pitfalls of “generational funds” and “infinite banking” as often deceptive marketing ploys, and calls out sloppy capital raising. Patel stresses prioritizing net worth over superficial metrics like door count or passive income theatrics, highlighting how being genuine on platforms like LinkedIn can lead to genuine success.
On this week’s episode of Unlimited Capital, Richard McGirr interviews Craig Eppler. Craig shares how he discovered the power of storytelling in raising capital and why investors connect more deeply with relatable narratives than with statistics. He explains how he builds a story library, ties deals to personal experiences, and uses stories to overcome objections in investor conversations. Richard and Craig also dive into tactics for capital raising, from ethical scarcity in debt funds to influe...
This episode explores the current state and future outlook of the multifamily market, highlighting how recent employment revisions and a slowdown in both domestic and international migration are cooling apartment absorption, particularly in high-construction Sunbelt areas. John Chang also analyzes the persistent rent-to-own payment gap and the growing importance of lease renewals for rent growth. He concludes with an outlook for stabilizing cap rates near equilibrium, predicting a "slow and steady" near-term, followed by a longer-term rebound in specific Sunbelt metros after excess supply is absorbed.
On this week’s episode of Multifamily Mastery, John Casmon interviews David Hrizak. With nearly three decades of experience across asset classes, David shares his evolution from Chicago broker to vertically integrated developer and investor. He recounts the pivotal $4M townhome project during the Great Recession, the sudden loss of his partner, and how relationships with community banks helped him pivot, survive, and ultimately thrive. David explains why he shifted from multifamily to commercial...
On this week’s episode of Next Level CRE, Matt Faircloth interviews J Scott. The two dive into J’s past as a professional poker player and draw parallels between poker strategy and real estate investing, including the importance of game selection, discipline, and knowing when to walk away from bad deals. They also tackle the state of the economy, discussing inflation, potential recession scenarios, and how government spending could shape the next 6 to 12 months. J Scott Current role: Entrepreneu...
On this week’s episode of Passive Income Playbook, Pascal Wagner interviews Judd Dunning. In this primer on triple-net sale-leasebacks, Judd breaks down gross vs. modified-gross vs. NNN/absolute NNN, why operating companies sell their real estate and lease it back, and how tenant credit and location drive risk and return. He compares NNN to self-storage, multifamily, office and retail, then outlines how industrial logistics and on-shoring are shaping today’s cap rates, spreads, and refinance out...
On this week’s episode of Best Ever CRE, Amanda Cruise and Ash Patel interview Mark “The Land Geek” Podolsky. Mark shares how he transitioned from being a burned-out investment banker to building a 25-year career in land investing, completing over 6,500 transactions. He explains his strategy of buying rural land at 25 to 30 cents on the dollar, flipping for profit, and creating recurring passive income streams through seller financing. Mark also dives into how he builds systems, manages risk, an...
On this week’s episode of Next Level CRE, Matt Faircloth interviews Joe Fairless. They introduce Joe's new Youtube segment, Best Ever AI How To, and some of the tips he's learned so far. They dig into why adopting AI now is like swapping swords for a machine gun in business, how to turn a single 20 to 30 minute conversation into a full month of marketing assets, and why iterative human guidance keeps AI-generated content from getting spam-filtered. Joe shares takeaways from interviews with AI op...
On this week’s episode of Unlimited Capital, Richard McGirr interviews Rohan Saxena. They dig into how to use paid ads as one piece of a diversified capital stack, and the exact “indoctrination sequence” that moves cold prospects from awareness to due diligence to funding. Rohan breaks down practical webinar and VSL funnels, split CTAs, show-up rate benchmarks, and simple KPI tracking using UTMs and a CRM so you can see which hooks actually convert. They also cover ad budget math, adding a small...
This episode delves into the Federal Reserve's recent rate cut, with John Chang arguing it's primarily a response to political pressure and a lack of business confidence, rather than a liquidity issue. He also explores the robust retail sector, highlighting that despite record high nominal debt, household leverage remains manageable relative to income. Chang further discusses how demographic tailwinds, particularly millennials entering peak earning years, are poised to significantly boost consumption, and offers insights on identifying recession-ready commercial real estate markets by evaluating durability, policy, industry mix, and overdevelopment risk.
Jeff Niemeier discusses the booming build-to-rent market, explaining its growth due to high interest rates and the desire for house-like living without ownership burdens. He details his journey from student housing, highlighting the advantages of new construction and local market dominance. Jeff also emphasizes the power of strategic partnerships and continuous personal development in achieving long-term success in real estate.
On this week’s episode of The Best Ever CRE Show, Matt Faircloth interviews Lane Kawaoka. Lane shares how he scaled from house hacking and turnkeys to mid-sized multifamily, then to more than a billion in acquisitions, and why smaller C-class assets can be the hardest to operate. He opens up about a tough partnership that required removing a GP, the critical role of bank draw paperwork and airtight operating agreements, and how tax status changes can swing valuations by seven figures. Lane also ...
On this week’s episode of Passive Income Playbook, Pascal Wagner interviews Sean Smith. They dig into the search fund landscape from traditional and self-funded models to independent sponsors, why the silver tsunami and SBA financing make now a compelling moment, and Sean’s thesis of backing essential businesses serving attractive end markets. Sean also walks through his four-part diligence system and a 200+ point checklist, how he evaluates terms so LPs are actually protected, and what realisti...
On this week’s episode of Beyond Multifamily, Ash Patel interviews Spencer Carpenter, Best Ever CRE's Guest Booker. They explore how commercial real estate investors can use podcast guest appearances to expand their reach, build credibility, and attract capital. Spencer shares why preparation matters, the common mistakes that hold guests back, and the small details that can make a big impact on how you’re perceived. Spencer Carpenter Current role: Founder, Outlier Audio Based in: Oxford, PA Say ...
On this week’s episode of Best Ever CRE Show, John Casmon interviews fellow Best Ever host, Ash Patel. Ash breaks down why he shifted from multifamily to non-residential CRE, citing shrinking returns, intense competition and far greater room for creativity in retail, office, industrial and mixed-use. He shares case studies including a Louisville office portfolio bought for pennies on the dollar with a split-and-sell strategy, and an 80,000-square-foot Canton office deal that breaks even with one...
On this week’s episode of Unlimited Capital, Richard McGirr interviews Ryan Watts. Ryan shares how he co-founded Red River Development and scaled a Build-to-Rent platform to 1,900 units and $600M AUM by leaning on RIAs, family offices, high net worth investors, and a robust fund-manager channel. He explains why they prioritize prerecorded webinars, turnkey deal rooms, and third-party experts to help fund managers raise faster with more credibility. Ryan also previews their 206-home Waco, Texas B...
On this week’s episode of The Horizon, John discusses why inflation is rising in a slow “trickle,” with food prices leading the gains, and how this feeds into rising odds of Fed rate cuts and a ~4% 10-year treasury. He explains why today’s financing window—around 5% for agency multifamily—creates rare positive leverage and is already sparking activity. With construction starts falling and labor/material costs high, John outlines a favorable long-term setup: tighter future supply, elevated cap ra...
On this week’s episode of Multifamily Mastery, John Casmon interviews Axel Ragnarsson. Axel breaks down his direct to seller playbook for small to mid-size New England multifamily, from dream-list targeting to low-pressure, relationship-first outreach by phone, email, text, and mail to stay top of mind with unsophisticated owners. He shares how he overcame capital bottlenecks by building a marketing engine that attracts retail LPs via podcasts, LinkedIn, and a growing newsletter, plus the mindse...
On this week’s episode of Next Level CRE, Matt Faircloth interviews Mike Roeder. They dig into lessons from scaling Granite Towers Equity Group, including why words matter at the property level and how third-party teams should embody owner values. Mike breaks down risk controls like raising CapEx up front instead of out of cash flow, screening hard for delinquency and true affordability, and favoring 1980s–2000s assets with seven-year fixed-rate debt. He also shares hands-on asset management pla...
On this week’s episode of Passive Income Playbook, Pascal Wagner interviews Amanda Han and Matt MacFarland. They break down the One Big Beautiful Bill for real estate investors, from the return of 100% bonus depreciation and why placed-in-service timing matters to smart ways LPs can plan for depreciation recapture instead of fearing it. Amanda and Matt also hit SALT cap relief, pass-through entity tax elections that can turn state taxes into deductible business expenses, and a niche but powerful...
On this week’s episode of Best Ever CRE Show, Amanda Cruise interviews Jon Ostenson. They dig into the real playbook for non-food franchises, from what makes home and property services so profitable to when you’re just buying yourself a job versus building a manager-run business. Jon breaks down territory strategy, startup costs and funding options like SBA and ROBS, plus why national accounts, an aligned tech stack and franchisor support can 10x your speed to market compared with going solo. Th...
