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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Matt Faircloth interviews Brian Burke, reflecting on the prolonged multifamily downturn and why 2025 failed to deliver the recovery many investors expected. Brian explains how elevated construction deliveries, negative rent growth, and mispriced cap rates have kept deal fundamentals from penciling, especially for assets acquired with high leverage. The conversation dives deep into the dangers of bridge debt, emphasizing that loan maturity risk, not floating interest rates, is what ultimately put...
Pascal Wagner interviews Shawn Owen, CEO of Salt Lending, to unpack how crypto holders can responsibly leverage Bitcoin for liquidity without taking on unnecessary risk. Shawn shares his journey from traditional real estate investing through the 2008 financial crisis and into early Bitcoin adoption, explaining why lending against crypto mirrors familiar tools like HELOCs more than speculative margin trading. The conversation explores how Bitcoin-backed loans work, what happens during sharp drawd...
Amanda Cruise interviews Neil Wahlgren, a partner at Mad Capital Partners, about investing in industrial real estate through long-term sale-leaseback strategies. Neil explains why his firm focuses on large, single-tenant industrial facilities with absolute net leases, how reshoring and e-commerce continue to support long-term demand, and why industrial behaves very differently from multifamily. He breaks down how cap rates, rent escalations, and conservative leverage create durable cash flow, wh...
Seth Bradley interviews Bronson Hill, sharing how Bronson transitioned from a high-paying medical sales career into full-time capital raising and built a business that has raised nearly $60 million. Bronson explains why capital raising is fundamentally a sales and relationship-driven process, how authenticity and transparency have helped him retain investor trust through a difficult market cycle, and why cash flow has become more important than appreciation for many investors. He also breaks dow...
Richard McGirr breaks down a detailed case study of a sponsored Best Ever webinar and how paid media can be used to responsibly scale capital raising. He explains why cold traffic struggles in high-trust investments, how sponsored webinars function as “rented” warm audiences, and why education-first positioning is critical when asking for six-figure commitments. Richard walks through the structure of the webinar, why capital protection and income resonated with investors, and how private real es...
John Chang interviews Josh Jacobs about why the long-anticipated wave of multifamily distress is finally showing up across select Sun Belt markets. Josh explains how aggressive bridge financing, rising interest rates, slower rent growth, and new supply have converged to force lender-driven sales, receiverships, and recapitalizations—particularly in Gulf Coast states. He breaks down how debt funds, banks, LPs, and preferred equity are navigating defaults, why many sponsors are being wiped out, an...
John Casmon interviews Reed Goossens, who reflects on more than a decade in multifamily investing and how market cycles, technology, and investor behavior have reshaped the business. Reid explains how the long stretch of cheap debt and rapid appreciation masked operational risk, and why today’s environment demands far greater discipline around underwriting, expense control, and asset management. The conversation dives into rising operating costs, insurance inflation, labor challenges, and why th...
Matt Faircloth interviews Amanda Cruise, as the two co-host a year-end conversation reflecting on lessons from 2025 and what they see ahead for real estate investing in 2026. They discuss how investor behavior has shifted away from high-risk appreciation plays toward stable, predictable cash flow, and how that change is reshaping capital raising and deal structures. The conversation covers decisiveness in acquisitions, why cash-flowing debt and yield-focused investments are resonating with inves...
Pascal Wagner interviews Jon Brooks, who breaks down why today’s real estate market is sending mixed signals—and why getting that interpretation wrong can have real financial consequences. Jon explains how decades of falling interest rates created a powerful tailwind for real estate that no longer exists, especially in overbuilt Sunbelt markets like Florida. The conversation explores what’s actually breaking versus what’s simply slowing down, including rising insurance and tax costs, declining a...
Ash Patel interviews Paul Frank, a rare combination of longtime developer, broker, and mentor, about what it really takes to survive and succeed in commercial real estate over multiple decades. Paul shares how being thrown into large QSR development projects in the 1980s shaped his risk discipline, why entitlement and municipal processes have become significantly harder in recent years, and how siloed brokerage models limit brokers’ real understanding of the full real estate lifecycle. He also b...
Seth Bradley interviews Travis Smith about the evolution of Tribevest and why the private markets are hitting a critical inflection point. Travis shares how his background at Morgan Stanley and early experiences pooling capital with family exposed the lack of infrastructure in private investing. They break down why independent capital aggregators are becoming essential connectors between investors and operators, and how professionalism, compliance, and technology now determine who succeeds in ca...
Richard McGirr interviews Mike Zlotnik, announcing a strategic shift toward more solo, educational monologue episodes while remaining highly selective about guest interviews. Richard explains why his deep-dive capital raising content has resonated with listeners and how it’s sharpened his own thinking as a fund manager and marketer. He then introduces Mike Zlotnik as a long-time fund-of-funds investor and capital partner who has been active since 2009. The conversation reframes the value of fund...
John Chang gives listeners a wide-ranging outlook on the 2026 commercial real estate landscape, drawing from recent industry webcasts, capital market data, and his upcoming conversations with investors at NMHC. He explains why rising cap rates and falling borrowing costs have reset real estate returns to some of the most attractive levels seen in over a decade, even as broader economic uncertainty grows. John breaks down how slowing job creation, shifting migration patterns, and heavy Sunbelt de...
John Casmon interviews Dusten Hendrickson about why he believes development can be less risky than acquisitions when executed with discipline, repetition, and a long-term mindset. Dusten explains how creating value at the ground-up stage provides more margin to weather interest rate shifts and market cycles, especially compared to buying stabilized assets at peak pricing. He breaks down why “cool” trophy projects often underperform, how his team focuses on scalable workforce housing, and the ope...
Matt interviews Tim Bratz, breaking down why Tim has challenged “traditional” syndication norms—especially fee-heavy structures and LP/GP splits that can leave operators with too little skin in the game. Tim shares how his equity/preferred return approach evolved from his single-family/private money background, and how tighter cash flow post-pandemic has pushed him toward more creative capital stacks (assumable debt, seller carry, accrued pref, and depreciation levers). He also digs into why thi...
Pascal Wagner interviews Tony Davidow to unpack how institutional investors are thinking about private markets heading into 2026. Tony explains why recent headlines around private credit defaults are often misunderstood, breaking down the difference between CLOs, direct lending, and commercial real estate debt—and why he sees CRE debt, asset-based finance, and secondaries as early-cycle opportunities. The discussion dives into illiquidity as a feature (not a flaw), how institutions size long-ter...
Amanda Cruise and Ash Patel interview Darren Smith to explore why industrial real estate became his long-term focus after years in residential investing. Darren shares how flipping and wholesaling hundreds of homes pushed him toward simpler, scalable assets, and why warehouses—with fewer tenants, stronger cash flow, and less operational friction—fit his personality better than multifamily. He breaks down how he finds off-market industrial deals, uses relationship-driven seller financing, and add...
Seth Bradley interviews Sam Silverman to break down fund-of-funds economics, common misconceptions, and why this structure has become a critical part of modern capital raising. Sam explains how fund-of-funds models create cleaner, more compliant alignment between sponsors, fund managers, and passive investors—without automatically eroding returns. The conversation walks through how margins are actually created, why share classes and underwriting decisions matter earlier than most sponsors realiz...
Richard McGirr interviews Brent Neely about how he quietly acquired over $25 million in real estate before ever formally raising outside capital—and why he’s now preparing to bring investors into his deals. Brent shares how profits from multiple successful e-commerce businesses were rapidly redeployed into real estate, the advantages of leveraging an existing business-owner network, and why one-on-one conversations drove nearly $2M in soft commitments in just 45 days. The discussion dives deep i...
John Chang interviews Ben Lapidus, host of the Best Ever Conference, to discuss how commercial real estate investors are repositioning after several challenging years. Ben explains that sentiment has shifted from survival to selective action, with opportunity emerging outside traditional Sun Belt multifamily and into niche strategies like industrial, neighborhood retail, and specialized development plays. They explore why many LPs are consolidating capital with a smaller group of trusted operato...
John Casmon shares a solo episode focused on how multifamily investors can win in 2026 by “mastering their leverage” in a tougher, more competitive market. He outlines a practical framework built around skills, speed, relationships, and resources, explaining how investors should lean into their unique advantages instead of chasing every deal. John discusses why local market knowledge, operational control, and creative deal structures matter more than ever as institutional competition shifts. The...
Matt Faircloth interviews David Kamara of Cape Sierra Capital, who shares how patience, operational discipline, and a willingness to tackle complex deal structures have shaped his investing success. David walks through his path from management consulting to multifamily ownership, explaining how hands-on operations, strong reserves, and trusted property management partners helped him navigate fires, insurance claims, and long hold periods while still delivering outsized returns. The conversation ...
Pascal Wagner interviews Adam Gower, founder of GowerCrowd, to unpack what’s really happening behind the scenes when sponsors raise capital in today’s market. Adam explains why the current shift toward smaller checks and retail capital isn’t necessarily distress, but a strategic move by experienced sponsors preparing for cyclical downturns. He breaks down how LPs can spot sponsor strength versus weakness, why IRR-driven underwriting often leads to failure, and how conservative debt, disciplined ...
Liz Faircloth discusses her extensive real estate career, detailing how her investment strategies evolved from scaling multifamily to focusing on projects aligned with joy, legacy, and impact. She highlights the critical importance of understanding market fundamentals like supply and demand, and the advantages of expanding beyond hyper-local investing by building strong teams. Liz also addresses the 'confidence gap' women face in investing, explaining how InvestHer empowers women through community, education, and upcoming initiatives like a dedicated fund to provide access to capital.
Seth Bradley breaks down what it actually takes to build a professional, scalable private investment fund, drawing on more than a decade of experience structuring hundreds of funds across real estate and private markets. He explains why so many funds stall or fail by treating fund formation as a paperwork exercise instead of a full business system. Seth walks through the complete anatomy of a fund—from strategy and entity structure to compliance, capital flow, administration, and investor experi...
Richard McGirr shares his 2025 retrospective and lays out a focused, numbers-driven plan for scaling Unlimited Capital in 2026, centered on real estate credit and disciplined capital raising. He breaks down how the firm raised over $24M in 2025 (with projections to close the year near $26M), why shutting down non-core initiatives unlocked 50% month-over-month growth in new LPs, and how carried interest crossed a major seven-figure annual milestone. Richard explains his conviction around debt fun...
John Chang delivers a solo episode breaking down why housing affordability is being widely misunderstood and why institutional investors are not the real problem. He explains how demographic pressure from millennials, elevated mortgage rates, and years of underbuilding have frozen housing inventory and limited entry-level supply. John digs into job growth versus apartment completions across major U.S. metros, showing why rent growth has slowed in some high-growth markets while others remain bett...
John Casmon interviews Justin Spillers, a former real estate attorney turned full-time multifamily investor, about his journey from practicing law to building a vertically integrated value-add multifamily business in Ohio. Justin shares how his first seven-unit deal shaped his confidence, why focusing on tertiary markets along the I-75 corridor gives his team a competitive edge, and how disciplined underwriting plus heavy renovations drive rent growth. He also explains the importance of operatio...
Matt Faircloth interviews Micah Lacher, President and Founder of Anchor Investments and the force behind Mission Hotels. Micah shares how Anchor evolved into a “radically generous” platform—giving time, expertise, and GP profits to support nonprofits and local communities. He breaks down Mission Hotels’ “Rooms for Rooms” concept (including how their tech-enabled, small-boutique model makes 100% profit-giving possible) and explains how Anchor turns “tired” shopping centers into thriving, modern r...
Pascal Wagner interviews Bob Fraser, CFO and chief macro strategist at Aspen Funds, to break down how oil and gas can (or can’t) fit inside a diversified portfolio. Bob explains the three parts of the industry (upstream, midstream, downstream), why most LP horror stories come from drilling risk, and why he prefers buying already-producing, non-operated working interests to reduce geology/engineering/operator risk. He also walks through what tax benefits investors often misunderstand (IDCs vs. de...
