JF 4119: Recession Edge, Millennial Spending Wave and a New CRE Cycle Ahead with John Chang

Matt Faircloth interviews Ash Patel, and the two hosts do a 2025 look-back / 2026 look-forward on what they’re seeing across major commercial asset classes—plus where they think real estate operators are headed after the last couple years of “extend and pretend”. They start with why triple-net retail has stayed surprisingly strong (including the “no new supply” reality) and why office still feels “toxic” for many banks—creating an “office tsunami” of opportunities and pain as debt resets and distressed deals trade at steep discounts. From there, they dig into multifamily as a tale of two outcomes (legacy fixed-rate wins vs. floating-rate fights), the competitive “insiders only” nature of mobile home parks as private equity pours in, and why self-storage may be overbuilt—while still leaving room for niche plays like wine/boat/RV storage and service-heavy concepts. Get 50% Off Monarch Money, the all-in-one financial tool at www.monarchmoney.com with code BESTEVER Visit bestevercrypto.com today to get started and earn up to $2,500 in bonus crypto. Join us at Best Ever Conference 2026! Find more info at: https://www.besteverconference.com/  Join the Best Ever Community  The Best Ever Community is live and growing - and we want serious commercial real estate investors like you inside. It’s free to join, but you must apply and meet the criteria.  Connect with top operators, LPs, GPs, and more, get real insights, and be part of a curated network built to help you grow. Apply now at⁠ ⁠⁠⁠www.bestevercommunity.com⁠⁠ Podcast production done by⁠ ⁠Outlier Audio⁠ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Richard McGirr interviews Maria Zondervan, a fund-of-funds operator who pivoted from a career as an endangered-species wildlife biologist into multifamily investing after realizing she needed to build legacy wealth for her special-needs son. Maria explains why she disliked directly operating multifamily and instead built a model where she partners with other fund managers to write larger checks, negotiate better tiers/terms, and put more “eyes on the deal” during due diligence. She also breaks down how her group manages risk and investor expectations—doing fewer, higher-quality equity deals and leaning on an income fund for liquidity—plus how she qualifies investors to avoid placing “all their savings” into illiquid syndications. Finally, Maria shares her investor lead-gen approach: primarily in-person education and speaking, with social media used mostly to stay top-of-mind rather than as a primary acquisition channel. Maria ZondervanCurrent role: CEO, Blue Vikings CapitalBased in: Orlando, FloridaSay hi to them at: https://www.bluevikingscapital.com/ | https://linktr.ee/bluevikingscapital Get 50% Off Monarch Money, the all-in-one financial tool at www.monarchmoney.com with code BESTEVER Visit bestevercrypto.com today to get started and earn up to $2,500 in bonus crypto. Join us at Best Ever Conference 2026! Find more info at: https://www.besteverconference.com/  Join the Best Ever Community  The Best Ever Community is live and growing - and we want serious commercial real estate investors like you inside. It’s free to join, but you must apply and meet the criteria.  Connect with top operators, LPs, GPs, and more, get real insights, and be part of a curated network built to help you grow. Apply now at⁠ ⁠⁠⁠www.bestevercommunity.com⁠⁠ Podcast production done by⁠ ⁠Outlier Audio⁠ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

John Chang shares a solo market update from ICSC New York City, outlining what he’s hearing from top researchers and brokers across the retail real estate world. He breaks down why uncertainty and slower job growth are stretching decision-making, while consumer debt headlines look less alarming when viewed against income levels, savings/money market balances, and delinquency trends. He also highlights tailwinds from millennials moving into prime earning/spending years and notes retail’s leadership in the NCREIF total return index. Get 50% Off Monarch Money, the all-in-one financial tool at www.monarchmoney.com with code BESTEVER Visit bestevercrypto.com today to get started and earn up to $2,500 in bonus crypto. Join us at Best Ever Conference 2026! Find more info at: https://www.besteverconference.com/  Join the Best Ever Community  The Best Ever Community is live and growing - and we want serious commercial real estate investors like you inside. It’s free to join, but you must apply and meet the criteria.  Connect with top operators, LPs, GPs, and more, get real insights, and be part of a curated network built to help you grow. Apply now at⁠ ⁠⁠⁠www.bestevercommunity.com⁠⁠ Podcast production done by⁠ ⁠Outlier Audio⁠ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

John Casmon interviews Yonah Weiss, a cost segregation expert known as the “Cost Seg King,” about how cost segregation works as an advanced form of depreciation and why it can be a powerful cash-flow tool for real estate investors. They break down who benefits most, plus other scenarios like the short-term rental “loophole” and income-based exceptions that can allow depreciation to offset active income. Yonah also explains depreciation recapture in plain English and shares common strategies investors use to defer or reduce tax impact at sale, including 1031 exchanges and Opportunity Zones. Finally, they shift into marketing—why Yonah built his brand on LinkedIn through consistency and real engagement, and why in-person networking is still hard to beat. Yonah WeissCurrent role: Regional Business Director, Madison SPECS Based in: New York City, New YorkSay hi to them at: https://www.yonahweiss.com/ | https://www.instagram.com/yonahweiss/ | https://www.linkedin.com/in/cost-segregation-yonah-weiss/ | https://twitter.com/YonahWeiss | https://yonahweiss.madisonspecs.com/ Get 50% Off Monarch Money, the all-in-one financial tool at www.monarchmoney.com with code BESTEVER Visit bestevercrypto.com today to get started and earn up to $2,500 in bonus crypto. Join us at Best Ever Conference 2026! Find more info at: https://www.besteverconference.com/  Join the Best Ever Community  The Best Ever Community is live and growing - and we want serious commercial real estate investors like you inside. It’s free to join, but you must apply and meet the criteria.  Connect with top operators, LPs, GPs, and more, get real insights, and be part of a curated network built to help you grow. Apply now at⁠ ⁠⁠⁠www.bestevercommunity.com⁠⁠ Podcast production done by⁠ ⁠Outlier Audio⁠ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Matt Faircloth interviews Lindsay Greene about how the Brooklyn Navy Yard evolved from a historic shipyard into a modern 300-acre industrial ecosystem that now houses 550+ businesses. Lindsay explains the Yard’s transformation—from 1800s wooden-ship buildings to today’s mix of TV/film soundstages, food manufacturers, tech incubators, and light industrial tenants—while highlighting its deep legacy as a hub of jobs, innovation, and opportunity. She walks Matt through how public-private partnerships power their redevelopment model, including layered capital stacks, long-term ground leases, and collaborative fit-out financing. Finally, she outlines the Yard’s future plans for new multi-story industrial buildings, mid-scale manufacturing space, and opportunities for private developers or investors who want to partner on underutilized sites. Lindsay GreeneCurrent role: President & CEO, Brooklyn Navy Yard Development CorporationBased in: Brooklyn, New YorkSay hi to them at: https://www.brooklynnavyyard.org/ | LinkedIn Get 50% Off Monarch Money, the all-in-one financial tool at www.monarchmoney.com with code BESTEVER Visit bestevercrypto.com today to get started and earn up to $2,500 in bonus crypto. Join us at Best Ever Conference 2026! Find more info at: https://www.besteverconference.com/  Join the Best Ever Community  The Best Ever Community is live and growing - and we want serious commercial real estate investors like you inside. It’s free to join, but you must apply and meet the criteria.  Connect with top operators, LPs, GPs, and more, get real insights, and be part of a curated network built to help you grow. Apply now at⁠ ⁠⁠⁠www.bestevercommunity.com⁠⁠ Podcast production done by⁠ ⁠Outlier Audio⁠ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Pascal Wagner interviews Rod Khleif, a 40-year investor who has owned thousands of units and trained operators responsible for more than 260,000 multifamily doors. Rod breaks down today’s confusing multifamily environment, explaining why conservative underwriting, realistic assumptions, and deep operator due diligence matter more than ever. He shares the biggest mistakes GPs are currently making—from aggressive rent growth assumptions to risky debt structures—and outlines the practical questions every LP must ask before wiring money. Rod also highlights where he sees distress, opportunity, and risk heading into the next cycle. Rod KhleifCurrent role: Founder, Lifetime Cashflow Through Real Estate Investing; Multifamily Investor & EducatorBased in: Sarasota, FloridaSay hi to them at: https://rodslinks.com | https://www.youtube.com/@RodKhleif | https://www.linkedin.com/in/rodkhleif/ Get 50% Off Monarch Money, the all-in-one financial tool at www.monarchmoney.com with code BESTEVER Join us at Best Ever Conference 2026! Find more info at: https://www.besteverconference.com/  Join the Best Ever Community  The Best Ever Community is live and growing - and we want serious commercial real estate investors like you inside. It’s free to join, but you must apply and meet the criteria.  Connect with top operators, LPs, GPs, and more, get real insights, and be part of a curated network built to help you grow. Apply now at⁠ ⁠⁠⁠www.bestevercommunity.com⁠⁠ Podcast production done by⁠ ⁠Outlier Audio⁠ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Amanda Cruise interviews Logan Fullmer, a Texas-based investor who specializes in distressed property acquisition and solving complex title problems. Logan shares his journey from blowing a seven-figure inheritance and getting sober, to rebuilding his life in the oil fields and then parlaying small, risk-adjusted land bets into a multi-division commercial real estate business. He breaks down how he finds “unsellable” properties with tax issues, messy heirship, and judgments, then uses common sense negotiation and targeted legal strategies to unlock huge spreads. Logan also explains how he’s shortened his deal cycle, when he walks away from overly complicated files, and why he’s built a team and education platform to help other investors tackle these “wacky” but lucrative deals at scale. Logan FullmerCurrent role: Commercial real estate investor & founder, distressed property and curative title firm Based in: San Antonio, Texas Say hi to them at: Loganfullmer.com | IG @logan_fullmer | https://event.dpasummit.com/ Get 50% Off Monarch Money, the all-in-one financial tool at www.monarchmoney.com with code BESTEVER Join us at Best Ever Conference 2026! Find more info at: https://www.besteverconference.com/  Join the Best Ever Community  The Best Ever Community is live and growing - and we want serious commercial real estate investors like you inside. It’s free to join, but you must apply and meet the criteria.  Connect with top operators, LPs, GPs, and more, get real insights, and be part of a curated network built to help you grow. Apply now at⁠ ⁠⁠⁠www.bestevercommunity.com⁠⁠ Podcast production done by⁠ ⁠Outlier Audio⁠ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Richard McGirr walks listeners through his 2025 retrospective using the “four L’s” framework—what he loved, learned, lacked, and longed for. He explains how abandoning distractions and doubling down on a single, high-performing debt fund produced seven to eight consecutive record-breaking months and over $24 million raised. Richard breaks down how this focus created operational mastery, recurring revenue, and a repeatable monthly closing machine that freed him and his partner to work on the business rather than in it. He also shares hard-won lessons about integrity, contracts, and protecting yourself in an industry where big dollar figures can test people’s promises. Richard then turns to his biggest breakthroughs of the year, including finally cracking how to identify, mentor, and launch high-potential fund-of-funds managers—leading to a standout case study of a new FOF raising $1.2 million in its first month. He closes by outlining what he lacked in 2025 (dedicated in-house accounting) and what he’s pursuing in 2026: co-GP relationships with top-tier debt funds, airtight long-term contracts, diversification, and a major scale-up of both direct raises and FOF-driven capital. Get 50% Off Monarch Money, the all-in-one financial tool at www.monarchmoney.com with code BESTEVER Start earning passive income today at gsprei.com/bestever Alternative Fund IV is closing soon and SMK is giving Best Ever listeners exclusive access to their Founders’ Shares, typically offered only to early investors. Visit smkcap.com/bec to learn more and download the full fund summary. Join us at Best Ever Conference 2026! Find more info at: https://www.besteverconference.com/  Join the Best Ever Community  The Best Ever Community is live and growing - and we want serious commercial real estate investors like you inside. It’s free to join, but you must apply and meet the criteria.  Connect with top operators, LPs, GPs, and more, get real insights, and be part of a curated network built to help you grow. Apply now at⁠ ⁠⁠⁠www.bestevercommunity.com⁠⁠ Podcast production done by⁠ ⁠Outlier Audio⁠ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Richard McGirr interviews Bruce Stein, uncovering how his early dream of becoming an architect evolved into a decades-long career in real estate development, syndication, fund management, and now portfolio consulting. Bruce shares his path from working for a real estate syndicator, to a 16-year tenure at a family office deploying $300M, to running nationwide bridge-construction lending, and finally to advising investors on buying, selling, holding, and succession planning. He explains why beginner investors should stay local, focus on one property type, build a track record before raising capital, and avoid the common trap of chasing cap rates instead of chasing lifestyle alignment and reduced management burden. Richard and Bruce dive into when to sell a property, how to evaluate the “biggest headache” in a portfolio, using 1031 exchanges strategically, and why the true goal is to simplify your real estate life—even if the cash flow stays the same. Bruce also offers candid insights into raising three separate $100M funds: why specificity, transparency, investor expectation management, and sticking to your lane matter more than anything else. The episode closes with a practical capital-raising tip: be specific, be consistent, and give investors enough time to underwrite YOU as much as the deal. Bruce SteinCurrent role: Real Estate Consultant & Former Fund Manager Based in: CaliforniaSay hi to them at: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brucejstein/ Get 50% Off Monarch Money, the all-in-one financial tool at www.monarchmoney.com with code BESTEVER Start earning passive income today at gsprei.com/bestever Alternative Fund IV is closing soon and SMK is giving Best Ever listeners exclusive access to their Founders’ Shares, typically offered only to early investors. Visit smkcap.com/bec to learn more and download the full fund summary. Join us at Best Ever Conference 2026! Find more info at: https://www.besteverconference.com/  Join the Best Ever Community  The Best Ever Community is live and growing - and we want serious commercial real estate investors like you inside. It’s free to join, but you must apply and meet the criteria.  Connect with top operators, LPs, GPs, and more, get real insights, and be part of a curated network built to help you grow. Apply now at⁠ ⁠⁠⁠www.bestevercommunity.com⁠⁠ Podcast production done by⁠ ⁠Outlier Audio⁠ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

John Chang interviews the commercial real estate market itself as he breaks down how healthcare hiring is propping up national job growth while most other sectors soften, and why that makes medical office one of the strongest asset classes going forward. He explains how an aging population and persistent healthcare labor shortages are driving durable demand, limited new supply, stable vacancies around 9%, and long-term leases with built-in rent bumps that support medical office performance. John then shifts to the multifamily outlook, highlighting Sun Belt oversupply and concessions versus tighter conditions in the Midwest and coastal markets, along with delayed household formation among young adults that is creating pent-up demand. He closes by outlining why institutional capital is ramping back into CRE—NACREIF total returns turning positive, higher fund-raising volumes, and rising target allocations—which should lead to more competition for deals and eventual cap rate compression in 2026, assuming policy and geopolitical risks stay contained Get 50% Off Monarch Money, the all-in-one financial tool at www.monarchmoney.com with code BESTEVER Start earning passive income today at gsprei.com/bestever Alternative Fund IV is closing soon and SMK is giving Best Ever listeners exclusive access to their Founders’ Shares, typically offered only to early investors. Visit smkcap.com/bec to learn more and download the full fund summary. Join us at Best Ever Conference 2026! Find more info at: https://www.besteverconference.com/  Join the Best Ever Community  The Best Ever Community is live and growing - and we want serious commercial real estate investors like you inside. It’s free to join, but you must apply and meet the criteria.  Connect with top operators, LPs, GPs, and more, get real insights, and be part of a curated network built to help you grow. Apply now at⁠ ⁠⁠⁠www.bestevercommunity.com⁠⁠ Podcast production done by⁠ ⁠Outlier Audio⁠ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices