The Best Ever CRE Show

Latest Episodes:

JF 4110: Lone Wolf Operations, 10x Thinking and Zombie Deals ft. Andrew Cushman Dec 05, 2025

Show notes

Matt Faircloth interviews Andrew Cushman, founder and principal of Vantage Point Acquisitions, in a fireside-chat style episode that ranges from partnerships to banks to skiing 20,000-foot peaks. They break down why Andrew has avoided the typical “GP partner” model, how he instead built a tightly aligned internal team, and why operational control matters more than flashy capital-raising. The conversation digs into the dangers of ego-driven 10x scaling, the realities behind today’s “extend and pretend” lending environment, and where distress is actually showing up in multifamily. Andrew also shares why, if multifamily disappeared tomorrow, he’d be quietly rolling up laundromats—and what his extreme backcountry ski trips teach him about risk, preparation, and long-term thinking in real estate. Andrew Cushman
Current role: Founder & Principal, Vantage Point Acquisitions
Based in: Southern California
Say hi to them at: https://www.vpacq.com/ | www.linkedin.com/in/andrewcushmanvpa

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

JF 4109: Industrial Tailwinds, Multifamily Cycles, and The Future of LP Investing ft. Soren Godbersen Dec 04, 2025

Show notes

Pascal Wagner interviews Soren Godbersen, exploring the evolution of real estate crowdfunding, how platforms vet deals, and why LPs should understand platform incentives before investing. Soren breaks down the differences between aggregator platforms and vertically integrated operators, sharing lessons from his decade at EquityMultiple and his new work at Lightstone Direct. The two discuss LP psychology in today’s environment, platform vs. direct-to-operator due diligence, and why asset class selection and fee transparency matter more than ever. It’s an inside look at how deals get filtered, what red flags LPs should spot, and how investors can sharpen their decision-making in a confusing market.

Soren Godbersen
Current role: Vice President, Lightstone Direct
Based in: New York
Say hi to them at: https://lightstonedirect.com | https://www.linkedin.com/in/soren-godbersen/

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

JF 4108: Discipline Over Debt, Investor Transparency and Industrial Upside ft. Scott Lurie Dec 03, 2025

Show notes

Amanda Cruise and Ash Patel interview Scott Lurie, a Milwaukee-based investor, developer, lender, and syndicator who has scaled from single-family flips to $700M+ in AUM. Scott explains how discipline, conservative leverage, and a long-term mindset helped him not only survive but aggressively buy through the Great Recession—including a 410-unit acquisition for $9K per door. He shares why he focuses on value-add industrial and multifamily development today, how he underwrites and syndicates vacant industrial buildings, and why transparency and investor trust are more important than ever in 2025. Scott also breaks down his syndication philosophy, the pitfalls created by “cowboy” operators, and his belief that real estate success comes from 20 years of consistent, disciplined work.

Scott Lurie
Current role: Founder, F Street Group; Founder, The Hard Money Co.
Based in: Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Say hi to them at: https://fstreet.com/ | https://thehardmoneyco.com/ | LinkedIn

Start earning passive income today at gsprei.com/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

JF 4107: Hero’s Journey Frameworks, Epiphany Bridge Scripts & Investor Trust Building with Richard McGirr Dec 02, 2025

Show notes

Richard McGirr shares why facts alone don’t move investors and how a well-crafted personal story can radically improve your marketing and capital raising. He walks through Russell Brunson’s Epiphany Bridge script, showing how it builds on the classic Hero’s Journey to turn your backstory, “wall,” and breakthrough into a compelling narrative that breaks your audience’s false beliefs. Using his own journey—from a collapsed software company and wiped-out income to discovering real estate and reworking a failed Property Llama webinar into a six-figure sales engine—Richard illustrates how story-based presentations can dramatically increase conversions. He closes by challenging listeners to define their own “why,” clarify the moment they realized their old plan wouldn’t work, and use that narrative framework in every investor conversation, not just on webinars.

Start earning passive income today at gsprei.com/bestever

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

JF 4106: Niche Media, CRE Storytelling and Viral Growth ft. Hiten Samtani Dec 01, 2025

Show notes

Richard McGirr interviews Hiten Samtani, founder of ten31 Media and creator of The Promote. Hiten shares how his background running the newsroom at The Real Deal shaped his approach to storytelling, why he built a media company that treats real estate like the character-driven, high-stakes world it truly is, and how entertainment is the secret ingredient missing from most industry coverage. He and Richard dig into niche media strategy, viral growth, CRE culture, and why “knowing your audience” is the only real moat. They also explore Twitter/Retweet’s rise and collapse, the LP Whisperer saga, the structural issues behind traveling HFCs in Texas, and the massive power shift happening as Blackstone and other institutions move aggressively into retail capital. Hiten explains why syndicators face new competition, why pref is dominating the capital stack, and how storytelling shapes who wins attention—and deal flow.

Hiten Samtani
Current role: Founder, ten31 Media & Creator of The Promote
Based in: New York, New York
Say hi to them at: https://www.thepromote.com/

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-promote-podcast/id1801355295

https://x.com/hitsamty

https://www.linkedin.com/in/hitsamty

Start earning passive income today at gsprei.com/bestever

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

JF 4105: Slowing Hiring, Capital Costs and the Hidden Advantages for Today’s Investors with John Chang Nov 30, 2025

Show notes

John Chang shares why commercial real estate data has become less reliable following the DOJ’s settlement with RealPage, and how losing access to more precise rent and vacancy feeds weakens investor decision-making. He walks through the market’s wildly shifting expectations for a potential December 10 Fed rate cut and argues that political pressure and policy uncertainty—not the cost of capital—are what’s really slowing hiring and expansion. John then looks at how tariffs, tight immigration policies, and a softer job market could temporarily dampen household formation and apartment absorption in 2026 across apartments, retail, and industrial, while creating pent-up demand that returns later in the cycle. Finally, he explains why investors who can secure positive leverage today—higher cap rates against moderating debt costs—may be better positioned for the next upswing if they buy before sentiment and competition turn.

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

JF 4104: Raising Capital, Retaining Residents and Running Apartments the Right Way ft. Ed Mathews Nov 29, 2025

Show notes

John Casmon interviews Ed Mathews, a former Silicon Valley tech executive who walked away from a high-flying software career to build a more family-centered, freedom-focused life through real estate. Ed shares how missing too many “18 summers” with his daughters pushed him to leave DocuSign and go all-in on multifamily after seven years of flipping houses and small-building rehabs on the side. He explains how he scaled his Connecticut portfolio by finding “rock star” contractors through trade-to-trade referrals, building tight systems, and using process—not heroics—to let average people perform exceptionally well. Ed details why he prefers long-term residents over constant value-add turnover, how he achieved 4.2-year average stays, and why responsiveness, respect, and presence on site drive both mission and NOI. The conversation closes with his shift away from property management toward asset management, his expansion into AI-powered operations, and the launch of both a debt fund and private equity fund to pursue larger 150-unit-plus acquisitions.

Ed Mathews
Current role: Founder & CEO, Clark Street Capital
Based in: Connecticut
Say hi to them at: Website: https://www.clarkst.com

Phone: (860)675-5800]

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@clarkstinvestorsacademy

Podcast: https://www.clarkst.com/podcast

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/clark-st-capital

Twitter: https://twitter.com/clarkstcapital1

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ClarkStCapital

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/clarkstcapital 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

JF 4103: Affordable Housing Incentives, Multifamily Cycles and Smarter Underwriting ft. Robert Beardsley Nov 28, 2025

Show notes

Matt Faircloth interviews Robert Beardsley, partner at Lone Star Capital (LSCRE), about navigating the current multifamily cycle, surviving 2021–2022 acquisitions, and why the most resilient opportunities today hinge on debt structure, affordability incentives, and supply-constrained submarkets. Robert breaks down how Texas multifamily has shifted from a “prices only go up” environment to a more balanced but still competitive market, where Class B suburban assets with little new supply outperform shiny Class A developments offering heavy concessions. He explains how LS CRE avoided major distress by minimizing bridge debt exposure and shifting early into affordable-housing-driven acquisitions—leveraging tax-exemption partnerships with housing authorities to create stable NOI without risky value-add pushes. The two dive deep into rising treasuries, soft-landing odds, rent-to-income resilience, recession risk, Texas HB 21 fallout, and why hundreds of improperly structured tax-exemption deals may implode when exemptions expire in 2026.

Robert Beardsley
Current role: LSCRE, Founder/CEO
Based in: Houston, Texas
Say hi to them at: https://lscre.com

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

JF 4102: Cash Flow vs. Tax Benefits, Capital Raising Lessons and Navigating Today’s Market ft. Bronson Hill Nov 27, 2025

Show notes

Pascal Wagner interviews Bronson Hill, founder of Bronson Equity, about how LPs can invest confidently in today’s noisy and divided market. Bronson shares how raising $50M+ across multifamily, oil & gas, and alternative real estate has shaped the way he vets operators, evaluates risk, and structures deals more conservatively after recent market challenges. He explains why understanding your true investment objective—cash flow, tax benefits, or equity growth—is the key to picking the right deal, and why due diligence should start with the market, then the operator, then the deal. Bronson also walks through his shift toward more control as a GP, including his Altadena modular housing redevelopment project after the California wildfires, and why debt funds and royalties are gaining traction with LPs seeking stability and monthly income.

Bronson Hill
Current role: Founder & CEO, Bronson Equity
Based in: Pasadena, California
Say hi to them at: Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/bronson.hill.37 | https://www.facebook.com/BronsonEquity
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bronsonhill | https://www.linkedin.com/company/bronson-equity/mycompany
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCc1KYJL8ZjF3GC3Wh5lYNfg
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bronsondavidhill
Website: https://bronsonequity.com

Start earning passive income today at gsprei.com/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

JF 4101: Cross-Border Capital, Tariff Headwinds and Investing in Western New York ft. Thomas A. Kucharski Nov 26, 2025

Show notes

Amanda Cruise and Ash Patel interview Thomas A. Kucharski, president and CEO of Invest Buffalo Niagara, about how his organization has helped transform Western New York from a legacy manufacturing market into a growing tech and advanced industry hub. He explains how their team centralizes regional data, builds commercial listing systems, and acts as a neutral connector to incentives, infrastructure, and workforce programs—without taking commissions—so companies can de-risk expansions and relocations. Tom shares case studies ranging from Odoo’s tech expansion and Milk-Bone’s reinvestment to Tesla’s solar facility and large industrial site redevelopments on former steel mill land, highlighting the importance of shovel-ready sites and public–private collaboration. He also digs into cross-border Canadian investment, tariffs, and why developers and local businesses “pay to play” not for sweetheart deals, but to collectively grow jobs, investment, and the regional tax base.

Thomas A. Kucharski
Current role: President & CEO, Invest Buffalo Niagara
Based in: Buffalo, New York
Say hi to them at: https://buffaloniagara.org

Start earning passive income today at gsprei.com/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

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