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FROM CALL CENTERS TO CASH FLOW

In this eye-opening episode of The Real Estate Investing Club, I sit down with Dave Codrea, co-founder of Greenleaf Capital Partners, who reveals an innovative investment strategy that perfectly captures today's changing commercial landscape: repurposing vacant call centers into thriving multi-tenant business spaces. 🏙️

THE AI REVOLUTION CREATING REAL ESTATE OPPORTUNITIES

The rise of artificial intelligence and remote work has left thousands of call centers sitting vacant across the country. As Dave explains, "Most of that started when COVID hit. Everyone's working from home now... and with AI's impact, that tenant base is kind of gone." While most investors overlook these "cube farms," Dave recognized a massive opportunity hiding in plain sight. 🤖

WHAT MAKES CALL CENTERS PERFECT FOR REPURPOSING

These properties have several key advantages that make them ideal candidates for transformation:

• Large footprints (typically 50,000-100,000 square feet)
• Abundant parking (designed for hundreds of employees)
• Robust power infrastructure (often including backup generators)
• Prime suburban locations near residential areas
• Low acquisition costs (as low as $40-60 per square foot)

Dave's strategy is brilliantly simple yet effective - divide these massive spaces into 5,000-10,000 square foot suites that appeal to a wide range of businesses. "We're putting in glass roll-up doors, raising the ceilings, and creating spaces that smaller businesses can actually use," Dave shares.

THE TENANT MIX AND ECONOMICS

The diverse tenant mix in these repurposed facilities includes medical services like Labcorp, pest control companies, personal trainers, pharmacies, and even video game simulation companies. By acquiring these properties for $40-100 per square foot and investing another $30-40 per square foot in renovations, Dave creates assets that generate solid cash flow with mid-teens returns.

FINDING THESE HIDDEN GEMS

Unlike many real estate investors who rely heavily on brokers or direct mail, Dave prefers a more hands-on approach: "I love driving around. I drive a big Sprinter van every day, and I'm always looking at stuff." This old-school method of physically exploring potential opportunities has helped him identify properties that others miss.

WISDOM FROM YEARS OF EXPERIENCE

Throughout our conversation, Dave shares valuable insights from his extensive real estate career spanning multiple asset classes from mobile home parks to medical buildings. His advice to focus on properties in your local market resonated deeply: "Invest in your town and do a good job there. Help make it a better place. I don't think the grass is greener on the other side."

Whether you're a seasoned investor looking for creative opportunities in today's changing market or just starting your real estate journey, Dave's innovative approach to repurposing commercial space offers valuable lessons on finding opportunity where others see obsolescence.

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THE ANTI-MULTIFAMILY STRATEGY: WHY INDUSTRIAL IS KING 👑
In this eye-opening episode of The Real Estate Investing Club, I sit down with Irwin Boris, CPA and real estate veteran who cracked the code on boring-but-profitable industrial investing. After dealing with underground water line disasters and insurance cost tripling in multifamily, Irwin pivoted to an asset class that compounds revenue at 3% annually while protecting against maintenance nightmares.

INSIDER SECRETS: HOW TO SCORE 8-9% CAP RATES TODAY 💰
While everyone chases multifamily, Irwin reveals how he's finding industrial deals with 8-9% cap rates in secondary markets. His strategy? Look for buildings under $100 per square foot when replacement cost runs $150-200 PSF. Target properties with 8-15 tenants to ensure cash flow continues even during turnover. The key insight: "Make your money on the buy" by being patient and letting deals chase you.

THE WORKFORCE STICKINESS ADVANTAGE 🏗️
One fascinating strategy Irwin shares involves single-tenant deals tied to local workforce. Example: A 500-employee facility running three shifts daily can't move more than a few miles without losing staff. This creates incredible lease security that justifies paying slightly below market rent in exchange for workforce retention.

SMALL BAY SECRETS: WHERE TO FIND THESE GEMS 🔍
Small bay properties remain hidden in plain sight across America. Look for buildings with multiple roll-up doors housing plumbers, electricians, and even unique tenants like tropical fish farms and nuclear pharmacies. These properties offer higher returns than traditional office while requiring less intensive management than multifamily.

MARKET TIMING STRATEGY: BUY DURING UNCERTAINTY 📊
With major players like Blackstone and Clarion Partners signaling now as prime buying time amid tariff uncertainty, Irwin explains why the next 2-4 years offer exceptional opportunities. While new development slows and financing tightens, buyers with cash can capitalize on motivated sellers and reduced competition.

THE CPA ADVANTAGE IN REAL ESTATE 📚
Irwin credits his accounting background for deal-making success, sharing how he educated bank underwriters on reading tax returns properly. Understanding depreciation, reading financial statements, and properly vetting tenant financials gives him significant edge in deal analysis and negotiation.

FROM CPA TO OPERATOR: TOUCHING EVERY ASSET CLASS 💼
After starting in accounting, Irwin gained invaluable experience working 15+ years as a lender and for real estate operators across multifamily, office, retail, hotel, and industrial sectors. This comprehensive understanding allows him to spot value others miss and structure deals properly from day one.

REAL ESTATE IS RELATIONSHIPS: THE INVESTOR PARTNER MODEL 🤝
Breaking industry norms, Irwin personally handles investor relations, comparing college choices with investors' kids and discussing vacations. This relationship-first approach creates loyal partnerships and repeat investors who trust his expertise. His philosophy: "I like to cultivate long-term friendships with our investors - we treat them as partners."

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0:00 - Introduction to Lane Kawaoka from The Wealth Elevator
2:24 - Lane's journey from Seattle engineer to buying 11 rental properties
5:43 - The billion-dollar operator club: How Lane reached massive-scale real estate
9:32 - Why Lane believes real estate's golden age of free money is over
12:58 - The accredited investor secret trifecta: Real estate, taxes, and infinite banking
16:38 - Why being sued is inevitable in real estate business (and how to handle it)
20:51 - Diversification strategies: Moving from real estate into private equity
26:51 - The four floors of The Wealth Elevator explained
35:14 - How commercial real estate crashed 20-30% and what Lane learned
40:45 - Lane's predictions for the next market cycle across asset classes

THE WEALTH ELEVATOR FRAMEWORK 🏗️
In this powerful episode of The Real Estate Investing Club, I sit down with Lane Kawaoka to unpack his revolutionary "Wealth Elevator" framework that's helping investors accelerate their path to eight-figure net worth. Broadcasting from sunny Seattle, Lane shares the hard-earned wisdom from his journey to becoming a $1+ billion real estate operator and how he's helping others avoid the 15-year learning curve he experienced.

FROM ENGINEER TO REAL ESTATE MOGUL 📈
Lane's story begins as an engineer at the University of Washington who accidentally fell into real estate when he bought his first property in Maple Leaf. What started as a necessity ("I was traveling all over for work and never home") evolved into a 15-year odyssey that saw him acquire 11 single-family properties throughout Atlanta, Birmingham, and Indianapolis before scaling into syndications and private placements.
"I used to take the stairs," Lane admits, "but the Wealth Elevator is meant to expedite you through the process so you don't have to do it the slow way like I did."

THE FOUR FLOORS OF WEALTH BUILDING 🏢
Lane reveals his unique framework that maps wealth creation stages to building floors:
BASEMENT: The Dave Ramsey crowd in credit card debt
FIRST FLOOR: Non-accredited investors building rental portfolios
SECOND FLOOR: Accredited investors ($200k+ income) diversifying through syndications
THIRD FLOOR: The "$4-5 million endgame" where the 4% rule takes effect
PENTHOUSE: Eight-figure net worth with asymmetric investing opportunities

THE DEATH OF FREE MONEY 💸
In a sobering analysis, Lane predicts the end of real estate's golden era: "The Chan Financial Curve shows insurance rate cap providers aren't predicting interest rates below 3.5% for the next decade. That era of interest-free money is gone."
This insight has led Lane to diversify beyond real estate into private equity deals, emphasizing the importance of working with operators who are "introverted" and "socially awkward" - people focused on operations rather than marketing.

CRASH COURSE IN COMMERCIAL REAL ESTATE 📉
Lane provides an insider's view of the recent commercial real estate correction, sharing how his portfolio was affected by the 2022-2023 crash:
"We used bridge debt like everyone else and got hurt... but the lesson is diversify over 4-7 years. We know there will be market corrections every 5-12 years - we just don't know when

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