Commercial real estate investors spend a lot of time thinking about cash flow, depreciation, and the next deal.

But what happens when the real goal shifts from simply building wealth to keeping it, protecting it, and making it work harder?

In Episode 53 of The Value Builder Podcast, Saul Zenkevicius sits down with Josh Manier and CPA Stewart Cariveau to unpack the financial side of wealth that many operators overlook.

They challenge the idea that cash flow should always be the North Star, explain why liquidity creates both protection and opportunity, and discuss how tax planning changes when you start thinking in decades instead of April 15th.

The conversation gets into cost segregation, real estate professional status, 1031 exchanges, investment accounts, personal balance sheets, tax documentation, and why aggressive strategies still need to survive scrutiny.

And then Stewart takes things to Cabo, where lifestyle, real estate, networking, and financial strategy all start intersecting.

From “write off your life” to the “1031 slaughterhouse” to Stewart’s closing philosophy of “Let’s print some money,” this one has plenty of ideas worth challenging.

00:15 Building Wealth Is Only Half the Job 01:28 What Josh & Stewart Do for Private Families 05:10 Is Liquidity More Important Than Cash Flow? 08:31 Do You Actually Need That Much Life Insurance? 10:05 Where Should Your Money Be Working? 14:25 Cost Segregation, Taxes & CRE 15:06 The Real Estate Professional Rules Investors Miss 21:32 The Tax Strategy Social Media Oversimplified 25:02 1031 Exchange or Cost Segregation? 29:03 The Personal Residence Tax Opportunity 31:09 The Augusta Rule Most Investors Ignore 31:30 Using New Purchases to Offset Property Sales 35:00 How Their CFO & Tax Advisory Model Works 38:15 The Cabo Wealth & Lifestyle Strategy 44:04 How Real Estate Financing Works in Cabo 48:19 Connect With Josh & Stewart 48:58 “Let’s Print Some Money”

Josh Manier Phone: (952) 345-3445 Email: joshmanier@gmail.com

Josh and Stewart describe their practice as private and referral-based rather than publicly marketed. They advise high-net-worth families and closely held businesses across tax strategy, liquidity, investments, cash flow, and personal/business balance-sheet planning.

Subscribe to The Value Builder Podcast for practical conversations with commercial real estate operators, investors, advisors, and entrepreneurs focused on creating and protecting value.

This conversation is for educational purposes and should not be treated as individualized tax, legal, or investment advice.

#CommercialRealEstate #TaxStrategy #RealEstateInvesting #WealthBuilding #ValueBuilderPodcast

Multifamily has taken its hits. Higher rates, compressed values, capital calls, slower rent growth, and painful refinances have forced operators to rethink what actually creates value.

Gary Lipsky is buying again.

In Episode 52 of The Value Builder Podcast, Gary joins Saul Zenkevicius to explain why he believes the multifamily market is beginning to turn and why today’s lack of competition may be creating one of the better buying windows in years.

Gary shares how his team recently acquired another 300-unit property, why he’s seeing some of the highest cap rates he’s seen in more than a decade, and why real value-add today requires much more than simply renovating units and raising rents.

They also get into creative NOI growth, market concentration, preferred equity, capital calls, supply coming off the market, and the painful refinance decision Gary wishes he could take back.

Chapters

00:00 Why Gary Is Buying Real Estate Now 00:47 Gary Lipsky and Break of Day Capital 03:03 Does Multifamily Value-Add Still Work? 05:12 Creating NOI Without Relying on Rent Growth 09:22 Why Market Concentration Matters 11:49 Gary Is Buying Again 12:47 Are More Multifamily Defaults Coming? 15:07 Why Gary Thinks This Is a Buying Opportunity 15:40 Navigating Cash-In Refinances 17:33 The Refi Decision Gary Wishes He Could Take Back 20:30 Control the Controllables 22:02 Is Multifamily Starting to Turn? 23:03 Connect With Gary

Connect with Gary Lipsky:

Break of Day Capital: https://breakofdaycapital.com

Gary’s books, investor resources, newsletter, social links, and current opportunities are available through the Break of Day Capital website.

Subscribe to The Value Builder Podcast for practical conversations with commercial real estate investors and operators building long-term value. New episodes every Wednesday.

Higher rates can hurt valuations, freeze sellers, and create distress. They can also create exactly the kind of buying opportunities value-add investors wait for.

In Episode 51 of The Value Builder Podcast, Saul Zenkevicius sits down with Nikita Zhitov and Rafik Moore to unpack five CRE stories that were getting major attention: AI and office demand, rising foreclosures, retail’s comeback, higher-for-longer rates, and whether industrial is actually overbuilt.

With the Fed decision landing as this episode drops, the rates discussion is especially timely. Rafik explains why “the more distress they cause, the more bullish I get,” while Saul lays out a simpler response to rate uncertainty: stop trying to predict the Fed, underwrite conservatively, and buy deeper. Nikita adds the seller-side reality: many owners still have not adjusted expectations enough for today’s cost of capital.

They also get into why Class A office may separate further from B/C, why retail demand is coming back in new forms, and why small- and mid-bay industrial may still have room even when big-box distribution feels overbuilt.

Chapters

00:15 Five CRE stories everyone is talking about 00:45 Is AI really killing the office? 07:38 Why Class A office may separate from B/C 11:18 Foreclosures up 21%: crack or normalization? 15:30 Why interest rates are driving distress 19:37 Why retail is back 24:45 Experiential retail and value-add opportunity 28:18 Higher rates, deeper discounts 30:56 Stop predicting the Fed. Underwrite for it. 32:50 Is industrial really overbuilt? 36:04 Why small- and mid-bay still look interesting 38:05 Final thoughts on surviving the cycle

Subscribe to The Value Builder Podcast for practical conversations with commercial real estate investors and operators building long-term value. New episodes every Wednesday.

Insurance has become one of the biggest pain points in commercial real estate. What if there were a way to stop simply paying premiums and actually participate in the economics of the insurance company?

In this episode of the Value Builder Podcast, Saul sits down with Nicolas Lares of Insur3Tech to break down captive insurance and how real estate owners can use alternative insurance structures to potentially lower costs, share risk, and participate in returns when the group performs well.

Nicolas explains the difference between traditional insurance, group captives, and independent captives, how reinsurance protects against catastrophic losses, what lenders think about captive coverage, and when a portfolio may be large enough to consider its own captive.

They also discuss how aligning incentives between property owners and the insurer can change the claims process and why Nicolas believes good operators may be subsidizing higher-risk owners in the traditional insurance market.

00:00 Introduction 01:15 How Nicolas Got Into Insurance 04:14 The Insurance Crisis That Changed Everything 06:03 Building a Group Captive 08:11 How Captive Insurance Actually Works 10:21 What Happens When Catastrophic Losses Hit? 12:57 Why Insurance Works Like a Casino 13:53 Will Lenders Accept Captive Insurance? 15:30 What Does It Take for a CRE Operator to Get Started? 18:53 Becoming a Co-Owner Instead of Just a Customer 19:56 When Does Your Own Captive Make Sense? 22:49 Why Nicolas Questions Traditional Insurance 25:05 The Potential Economics of Captive Insurance 28:50 Why Saul Exited Southwest Florida 29:13 Rethinking the Insurance Claims Process 31:45 How to Connect with Nicolas Lares

Website: insur3tech.com LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/nicolas-lares-77a328169 Email: nicolas@insur3tech.com

The Value Builder Podcast features conversations with investors, operators, developers, entrepreneurs, and business leaders focused on creating value through commercial real estate, business ownership, and long-term investing.

#CommercialRealEstate #RealEstateInvesting #CaptiveInsurance #CRE #Insurance #ValueBuilderPodcast

What matters more: building a bigger portfolio or creating more freedom?

In this episode of the Value Builder Podcast, Saul sits down with Danny Newberry of Vail Commercial Group to discuss the evolution of a commercial real estate investor, from multifamily beginnings to retail, industrial, office, development, and beyond.

Danny shares why he shifted away from aggressively growing his company, how he thinks about cash flow versus equity growth, and the framework he uses to decide which deals to hold long-term and which deals to sell.

The conversation also explores today's opportunities in neighborhood shopping centers, small-bay industrial, selective office investments, joint ventures, and the importance of aligning your business with the lifestyle you actually want.

00:00 Introduction 00:16 From Multifamily to Retail & Industrial 02:58 Is Office Coming Back? 04:49 Turning Around a 170K SF Houston Flex Building 07:53 Why He Walked Away from a Bigger Business 12:17 The Cost of Chasing More 13:45 The Cash Flow vs Growth Decision Every Investor Faces 16:17 Why Cash Flow Creates Peace of Mind 18:20 Which CRE Deals Should You Hold Forever? 19:40 Partnerships, Capital & Today's Opportunities 20:51 How to Connect with Danny Voss 21:08 What Are You Most Grateful For? 21:53 The Longevity Question 22:20 Closing Thoughts

🌐 Website: VailCommercialGroup.com

📧 Email: Danny@VailCommercialGroup.com

The Value Builder Podcast features conversations with investors, operators, developers, entrepreneurs, and business leaders focused on creating value through commercial real estate, business ownership, and long-term investing.

#CommercialRealEstate #RetailRealEstate #IndustrialRealEstate #CREInvesting #CashFlow #ValueBuilderPodcast #RealEstateInvesting #PassiveIncome

What does it take to build wealth through multiple real estate cycles?

In this episode of the Value Builder Podcast, Saul sits down with Kathy Fettke, co-founder of RealWealth, bestselling author, educator, and longtime real estate investor, to discuss the investing principles that have endured through booms, busts, recessions, and recoveries.

Kathy shares lessons learned from the 2008 financial crisis, the dangers of speculation, the importance of cash flow, and why long-term ownership continues to outperform short-term thinking. She also discusses demographic shifts, housing supply challenges, inflation, and how investors can position themselves for the next phase of the market.

Whether you're buying your first investment property or building a long-term portfolio, this conversation offers a practical framework for navigating uncertainty and creating lasting wealth.

• Why buy-and-hold investing continues to outperform market timing
• Lessons learned from the 2008 financial crisis
• The difference between speculation and investing
• Housing supply, demographics, and future demand
• Building wealth through cash-flowing assets
• Common mistakes investors make during market cycles
• How to think long term when markets get volatile

📧 Website: RealWealth

📱 LinkedIn: Kathy Fettke

🎙 Podcast: Real Wealth Show Podcast

Over the past year, the Value Builder Podcast has featured developers, investors, operators, entrepreneurs, brokers, and builders from across commercial real estate.

Different markets. Different strategies. Different backgrounds.

Yet certain lessons kept showing up again and again.

In this special one-year anniversary episode, Saul reflects on the biggest insights from the first 47 episodes and revisits some of the most memorable moments from guests who shared hard-earned wisdom about business, investing, entrepreneurship, leadership, money, fulfillment, and life.

• Building wealth without losing sight of what matters
• Why fundamentals still win in commercial real estate
• The difference between income and asset ownership
• Entrepreneurship, risk, and resilience
• Capital raising and long-term investing
• Gratitude, generosity, and legacy
• What the best operators seem to understand that most people miss

Whether you've been with us since episode one or you're discovering the show for the first time, this episode captures the themes that shaped the first year of Value Builder.

Thank you to every guest, listener, subscriber, and supporter who helped make year one possible.

Here's to the next chapter.

Shay Yakobovich built commercial real estate wealth, then made a different choice: fewer deals, smaller headaches, and more life.

In this episode, Saul sits down with Shay to talk about what happens after you have enough. They cover passive income, lifestyle creep, gratitude, giving back, and why chasing bigger deals is not always the right answer.

In this episode, you’ll learn:

• Why Shay stepped away from chasing larger CRE deals
• How he built a team that lets him work only a few hours a week
• Why “less is more” became his operating philosophy
• How gratitude and giving back changed his view of wealth
• What smaller retail and flex deals can offer that larger deals often cannot
• Why sleeping well at night became part of his investment criteria

Connect with Shay on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/shay-yakobovich-783296a3/

This episode is for CRE operators and investors asking a deeper question: what is all this work actually for?