Axel sits down with Pat Carino — a multifamily developer, acquisitions professional at NRP Group, and co-founder of DealNav — for a wide-ranging conversation that spans institutional development, deal sourcing at the highest level, and the origin story of a software tool that Aligned Real Estate Partners actually uses in their own business.

Pat breaks down the three-bucket deal sourcing framework he uses at the institutional level — brokers, referral network (architects, engineers, attorneys), and true off-market sourcing. 

The second half of the conversation dives into DealNav — what it is, why Pat built it, and why a purpose-built deal tracking CRM with a map beats bloated all-in-one platforms for acquisitions-focused operators. This episode is essential listening for any investor who wants to understand how deal sourcing is done at the institutional level — and how the same principles apply whether you're buying a 10-unit or a 300-unit ground-up development.

Join us as we dive into:

• The three-phase development contract lifecycle: due diligence, entitlement approvals (6 months to 1+ year), and closing — and how it differs from a traditional value-add acquisition
• The three-bucket deal sourcing framework: broker deals, referral network (architects, engineers, land use attorneys, economic development offices), and true off-market direct-to-owner
• The story of a vacant 30,000 sq ft retail building: a two-year follow-up campaign, tracking down the decision-maker through her daughter's Instagram DM, and closing the deal after years of patient persistence
• Why having a CRM with clean notes, timestamped follow-up reminders, and a linked map is the only way to manage a multi-year, multi-contact off-market pipeline at scale
• The origin story of DealNav: from colored pins on a Jersey City poster board to an Excel/Google My Maps hybrid to a purpose-built SaaS product — and why 15 demos of competing CRMs came up short
• The three boxes DealNav was built to check: simplicity (prospecting only, no bloat), a map-first interface, and single-user affordable pricing
• How DealNav became a deal source for Pat's institutional acquisitions work — and why building a real estate community and a real estate software company often leads to the same people
• What makes a good development site: rent comps that justify new construction, favorable taxes (or abatements), manageable affordability requirements, and the right construction type

Sign up for the DealNav CRM HERE

Connect with Pat Carino:

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Learn more about DealNav

Are you looking to invest in real estate, but don't want to deal with the hassle of finding great deals, signing on debt, and managing tenants? Aligned Real Estate Partners provides investment opportunities to passive investors looking for the returns, stability, and tax benefits multifamily real estate offers, but without the work - join our investor club to be notified of future investment opportunities.

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In this solo episode, Axel tackles one of the most overlooked — and potentially damaging — mistakes new real estate investors make: seeking advice from the wrong people. Not wrong because they're unsuccessful, but wrong because they're in a completely different season of life, operating in a different market, or simply too many steps ahead to give advice that's actually actionable for where you are right now.

This episode is essential listening for any investor at any stage of their career who wants to think more clearly about where to source advice, who to model their decisions after, and how to find mentors who are actually in a position to give contextually useful guidance.

Join us as we dive into:

• Why seeking advice from someone 10 steps ahead of you is often more harmful than helpful — and why contextual relevance matters more than raw experience
• The three investor archetypes: the 25-year-old (aggressive risk, bridge debt, self-managing, hairy deals), the 40-year-old (moderate risk, stabilized debt, B-class assets, capital preservation), and the 55-year-old (winding down, passive income, protecting net worth)
• Why the 55-year-old's advice to "avoid risk, buy in great areas, don't partner" is not wrong — it's just wrong for a 25-year-old trying to scale fast
• How Axel at 31 can already feel himself shifting from aggressive growth to capital preservation — and why that shift happens naturally as your season of life evolves
• Why market context matters just as much as experience level: an Ohio investor buying at $80K/door and a Boston investor buying at $300–$400K/door are playing fundamentally different games
• Why lifestyle design matters when choosing who to learn from — and why Axel doesn't want advice from someone running a 5,000-unit operation with a 15-person team if that's not the business he wants to build
• Where Axel currently seeks advice: investors controlling 1,000 units, raising $10–$20M/year, transitioning from small-to-mid deals to 50–100+ unit acquisitions

Are you looking to invest in real estate, but don't want to deal with the hassle of finding great deals, signing on debt, and managing tenants? Aligned Real Estate Partners provides investment opportunities to passive investors looking for the returns, stability, and tax benefits multifamily real estate offers, but without the work - join our investor club to be notified of future investment opportunities.

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Learn more about Aligned Real Estate Partners

In this deal segment episode, Axel sits back down with Phil MacArthur to break down one of Phil's most recent acquisitions: a 20-unit portfolio deal across four buildings in New Hampshire, picked up on the MLS after months of sitting on cash from prior refinances. 

The conversation gets into the real nuances of buying from long-term mom-and-pop owners: the informal nature of their leases, the difficulty of getting estoppels, and why small-deal variance is just part of the game when you're playing in the 5 to 30 unit space. Phil and Axel also share a candid back-and-forth on tenant retention — and why tenants know the rental market far better than most landlords give them credit for.

This episode is essential listening for any investor buying smaller multifamily deals direct from mom-and-pop owners — and who wants a clear-eyed picture of what the due diligence process actually looks like when the seller isn't exactly playing by the book.

Join us as we dive into:

• How Phil found this 20-unit, four-building deal on the MLS after sitting on cash from four prior refinances for six months.
• Why the appraiser — from a large Boston institution — applied a 5% loss-to-lease penalty on four vacant units and capped the bank's lending at $3M (65–70% LTV)
• How Phil bridged the $300,000 financing gap with a short-term hard money lender to get the deal closed
• The business plan: light CapEx on roofs and exterior, and bumping rents from an in-place average of $1,600 toward a market rate of ~$1,950 — already achieved on newly leased units
• Why almost none of the existing tenants left — and why that was better than expected given the previous owner's warnings
• Why tenants know the rental market better than investors give them credit for — and why that works in your favor when your rents are modestly below market
• The exit plan: refinance out the hard money, stabilize the rent roll, and target a cash-out refi within 12–24 months to recover 75%+ of invested capital

Connect with Phil:
Connect with him on Linkedin
Follow Windrift Real Estate on Instagram
Learn more about Windrift Real Estate, LLC

Listen to the Previous Episode with Phil:
Ep119 - Living in an Expensive Market and Investing out of State + Quickly Building a Personally Owned Portfolio of 70+ Units via Spotify or Apple

Are you looking to invest in real estate, but don't want to deal with the hassle of finding great deals, signing on debt, and managing tenants? Aligned Real Estate Partners provides investment opportunities to passive investors looking for the returns, stability, and tax benefits multifamily real estate offers, but without the work - join our investor club to be notified of future investment opportunities.

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Learn more about Aligned Real Estate Partners

Axel once again sits down with Phil MacArthur — a Boston-based real estate broker and multifamily investor who has quietly bootstrapped a 125-unit portfolio across some of the most remote, tertiary markets in New Hampshire. Phil's story is a refreshingly honest account of what it actually looks like to build a portfolio the hard way: no outside capital, no institutional backing, just hustle, grinding commissions from Boston condo sales, and reinvesting every dollar back into the next deal.

He also shares the management chaos he experienced, contractor war stories, and the key hires that finally allowed him to step back and operate at scale.

This episode is essential listening for any investor who wants a real, unfiltered look at what bootstrapping a 100+ unit portfolio actually costs you — in time, stress, and opportunity — and what you'd do differently if you were starting over today.

Join us as we dive into:

• Why Lake Sunapee and Farmington, NH — not Manchester or the Seacoast — were Phil's first markets, and how affordability and personal connection drove the decision
• The reality of self-managing 25+ units across remote New Hampshire while running a full-time brokerage in Boston — and why Phil calls it one of his biggest regrets
• How Phil found his generalist property manager through his own tenant network, and why she became the "cork in the bow of the boat" for his portfolio
• Why Phil recommends new investors finance renovations rather than self-fund them — and how selling Boston condos to fund New Hampshire renos slowed his growth
• The hyperlocal bank strategy: why Phil targeted lenders that already held the existing debt on properties he was buying — and how that unlocked financing others couldn't get
• Why New Hampshire has been largely insulated from the distress hitting other markets — flat expenses, stable insurance, and strong meds-and-eds demand drivers from Boston
• Phil's current buy box: Class B buildings purchased below replacement cost, separate utilities, light cosmetic value add — and why he's deliberately stepping back from heavy renovation work
• The 90% tenant retention rate Phil has achieved — and why rapid maintenance response is the single biggest driver of whether a tenant stays or leaves

Connect with Phil:

Connect with him on Linkedin
Follow Windrift Real Estate on Instagram
Learn more about Windrift Real Estate, LLC

Listen to the Previous Episode with Phil:

Ep119 - Living in an Expensive Market and Investing out of State + Quickly Building a Personally Owned Portfolio of 70+ Units via Spotify or Apple

Are you looking to invest in real estate, but don't want to deal with the hassle of finding great deals, signing on debt, and managing tenants? Aligned Real Estate Partners provides investment opportunities to passive investors looking for the returns, stability, and tax benefits multifamily real estate offers, but without the work - join our investor club to be notified of future investment opportunities.

Connect with Axel:

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Learn more about Aligned Real Estate Partners

In this episode, Axel sits down with Pat Brady — founder of Brady Capital Advisors — for a sharp conversation on the current New England debt market, what makes a great borrower, and where smart capital is flowing in 2026.

He brings a uniquely data-rich perspective on where bank spreads are heading, how rent control is reshaping Massachusetts, and why New Hampshire remains the region's most compelling multifamily market.

This episode is essential listening for any New England multifamily investor who wants a clear-eyed view of the lending environment and where to focus capital right now.

Join us as we dive into:

• Pat's path from internship at The Claremont Companies to Arbor Commercial Mortgage to boutique brokerage to founding Brady Capital Advisors
• The value proposition of a mortgage broker for both mom-and-pop operators and sophisticated institutional sponsors — and why it's different for each
• Why lenders perform better when a mortgage broker is involved; more incentive to compete, more willingness to problem-solve, and better negotiating leverage for the borrower
• The 2026 rate reset wave: borrowers locked in at low-3% fixed rates in 2021 are now facing balloon payments and refinances and what the current market looks like for them
• What separates a great borrower from a difficult one: transparency, clean books, and emotional stability
• How Pat's team is using Claude to eliminate data entry and free up originators to focus on revenue-generating work with strict guardrails around proprietary borrower data
• The Massachusetts rent control breakdown: 60% of investors pencils down, 20% waiting for a smoking deal, 20% calling it a generational opportunity
• Why New Hampshire is everyone's market right now and how capital migrating out of Mass is creating ripple effects across the region

Connect with Pat:

Connect with him on Linkedin
Follow Brady Capital on Instagram
Learn more about Brady Capital Advisors

Listen to the Previous Episodes with Pat:

Ep231 - Dissecting Current Debt Environment, Working w/ Local/Regional Banks, and How To Be A Great Borrower

Are you looking to invest in real estate, but don't want to deal with the hassle of finding great deals, signing on debt, and managing tenants? Aligned Real Estate Partners provides investment opportunities to passive investors looking for the returns, stability, and tax benefits multifamily real estate offers, but without the work - join our investor club to be notified of future investment opportunities.

Connect with Axel:

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Learn more about Aligned Real Estate Partners

In this solo episode, Axel dives into one of the most misunderstood and emotionally charged moments in any real estate transaction — the re-trade. He breaks down exactly what re-trading is, when it makes sense to do it, when it doesn't, and how to actually communicate a concession request in a way that protects both the deal and your long-term reputation in the market.

He also shares real examples from Aligned's own deal history — including times they deliberately chose not to re-trade in order to protect relationships that eventually produced multiple future deals.

This episode is essential listening for any active buyer working through due diligence who wants a clear, practical framework for making one of the trickiest calls in real estate — and making it the right way.

Join us as we dive into:

• A clear definition of what re-trading is and the most common triggering events: physical due diligence findings, financial due diligence discrepancies, environmental issues, and rate movement during financing
• Why the decision to re-trade is always a tradeoff between the financial cost of a finding and the reputational capital you spend by making the request
• How the calculus changes when you're buying with investor capital versus your own — and why being a fiduciary shifts the decision framework
• The decision flowchart: is the finding terminal to the deal, or does it just have a quantifiable cost?
• Why environmental findings and major unpermitted work are among the few things that can actually kill a deal — and why even those are sometimes better handled by walking away than re-trading
• The real cost of re-trading small items — crappy water heaters, minor CapEx — on a million-dollar deal, and why protecting the relationship is often worth more than the credit
• The philosophy behind absorbing manageable risk to maintain goodwill: "just because you extracted max value on that deal, if it prevents your ability to do the second — you probably lost"
• How to communicate a re-trade request: lead with data not emotion, use objective third-party findings and contractor quotes, and frame it as a partnership solution not an adversarial demand
• Why giving sellers multiple options — price reduction, seller credit, pre-closing work, creative solutions — goes a long way in keeping the deal collaborative
• The importance of timing: why raising concerns early in the DD process is far better than waiting until the 11th hour, and how to set soft expectations before making the formal request

Are you looking to invest in real estate, but don't want to deal with the hassle of finding great deals, signing on debt, and managing tenants? Aligned Real Estate Partners provides investment opportunities to passive investors looking for the returns, stability, and tax benefits multifamily real estate offers, but without the work - join our investor club to be notified of future investment opportunities.

Connect with Axel:

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Learn more about Aligned Real Estate Partners

In this deal segment episode, Axel sits back down with Justin Dragone — Acquisitions Manager at Aligned Real Estate Partners — to break down Justin's very first personal real estate deal: a 3-unit property on the west side of Manchester, New Hampshire that he sourced via cold call, closed at a $50,000 discount to market, and recently refinanced to pull out equity and roll into his next deal.

This episode is a must-listen for any newer investor who's overthinking their first deal — and needs a real-world example of what a solid, sensible, non-flashy first deal actually looks like.

Join us as we dive into:

• How Justin bought the property for $500,000 — roughly $50,000 below what it would have fetched listed with a broker in late 2023
• Why Justin used conventional local bank financing at 75% LTV — and why that was the right call for a first deal
• How all three units turned over within the first couple of months post-closing — and why having a solid management company made that a manageable situation
• The unexpected CapEx items that came up: knob-and-tube wiring in the basement, an aging oil tank that needed replacement, and the lesson that units always cost more to turn than they look
• Why Justin hired a property manager from day one on a three-unit — and the philosophy behind valuing his time as an acquirer over saving a management fee
• Why the refinance process was far simpler than expected — especially with a local bank that already knew the property
• Why young investors shouldn't assume age is a barrier to getting a commercial loan — and why local banks underwrite the deal first, not the borrower

Connect with Justin Dragone:

Follow him on Instagram
Email him through: [email protected]

Are you looking to invest in real estate, but don't want to deal with the hassle of finding great deals, signing on debt, and managing tenants? Aligned Real Estate Partners provides investment opportunities to passive investors looking for the returns, stability, and tax benefits multifamily real estate offers, but without the work - join our investor club to be notified of future investment opportunities.

Connect with Axel:

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Learn more about Aligned Real Estate Partners

In another in-person episode, Axel sits down with Justin Dragone — Acquisitions Manager at Aligned Real Estate Partners — for a deep, behind-the-curtain look at how Aligned actually finds deals. Justin brings a unique perspective on the operator side and spending the last three years building and running Aligned's direct-to-seller acquisitions engine.

The conversation covers the full acquisition process from first touch to signed contract. Justin and Axel also share their honest take on how the direct-to-seller landscape is evolving in 2026 — more competition, harder to reach people, and why hyper-local credibility is the last remaining moat.

This episode is essential listening for any investor who wants to build a real deal-finding machine — not just send some mail and hope — and understand what professional, high-volume, direct-to-seller acquisitions actually looks like day to day.

Join us as we dive into:

• Justin's journey from putting out open house signs as a high schooler to running acquisitions for a multifamily investment firm
• The five-point outreach sequence Aligned uses to reach every seller: cold call, voicemail, text, email, and direct mail
• Why Aligned sends direct mail quarterly and calls back every two to three months — and why more frequent contact often backfires
• Why Aligned skips asking sellers for expense schedules — and why you should know your market well enough not to need them
• How Justin presents offers over the phone, always tries to get a counter, and sends a real purchase and sale agreement the same day
• The seller motivation signals Justin listens for on every call: willingness to talk, volunteering information, age and retirement plans, and dissolving partnerships
• How to educate an over-priced seller using inarguable, factual data — not opinions — to bridge the gap between their expectations and market reality
• The 72-unit Barrington deal that took five years of follow-up from first mail piece to signed contract — and why that timeline is normal for large deals
• How Aligned stays omnipresent with sellers through a monthly acquisitions newsletter sent to every broker, seller, lender, and vendor in their market
• Why the direct-to-seller landscape is getting harder — more competition, lower answer rates, more spam — and why hyper-local credibility is the last remaining edge

Connect with Justin Dragone:

Follow him on Instagram
Email him through: [email protected]

Are you looking to invest in real estate, but don't want to deal with the hassle of finding great deals, signing on debt, and managing tenants? Aligned Real Estate Partners provides investment opportunities to passive investors looking for the returns, stability, and tax benefits multifamily real estate offers, but without the work - join our investor club to be notified of future investment opportunities.

Connect with Axel:

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Learn more about Aligned Real Estate Partners

In this quick solo episode, Axel shares tactical renovation tips for value-add multifamily investors — the kind of on-the-ground, practical guidance that comes from years of buying, renovating, and operating older New England apartment buildings. Whether you're tackling your first value-add deal or refining your renovation playbook on your tenth, these tips are designed to help you maximize rent, reduce vacancy, and build a product that tenants actually want to stay in.

Axel covers everything from how to test your market with an over-renovated first unit, to why you should be secretly shopping new construction buildings every quarter, to why a $500 power wash can make a building look like it just got a $20,000 facelift.

This episode is ideal for any investor actively executing or planning a value-add renovation — especially those working with older, smaller multifamily assets in supply-constrained markets.

Join us as we dive into:

• Why you should over-renovate one of your early vacant units to test the market before locking in your renovation scope for the whole building
• How spending an extra $2,000–$3,000 on nicer finishes in that first unit can reveal whether a $75/month rent premium is achievable — and justify upgrading every unit that follows
• Why modeling your finishes after what new institutional ground-up developments are doing is the smartest design shortcut available to small operators
• How to secret-shop new construction buildings quarterly to stay ahead of design trends without hiring an interior designer
• The concept of "function keeps folks longer" — and the low-cost upgrades that make a unit meaningfully more livable for tenants day-to-day
• Specific functional upgrades: extra kitchen cabinets, bump-out countertops, storage vanities over pedestal sinks, medicine cabinets, closet shelving, and towel hooks
• Why investing in bright, inviting common areas and exteriors pays bigger dividends than adding the same dollars to individual unit budgets
• The underrated impact of LED motion-activated lights, light paint colors, and natural light in common hallways on prospective tenant perception

Are you looking to invest in real estate, but don't want to deal with the hassle of finding great deals, signing on debt, and managing tenants? Aligned Real Estate Partners provides investment opportunities to passive investors looking for the returns, stability, and tax benefits multifamily real estate offers, but without the work - join our investor club to be notified of future investment opportunities.

Connect with Axel:

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Subscribe to our YouTube channel
Learn more about Aligned Real Estate Partners

Axel sits down with Ryan Corcoran of Specialized Property Group for a new segment on the show. Ryan walks through a property he picked up for $1.325 million through an off-market agent relationship, with a simple business plan of renovating vacant units, pushing rents, and refinancing to hold long-term. 

What unfolded was a masterclass in staying opportunistic: an adjacent lot that the seller dismissed as worthless was taken through the zoning board, permitted for a three-unit development, and sold off for $250,000 — turning an already solid deal into an exceptional one. 

The episode doesn't just celebrate the wins. Ryan is candid about what went sideways — vacant units that sat for six months, the tension between maximizing rent rolls for a refinance versus filling units quickly, and a costly prepayment penalty that caught the team off guard when they pivoted from a hold to a sale. These are the kinds of real-world friction points that rarely make it into a highlight reel, and they're exactly what makes this episode worth listening to.

Join us as we dive into:

• The adjacent lot play that nobody valued: how Ryan took an "unbuildable" lot through the zoning board, secured multiple variances, and sold it for $250,000 — a return entirely outside the original underwriting
• Why three units sat vacant for six months despite a strong location near UMass Medical Center — and the hard lesson about rent-setting strategy when your goal is a refinance versus long-term hold
• The sell vs. hold decision: why a $1.6M basis with a $2M exit made more sense than grinding for $20–30K per year in cash flow — and what that says about capital recycling and return on equity
• The prepayment penalty trap: how a conventional commercial loan locked the team into a six-figure exit cost they hadn't fully accounted for — and how to negotiate 1-1-1 or step-down structures upfront
• Why having a licensed real estate agent as a partner (or spouse) is one of the biggest structural advantages in a transactional investing business — and how Ryan's team saved six figures in commissions last year alone
• The value creation hiding in oversized lots: why dedicating resources to subdivision and entitlement work on large parcels is one of the highest-leverage moves available to active investors today

Connect with Ryan:

Follow him on Instagram
Connect with him on Linkedin
Subscribe to our YouTube channel
Learn more about Specialized Property Group

Are you looking to invest in real estate, but don't want to deal with the hassle of finding great deals, signing on debt, and managing tenants? Aligned Real Estate Partners provides investment opportunities to passive investors looking for the returns, stability, and tax benefits multifamily real estate offers, but without the work - join our investor club to be notified of future investment opportunities.

Connect with Axel:

Follow him on Instagram
Connect with him on Linkedin
Subscribe to our YouTube channel
Learn more about Aligned Real Estate Partners