The Pete Podcast

AI agents will either transform your acquisitions team or waste your money, and the difference comes down to which jobs you hand them. In this solo episode, a working home buyer shares how their business eliminated the lead manager position last year and now has AI answering every new inbound lead, and how the same approach handles property management calls, including maintenance triage that beats what a seven-year human manager delivered.

The episode draws a clear line between a standalone AI agent and one built into your CRM, covers where AI agents shine in acquisitions, and names the jobs that should stay with a human, from live negotiation to emotional seller conversations. If you run an acquisitions team and want to use AI to follow up faster without losing the human touch, this one is for you.

Episode Highlights

[0:00] – Why AI agents either transform an acquisitions team or waste your money

[0:15] – AI in real estate acquisitions has moved from experiment to core infrastructure

[0:38] – Eliminating the lead manager position and letting AI answer every new inbound lead

[1:22] – Using an AI agent for property management, from rental questions to maintenance triage

[2:07] – Why an AI agent built into the CRM beats a bolt-on tool that forgets past calls

[3:00] – What agentic AI adds: continuous processes that never clock out or forget a follow up

[3:46] – Augmenting an acquisitions team instead of replacing it

[4:32] – Automated follow-up texts and calls, plus a re-engagement call after a missed appointment

[5:17] – Personalized texts within seconds of a new lead and a call within 60 seconds

[6:46] – Automatic call summaries that scale to the length of the call

[7:58] – Why emotional sellers making huge financial decisions still need a human

[8:23] – Jobs not to hand off: live negotiation, complex deals, warm lead relationships, escalations

[9:46] – Setting guardrails for tone, scope, and escalation before you deploy any agent

[10:36] – Logging every AI touch and turning AI texting off and on with one click

[11:02] – Start simple with an instant response and a seven-day follow-up sequence

[12:16] – Scoring your AI agent calls to test whether a prompt change actually helped

Key Takeaways

1. Match AI to the right jobs. AI agents pay off when they handle volume, repetitive follow-up, and the boring work that burns people out.
2. Integrate, don't bolt on. An AI agent connected to your CRM remembers earlier calls and appointments, so callers never feel like they are starting over.
3. Keep humans on the finish line. Live negotiation, complex deals, emotional sellers, and contract walkthroughs still belong to a person.
4. Set guardrails first. Define tone, scope, and escalation rules before deployment so the agent never says the wrong thing at the wrong time.
5. Start with speed to lead. Your best first use case is an immediate response plus a seven-day follow-up sequence on every new inbound lead.

Closing Remark

This episode comes from an operator who has already handed inbound lead response to AI agents and keeps people on the final steps of every deal. It is a practical look at using AI to augment an acquisitions team rather than replace it.

If you enjoyed this episode, make sure to rate, follow, share, and review The PETE Podcast so more investors can learn how to build smarter real estate businesses.

Casey Gregerson is a former Shell petroleum engineer who went full time in real estate four years ago and now runs a vertically integrated operation of 450-plus units spanning acquisitions, construction, property management, and a capital fund. He hosts the Rags to Riches podcast and has a book coming through Forbes in Q1.

In this episode Casey walks through his constantly evolving real estate tech stack and how AI is reshaping it, from using an AI agent to absorb VA work, to centralizing every communication in one hub, to the hard rule he uses so the stack never bloats. If you are a real estate investor or a W2 professional trying to scale with systems and AI without burning out your team, this conversation is built for you.

Timeline Summary

[1:02] – Host restarts and introduces Casey, a petroleum engineer turned full-time real estate investor

[1:22] – Ten years at Shell working two weeks on, two weeks off on oil rigs and frac spreads

[2:11] – How two weeks off every rotation funded flipping houses and buying rentals

[2:33] – Leaving his W2 four years ago and why your W2 is a superpower

[3:48] – Property management stack journey from Google Sheets and Venmo to Buildium to Rent Manager

[4:45] – Introducing Victor, the AI agent taking over VA tasks like flip profitability tracking

[7:36] – How a peer cut ten virtual team members in a week after adopting the same AI

[9:22] – Telling the team to double output with AI on the path from 3 million to 10 million

[10:53] – Why moving too fast on new tools quietly burns out your team

[11:32] – His biggest mistake, getting oversold on AI that over promises and under delivers

[12:31] – Building a centralized hub and spoke system you control as AI keeps changing

[14:03] – Why pulling all communication into one place moved the needle most

[17:03] – The free six-minute Lead to Close Health Check at leadtoclosetest.com

[19:33] – The multifamily opportunity in markets still doing leases by hand

[22:01] – Rapid fire begins: start before you are ready, find a mentor, and fail forward

[24:29] – The one tool he could not run his business without

5 Key Takeaways

1. Subtract Before You Add — Casey's rule is that every new tool requires killing an old one. When Slack became the communication hub, Voxer got cut, so the stack never bloats.
2. AI Should Multiply, Not Replace — Instead of cutting staff after adopting an AI agent, he asked his team to double their output, targeting a jump from 3 million to 10 million in revenue with the same people.
3. Beware the AI Oversell — His costliest mistake was paying for a custom AI build that over promised and never shipped before the market moved past it. Favor tools that work now over promises of what is coming.
4. Centralize Before You Automate — Funnel every communication and data source into one hub first. Once the information lives in one place, AI can actually pull from it and do real work.
5. Track Time and Money Saved — A tool only earns its place if you measure it. Casey has his team log what each AI task costs and how much time it saved, so adoption is a decision, not a hunch.

Links & Resources

• Lead to Close Health Check, Pete's free assessment — https://leadtoclosetest.com
• Pete REI software — https://peterei.com
• Casey Gregerson's website, with book updates, the free webinar, and his 12-module course — https://caseygregerson.com

Enjoyed This Episode?

If Casey's "subtract before you add" rule made you look twice at your own tech stack, do not keep it to yourself. Send this episode to the operator or partner who keeps piling on new software without ever cutting the old stuff. And if the Pete Podcast keeps earning your time, follow the show, drop a rating, and leave a quick review so more investors can find it.

In this solo episode of The PETE Podcast, host Jon Nolen breaks down the follow-up cadences that turn a seller's "no" into a signed contract. The core idea is simple: a motivated seller saying no almost never means never, it means not yet, and the right follow-up is what fills that gap.

Jon walks through the exact statuses and workflows his team uses, from the two-week "offer declined" sequence to the "property sold" cadence that quietly waits for deals to fall through. He covers why most deals come from follow-up, how to work multiple channels, why you should track every single touch point, and how long-term nurture can run two or three years. This one's for any investor or acquisitions team leaving money on the table by marking leads dead too early.

Timeline Summary

[0:00] – Why a motivated seller's "no" means "not yet," and how cadence fills the gap

[0:26] – The dead-lead problem: most leads marked dead were never actually verified

[0:44] – The car-shopping analogy for why sellers say no before they're ready

[1:03] – Why most deals come from follow-up and how hot-lead-only teams get lazy

[1:26] – Why salespeople hate follow-up and how to take it off your closers' plates

[1:53] – The "offer declined" status and the two-week cadence that addresses it

[2:15] – Moving unresponsive leads into long-term follow-up with pain-point caveats

[2:33] – The four things "sold" can actually mean, and why most aren't really sold

[2:52] – The "property sold" status and the "congratulations, when do you close?" message

[3:13] – Why that one question reveals whether they closed or just have it under contract

[3:39] – Adding human follow-up a few days before closing, because deals fall through

[3:57] – Mid-roll: the Lead to Close Health Check assessment

[4:38] – Only move a lead to dead once you've confirmed the house actually sold

[4:58] – Following up across multiple channels and why "they said text" isn't a hard rule

[5:19] – Handling high-D sellers who say never call, and still eliciting a response

[5:36] – Why different sellers respond to different channels, text, phone, or email

[5:58] – Tracking every contact and why winning contracts take far more touches than you'd guess

[6:40] – The default Pete cadences and why hitting someone daily for 30 days backfires

[7:18] – Structuring messages around different pain points and motivation buckets

[7:40] – Long-term nurture that runs two to three years, and deals that close years later

[8:00] – Why you should keep old marketing phone numbers because callbacks still come

[8:18] – Automating the whole system so follow-ups don't fail when you're out or short-staffed

5 Key Takeaways

1. "No" Means Not Yet — A motivated seller rarely means never. Most dead leads were never verified as actually sold, so confirm before you ever mark a lead dead.
2. Most Deals Come From Follow-Up — Teams that chase only hot leads and bail at the first no are leaving the majority of deals on the table. Build cadences so follow-up happens no matter what.
3. Take Follow-Up Off Your Closers — Salespeople hate monotonous follow-up and are bad at it. Move it to another person or an automated agent so your closers spend their time closing.
4. Work Every Channel And Track Every Touch — Different sellers respond to text, phone, or email. Log every contact, because the contracts you win almost always take far more touch points than you'd expect.
5. Long-Term Nurture Runs For Years — Real nurture isn't 30 or 60 days, it's sometimes two or three years. You already paid for that marketing, so automate the system and keep squeezing value out of it, old phone numbers included.

Links & Resources

• The Lead to Close Health Check (free 6-minute assessment): https://leadtoclosetest.com/

Enjoyed This Episode?

If this reframed how you think about the leads you've been marking dead, share it with your acquisitions team or a partner who bails too early on follow-up. Follow The PETE Podcast, leave a rating, and drop a quick review so more investors can stop letting deals slip through the cracks.

Brett McCollum spent years as a wholesaler, coach, and investor running heavy direct mail campaigns, sending hundreds of thousands of pieces, and now heads up efforts at PropertyRadar. He is a self-described direct mail junkie who learned the hard way what old data costs a business.

This episode gets into why fresh, targeted property data beats blasting 20,000 mailers, where AI actually belongs next to your sales floor, and why follow-up drives most of the deals investors ever close. If you run outreach, manage a sales team, or you're deciding what to put in your tech stack, this one is for you.

Timeline Summary

[0:46] – Brett opens with a candid take on ego and pride in the real estate investing space

[2:02] – Why a CRM is only as good as your ability to use it, the Ferrari and stick shift problem

[3:23] – His contrarian case for direct outreach over outsourcing your lead generation

[4:45] – Postcard response rates fell from 1.5% to half a percent, and what that means

[5:42] – The ListSource era, and why "refreshed daily" lists are already old at the source

[7:12] – How PropertyRadar runs a data "bake off" for the freshest probate and divorce leads

[10:37] – AI in real estate is extreme love or extreme hate, and who fights it hardest

[11:31] – Augment, don't replace, why AI works best side by side with your team

[13:08] – The five minute speed to lead rule and where AI covers the gaps

[14:38] – Why repeat callers now hit a human before the AI agent picks up

[16:53] – If he rebuilt his tech stack today, the automations he would never skip

[19:20] – Follow-up drives 78% of deals, and the inconsistency that quietly costs money

[22:39] – The vibe coding trap, saving $200 a month while leaving deals on the table

[23:43] – The hidden cost of building your own software, and why 14 engineers matter

[27:36] – Rapid fire wisdom on when to adopt AI, the best time is today

5 Key Takeaways

1. Fresh Data Beats Big Lists — Targeting the people most likely to sell with current data outperforms casting a wide net. You can mail far less and get the same result.
2. Augment, Don't Replace — AI is at its best working alongside your sales floor, catching the leads your team can't answer in the first few minutes instead of letting them go cold.
3. Follow-Up Is Where Deals Live — Around 78% of deals come from follow-up, and consistency is the whole game. Most money left on the table is a follow-up problem.
4. Buy Beats Build for Most Investors — Spending days vibe coding a tool to save a couple hundred a month ignores the real cost of maintaining software, and that time could have closed deals.
5. Progress Over Perfection — Doing something on your tech stack now beats waiting for the perfect answer, especially if you learn from someone actually operating a business, not a social media act.

Links & Resources

• PropertyRadar — https://www.propertyradar.com
• PropertyRadar on Instagram — https://www.instagram.com/propertyradar
• PropertyRadar on Facebook — https://www.facebook.com/propertyradar
• PropertyRadar on YouTube — https://www.youtube.com/propertyradar
• Lead to Close Health Check — https://leadtoclosetest.com
• Claude — https://claude.ai
• Less Annoying CRM — https://www.lessannoyingcrm.com
• ListSource — https://www.listsource.com

Enjoyed This Episode?

If Brett's point about follow-up hit home, that 78% of deals come from staying in touch, take it as your sign to fix the leaks in your own process this week. Share this one with the partner or acquisitions rep who keeps letting leads go cold. And if you got something out of it, follow the show, drop a rating, and leave a quick review so more investors can find it.

Jake Reaves is a Columbus, Mississippi real estate investor and MMA/jiu-jitsu gym owner who grew up swinging hammers on his family's flips and now runs rentals, commercial retail, and a direct-to-seller acquisition business, plus hosts the Big Thinkers Podcast. He built his gym out of a $13,000 year on pattern-interrupt marketing, and he's applying those same hard-won lessons to scaling his real estate operation.

This episode is a straight-talk conversation about building a real estate tech stack when you're not a "tech person," why a real system beats a written SOP, and how to make your business "me-proof." If you're an investor trying to fix your follow-up, analyze rentals over the long haul, and figure out where AI actually fits, this one is for you.

Timeline Summary

[0:49] – Jake introduces himself: jiu-jitsu gym owner and Mississippi investor who almost turned down a "tech" show

[1:43] – His lean stack: Rent Manager for property management, Pete for acquisitions and lead management

[2:33] – Building a gym on pattern-interrupt Facebook marketing in a 22,000-person market below the poverty line

[4:23] – Why Rent Manager beats per-door pricing for his mix of low-ticket office and single-family doors

[5:29] – Analyzing rental data over 5 to 10 years instead of month to month to pick better properties

[5:59] – The hidden turnover cost: one move-out every five years can quietly erase $300 a month in cash flow

[8:19] – Exiting 4 to 5 underperforming rentals and keeping the exact same net cash flow

[10:42] – Know yourself: hire and build systems around what you're bad at so nothing falls through the cracks

[11:56] – Why he needed a "me-proof" CRM to fix his follow-up problem without breaking the bank

[12:54] – Ten minutes in GoHighLevel before switching to a done-for-you CRM built for investors

[14:52] – Systems vs SOPs: without a way to track it, an SOP is just a checklist

[16:42] – Jake's backstory: growing up on his dad's flips with no money and grinding a gym for 7 to 8 years

[20:59] – Why glorifying the grind is a trap and grinding should be a season, not a lifestyle

[22:25] – The gym analogy for habits: consistency beats intensity, straight out of Atomic Habits

[26:19] – Where AI fits for him: content, brainstorming, and first-touch seller contact on weekends

[38:24] – Rapid fire: why trying AI now is low-risk, plus the $25k mastermind that scammed him

5 Key Takeaways

1. Make Your Business Me-Proof — Build your systems around your weaknesses, not your strengths. Jake picked his CRM specifically to catch the follow-ups his ADHD brain would otherwise drop.
2. A System Beats an SOP — A written procedure you can't measure is just a checklist. A real system lets you trace a broken number back to the exact step that failed.
3. Zoom Out on Rental Data — A property that cash flows on paper can lose money once you factor in turnover. Judge rentals over 5 to 10 years, not month to month.
4. Exit What Underperforms — Jake sold 4 to 5 weak rentals and his net cash flow didn't move. Freeing trapped capital beats holding doors that only look good on gross.
5. Consistency Over Intensity — The grind should be a season, not a badge. Like starting at the gym, small habits repeated for years beat going all-out and burning out by day three.

Links & Resources

• The Lead-to-Close Health Check (free 6-minute assessment) — https://leadtoclosetest.com
• Pete (CRM built for real estate investors) — https://peterei.com
• Rent Manager (property management software) — https://www.rentmanager.com
• Riverside (recording and editing) — https://riverside.fm
• Atomic Habits by James Clear — https://jamesclear.com/atomic-habits
• Investor Fuel (real estate mastermind) — https://investorfuel.com
• Big Thinkers Podcast on Instagram — https://instagram.com/bigthinkerspodcast
• Jake Reaves on Facebook (search "Jake Reaves")
• Big Thinkers Podcast on YouTube, Spotify, and Apple Podcasts

Enjoyed This Episode?

If Jake's "me-proof" approach hit home, take an honest look at where your own follow-up is slipping and whether your SOPs are actually systems or just checklists. Share this one with an investor who's still glorifying the 16-hour grind, and if it helped, follow The PETE Podcast and leave a quick rating and review so more investors can find it.

The PETE Podcast tackles one of the most expensive mistakes real estate investors make: hiring the wrong seat first out of panic instead of strategy. Told through a real first-hire story (nearly bringing on a salesperson before a last-minute pivot to a back-office role that sent purchase volume climbing), this episode reframes how investors should think about their very first hire.

You'll learn the exact question to ask before hiring, why "I need help" is a symptom and not a job description, and the capacity and cash-readiness test that keeps a hire from sinking your payroll. If you're a real estate investor deciding between an acquisition manager and a transaction coordinator, or just trying to figure out when it's finally time to hire, this one is for you.

Timeline Summary

[0:00] – Why hiring the wrong seat first is one of the costliest mistakes investors make, and why almost everyone does it

[0:11] – "Help is not a job description." How a panic response gets confused for a real role

[0:32] – Every hire should solve a specific constraint, with clear tasks, expectations, and a timeline

[1:00] – If you can't define what success looks like, you can't expect a new hire to succeed

[1:21] – The one question to ask first: what task, if off your plate, would let you make more money?

[1:42] – Why the instinct to hire a salesperson first felt obvious, and how his wife talked him out of it

[2:21] – The back-office hire that freed him to buy more properties and sent his purchase rate up

[2:44] – The two seats investors commonly fill first: acquisition manager and transaction coordinator

[3:29] – When a transaction coordinator should be in-house versus using a service like David Olds

[3:48] – The capacity and cash-readiness test, and why you should never hire on hopes and dreams

[4:09] – Every hire should increase capacity, and the "can I fund 90 days" question people skip

[5:16] – The "I can do it all" trap, and the 24-hour lead that proves you already need help

[5:58] – Use your documented SOPs to decide which role to hire when two feel equal

[6:40] – Define and document the role, training, and expectations before you ever post the job

5 Key Takeaways

1. "Help" Is Not a Job Description — Hiring because you're overwhelmed is a panic response, not a plan. Every hire needs a defined role with specific tasks, expectations, and a timeline, or you're setting them up to fail.
2. Hire Against Your Biggest Constraint — Ask what task, if taken off your plate, would let you make more money. The answer often isn't more salespeople, it's freeing up the person already driving revenue.
3. Back Office Before More Sales — Sometimes the smartest first hire is the one that protects your highest-value activity. Offloading back-office work let him buy more properties and pushed his purchase rate up considerably.
4. Run the 90-Day Cash Test — Don't frame a hire as a $50k-a-year commitment. Confirm the role will actually increase capacity and that you can fund the position for the next 90 days before you commit.
5. Define and Document Before You Post — Have the role, training plan, and 30/60/90-day expectations written down before the job goes live. Investors who scale best hire strategically, not frequently.

Links & Resources

• The Lead-to-Close Health Check (free 6-minute assessment) — https://leadtoclosetest.com

Enjoyed This Episode?

If you've got a lead that's been sitting for 24 hours or you keep telling yourself you can do it all, this episode is your sign to look at the numbers before you make a move. Share it with an investor who's stuck deciding on their first hire, and if the first-hire framework helped, follow The PETE Podcast and leave a quick rating and review so more investors can find it.

In this episode of The PETE Podcast, host Jon Nolen sits down with Trevor Mauch, founder of Carrot, for a deep dive into how AI is reshaping search and what real estate investors need to do to get recommended by Google's AI overviews and ChatGPT. Trevor makes the case that search isn't dying, it's exploding, and the investors who understand the new rules can leapfrog competitors who've held rankings for years.

Trevor walks through real case studies, including a 30-year-old roofing company with no website that became the top AI-recommended business in 60 days, and an Ohio investor who closed over $100K in deal profits from ChatGPT leads. He breaks down what AI search actually looks for (hint: brand mentions and trust, not backlinks), how to build a "trusted expert conversion hub" instead of just a website, and the specific content moves that get you mentioned. This one is essential listening for any investor who wants to be found online in the next 12 months. The video version is highly recommended since Trevor shares his screen throughout.

Timeline Summary

[0:00] – Cold open: Trevor and Jon on using Whisper Flow and Claude to work faster

[0:30] – Jon introduces Trevor Mauch, founder of Carrot, and the topic of AI search

[1:03] – Why the same search strategies work across real estate and home services

[1:41] – The predicted death of Google that never came, and how searches nearly doubled

[2:30] – Google searches went from ~8 billion to ~14 billion a day, with longer queries

[2:58] – How AI overviews are moving from the middle to the top of search results

[3:44] – The indicator that Google trusts the AI answer, and why links may fade

[4:19] – How ads fit in: ChatGPT rolls out ads and why ad revenue isn't going anywhere

[6:06] – Why what works for AI search also works for traditional SEO, but not vice versa

[7:23] – Why AI search rewards business trust, letting newer websites compete fast

[8:01] – Case study: a 30-year-old roofer with no website becomes the top AI recommendation

[10:20] – Ranking on page one in 60 days with zero backlinks, and 11 leads in

[11:02] – Testing the same business in ChatGPT and landing the number one pick

[12:31] – The monthly AI Search Challenge and a free ticket offer for listeners

[13:22] – Case study: Ohio investor Dave closes $100K+ in profits from ChatGPT leads

[14:30] – Why AI leads are lower volume but much higher quality than Google organic

[15:01] – The tracking problem: Google reports AI leads as "search" or "direct"

[16:46] – Leads now showing up from ChatGPT, Claude, and even Grok

[17:38] – Why Reddit isn't the first move for AI search, despite the hype

[18:34] – How building the right tech hub lifts both AI mentions and Google rankings

[19:15] – Carrot's internal AI website builder "Cake" and why performance beats pretty

[19:33] – Why AI-built sites hit 80% and tank rankings in novice hands

[21:20] – How long it takes to recover rankings after a bad website switch

[22:14] – The URL structure mistake that forces you to retrain Google from scratch

[23:19] – The core mindset shift: within 12 months, AI search is just search

[24:21] – What AI systems look for, and why backlinks dropped to the bottom of the list

[26:11] – Why ChatGPT weighs Google's index but doesn't look at backlinks at all

[26:51] – Brand mentions at the top: news articles, videos, and reviews without a link

[27:40] – Understanding "entities" and how AI stitches your business facts together

[28:48] – Foundation moves: Chamber of Commerce, BBB, Google Business Profile, Yelp, Facebook

[30:09] – Why every profile must match name, phone, and address character for character

[30:28] – Structured data and delivering content in an order AI can follow

[31:12] – Why generic AI-written content dies, and feeding in specific business proof

[32:41] – Using Claude to pull sentiment from Google reviews and prove what you're great at

[34:08] – Replacing stock photos with real properties, real projects, and real testimonials

[35:09] – Location pages: why swapping the city name no longer works

[36:27] – Writing genuinely local content using housing age, weather, and neighborhoods

[37:11] – Why AI search rewards FAQs and how they surface in AI overviews

[39:00] – How often to refresh a site and why content freshness is a ranking factor

[40:03] – Carrot's vision of a "marketer in your pocket" using Search Console and call tracking

[41:00] – Capturing new objections, situations, and deals to fill content gaps monthly

[43:22] – Rapid fire: keep your first tech stack simple, and start with a paper CRM

[44:22] – The one tool he can't live without: Slack, Claude, and Whisper Flow

[45:43] – The tool he regrets: getting locked into a CRM that cost $1M+ to stay on

[47:17] – Advice on adopting AI, and the four levels from chat to fully autonomous

[47:56] – Building your "company brain" so every AI answer is informed about your business

[48:55] – Staying current on REI tech through this podcast, Facebook groups, and asking Claude

[49:54] – The prompt tip that makes AI output 10x better: tell it to ask you questions first

[50:30] – Where to find Trevor and the free monthly Carrot AI Search Challenge

5 Key Takeaways

1. Search Isn't Dying, It's Doubling — Daily Google searches jumped from roughly 8 billion to 14 billion, and queries are getting longer. AI overviews are moving to the top of results, and within a year "AI search" will just be "search."
2. Trust Beats Backlinks Now — AI search ranks brand mentions, reviews, and sentiment at the top and backlinks at the bottom. ChatGPT doesn't look at backlinks at all. A trusted business with a strong Google profile can outrank a five-year SEO veteran in 60 days.
3. Build A Trusted Expert Conversion Hub, Not A Website — Get listed on the Chamber of Commerce, BBB, Google Business Profile, Yelp, and Facebook, with your name, phone, and address matching character for character across all of them. That's 80% of the foundation.
4. Prove It, Don't Just Say It — Generic AI-written content dies in AI search. Feed in specifics: years in business, neighborhoods served, real photos, real testimonials, and location pages genuinely tailored to each market's housing stock and quirks.
5. The Right Tool In Novice Hands Still Fails — AI website builders get you to a pretty 80%, then rankings tank when someone who doesn't know the nuances drives. Trevor watched a site tank in 30 days after a switch made to save $200 a month.

Links & Resources

• Carrot: https://carrot.com
• Free Carrot AI Search Challenge: https://carrot.com/challenge
• Trevor Mauch on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/trevormauch
• Whisper Flow (voice-to-text tool): https://wisprflow.ai
• Claude (AI assistant): https://claude.ai

Enjoyed This Episode?

If Trevor's breakdown of AI search changed how you think about getting found online, this is one to share with any investor still pouring money into backlinks. Follow The PETE Podcast, leave a rating, and drop a quick review so more investors can get ahead of the curve. And for the full walkthrough, catch the video version on YouTube since Trevor shares his screen throughout.

Jon Nolen, founder of Pete and a longtime real estate investor, kicks off a new recurring format with Mark, Pete's sales lead, to talk systems, processes, and how operations actually get better. Between them they've run investing teams, mapped lead-to-close processes on four-by-six-foot flow charts, and learned the hard way what happens when your SOPs quietly fall out of date.

This episode breaks down how real estate investors build standard operating procedures their team will actually use, why most documentation dies in scattered Google Docs, and how Pete's new Playbooks feature pulls it all into one place. If you've ever lost a deal to follow-up that never happened, or watched three people run the same role three different ways, this one is for you.

Timeline Summary

[0:00] – Jon welcomes Mark for the first episode of their new format on systems, processes, and getting better

[0:21] – Why "systems and processes" makes most entrepreneurs' eyes glaze over, and why that's a costly mistake

[1:03] – How SOPs get built once, go stale, and quietly break as roles drift over the years

[2:35] – The real question every investor wrestles with: does your SOP need 5 steps or 25?

[3:24] – The time Jon asked his team to document their processes and they all thought they were being fired

[4:33] – The four-by-six-foot Lucid flow chart Jon built that nobody but him ever used

[5:58] – The first SOP every investor needs: who owns which role, so you don't get too many cooks

[6:44] – Building a lead process flow, and why you can never afford to miss a web lead you paid for

[7:15] – The follow-up gap after a property goes under contract that quietly costs investors deals

[8:21] – "People can take bad news. They can't take no communication." Keeping sellers from walking

[9:06] – How a dropped CRM phone number cost Jon a deal worth 10 to 15 thousand dollars

[11:00] – The tension between a great SOP and a great team, and which one actually drives results

[12:11] – Why Pete built Playbooks and SOPs into the platform instead of scattered Google Docs

[13:27] – Version history, edit permissions, and giving your team ownership of their own process

[18:05] – The fastest way to create your first SOP: a voice memo and AI, no typing required

[19:15] – Why chasing a "perfect" SOP is a trap, and how the 80 percent version beats nothing

5 Key Takeaways

1. SOPs Aren't Just for Big Teams — Even a solo investor or a two-person shop needs documented processes, so when something changes you know exactly what you're changing and you're not reinventing the wheel every day.
2. Ship the 80 Percent Version — A perfect SOP is a myth because processes always change. Get something down at 50 to 80 percent, then tweak it as real situations expose the gaps.
3. Silence Loses Deals — After a property goes under contract, a quick "no update is an update" check-in keeps sellers from drifting to a competitor. People can handle bad news, not being left in the dark.
4. One Source of Truth Beats Scattered Docs — Processes buried across Google Docs, texts, and someone's memory get lost and cost money. Keeping playbooks, forms, and version history in one operating system is what makes them actually get used.
5. Record It, Don't Type It — Most entrepreneurs freeze at the thought of typing an SOP. Talk through the process into a voice memo, then let AI turn it into clean bullet points or a Pete playbook.

Links & Resources

• Pete, the real estate investor operating system — https://peterei.com
• Pete on Facebook — https://facebook.com/PeteREI
• Jon Nolen on Instagram (the flipping it guy) — https://instagram.com/theflippingitguy
• Pete Users Facebook Group — for current Pete customers, referenced in the episode

Enjoyed This Episode?

If you've ever lost a deal to a follow-up that never happened, or watched your team run the same job three different ways, this conversation is your nudge to finally get it documented. Share it with a partner or team member who keeps everything in their head. And if the show is helping you build a tighter operation, follow, rate, and review so more investors can find it.

In this episode of The PETE Podcast, host Jon Nolen sits down with Bob McIntosh, a Buffalo-based investor who bought his first deal in 2008 and has since built a 31-unit rental portfolio, a marketing agency for real estate investors, and a hard money fund. A former bank-hacking IT security pro, Bob now builds AI systems that hunt down deals for investors while they sleep.

Bob breaks down the AI agent stack his team built that pulls listings across your counties every morning, runs comps and photo-based repair estimates, checks them against your buy box, and emails you the day's deals in ranked order. He and Jon get into where AI still falls short, why "grind culture" and vibe-coding are traps that pull investors away from real money, and how the whole game is shifting to speed. This one's for investors who want to use AI as leverage instead of a shiny object, with a Myspace-era detour along the way.

Timeline Summary

[0:00] – Jon introduces Bob McIntosh: 20 years in real estate, rentals, a marketing agency, and AI tools

[1:25] – Bob's background from hacking banks to flipping houses in Buffalo with his dad

[2:01] – His current operation: 31 rentals, a marketing company, and a sub-$150K hard money fund

[2:43] – Bob's tech stack: a custom GoHighLevel build, ClickUp, local AI models, and Lovable

[4:13] – What Hermes is and how a "harness" lets AI act like an employee executing tasks

[4:39] – Using AI for marketing content, research, and SEO, and why he still posts natively

[5:24] – The agent stack that finds, comps, and ranks real estate deals automatically every day

[6:51] – Why he preaches MLS deals and how 40% of his own deals came from the MLS

[7:50] – Getting AI repair estimates to 85% accuracy and where photo-based guesses break down

[9:10] – Treating AI like another employee that gets you most of the way, then a human takes over

[11:12] – A plain-English breakdown of APIs and the horse-and-harness analogy for Hermes

[13:13] – What hasn't worked: AI marketing copy still leans on cliches and stalls around 85%

[14:48] – Why AI misses the nuance between residential, commercial, and investor real estate

[16:28] – Company world models, why they shine for larger firms, and why most investors lack SOPs

[18:13] – The 85% rule: AI copy is a huge multiplier if you couldn't do it well yourself

[18:34] – Bob's prediction: AI deal-vetting accuracy tightening to within a few percent by year end

[20:28] – Why it's adapt or get left behind, and the false confidence AI can create

[21:22] – Where hype outruns reality: old marketing tactics being forced as they get shut down

[23:23] – The marketing cycle from direct mail to texting to cold calling to AI and back again

[23:46] – Grind culture as a trap and why grinding should be a phase, not the goal

[24:25] – The vibe-coding rant: an investor bragging about a workflow that took six man-hours

[26:35] – Focus on getting deals, not on becoming a developer, unless that's truly your thing

[26:54] – The hidden cost of vibe-coded apps: maintenance, changing APIs, and security

[28:16] – Rapid fire: keep your starting tech stack simple and add features over time

[29:08] – The one tool he can't run his business without and why Google Workspace is underrated

[29:59] – The tool he regrets: roughly ten grand spent on cold email with nothing to show

[30:26] – Why adopting AI isn't optional if you don't want to be outpaced on every deal

[31:05] – How AI turns real estate into a game of speed and who gets the leftover thin deals

[33:02] – Where he stays current: masterminds, local REIAs, younger people, and an AI news agent

[35:15] – The Myspace-era throwback and how young people flock to new tech the way we learned HTML

[35:39] – Where to find Bob and the AI tools he's building to help investors get more deals

5 Key Takeaways

1. AI Finds The Deals, Humans Close Them — Bob's agent stack pulls listings, runs comps and photo-based repair estimates, checks them against your buy box, and emails ranked deals daily. It gets you ~85% of the way so a human can focus only on the highest-probability deals.
2. AI Is An Employee, Not A Miracle Or A Gimmick — The mistake is thinking AI either does everything or is useless. Treat it like a team member that gets you most of the way for a fraction of the cost, then a person takes it home.
3. The Game Is Becoming Speed — AI won't thin out deals directly, it just makes the people using it faster. If you can call the agent at 8am with comps already in hand and your competitor can't until 9, you've already won the deal.
4. Stop Vibe-Coding, Go Get Deals — Investors burn hours building apps and workflows to brag about, when buying an existing tool and spending those same hours on deals would make far more money. Focus on the thing, and the thing isn't being a developer.
5. Old Marketing Tactics Are On A Timer — Direct mail, texting, and cold calling cycle in and out, and several are being actively shut down by changing rules. When everyone says a channel is working, that's often the signal to move on.

Links & Resources

• The Lead to Close Health Check (free 6-minute assessment): https://peterei.com
• Bob McIntosh's contact card: https://dsg.co/3/bobmcintosh
• Hermes (AI agent harness): https://peterei.com
• Lovable (AI app builder): https://lovable.dev
• ClickUp (project management): https://clickup.com
• Google Workspace: https://workspace.google.com

Enjoyed This Episode?

If Bob's take on AI as leverage instead of a shiny object shifted how you think about your next deal, pass this one along to an investor still stuck in grind mode. Follow The PETE Podcast, leave a rating, and drop a quick review so more investors can find the show.

In this solo episode, Jon Nolen cuts through the noise around the real estate investor tech stack and lays out the short list of what an operation actually needs. Jon built Pete because his own business had a CRM in one place, a phone system in another, task automation somewhere else, and files scattered across all of it, and he has spent years watching other investors make the same mess in slower motion.

This conversation covers the five elements every serious operation needs, the three questions your stack should be able to answer on demand, and the four question audit Jon runs on every subscription once a quarter. He also gets honest about his own history with shiny object syndrome, why AI is the newest and most seductive version of it, and why flexibility without standardization is just chaos with more options.

Episode Highlights

[0:14] – Start with the jobs that need doing, then find the tools, never the other way around

[0:34] – The five elements every serious investing operation needs from lead to contract

[1:19] – Why Pete was built, and what a CRM should function as inside the business

[1:46] – The three questions your stack should answer immediately about leads, deals, and follow up

[2:09] – The contrarian take on AI as the newest and most convincing shiny object

[2:33] – Jon's own history with shiny object syndrome and what it cost in missed opportunity

[3:23] – Why a tool built for the industry beats a general platform that needs a consultant

[4:08] – The costs nobody prices in, onboarding, training, maintenance, and mental overhead

[4:36] – Bringing property management into Pete and why consolidation beats a good standalone tool

[5:04] – Eleven platforms in use and only two or three of them actually being used well

[6:05] – The silo problem, and what happens to acquisitions notes when Dispo cannot see them

[6:43] – The flexibility counterargument, and why it only works after you standardize

[7:03] – Why a solo investor and a thirty deal a month operation do not need different stacks

[7:58] – The quarterly subscription audit and the four questions to run every tool through

[10:06] – Software compounds advantages or complexity, and the goal is right tools, not fewest

5 Key Takeaways

1. Define The Job Before You Shop. Investors go looking at tools first, get pulled sideways by what a platform can do, and end up moving laterally when they meant to move forward. Clarity on the work comes first.
2. Your Stack Should Answer Three Questions On Demand. How many leads came in this week, where are the active deals, and what follow up is overdue. If pulling those takes real effort, that is your signal to change something.
3. The Subscription Price Is The Smallest Cost. Onboarding time, training, maintenance, and the mental overhead of managing another platform all sit underneath the monthly fee, and none of them show up on the invoice.
4. Fragmented Systems Create Silos That Cost Real Money. When acquisitions notes about the roof live somewhere Dispo cannot reach, questions go unanswered or get answered wrong, and you are not going to buy a second license just to fix it.
5. Audit Every Tool Once A Quarter. Does it touch a lead, a deal, or a dollar. Is the team actually using it. Does it integrate cleanly or create copy and paste work. And if you shut it off tomorrow, would anything obvious break.

Closing Remark

Jon represents the operator's view of technology rather than the enthusiast's, which is what makes this episode useful. The point is not to run the leanest possible stack, it is to make sure every tool in it has a job and that the jobs connect to each other. If a tool would genuinely help and it does not exist in Pete yet, he says use it, but get past the shiny and confirm the substance first. If you enjoyed this episode, make sure to rate, follow, share, and review The PETE Podcast so more investors can learn how to build smarter real estate businesses.