The Value Builder Podcast

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

Josh Manier

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

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

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

Website: 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

🌐 Website: VailCommercialGroup.com

📧 Email: [email protected]

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.

📧 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.

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:

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?

Joe Fairless has built one of the largest multifamily investment platforms in the country, overseeing more than 14,000 units and $3.9B in assets across the Sunbelt. In this episode, Saul sits down with Joe to break down what it actually takes to operate at that scale, how today’s multifamily market is really performing behind the headlines, and why disciplined operations matter more than ever in this cycle.

The conversation dives into capital raising, supply pressure, concessions, property management, and the realities of navigating large-scale apartment investing during a shifting market environment.

Listener takeaways include:

Whether you're an active multifamily operator, passive investor, syndicator, or CRE entrepreneur, this episode offers a practical look into managing large apartment portfolios through changing market conditions.

Connect with Joe Fairless:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/joefairless

🔔 Subscribe for weekly conversations with commercial real estate operators, investors, and builders creating long-term value.

#CommercialRealEstate #MultifamilyInvesting #ApartmentInvesting #RealEstateInvesting #CapitalRaising #CRE #ValueBuilderPodcast

In this episode of The Value Builder Podcast, Saul sits down with Cody Payne of Flex Parks USA, one of the most experienced operators in small bay flex industrial, alongside partner Shea Lewis. With over 20 years in the space and more than 10,000 transactions closed, Cody breaks down what’s actually happening in today’s flex industrial market—from rent trends and tenant demand to why newer metal product is outperforming traditional infill.

This conversation goes beyond surface-level insights and gets into what’s really driving pricing, leasing velocity, and investor behavior in 2026.

In this episode, you’ll learn:

From development strategy to disposition insights, this episode gives a clear look at where flex industrial is heading—and how to position yourself on the right side of it.

Connect with Cody: