Please welcome my guest today, dentist Josh Cochran, who didn’t just build the largest general dental group in the Inland Northwest, he built a real estate empire while he was at it. After selling a stake in his thriving dental practice, he set his sights on commercial real estate, starting with medical retail development before getting involved in ground-up multifamily projects worth over $125 million.   The Accidental Developer Josh has an interesting background in that he didn’t just lease space for his dental offices, he built them and, in the process, he discovered he had a knack for development. What started as a necessity quickly became a passion, leading him to acquire land, structure deals, and transform raw dirt into ground up developments.   Scaling Up to Multifamily Retail development had its challenges, but Josh knew where the market was heading. He pivoted to multifamily, securing land, entitling projects, and working with institutional capital partners to develop over 450 units across five projects. Along the way, he raised millions from investors, balancing capital allocation with active development.   Raising Millions While Protecting Investors With a network of high-net-worth investors, many from his dental background, Josh built a capital-raising system. He is hyper-focused on due diligence, personally vetting deals, sponsors, and market fundamentals before committing capital. His slow and steady approach has helped him safeguard investors from the risky, overleveraged deals that have sunk others.   Lessons from the Trenches Josh shares the hard-earned lessons from his transition, including:

• Why development takes longer than you think—but is worth the wait
• The biggest fundraising mistakes investors make (and how to avoid them)
• How he structures deals to align incentives and mitigate risk

The power of relationships in CRE and why “going deep” is better than broad diversification.   *** From running a successful dental practice to structuring nine-figure real estate deals, Josh’s journey proves that the right mindset and strategic partnerships can open the door to CRE success. If you’re looking to break into development, master capital raising, or scale a real estate business, this episode is full of real-world lessons and advice.   *** Explore the world of real estate capital allocators—a fresh approach to financing that’s reshaping the industry.   In this series, I talk with allocators, investors, sponsors, and service providers to give you an inside look at this fast-growing space.   PLUS, subscribe to my free newsletter for real estate investors and gain access to: * Introductions to sponsors, allocators, and investment opportunities. * Insights drawn from my 30+ years of experience in real estate investing. * Hacks and tactics for raising capital to help you scale your real estate portfolio.   Visit GowerCrowd.com/subscribe