Ed Mathews

Sharing strategies to help you grow | | | Host - Real Estate Underground Podcast | 'Nova 🏀

[Ed Mathews @edmathews4]

Being a C-level executive should not stop you from owning real estate.

Find a partner who will:
- find the deals
- acquire & manage the properties
- improve the buildings
- serve the residents
- manage & grow the asset's value
- safely double your investment every 3-7 years

[Ed Mathews @edmathews4]

This is not a one-and-done play.

James Lloyd on the room to stack five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten properties in Detroit. Episode 200 of the Real Estate Underground.

https://t.co/mRvS1dyEeR

[Ed Mathews @edmathews4]

There is room in this market to do something meaningful.

James Lloyd on scaling a Detroit portfolio. Episode 200 of the Real Estate Underground.

https://t.co/mRvS1dyEeR

[Ed Mathews @edmathews4]

Buying a rental in a market you do not live in scares most people off. US Properties built a system for exactly that.

James Lloyd on the full turnkey process. Episode 200 of the Real Estate Underground.

https://t.co/mRvS1dyEeR

[Ed Mathews @edmathews4]

The contrarian read on Detroit that built a 600-home turnkey operation.

James Lloyd and Voytek Mardula on Episode 200 of the Real Estate Underground.

https://t.co/mRvS1dyEeR

[Ed Mathews @edmathews4]

Most investors wrote Detroit off. James Lloyd and Voytek Mardula saw historic homes trading below the cost of construction.

How they read the market before buying heavy. Episode 200 of the Real Estate Underground.

https://t.co/mRvS1dyEeR

[Ed Mathews @edmathews4]

Episode 200 of the Real Estate Underground is live.

James Lloyd and Voytek Mardula of US Properties on building turnkey cash flow in Detroit: 10 years, 600+ homes, and a market most investors still write off.

https://t.co/mRvS1dyEeR

[Ed Mathews @edmathews4]

A lot of investors want real estate exposure.

They don't want tenants.
They don't want late-night maintenance calls.
They don't want to become the operator.

They want predictable income.

That's where a real estate debt fund can make sense.

In plain English:

A debt fund pools capital from investors, then lends that money to vetted real estate flippers and operators.

They then use the loan for a project, often an acquisition, renovation, or value-add deal.

The fund underwrites the borrower, the property, the business plan and the collateral.

The loan sits in first position, meaning it's secured by a first-position lien on the property.

That part matters.

As an investor in a debt fund, you're not buying the building.
You're not betting on becoming an equity owner.
You're not chasing the full upside of the project.

You're the bank.

The borrower pays interest on the loan and the fund collects and distributes income according to the fund structure.

It's still real estate.
It's still private investing.
It's still something you need to understand before writing a check.

But the role is different.

Equity investors participate in ownership and upside.
Debt investors focus on collateral, underwriting, borrower quality, loan terms and repayment.

Neither structure is automatically better.

They serve different roles for different investors.

For busy executives, business owners, doctors, attorneys and founders, the appeal is often straightforward:

Real estate exposure without operating the real estate.

Before investing in any debt fund, learn how the structure works.

Ask where your capital sits.
Ask what secures the loan.
Ask how borrowers get vetted.
Ask what happens if a deal doesn't go according to plan.

The structure matters more than the pitch.

[Ed Mathews @edmathews4]

"Don't let the tax tail wag the freedom dog."

Tom Dunkel on why 1031-forever can be a cage, and when paying the tax buys back your freedom.

New REU episode. Link in bio.

[Ed Mathews @edmathews4]

"If you can't explain it to your kid, you don't know it well enough to put your money into it."

Tom Dunkel's simplest competence test for any deal.

New REU episode. Link in bio.

[Ed Mathews @edmathews4]

"A framework to screen deals is necessary to avoid bad decisions."

Tom Dunkel, $50M+ raised over 20 years, runs every deal through the SAFE Method: Sponsor, Asset, Financials, Exit.

New REU episode. Link in bio.

[Ed Mathews @edmathews4]

Tom Dunkel has raised over $50M and screens every deal with one framework: SAFE. Sponsor, Asset, Financials, Exit.

His tax take is the contrarian part: "Don't let the tax tail wag the freedom dog."

New Real Estate Underground. Link in bio, or your podcast app of choice.

[Ed Mathews @edmathews4]

"We are competing against some of the nicest hotels. Guest expectations are higher. Dozens of pieces. It needs a team and expertise to optimize."

Tim Hubbard. Solo-owner STR works for one or two doors. Past that, real business or it bleeds.

REU: link in bio.

[Ed Mathews @edmathews4]

"We have this data now where we can underwrite a short-term rental just like we would an apartment building."

Tim Hubbard, running hundreds of STR units. Real comps, monthly occupancy, regulatory risk, then walk the deal.

REU: link in bio.

[Ed Mathews @edmathews4]

"You can't be hands-on and remote. If you are hands-on, you are working IN the business. For an entrepreneur who wants to grow, that's a dead end."

Tim Hubbard moved 50 miles from his STRs. That constraint became Corzly.

New REU episode: link in bio.

[Ed Mathews @edmathews4]

"A B-class property with A-class management beats an A-class property with B-class management."

Tim Hubbard, CEO of Corzly. 16 years. Hundreds of units. The portfolio is the proof.

New REU episode: link in bio.

[Ed Mathews @edmathews4]

"I'd rather have a B-class property with A-class management than an A-class property with B-class management."

Tim Hubbard, CEO of Corzly, runs hundreds of short-term rentals across the U.S. and multiple countries. He has not been on the ground at one in years.

New Real Estate Underground episode. Link in bio, or your podcast app of choice.

[Maggie Mathews @MagMathews2026]

So honored to receive All State!!! 🥳🥳🥳

@IonaSoftball
@mercyctsoftball
@CoachKasHoag

[Ed Mathews @edmathews4]

"Commitment moves the world."

— Dan Brisse on Real Estate Underground.

Link in comments.

[Ed Mathews @edmathews4]

Behind every operator is at least one person who said "yes, go" when the room said "no, wait."

— Dan Brisse on Real Estate Underground.

Link in comments.

[Ed Mathews @edmathews4]

"The dollar is being printed. The destruction of our currency is real."

— Dan Brisse, 3,300-unit multifamily operator, on Real Estate Underground.

Link in comments.