The We Buy Ugly Houses® Podcast

Some of the best real estate leads don't come from a marketing campaign. They come from reputation, relationships, and becoming the investor people think of when an opportunity appears.
Mike Oberholzer sits down with HomeVestors franchisee Joeff Brown to discuss how Jeff and his brother Tim built their business across Pensacola, Northwest Florida, and Mobile, Alabama.
From major termite damage and six-figure rehabs to restoring homes built more than a century ago, Joeff and Tim aren't afraid of difficult projects. But their real competitive advantage is the network they've built around their business.
Joeff shares stories of deals coming from Realtors, contractors, title agents, neighbors, employees and everyday conversations. He explains why giving back to newer investors can create opportunities, how quality work strengthens relationships with local agents, and why repeat sellers are such a powerful validation of your reputation.
They also dig into Joeff's passion for historic Pensacola homes, the unique challenges of renovating properties from the 1800s and early 1900s, and why maintaining a growth mindset matters when markets slow down.
It's a conversation about owning your market by becoming part of it, and why relationships may be one of the most valuable assets in your real estate business.
 
 

In this episode of the We Buy Ugly Houses Podcast, Mike Oberholzer sits down with Frankie Herrera and Albert Leon, HomeVestors franchisees and development agents in Tampa, to break down their growing co-living real estate strategy.
After dealing with the headaches of traditional rentals, Frankie and Albert began exploring a different model: renting individual furnished bedrooms while residents share the home's common spaces. They explain how certain properties can generate significantly more income than a traditional single-tenant rental while also reducing the risk of losing all rental income when one tenant stops paying.
They discuss:
What co-living looks like in practice
How they identify the right properties
Why the model can produce 2.5X to 3X traditional rental income
Who is choosing co-living and why
How they manage multiple residents under one roof
The importance of local regulations and property requirements
How they standardized their systems as the portfolio grew
The potential future value of co-living properties as income-producing businesses
Frankie and Albert also share real stories from their portfolio, lessons from their early mistakes, and why they believe co-living could become a much larger part of the real estate market in the years ahead.

In Part 2 of this conversation, Derek Douglas sits down with Boise investors Paul and Tanice to break down the four primary exit strategies every real estate investor should understand.
From assigning contracts and wholesaling to fix-and-flips and long-term rentals, they explain how each strategy fits into building a profitable business and, more importantly, how each one impacts cash flow.

In Part 1 of this two-part conversation, host Derek Douglas sits down with longtime investors and HomeVestors development agents Paul and Tanice to discuss the three essential ingredients every investor needs to build a successful real estate business: leads, money, and education.
Paul and Tanice share how they got started buying rentals, transitioned into full-time real estate investing, and eventually joined HomeVestors to gain access to stronger lead generation, financing resources, and a nationwide support network.

This podcast brought to you by Sherwin Williams
 
In this episode of the We Buy Ugly Houses Podcast, host Mike Oberholzer sits down with Southern California franchisees Stephen Wong and Kimberly Sims to share their journey from corporate careers in IT to becoming full-time real estate investors. After years of discussing entrepreneurship, Stephen and Kimberly made the decision to leave the stability of their W-2 careers and invest in themselves.
They open up about what convinced them to join HomeVestors, the fears they had before launching their business, and what it was really like during their first few months as franchise owners.
Guests: Stephen Wong & Kimberly Sims Host: Mike Oberholzer Podcast: We Buy Ugly Houses Podcast

In this episode of the We Buy Ugly Houses Podcast, Derek Douglas sits down with Steve Peterson, longtime real estate investor, former HomeVestors franchisee, and creator of Blue Squid, to talk about one of the most overlooked opportunities in real estate investing: the MLS.
Steve shares how he went from believing there were no deals on the MLS to building a system that helped him source and buy more than 100 deals a year.
They discuss why so many investors ignore MLS opportunities, how data can help identify high-probability deals, why speed matters when making offers, and how Blue Squid was built to reduce the manual work behind finding, analyzing, and tracking MLS deals.
If you’ve ever thought the MLS was too crowded, too slow, or not worth your time, this conversation may change your mind.

In this episode of the We Buy Ugly Houses Podcast, Mike sits down with Adam Schneider to break down a real estate strategy most investors never seriously consider: building long-term wealth through owner-financed mortgages instead of traditional rentals.
After years of buying houses and building a rental portfolio, Adam realized that being a landlord wasn’t the legacy plan he wanted for his family. Instead of staying stuck with tenant issues, maintenance calls, vacancies, and all the chaos that comes with rentals, he began building a different model: selling homes with owner financing and holding the note.
In this conversation, Adam shares:
Why he moved away from traditional rentals as a long-term strategy
The difference between being the landlord and being the bank
How owner financing can create long-term income without the day-to-day rental headaches
What kind of buyers fit this strategy
How he structures down payments, notes, and financing terms
Why Dodd-Frank rules matter if you plan to do multiple owner-finance deals
How he uses note hypothecation to free up capital and keep buying more properties
The pros and cons of selling with a deed versus using a contract-for-deed / land contract
Why this strategy can be a powerful tool for legacy wealth and passive income
Adam also talks about the reality behind “passive income” in real estate, why most investors overcomplicate their first deals, and how HomeVestors helped expose him to new strategies and relationships that changed the trajectory of his business.
If you’re a real estate investor, landlord, or someone trying to build long-term wealth through real estate, this episode will give you a completely different way to think about cash flow, ownership, and financial legacy.

In this episode of The We Buy Ugly Houses Podcast, Derek Douglas sits down with HomeVestors Chief Growth Officer Brandon Gebers to discuss one of the company's biggest technology moves in recent years: the acquisition of Blue Squid.
Why does this matter?
Because real estate investing is changing. Fast.
For years, many investors believed there wasn't enough opportunity on the MLS. The data told a different story. During HomeVestors' research, the team discovered that nearly 30% of flipped properties were purchased from MLS listings, while only a small percentage of HomeVestors acquisitions came from the same source. That gap revealed a major opportunity.
In this conversation, Derek and Brandon break down:
✅ Why HomeVestors acquired Blue Squid✅ How technology can help investors identify more opportunities✅ The role of AI and machine learning in property evaluation✅ Why MLS deals have been overlooked by many investors✅ How automation can reduce hours of manual work✅ The future technology strategy at HomeVestors✅ What this means for franchisees and investors moving forward
This isn't just about buying software. It's about creating new opportunities, improving efficiency, and building the future of real estate investing.
If you're interested in real estate investing, technology, acquisitions, business growth, or the future of the housing industry, this episode is for you.
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For 8 months, Jeff Hotz was technically a real estate investor — but he was running it like a hobby.
He had no deals. He had paper folders in the back seat instead of a CRM. He was watching the people he trained with close houses while he sat in his car wondering if he'd made a mistake.
Then something snapped.
In this episode, host Derek Douglas sits down with Jeff Hotz — Marine Corps veteran, 13-year We Buy Ugly Houses franchisee out of Columbus, Ohio — for an honest, no-filter conversation about the gap between wanting a real estate business and actually building one.

Most new real estate investors are chasing the wrong number. In this episode, host Derek Douglas sits down with two of We Buy Ugly Houses' top operators — Rob Sturrock (Milwaukee, 20+ years investing) and Brandon Higgins (Atlanta, started with zero experience) — to break down what actually works when you're starting out, scaling up, or trying to build a rental portfolio that funds the rest of your life. They get into: Why Brandon walked away from a cushy sales job he was "bored out of his mind" in — and how a single LinkedIn notification changed everything The painful pivot Rob made after older duplexes nearly killed his rental business (and the specific property type that became his goldmine) Why doing 30 deals a year now beats 50 — and the exit strategy shift that made it possible