Episodes

618
June 2, 2026

#618: A $405K Rehab, a Tear Gas House, and $181K in Profit What These Flips Reveal About Denver Right Now

The Denver fix and flip market 2026 is producing a strange combination. Strong showing activity and soft offer volume. One Arvada property sat through 57 showings in 44 days. The deal that finally came in fell apart when the buyer’s grandmother refused to release the down payment. That’s the market Derek Marlin is navigating right now. Derek Marlin founded Elevation in 2014. The company does fix and flips, wholesaling, fee-based project management, and runs a brokerage team at eXp. He also runs...
617
May 26, 2026

#617: How to Avoid the GC Mistake That Turned a $1.2M Bid Into a $2M Build

Three years into a Denver luxury redevelopment, Paul DeSalvo knows what real estate development mistakes actually cost. Paul, a Denver real estate investor and broker, is back to walk through every one of them. In this episode, Paul returns to update host Chris Lopez on a sweeping redevelopment in Berkeley, Denver — a 1902 Victorian transformed into a 5,500 sq ft, 6 bed/6 bath luxury home with an 850 sq ft ADU and 3-car garage. He shares what went well, what hit hard, and what every investor sho...
616
May 19, 2026

#616: Denver’s 2026 Market Feels Weird Right Now… Here’s Why

The Denver housing market April 2026 update shows a familiar story. Prices have been flat for three straight years. Rents have softened back to levels not seen since late 2021. So where does that actually leave Colorado investors right now? Chris Lopez brings the full panel together for this monthly update. Jenny Bayless covers the Colorado Springs market as both a broker and active investor. Jeff White of Envision Advisors tracks Denver’s small multifamily market closely. Brandon Scholten mana...
615
May 12, 2026

#615: Multifamily Down 15-50%: Where Denver Investors Are Finding Deals in 2026

The Denver multifamily market 2026 data is in — and it’s more complicated than most headlines suggest. Average rents have dropped back to Q4 2021 levels at $1,758. Vacancies have climbed from 5.8% to 7.5% in two years. Concessions have nearly doubled year-over-year to 10.1% of gross rents. And in some parts of the metro, prices are off 50% with zero buyer activity. So what does the Denver multifamily market 2026 actually mean for Front Range investors? Chris Lopez just returned from the Passive...
614
May 5, 2026

#614: Houses Flat, Condos Down 8% — What Denver's Q1 Data Actually Shows

Denver condo prices are down 8% since 2022, and houses have gone essentially flat — but is the correction over or is there more to come? In this episode, Chris Lopez walks through Q1 2026 data from Your Castle Real Estate, mapping 52 years of Denver price history to show exactly where each asset class stands today. He explains why condo corrections always play out slowly, even during major market events like the 2008 crash, and why multifamily — already down 15 to 35% — represents the stronger e...
613
April 28, 2026

#613: 8 Colorado Landlord Laws You Need to Know in 2026

2026 Colorado landlord laws introduced more housing-related bills than any year in recent memory — and landlords nearly paid a steep price. One proposal would have let tenants halt evictions mid-process with claims as vague as “transportation issues.” Another would have required landlords to attach a full lease to every demand notice. Neither passed — but the margin was closer than most investors realize. Chris Lopez sits down with Brandon Scholten, owner of Keyrenter Denver and a deeply active...
612
April 21, 2026

#612: Denver Prices Hold as Condos Fall for the 4th Straight Quarter | March 2026 Market Update

Denver home prices are flat and condo values are still sliding — here is your March 2026 Denver real estate market update. In Q1, homes across the metro held steady while condos dropped 6% year over year for the fourth consecutive quarter. As a result, that spread is creating two very different conversations for Colorado investors right now. Because the data tells such different stories depending on what you own, this episode breaks both of them down in detail. Chris Lopez is joined by Brandon ...
611
April 14, 2026

#611: Denver Rentals Are Getting Squeezed. Here's the Exit Strategy.

After 20 years of buying and holding on the Front Range, the numbers finally said it was time to move. That moment of reckoning is exactly what this episode is about — and for anyone rethinking their Denver real estate portfolio strategy in 2026, it’s one of the most honest conversations we’ve had on this show. Adam Haman sat on an underperforming Aurora duplex longer than he should have, watched the ARM reset and the rents slide, and finally made the call. What came next is where it gets intere...
610
April 7, 2026

#610: Denver Office, Multifamily, and Retail: Where Each Market Stands in 2026

Denver office investing in 2026 is drawing serious contrarian attention — and the numbers explain why. Class A buildings in the Denver Tech Center are trading at 30 to 50 cents on their last sale price. Some are selling for 65 dollars a square foot while replacement cost runs 500 dollars or more. For investors who remember multifamily in 2011, the setup looks familiar. Matt Ritter co-founded Pinnacle Real Estate in 2006. Today, Pinnacle Real Estate has 50 brokers and 25 staff and is one of Colo...
609
March 31, 2026

#609: How I'm Allocating Capital in 2026: Debt, Diversification and Due Diligence

This solo episode is a full breakdown of Chris Lopez’s 2026 real estate investment deals. He covers every position closed in Q1 and the active pipeline he’s evaluating right now. That includes a hotel conversion buying at roughly $30,000 a door and a Denver office deal at a 12 cap with 6.5% debt in place. The shift from common equity to debt isn’t accidental. Chris walks through three Q1 investments: a Canadian debt fund, a preferred equity position in Western Ohio multifamily, and a fund acqui...
608
March 24, 2026

#608: 3 Front Range Multifamily Deals That Actually Cash Flow in 2026

Small multifamily deals in Colorado are producing cash-on-cash returns worth paying attention to in 2026. Three real deals just went under contract or closed along the Front Range. In this episode, Chris Lopez sits down with real estate agent Jeff White and lender Troy Howell of Nova Home Loans. Together, they walk through three actual deals. Those are a Loveland fourplex at $685K, an Aurora triplex at $579K, and a Pueblo duplex at $300K. These are not hypotheticals. One is already under contra...
607
March 17, 2026

#607: The Condo Complex Problem That's Killing Denver Real Estate Deals Right Now

The Denver February 2026 market update is here, and active listings nearly hit 9,000 — 5% above last year — with Chris Lopez calling for inventory to break 15,000 before summer. At the same time, rates briefly touched below 6% for the first time in recent memory, triggering a refi wave that helped some borrowers drop from 6.625% to 5.75% with closing costs covered. The purchase market, though, barely flinched. Chris Lopez hosts the Denver February 2026 market update roundup with Brandon Scholte...
606
March 10, 2026

#606: How Canada's Strict Banking Rules Are Creating Above-Market Yields for US Investors

Canada’s residential mortgage market is a $32 billion annual asset class in Ontario alone. Plus, it’s structurally undersupplied. Unlike the US, Canada has no 30-year fixed mortgage. As a result, strict banking regulations push Canadian homeowners into the private lending market every few years. That forced refinancing cycle produces delinquency rates roughly one-eighth of what US private lenders see. On top of that, the recourse process in Canada runs just 60–90 days. Chris Lopez sits down with...
605
March 3, 2026

#605: Why Serious Multifamily Investors Are Quietly Moving Into Industrial

Most Colorado investors have never seriously considered industrial real estate. At first, it feels like a different world — big buildings, commercial tenants, unfamiliar terminology. But once you understand how the asset class actually works, it starts to look a lot like the multifamily investing you already know, just with fewer headaches. To start, industrial real estate covers a wide range. On one end you have a 2,000 square foot bay rented to an HVAC company. On the other end, million squar...
604
Feb. 24, 2026

#604: A Private Lender's Honest Take on Fix and Flips, DSCR Loans, and Denver Prices

Denver fix and flip margins are shrinking, condo inventory just hit 11 months, and some DSCR lenders are approving loans at 0.75 debt service coverage. That’s not a typo. For anyone trying to get a clear Colorado real estate outlook for 2026, the signals are mixed — and most of them you won’t find in the MLS. To help make sense of it all, Chris Lopez sits down with Kevin Amolsch, founder of Pine Financial, a Colorado private lender that has originated over $1 billion in loans across 2,800 trans...
603
Feb. 17, 2026

#603: Denver Has Too Much Inventory... And That's Great News for Buyers

Something shifted in January — and this January 2026 Denver real estate market update breaks down exactly what’s happening. Rents are resetting to 2018 levels. A third of all available apartments were built in the last decade. Colorado now ranks 5th nationally for outbound moves. 55% are leaving the state — the highest since 1990. Landlords across the Front Range are holding rents flat or cutting them just to keep units filled. But here’s what most people are missing — this same pressure is crea...
602
Feb. 10, 2026

#602: How To Analyze Multifamily Deals In 80% Less Time Using AI

What if you could cut your deal analysis time by 80%? Joel Bechtel was drowning in broker documents. T12s in one format. Rent rolls in another. OMs that looked completely different from the last five he’d reviewed. After spending hours copying and pasting data into Excel spreadsheets only to discover a deal wouldn’t work, he built multifamily underwriting software, Deal Flow Pro to solve the problem. Chris Lopez sits down with Joel, a software entrepreneur who spent 18 years building tech compa...
601
Feb. 3, 2026

#601: Denver Multifamily Hits 2009 Cap Rates (8 Indicators We're at the Bottom)

Denver multifamily 2026 cap rates just hit 6 to 6.5 percent. This is the first time since 2009. Furthermore, Denver’s highest-volume multifamily brokers believe this marks the bottom. Meanwhile, many investors wait for blood-in-the-water distressed sales. However, NorthPeak Commercial Advisors see something different in Denver multifamily 2026. Instead, they’re seeing fair pricing on quality assets. Additionally, buyer activity is returning after a two-year freeze. Chris Lopez sits down with Ke...
600
Jan. 27, 2026

#600: What 600 Episodes Taught Me About Building Wealth In Real Estate

After 600 episodes and nine years of interviewing Colorado’s most successful real estate investors, podcast host Chris Lopez shares the five most important Colorado real estate investing lessons he’s learned—lessons that fundamentally changed how he builds portfolios, navigates market cycles, and adapts investment strategy. Since launching July 7, 2017, Chris has interviewed hundreds of Colorado investors: deca-millionaires who built massive portfolios, investors who survived the 2008 crash and...
599
Jan. 20, 2026

#599: 2026 Denver Small Multifamily Listings Jump 300% In One Week

The Denver December 2025 market update reveals a shifting landscape for real estate investors. Inventory ended the year at 7,600 active units – up 10% from December 2024 but down sharply from November’s 10,500 units as sellers pulled listings heading into the holidays. The bigger story? Attached properties (condos and townhomes) surged 20% year-over-year while detached homes stayed relatively flat, signaling where market pressure is building. Then the new year arrived and everything accelerated....
598
Jan. 13, 2026

#598: What Your Cash Flow on Equity Number Reveals About Your Portfolio

Colorado’s real estate market just hit balanced status for the first time since 2012. The best Colorado real estate investing strategies in 2026 now require adapting to what Chris Lopez calls “the great stall” for single-family homes. Condo prices are forecast to drop another 4-10%. Multifamily has already crashed 15-30% from peak values. Meanwhile, builders are offering closing incentives reaching 7-13% on new construction. Private lenders are generating 10-20% annual returns. This matters beca...
597
Jan. 6, 2026

#597: Stop Chasing Subject-To Deals - Why Short Sales Work Better in Colorado

While most Colorado investors chase the same overpriced listings and compete on subject-to deals, Troy Miller quietly closes properties for $30K that will be worth $250K after renovation. These short sale real estate Colorado 2025 deals require skill and systems, but Troy proves you only need 5-6 deals per year to hit financial goals. The strategy isn’t new, but the opportunities are growing as more properties go underwater in today’s market. Troy Miller is the CEO of Colorado Recon (formerly I...
596
Dec. 30, 2025

#596: Is 2026 the Right Time to Exit Active Colorado Landlording?

The Denver multifamily market just absorbed 9,400 units – about 20% higher than the annual average – while supply continues burning off through 2026. This massive supply wave is creating opportunities for Denver real estate investing 2026 strategies that most investors are missing. Chris Lopez and Richard McGirr, co-founders of Property Llama, break down their 2025 shareholder meeting covering Colorado market divergence, investment strategy shifts, and the company’s evolution into diversified d...
595
Dec. 23, 2025

#595: 91% of Homes LOST Value But Prices Stay Flat?? | November 2025 Denver Market Update

The Colorado real estate market in November 2025 is sending mixed signals. Denver sellers are pulling listings at the second-highest rate in the nation (39%), while prices somehow rose 2% year over year. Meanwhile, Colorado Springs faces a documented 27,000 unit shortage, yet new construction has dropped by half. Additionally, 91% of Denver homes show value declines on Zillow, but actual sales prices climbed higher in the November 2025 Colorado real estate market. Chris Lopez hosts the monthly ...