loader from loading.io

297 - Why Smart Investors Are Quietly Buying Detroit Real Estate Right Now

Comfort To Courage

Release Date: 03/30/2026

Rock Bottom, Recovery, and the Red Hat: Larry Roberts on Losing Everything and Choosing Courage show art Rock Bottom, Recovery, and the Red Hat: Larry Roberts on Losing Everything and Choosing Courage

Comfort To Courage

314 - Rock Bottom, Recovery, and the Red Hat: Larry Roberts on Losing Everything and Choosing Courage He had 12 years of sobriety, a thriving podcast production company, a recognizable personal brand, and a speaking career that put him on stages across the country. And then, quietly and completely, he lost all of it. In this episode of Comfort to Courage, Larry Roberts, founder of Red Hat Media and one of the most recognized voices in the podcasting world, pulls back the curtain on his very public and brutally honest battle with alcoholism, including multiple rehab stints, a DUI, a dissolved...

info_outline
313 - How Alpha Funding Gets Investors to the Closing Table Fast with Vance Josey show art 313 - How Alpha Funding Gets Investors to the Closing Table Fast with Vance Josey

Comfort To Courage

You found the deal. You ran the numbers. And then you lost it to another investor because your lender couldn't get you a proof of funds letter over the weekend. If that scenario makes your stomach drop, this episode is about to change how you fund every deal from here on out. Jen sits down with her husband and business partner Vance Josey, real estate broker, general contractor, and hard money lending expert with Alpha Funding, to pull back the curtain on how investors actually get deals financed. Vance breaks down the difference between prequalification and underwriting, why speed matters...

info_outline
312 - She Left Caregiving to Build Luxury Memory Care Mansions with Nicole Becerra show art 312 - She Left Caregiving to Build Luxury Memory Care Mansions with Nicole Becerra

Comfort To Courage

She watched residents cry alone on the floor, calls for help go unanswered, and a client ask her point blank, "Am I gonna die today?" That first shift as a professional caregiver didn't just break Nicole Becerra's heart. It gave her a mission. Instead of accepting that this was just how senior care worked, she asked a different question: what if it didn't have to be this way? In this episode, Nicole shares how she went from sitting bedside with dementia patients to acquiring raw land, navigating septic and zoning laws, and securing an SBA loan to build Mosaic Memory Care, a 16 room luxury...

info_outline
311 - Why This Investor Ditched Multifamily for Hot Springs and National Parks show art 311 - Why This Investor Ditched Multifamily for Hot Springs and National Parks

Comfort To Courage

What if the smartest move in real estate right now isn't multifamily at all? While thousands of investors keep fighting over the same overpriced apartment deals, Zander Kemp walked away from 23 apartment buildings to chase something almost nobody else was building: luxury glamping and hot spring resorts parked right outside America's busiest national parks. In this episode, Zander, founder of Clear Summit Investments, breaks down exactly how he identified outdoor hospitality as a massively underpriced niche, still 90% owned by mom and pop operators, trading at cap rates nearly double what...

info_outline
310 - The Pilot's Checklist That Built a $1 Billion Self Storage Empire show art 310 - The Pilot's Checklist That Built a $1 Billion Self Storage Empire

Comfort To Courage

310 - From Airline Pilot to $1 Billion Self Storage Empire: Ryan Gibson's Blueprint for Passive Wealth What if the same checklist that keeps a commercial jet from crashing could also keep your real estate deals from blowing up your bank account? That is the mindset Ryan Gibson brought from the cockpit to the boardroom, and it is the difference between investors who build lasting wealth and those who get burned chasing the next shiny deal. In this episode, Ryan, president of Spartan Investment Group and co-host of Passive Income Pilots, breaks down the go or no-go framework he uses to...

info_outline
309 - From Addiction Recovery to 1,100 Lots: The Mobile Home Park Strategy Nobody Talks About with Tim Woodbridge show art 309 - From Addiction Recovery to 1,100 Lots: The Mobile Home Park Strategy Nobody Talks About with Tim Woodbridge

Comfort To Courage

309 - From $250K to $570K in 14 Months: How Tim Woodbridge Built a Mobile Home Park Empire Through Recovery and Resilience What if the deal everyone told you was bad turned out to be the foundation of an 1,100 lot portfolio? Tim Woodbridge bought his first mobile home park for $250,000 in 2019 with only 10 of 36 lots occupied. Experienced investors told him to walk away. Fourteen months later, after bringing in new homes and raising occupancy, that same property appraised for $570,000 and he returned every dollar of investor capital through a refinance. This episode is proof that your first...

info_outline
308 - He Lost 6 Figures as an LP and Then Became the Guy Who Vets the Operators show art 308 - He Lost 6 Figures as an LP and Then Became the Guy Who Vets the Operators

Comfort To Courage

308 - From 52 Houses to Fund Manager: How Tom St. John Built a Portfolio Powered by Discipline, Loss, and Unshakeable Due Diligence What happens when a single telescope changes everything? For Tom St. John, watching his father retire after 32 years at a power plant with nothing but a telescope as a gift was the moment that cracked his world open. That telescope became a symbol of what following the rules without building real assets actually gets you. Tom made a vow to find another way, and what followed was a decades-long journey through single-family rentals, multifamily acquisitions,...

info_outline
307 - No W-2? No Problem. The Invisible Prime Borrower Strategy Beating Traditional Lending show art 307 - No W-2? No Problem. The Invisible Prime Borrower Strategy Beating Traditional Lending

Comfort To Courage

307 - The Invisible Prime Borrower: How Efri Argaman Is Unlocking Homeownership for 42 Million Americans What if the biggest barrier to homeownership in America wasn't money, it was the wrong measuring stick? Right now, an estimated 37 to 42 million people in this country have the income to buy a home, pay their rent on time every single month, and are still being turned away by the traditional lending system simply because their income doesn't come with a W-2. That's not a credit problem. That's a broken system problem. And Efri Argaman, founder and CEO of OwnEZ, built a fintech company to...

info_outline
306 - The Doctor Who Walked Away from $500K a Year to Build $2 Billion in Real Estate show art 306 - The Doctor Who Walked Away from $500K a Year to Build $2 Billion in Real Estate

Comfort To Courage

What if everything you were taught about building wealth was designed for someone else's benefit, not yours? High-income professionals, especially doctors, lawyers, and entrepreneurs, are earning hundreds of thousands of dollars a year and still ending up financially behind, buried in debt, crushed by taxes, and handing their futures over to Wall Street. In this episode of the Real Estate Investor Growth Network, Jen Josey sits down with Buck Joffrey, MD, a former cosmetic surgeon turned serial entrepreneur who has been involved in over $2 billion in real estate transactions, to expose...

info_outline
305 - He Produced 60 Days In and Duck Dynasty and Now He's Teaching Real Estate Investors How to Be Impossible to Ignore show art 305 - He Produced 60 Days In and Duck Dynasty and Now He's Teaching Real Estate Investors How to Be Impossible to Ignore

Comfort To Courage

What if the secret to dominating your real estate market had nothing to do with cash offers, fast closes, or undercutting your competition? Emmy-nominated television executive Brad Holcman spent 25 years in Hollywood making people impossible to ignore, and now he's revealing exactly how real estate investors can stop drowning in sameness, stand out in a crowded market, and become the only choice for motivated sellers. If your marketing sounds like everyone else's, this episode will change how you think about your brand forever. Brad introduces the powerful $2 Bill philosophy, the idea that...

info_outline
 
More Episodes

Episode Summary
What if one overlooked U.S. market could deliver cash flow, appreciation, and turnkey simplicity all at once? In this episode, Jen Josey sits down with Voytek Mardula and James Lloyd to uncover why Detroit real estate investing is rapidly becoming one of the most compelling opportunities for investors seeking passive income, portfolio growth, and scalable wealth.

With over 600 renovated homes, $100M+ raised from private investors, and thousands of guest stays managed, Voytek and James share how they built a data-backed turnkey investing model that removes the guesswork. They break down B-class neighborhood selection, Section 8 stability, short-term rental cash flow, BRRRR opportunities, and why Detroit’s revitalization, tech expansion, and tourism growth are creating powerful tailwinds. You’ll also hear how investors can start with as little as $30K–$50K and potentially scale into multiple cash-flowing properties.

This episode is essential for real estate investors who want passive income without managing rehabs, out-of-state investors looking for strong cash flow markets, and high-income earners seeking tax-advantaged short-term rental strategies. If you’re tired of low cash flow, high prices, and oversaturated markets, this conversation reveals why Detroit may be the opportunity you’ve been waiting for.

5 Powerful Takeaways
• Why B-class neighborhoods in Detroit outperform cheaper areas with stronger appreciation and longer tenant retention
• How turnkey real estate investing removes renovation, management, and financing barriers for out-of-state investors
• The surprising stability of Section 8 rentals and why many investors use them for consistent cash flow
• How short-term rentals in Detroit are producing above-average returns due to tourism growth and hotel shortages
• Real examples of BRRRR-style equity creation where investors refinance and pull out capital to scale faster

About the Guest
Voytek Mardula is a seasoned entrepreneur with over 30 years of experience scaling high-volume operations across multiple industries. He has closed more than 600 home sales, raised over $100 million from private investors, and previously built and exited a 300+ door property management company in the Detroit area. Today, he focuses on data-driven turnkey real estate investing and operates a leading short-term rental management division across the U.S. and Canada.

James Lloyd is Vice President of Sales at US Properties and brings more than 25 years of experience in hospitality and sales leadership. He specializes in investor relations, marketing strategy, and helping clients understand turnkey real estate opportunities. Together, they provide full-service investing solutions including acquisition, renovation, financing guidance, and management for long-term and short-term rental portfolios.

Resources & Websites Mentioned
https://usproperties.ca

00:00 REIGN Podcast Intro
00:53 REIA Shortcut Tips
03:44 Meet Today’s Guests
05:22 James Origin Story
07:18 Voytek Background
09:38 Discovering Detroit
13:09 Why Detroit Now
15:26 US Properties Turnkey Model
17:11 Neighborhood Strategy
20:50 Deal Walkthrough Financing
23:53 BRRRR and Rate Outlook
24:17 Equity Capture Turnkeys
26:36 Section 8 Demand Detroit
29:06 Section 8 Myths Risks
31:30 Diversify With Airbnbs
34:14 Why Invest Detroit
36:28 How To Get Started
38:51 Badass Book Advice
42:02 Drive Goals Systems
48:00 Defining Success Wrap
 

🔗 Learn More & Connect with Jen Josey:
https://www.therealjenjosey.com – Real estate investing resources, podcast episodes, and more.

👑 Join the REIGN Mastermind:
https://www.reignmastermind.com – Network with real estate investors nationwide.

🔥 Stuff Jen Josey Loves (Recommended Tools & Resources):
https://www.reignmastermind.com/resources – Handpicked tools, books, and services for real estate investors.

📚 Buy Jen Josey’s Book: From Beginner to Badass
https://a.co/d/bstKlby – Step-by-step guide to real estate investing success.