What Is a Capital Stack? Simple Breakdown for Real Estate Investors

Derek sits down with multifamily syndicator Randy Langenderfer to unpack his journey from corporate exec to full-time investor and coach. Randy shares the hard-won lessons from starting as an LP, moving into GP roles, structuring deals that align incentives, navigating the interest-rate shock, and where the next opportunities will likely appear. If you want specific questions to vet sponsors, a clear take on 70/30 PREF vs 80/20 “simple stack,” and a realistic read on distressed deals ahead, this one’s for you.
How to Vet Passive Deals (and Avoid Getting Burned)

Derek sits down with Houston-based investor and capital raiser David Priest to unpack two decades of lessons: surviving the 2008 crash, shifting from transactional work to passive/commercial deals, why operator track record and conservative underwriting beat flashy pro formas, and how to protect yourself in today’s capital stacks (avoid bridge debt, prefer simple structures with LPs directly behind the bank). They also cover buying when others panic, the power of boots-on-the-ground, and a novel principal-protection approach for LPs.