Ekabo Home Financial Freedom Mastermind Podcast

163. Stop Using Zillow to Value Properties — It Almost Bankrupted Them!

🌟 How Real Investors Determine Property Value — The CMA Explained🌟 Welcome to the Ekabo Home Financial Freedom Mastermind Webinar! In this session, host Niyi Adewole breaks down how real investors and appraisers actually determine property value — and why trusting Zillow could cost you thousands. With live examples and real appraisals, this episode gives you the exact framework his team uses across Georgia, Florida, and Texas. 🔥 Quote of the Day: "Investors don't hope on price. They run the ARVs based on the CMA and arrive at the true value." — Niyi Adewole 💡 What This Means: Relying on a Zillow estimate is not a strategy — it's a gamble. Real investors use Comparative Market Analysis to know exactly what a property is worth before they buy, rehab, or refinance. 🎙️ What You'll Learn: 1. Why Zillow Will Get You Into Trouble: A Zestimate can be off by 5–20% or more. Zillow nearly went bankrupt in 2021–2022 relying on its own estimates when buying properties through its iBuyer program. 2. What a CMA Is and How to Run One: Find recently sold properties similar in size, bed-bath count, and location — then make adjustments to arrive at the true value. Niyi walks through this live using real properties on FMLS. 3. The Golden Rules of Finding Good Comps: Sold within the last 3–6 months, within 1–2 miles, with similar square footage and bed-bath count. The tighter the comps, the more accurate your ARV. 4. Above-Ground vs. Below-Ground Square Footage: Above-ground is valued at roughly $50 per square foot in adjustments. Below-ground drops to around $20 per square foot in Georgia — a costly surprise if you're not prepared. 5. How to Make Adjustments Like an Appraiser: Add $10,000 for each extra full bathroom. Add or subtract $5,000 per bedroom. Multiply square footage differences by $50 above ground and $20 below ground. 6. A Real BRRR Deal Walked Through Live: Niyi's team helped a client buy a bank foreclosure for $450K with a $200K rehab budget and a conservative ARV of $850K. It ultimately appraised for $1.15 million — allowing the client to pull all their money back out and walk away with cash. 7. Finding the Highest and Best Use: A 3-bed, 1-bath over 1,200 square feet almost always has room to add a bathroom, dramatically increasing the ARV. Over 1,600 square feet? You may be able to add a bedroom too. 🏡 Key Takeaways: ➤ Never Trust Zillow Alone — Run a CMA before making any offer, especially on a flip or BRRR deal. ➤ Above Ground and Below Ground Are Not Equal — In Georgia, below-ground square footage is valued at roughly half of above-ground. Know this before you buy. ➤ Tight Comps Win Every Time — Same neighborhood, sold within 3–6 months, similar size and bed-bath count. The tighter your comps, the better you can negotiate. ⚛️ Why This Matters: Whether you're flipping, BRRRing (Buy, Rehab, Rent, Refinance, Repeat), or just buying your first investment property, knowing how to determine true market value is the skill that separates investors who build wealth from those who lose money on bad deals. The CMA is not just a realtor tool — it's your unfair advantage in every negotiation, every refinance, and every exit strategy you'll ever execute. 🗓️ Tune in every Wednesday at 7 PM Eastern! Don’t miss out on our journey toward financial freedom through smart investments. 👉 Hit that subscribe button and turn on notifications so you never miss an update! Let’s unlock your potential together!  Our Links ➣ Financial Freedom Mastermind Facebook Group - https://www.facebook.com/groups/53083...  ➣ Peer Space Host Referral Link https://www.peerspace.com/referrals/g...  ➣ AirBNB Host Referral Link https://www.airbnb.com/r/niyia41  ➣ Ekabo Home Network (IG, Youtube, Email) https://linktr.ee/ekabohome Niyi Adewole is a licensed realtor in Georgia, brokered by EXP Realty. Feel free to reach out at Niyi.Adewole@exprealty.com if you would like to work with an investor friendly real estate agent.

162. Cap Rate vs. Cash-on-Cash Return — Which One Actually Makes You Money?

🌟 Cap Rates vs. Cash-on-Cash Return — What Actually Matters in Real Estate 🌟 Welcome to the Ekabo Home Financial Freedom Mastermind Webinar! In this session, host Niyi Adewole cuts through the confusion around the two most important metrics in real estate investing and reveals the exact return targets his team uses to build wealth through long-term and short-term rentals. 🔥 Quote of the Day: "If you're gonna get into real estate and put time, money, risk, and energy into it, you should be aiming to beat the stock market." — Niyi Adewole 💡 What This Means: The stock market averages 8–10% per year. Real estate needs to do better than that to be worth your time — and with leverage, cash flow, appreciation, and tax benefits all stacking together, it absolutely can. 🎙️ What You'll Learn: 1. The 4 Returns Real Estate Gives You Simultaneously: Cash flow, appreciation, principal pay down, and tax benefits — all stacking at the same time, unlike stocks which give you just one. 2. What Cap Rate Actually Is and How to Read It: NOI divided by purchase price — no mortgage included. A 3–5% cap means premium area, 6–8% is the cash flow sweet spot, and 9-plus means higher risk and more questions. 3. Why Cash-on-Cash Return Matters More for Residential Deals: Cap rate ignores financing — the very thing that makes real estate so powerful. Cash-on-cash tells you what's actually hitting your bank account each year based on what you actually put in. 4. Real Deals Walked Through Live: A $300K long-term rental producing a 12% cash-on-cash return, and a $300K short-term rental producing a 31.6% return — with real numbers, real expenses, and real mortgage payments. 5. The Short-Term Rental Tax Bonus: Bonus depreciation through cost segregation can wipe out roughly $69,000 of taxable income in year one — including W-2 income. Niyi used this across 4 properties to go from paying six figures in taxes to zero. 6. The 5 Most Common Mistakes Investors Make: From forgetting closing costs in your cash invested, to falling in love with a property before the numbers say yes — Niyi breaks down every pitfall and how to avoid them. 🏡 Key Takeaways: ➤ Cap Rates Compare Buildings. Cash-on-Cash Compares Deals — Use cash-on-cash for any residential deal where you're using financing. ➤ Know Your Targets — 12% cash-on-cash minimum for long-term rentals. 20% or more for short-term rentals. ➤ Cash-on-Cash Is Just Year One — Every year after, rent goes up while the mortgage stays the same. It only gets better from there. 🗓️ Tune in every Wednesday at 7 PM Eastern! Don’t miss out on our journey toward financial freedom through smart investments. 👉 Hit that subscribe button and turn on notifications so you never miss an update! Let’s unlock your potential together!  Our Links ➣ Financial Freedom Mastermind Facebook Group - https://www.facebook.com/groups/53083...  ➣ Peer Space Host Referral Link https://www.peerspace.com/referrals/g...  ➣ AirBNB Host Referral Link https://www.airbnb.com/r/niyia41  ➣ Ekabo Home Network (IG, Youtube, Email) https://linktr.ee/ekabohome Niyi Adewole is a licensed realtor in Georgia, brokered by EXP Realty. Feel free to reach out at Niyi.Adewole@exprealty.com if you would like to work with an investor friendly real estate agent.

161. The 0.8% Rule — The Only Number You Need to Find Cash Flowing Deals in Atlanta

🌟 The 1% Rule Is Dead — Here's What Replaced It 🌟 Welcome to the Ekabo Home Financial Freedom Mastermind Webinar! In this session, host Niyi Adewole breaks down why the most popular rule in real estate investing no longer works in top markets, and reveals the new rule his team uses to filter hundreds of deals down to the ones that actually cash flow. 🔥 Quote of the Day: "Most people don't fail because the deals aren't out there. Most people fail because they overcomplicate their first move." — Niyi Adewole, Ekabo Home 💡 What This Means: New investors get so caught up in LLCs, fix and flips, and complex strategies that they never buy the long-term rental that would have actually built their wealth. Stop overthinking, get back to the fundamentals, and use simple math to move fast. 🎙️ What You'll Learn: 1. Where the 1% Rule Came From and Why It Worked: Born out of the BiggerPockets community in the 2010s, the 1% rule gave investors a fast way to filter deals without building a 12-tab spreadsheet — if a property rents for 1% of its purchase price per month, it's worth a second look. 2. Why the 1% Rule Is Mostly Dead in Top Markets: In Atlanta — the 6th largest metro in the country with 6.5 million people and 37 Fortune 1000 companies — home prices have accelerated far beyond what the 1% rule can realistically capture. A clean 1% deal on the Atlanta MLS lasts about 3 days before it's gone, and if it looks too good, there's usually a catch. 3. The 0.8% Rule — Atlanta's New Standard: After running thousands of deals, Niyi's team landed on a new rule of thumb. If a property rents for 0.8% of its purchase price per month, it's worth pursuing. On a $300,000 home, that's $2,400 per month — double Atlanta's average market price-to-rent ratio of 0.4%. 4. A Real $800K Quadplex Deal — Walked Through Live: Niyi walks through an actual deal using the BiggerPockets calculator — $800K purchase price, 20% down, 7.3% interest rate, $8,000 in taxes, $3,000 in insurance, and reserves for repairs, CapEx, and vacancy. Day one cash flow came in at $263 per month with an additional $832 being set aside monthly. 5. How the Deal Grew From $6,400 to $8,500 Per Month: The previous owners hadn't raised rents in over a decade. Niyi updated two units, converted them to short-term rentals temporarily, and steadily raised rents on the rest. Today the same property pulls in $8,500 per month on the same mortgage — with comparable properties now selling between $960K and $1M. 🏡 Key Takeaways: ➤ Stop Overcomplicating Your First Deal — LLCs, fix and flips, subject-to deals — that's noise. Buy a long-term rental or house hack that pencils and get in the game. ➤ 0.8% Is Your New Screening Shield — If you're still chasing 1% in Atlanta, you'll never find anything. Use 0.8% to identify real deals fast. ➤ 0.8% Is the Start, Not the End — Credits, rate buy-downs, and negotiation can push a deal even closer to true 1% cash flow on your actual basis. ⚛️ Why This Matters: With AI reshaping the job market and economic uncertainty continuing to grow, owning real estate is one of the most reliable hedges available. People will always need somewhere to live. If you run your numbers right and buy the right properties, this is an asset class that has stood the test of time for hundreds of years — and it's available to you right now, with less money than you think, in any market you choose. 🗓️ Tune in every Wednesday at 7 PM Eastern! Don’t miss out on our journey toward financial freedom through smart investments. 👉 Hit that subscribe button and turn on notifications so you never miss an update! Let’s unlock your potential together!  Our Links ➣ Financial Freedom Mastermind Facebook Group - https://www.facebook.com/groups/53083...  ➣ Peer Space Host Referral Link https://www.peerspace.com/referrals/g...  ➣ AirBNB Host Referral Link https://www.airbnb.com/r/niyia41  ➣ Ekabo Home Network (IG, Youtube, Email) https://linktr.ee/ekabohome Niyi Adewole is a licensed realtor in Georgia, brokered by EXP Realty. Feel free to reach out at Niyi.Adewole@exprealty.com if you would like to work with an investor friendly real estate agent.

160. 10 Real Estate Lies You've Been Told That Are Keeping You Broke!

🌟 Top 10 Real Estate Investing Myths Debunked 🌟 Welcome to the Ekabo Home Financial Freedom Mastermind Webinar! In this session, host Niyi Adewole tackles the top 10 myths that are keeping everyday people from building wealth through real estate. If there's something in the back of your mind holding you back from getting started, this episode is going to change the way you think about investing forever. 🔥 Quote of the Day: "We tend to complicate things in our mind, as opposed to simplify them, when we don't know or haven't done it before." — Niyi Adewole 💡 What This Means: Just like learning to ride a bike, real estate investing feels overwhelming before you start — but once you're in it, it becomes second nature. The fear and overthinking that keep most people on the sidelines are not based on reality. They're based on myths, and today we're tearing every single one of them down. 🎙️ What You'll Learn: 1. Myth #1 — You Need a Lot of Money to Get Started: Niyi started with just $5,000 using an FHA loan on a triplex in Louisville, Kentucky. Between FHA programs, VA loans, down payment assistance, and DSCR loans, it costs far less than most people think to get into your first property. 2. Myth #2 — You Need a 20% Down Payment: 80% of first-time homebuyers put down less than 20% and succeed. With FHA loans, seller financing, and creative structures, you can get started with as little as 3.5% — and even on pure investment properties, some programs allow as little as 10–15% down. 3. Myth #3 — Real Estate Is a Get-Rich-Quick Play: Real estate is a long-term game, full stop. Niyi shares how he purchased a fourplex in Snellville in 2023 for $800K that was only bringing in $6,000 a month, raised the rents, updated units, and now pulls in closer to $9,000 a month — but that took patience, a game plan, and time. 4. Myth #4 — You Have to Time the Market Perfectly: Since 2016, people have been predicting a crash every single year. Niyi's advice? Stop trying to time the market and just buy a deal that works in today's environment. With a 30-year fixed loan, if the numbers pencil today, they'll keep penciling for as long as you hold it. 5. Myth #5 — Past Appreciation Predicts Future Growth: Not every zip code is built the same. You need to look at major draws and major constraints in a market — things like top school districts, limited housing supply, and economic diversity. That's why Niyi chose Atlanta over the Carolinas and Florida — 37 Fortune 1000 companies, diverse employment, and major events like the World Cup all point to long-term growth. 6. Myth #6 — Fix and Flip Is Easy Money: TV shows like Fixer Upper and Property Brothers make flipping look simple, but Niyi didn't attempt his first flip until he was 5 years in the game with 30 long-term rental units already built. For new investors, a fix and flip is a motorcycle without a helmet — the risk is real, and it's not where you want to start. 7. Myth #7 — You Need Perfect Credit: FHA programs can work with credit scores in the low 600s and even upper 500s. DSCR loans evaluate the property itself, not just your credit. You can also bring in a cosigner or partner. Good credit helps, but it's not a prerequisite to getting started. 8. Myth #8 — You Have to Invest in Your Local Market: Niyi built 30 units in Louisville while living in Boston. The Ekabo Home Team has helped investors from Japan, California, New York, Hawaii, Chicago, and beyond buy properties in Georgia and Florida. With the right team on the ground, you can invest anywhere — just pick one market and master it. 9. Myth #9 — You Should Pay Off Your Mortgage as Soon as Possible: Real estate debt is not credit card debt. At 6–8% fixed over 30 years, it's one of the cheapest forms of leverage available. Niyi put $5,000 down on his Louisville triplex, never 🗓️ Tune in every Wednesday at 7 PM Eastern! Don’t miss out on our journey toward financial freedom through smart investments. 👉 Hit that subscribe button and turn on notifications so you never miss an update! Let’s unlock your potential together!  Our Links ➣ Financial Freedom Mastermind Facebook Group - https://www.facebook.com/groups/53083...  ➣ Peer Space Host Referral Link https://www.peerspace.com/referrals/g...  ➣ AirBNB Host Referral Link https://www.airbnb.com/r/niyia41  ➣ Ekabo Home Network (IG, Youtube, Email) https://linktr.ee/ekabohome Niyi Adewole is a licensed realtor in Georgia, brokered by EXP Realty. Feel free to reach out at Niyi.Adewole@exprealty.com if you would like to work with an investor friendly real estate agent.

159. I Didn't Sleep for Weeks Before Buying My First Rental Property — Here's What Happened!

🌟 How to Buy Your First Rental Property: The Step-by-Step Blueprint 🌟 Welcome to the Ekabo Home Financial Freedom Mastermind Webinar! In this session, host Niyi Adewole pulls back the curtain on exactly what it takes to buy your first rental property — from the fear and sleepless nights before closing, to building a portfolio that lets your money work harder than you do. If you've been thinking about getting into real estate but don't know where to start, this episode is your roadmap. 🔥 Quote of the Day: "The first deal is not gonna make you rich. The whole point of the first deal is to get you into the game." — Niyi Adewole 💡 What This Means: Too many people wait for the perfect deal or the perfect moment, and never take action at all. Your first property isn't about hitting a home run — it's about learning the game, building your team, and positioning yourself for the next deal, and the one after that. Wealth in real estate is built through consistency, not a single transaction. 🎙️ What You'll Learn: 1. The Fear Is Normal — Here's How to Push Through It: Niyi opens up about how he didn't sleep for weeks before and after closing on his first triplex, and why every investor goes through this on their first deal. 2. House Hack vs. Pure Investment — Which Financing Path Is Right for You: Learn the key differences between owner-occupant financing (as little as 5% down) and investor loans (20–25% down), and why choosing the right path can save you tens of thousands upfront. 3. Why You Need an Investor-Friendly Lender: Understand why big banks like Bank of America and Chase are not built for what real estate investors need, and how working with a mortgage broker that shops across 95+ lenders can unlock better rates and lower down payments. 4. Crystal Clear Criteria — The Red Car Theory Applied to Real Estate: Niyi explains why getting laser-focused on your target neighborhoods, price range, and property type is the secret to spotting deals everyone else is missing on Zillow. 5. The 1% Rule and the Atlanta 0.8% Rule: Learn the simple rules of thumb Niyi uses to quickly evaluate whether a long-term rental deal is worth pursuing — and how to apply them in your specific market. 6. Managing Your Property Without Losing Your Mind: From online rent collection to automated maintenance requests, Niyi walks through the exact tools and systems he uses — including Buildium — to manage rentals without being on call 24/7. 7. LLCs — Do You Really Need One Before You Buy? Niyi breaks down exactly when and how to use an LLC for legal protection, and why buying in your personal name first actually gives you far better lending terms. 🏡 Key Takeaways: ➤ You Don't Need Hundreds of Thousands to Start — With as little as 5% down on a primary home or house hack, you can get into your first investment property and start building wealth immediately. ➤ Build Your Team Before You Buy — An investor-friendly realtor, lender, and lawyer aren't just nice to have. They're the difference between a deal that works and one that falls apart. ➤ Stop Waiting, Start Moving — Analysis paralysis is the biggest deal killer. Do the upfront work, define your criteria, get pre-approved, and when the right property shows up — move fast. ⚛️ Why This Matters: Real estate investing isn't about one big win — it's about getting into the game and letting time, appreciation, and rental income do the heavy lifting. Niyi went from a $190K triplex with $5,000 down, to 30 units in Louisville, to a 13-unit portfolio in Atlanta plus 25 short-term rentals under management. It all started with one decision to stop waiting and take action. The tools, the financing, and the team are all available to you right now — the only thing missing is the first step. 🗓️ Tune in every Wednesday at 7 PM Eastern! Don’t miss out on our journey toward financial freedom through smart investments. 👉 Hit that subscribe button and turn on notifications so you never miss an update! Let’s unlock your potential together!  Our Links ➣ Financial Freedom Mastermind Facebook Group - https://www.facebook.com/groups/53083...  ➣ Peer Space Host Referral Link https://www.peerspace.com/referrals/g...  ➣ AirBNB Host Referral Link https://www.airbnb.com/r/niyia41  ➣ Ekabo Home Network (IG, Youtube, Email) https://linktr.ee/ekabohome Niyi Adewole is a licensed realtor in Georgia, brokered by EXP Realty. Feel free to reach out at Niyi.Adewole@exprealty.com if you would like to work with an investor friendly real estate agent.