Chris & John
- Sep 10, 2020
- 3 min read

Ep 85: Having the Right Team and Investing in Your Backyard with John Carney

As real estate investing becomes increasingly competitive, today’s guest, John Carney, believes that it is more important than ever to have the best team possible. John is a real estate entrepreneur, author, and speaker, as well as a husband, father, and athlete. He joined his family business, The Landmark Companies, in 2016 after living with his family in Australia for seven years, when he returned to Cleveland to work on new development and acquisitions. John is an experienced real estate investor and developer in Australia, Indonesia, and multiple markets in the United States, and founded American Property Source while living in Melbourne, Australia. He is the author of 10,000 Miles to the American Dream and Real Estate is A Team Sport, and is also the host of The Real Estate Locker Rooms Show podcast. In this episode, we discuss hyper-local versus multi-market real estate investing, John’s self-inflicted pressure to perform, and working with his family, and John shares what it is like investing in his backyard, why he believes you need the right team around you, including the right accountant, and the benefits of getting a real estate license. Tune in today!

Key Points From This Episode:

John introduces himself and what he does, coming from a multi-generation real estate family.
Multifamily is The Landmark Companies’ focus, but John is also involved in other ground-ups.
Hyper-local real estate versus multi-market – John has done both local and global deals.
John talks about the self-inflicted pressure he feels to perform on every single deal he does.
From Melbourne to Cleveland – John had the opportunity to work on exciting deals in a hyper-local market with his family.
What The Landmark Companies look for in deals or properties from the development side.
John believes if you have the right team in any market, your backyard is a great place to start.
John explains why there are two teams when investing in multifamily or commercial property.
The value of finding a real estate-specific accountant – it’s not just about wealth creation, it’s also about wealth preservation.
Why off-market isn’t the buzzword it was, and why job-growth and proximity are important.
John doesn’t consider Cleveland a growth market, but competition drives their rent standards.
If you want to get started, begin in your backyard and learn the fundamentals of your first deal.
John recommends a real estate license as a quick education and a great way to network.

Tweetables:

“That stress you have when you’re starting something up, and every deal is precious and every client is precious, and how you interact with everybody on that level, I just look at that as my everyday. I don’t think my wife loves that, but it’s a self-inflicted pressure to perform. The challenge I think everybody in real estate, who’s got tenants right now, is feeling. We’re feeling some pressure, but we’re figuring out ways as a group of people to perform with it.” — @john_m_carney [0:13:30]

“I think if you have the right team on the ground in any market, your backyard is a great place to start.” — @john_m_carney [0:19:47]

“If you want to get started, start in your backyard and learn the fundamentals.” — @john_m_carney [0:38:13]