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How to Invest in Real Estate the Smart Way (Do the Math First)

By February 25, 2026Real Estate Pros Show

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Show Summary

In this episode of the Real Estate Pros podcast, host Michelle Kesil interviews Bob Irish, a seasoned real estate broker with over 25 years of experience. Bob shares insights into his focus on investor support, particularly in the self-storage sector, and discusses the importance of finding profitable deals. He provides advice for new investors, highlights market trends, and emphasizes the significance of buying and holding real estate. The conversation concludes with Bob’s contact information for those interested in learning more about his work.

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    Investor Fuel Show Transcript:

    Bob Irish (00:00)
    if you look back over time, 78, 91, 2008, you know, every 13, 15 years we have a crash. 2008 is now 2026. So if math is going to repeat, then it’s time for prices to adjust. That’s my best guess. the other part is, you know, it doesn’t matter that house you bought in 1978 for 20, $40,000 worth two to 4 million. If you wait long enough, everything gets better. So even if we crash tomorrow, 20%, 40%.

    percent who cares it always dips and then it goes and surpasses the last high and continues on and then it comes back down adjusts and goes back up it’s been doing that for the past 50 years I’ve been around

    Michelle Kesil (02:13)
    Hey, everybody. Welcome to the Real Estate Pros podcast. I’m your host, Michelle Kesil And today I’m joined by someone I’m looking forward to chatting with, Bob Irish, who’s been a real estate broker for the past 25 years, as well as supports in investors in finding projects. So excited to have you here today,

    Bob Irish (02:35)
    Thank you, good morning Michelle.

    Michelle Kesil (02:37)
    Yeah, thank you. So let’s dive in. First off, for those who are not familiar with you and your work yet, can you share what your main focus is?

    Bob Irish (02:47)
    Sure, I have been a broker since I started, opened my own shop and my own focus has always been on investors. When the short-term market came around, I figured out how to get those properties to the investors, sold a ton of properties to BlackRock and a lot of other REITs that are now millions and millions of properties. Spent lots of time doing that and wrote a couple books on how to do real estate and such.

    Opened an office in Newport Beach and started doing fix and flips and rehabs for some investors that wanted big projects. know, the buy them for three or four and resell them for eight or 10 kind of projects, tear downs and such. And now I’m working with a self storage company that builds ground up self storage units, taking the investors money to do the build and then.

    sell off each individual unit to consumers and then pay the investors back a good IRR of about 20-22%.

    Michelle Kesil (03:46)
    Awesome. So which markets do you operate in?

    Bob Irish (03:51)
    So I’m in Southern California, so I’ve sold all over California. In fact, I just sold a house to a guy in Lake Tahoe, actually Truckee, which is on north side of Lake Tahoe. So California for me, if I can drive there, I can sell it. ⁓ The self-storage units we’ve been working on are right now. We have two projects in Georgia and one in Texas, and we’re gonna do one in California, up near Sacramento. That’ll be next on the book. So to be honest, nationwide.

    Michelle Kesil (04:18)
    Great. And so how are you working with investors specifically? In what ways are you supporting them?

    Bob Irish (04:26)
    Sure, so investors right now, this self-storage facility that we’re building, we take the money, we build out the project, and of course we sell the project off. We condominium-ize the project. So most of those storages are built in, it’s a one-owner opportunity, right? But we take the investor money, build it, sell off each individual unit to regular people who want to store their boat, their RV, or have their small business where they need storage.

    So each unit is then sold off paying off the debt. When we sell out the project, we’re paying 8 % back on the money, but we’re also splitting the net profit 50-50 with the investors. So the IRR turned up.

    be around 20-22 % over a two, two and a half year period. So supporting the investors by giving them a really good project, fixed flips are harder to find in Newport Beach or even in Southern California to make good money on. This is more passive, true, but the IRR is much better and more secure.

    Michelle Kesil (05:29)
    Yeah, absolutely. So the investors are buying like each individual unit. So multiple investors can be on this project. Is that correct?

    Bob Irish (06:25)
    Actually, the investors come in and the capital raise part of it. So we do the capital raise, the investors, we build out the project. When we sell it off, and we’re doing that all in-house as well, when we sell it off, we pay off the senior debt, we do get a loan, and then we pay back the investors their money plus a split of the profit. So the investors come in in the beginning with the capital raise. Yes, an investor can, of course, buy one unit or 10 units and then rent them out as well. So the price per square foot to buy them is quite

    Michelle Kesil (06:29)
    Mm-hmm.

    Mm-hmm.

    Bob Irish (06:55)
    low compared to most other things but the rent is stable as you know self-storage every self-storage facility you see is 100 % full and people are waiting in line in fact I have a small one around the corner that was paying 250 a month for 10 by 10 they just raised to 350.

    And it’s like, you know, keeping my junk in my garage in the storage unit. Self storage is so many people waiting to get in that they can just keep on raising the rates and you’ve got to pay because you need that extra space.

    Michelle Kesil (07:27)
    ⁓ I didn’t know that. That industry was so profitable.

    Bob Irish (07:28)
    Yeah,

    it’s quite profitable. And very passive in that way too, where there’s no toilets to fix, right? There’s no light bulbs to change. People come in, they put their stuff, they leave it, and that’s it. You hardly ever see them again.

    Michelle Kesil (07:33)
    Right.

    Yeah,

    is there any sort of like operational needs in order to like invest in these?

    Bob Irish (07:50)
    No, mean we’re really looking at, I mean we have our investor portfolio for that particular project. We actually do a single LLC for that particular project. That way if it’s one investor or four investors or 10 investors, they own the LLC that buys the project and they own the project. They are preferred equity. are the only thing that’s senior is course if we get the loan from the bank to finish out.

    $4 to $5 million raise $6, $7 million loan $15 million build out. But we built about 150,000 square feet. And at 200 bucks a foot, it’s about 25, 26 million on the sellout. So there’s an $8, $10 million profit. We’ve got commissions and things like that to pay, of course. But the net result is the investor just puts the money in.

    part of the project, own it, they’re the LLC, the primary, and then when we sell it out everybody gets paid off and we split the profits. Nothing active really for the investor to do.

    Michelle Kesil (08:59)
    Awesome. And so what do you feel are some main keys of your business that have allowed it to be able to grow and to run smoothly?

    Bob Irish (09:11)
    Well, I guess I had earlier when we were speaking before is the ability to find deals is the hardest part of anybody’s deal. I’ve been doing this for a long time. Whether it’s a small little single family homes that, you know, make sense. People buy things and they don’t do the money. They don’t do the math. They don’t figure out what the return. They say, well, I’ll just it’ll get better. No.

    you have to make sure that it makes sense when you buy it. So that when after you buy it, gets better sense, right? But if you’re losing money to begin with and you’re okay with that, great, but do the math first. Don’t sit there and think you’re gonna make money just because you bought an investment.

    So my point is, that’s how I think all the time, right? If it doesn’t make money, if it doesn’t make sense financially today, it will never make sense. So my strength is to find that deal that totally makes sense. We know all the particular problems that might come up and it still makes sense. Then you can go ahead with the deal. No emotional decisions, right? Just smart math, financial, and I’m good at finding the deals and negotiating that contract. ⁓

    fix and flip rehab in Newport Beach on the water, great. Or whether it’s self-storage units in Georgia, we’ve done all the homework. And that’s probably the thing that most people don’t do very well that I’m pretty good at.

    Michelle Kesil (10:39)
    Right, that makes sense. And so what are you most focusing on solving or scaling to next?

    Bob Irish (11:21)
    Yeah, I mean, we want to do 10 projects a year. We’ll probably get four or five done this year. So scaling is a matter of we have locations already picked up. just, most of our stuff is ground up.

    and that way we can control everything. But we just found a really good deal in Kansas and Kentucky that are existing storage units that are rental units. So we’re going to buy them and there’s extra room to build. We’re going to build an extra, you know, 50, 100 units and then do the same thing where we sell the project off. So it raises that value of that project simply by adding in that extra piece.

    Michelle Kesil (12:01)
    Awesome. And when it comes to like your real estate business, how do you kind of see the market maybe shifting or moving in this new cycle?

    Bob Irish (12:18)
    In the new cycle, right? It’s been two years of terrible. So was hands-free.

    It’s got to get better or it’s got to crash And I’m hoping it gets better. I do but you know, I mean my parents did this when I was a kid and

    Michelle Kesil (12:24)
    Sure.

    Bob Irish (12:34)
    It was 1978, if I remember, if somebody correct me, right? ⁓ Carter was president, of course, gas prices were 30 cents. Then they were 70 cents, right? We were waiting in line and having to get gas every other day, right? Because you had to have, you’re way too young to remember that, but you know, I was like 13 years old. My parents said, sit in the car in line, because it was two hours to get gas. I do remember specifically interest rates were 18%.

    And there is, you know, it just was a difficult time and value of the houses in California were 20, 30, $40,000. Now they’re 2 million for the same house. So it always gets better, right? But are we going through something similar? It kind of seems like it, right? It seems like there’s that interest rates aren’t very high and everybody’s complaining about 6 % don’t because it used to be 18. Okay. It’s just rates are real, still really, really good. But

    House prices have exceeded people’s ability to afford. If you make 100 grand, you can afford a four or five hundred thousand dollar house. Well, the average house is six or seven hundred in California. regular people can’t afford houses anymore. That’s the problem, right? It’s the affordability. Can anybody buy a house? So either prices have to come down or incomes have to go up. Okay.

    And then if you look back over time, 78, 91, 2008, you know, every 13, 15 years we have a crash. 2008 is now 2026. So if math is going to repeat, then it’s time for prices to adjust. That’s my best guess. the other part is, you know, it doesn’t matter that house you bought in 1978 for 20, $40,000 worth two to 4 million. If you wait long enough, everything gets better. So even if we crash tomorrow, 20%, 40%.

    percent who cares it always dips and then it goes and surpasses the last high and continues on and then it comes back down adjusts and goes back up it’s been doing that for the past 50 years I’ve been around so

    Michelle Kesil (14:39)
    Yeah, definitely. There’s lots of shifts and things that we need to, yeah, wait or take action on either way.

    Bob Irish (14:51)
    But buying and holding, right? The real estate’s always, you know, buy and wait and it will get better. So real estate’s the only real asset. Look at Bitcoin, was, when my friends told me about it, I remember it was like under 20 grand, maybe 15, 20, somewhere around there. said, I don’t even know what heck it is, forget about it. You know, and it went up and down, up and down, up and down over the past five, six, seven years. Got up to 120, now it’s back to 60.

    Michelle Kesil (14:55)
    Yeah.

    Bob Irish (15:16)
    Very volatile, right? Gold used to be a thousand, two thousand, now it’s five thousand. Wow, huge increase. Real estate, again, my parents’ house cost 40,000, it’s worth two million now. So, real estate is one of the true drivers of our economy, and one thing you can count on forever.

    Michelle Kesil (15:39)
    Yeah, absolutely. And so what advice would you give to someone that’s wanting to get started in real estate investing?

    Bob Irish (16:32)
    Yeah, to get started in real estate investing is, like I said earlier, be smart about the money, right? It’s got to make sense. It’s got a cash flow, right? So whether you got $20,000 or $100,000 or a million dollars, the answer is make the right decision to get into something that makes sense. If you have to pool your money with somebody else to get in to buy a house, great.

    Once you get in, this is something I told my kids is, don’t ever sell your first house. It’ll be the cheapest house you ever buy. So if you’re 30, 40 years old, you buy a house for whatever the price is. If you live to 70 or 80 years old.

    that house, the very first house you bought will always be the cheapest in to the market that you’ll ever be. So don’t take that money and then spend it on the next house and upsize. No, keep that house, take money out of it, sure. And then buy the next house you want to live in forever. So how do you get into real estate? Get in any way you can. Buy a house, buy, you know, anything that’s an asset, real estate wise, and hold on to it forever. Because that will always be worth more money than you ever

    Again, something like the self storage units we’re working on, that’s great. If you have 100,000, 200,000, you can invest in this and you’re gonna get back 20, 22%. That’s great. It’s a two year turnaround. Great, do that then take that money, invest in the next thing. What they always say in Vegas, you’re playing with house money, right? If put 200 bucks on the table and you win the money, take your 200 bucks back off the table, play with the house money. And then to keep investing, investing, investing.

    Michelle Kesil (18:12)
    Yeah, definitely. I think the lowest barrier to entry is a great way to look at it.

    Bob Irish (18:17)
    Come

    Yep, absolutely.

    Michelle Kesil (18:24)
    And so what other type of projects are you working on with investors or like for yourself?

    Bob Irish (18:35)
    Yeah, right now I’ve been focusing on fourplexes at the end of last year, just simply because so many people had bought them and held them. You know, we’ve got the baby boomer generation who bought these things and have held onto them for 20, 30 years. So there’s a lot of turnover. Apartments are getting what, two, 3 % return. That’s terrible, right? Fourplexes do better. Plus you could even live in one. If you live in one, then of course you can still write off and use everyone else’s, you know, income to pay or income rent.

    to pay off your note. That way it’s easier for you to get. That’s a great way to get in. Buy a triplex or a fourplex because the other three or four, two or three people, whatever, will be paying that note down. That’s a great way for you to go and live. Then once you finally get enough money on that one, get in. So I like fourplexes. I’ve been trying to help people buy them because I think it’s a great way. And a lot of the baby boomers are saying, what do I do now?

    What do I do with my money? Do I keep the fourplex or do I sell it? And the answer is, sell it. Single family homes, sure, but that’s, you’re gonna go live there. That’s not investor mentality at the same. And then of course the self storage units we’re working on. And any rehab, if you can find one, you know, there’s a lot of baby boomers that are getting old and they’re gonna sell. I sold one. He lived there, I don’t know, 15, 20 years.

    The veteran, passed away. Family called me and said, hey. And I walked in and there was hardly any furniture. Beautiful house, right? But he just lived there. You know, no family, just him by himself, a solo guy.

    And all they wanted to do is just take the money and take their check and move on. But the guy that came in was a family and it was nice. And my hope is there are deals out there. Unfortunately, people pass away or get divorced or do whatever. There are opportunities out there where people inherit properties or just don’t know what to do with them. And yeah, they probably need some repair because people have been living there for 20, 30 years and they’re cash poor.

    that house is the one to find.

    Michelle Kesil (20:46)
    Yeah, definitely that makes sense. And the fix and flips projects that you work on, what does that process look like?

    Bob Irish (20:55)
    Yeah, the finding is the hardest part. Right. But that’s what we just talked about. So find that property. Right. We get it. I mean, I’ve in the old days, it was called a I T D a wraparound mortgage. It doesn’t make a difference if they owe money or they don’t know money or buy the house. Find a way to do it. The fix and flip is get in for the lowest amount of money you can. You don’t have to come in and

    buy a house for five or $600,000. You can take over payments, you can pay them the difference in what they owe and go in and fix it. And was the first few things I did probably 25 years ago was I knocked on doors of people with most of the faults. And I said, look, your house is worth $100,000, whatever it is, and you’re five or 10 grand behind. And I would go in and I would pay them the difference between what they owed and what it was worth the way it was.

    go in, fix it up and resell it and make a little bit of profit. So finding the deal, that’s the absolute best way to go. Be creative. And again, you don’t have to come in with a ton of money, just enough to take over and turn it around, make a deal with the owner and say, when I sell it, we’re going to split the profit. Find a way to make a deal for both people. That’s the beginning, you know, investor. Everybody else with more money and more whatever, can do it differently.

    Michelle Kesil (22:18)
    Yeah, definitely that’s important advice. Thank you for sharing all of that. Yeah, so before we begin to wrap up here, if someone wants to reach out, connect, learn more about what you’re up to, where can people find you and connect with you?

    Bob Irish (22:34)
    Sure, ⁓ I’m easily Googleable. My name is Bob Irish. My website’s bobirish.com and if you want my phone number it’s 949-500-1740. Again, I’m in Newport, Orange County. Work all over the country, all over the state, of course, but always looking for opportunities. So just look up Bob Irish and you can see what I’ve done. I always tell people, you want to be… ⁓

    findable for anybody. If you can Google your name and it pops up on Google, you’re doing a good job being findable.

    Michelle Kesil (23:12)
    Perfect. Appreciate your time and your story. Thank you for being here.

    Bob Irish (23:17)
    Of course, Michelle, thank you for having me.

    Michelle Kesil (23:20)
    Yeah, of course. And for the listeners tuning in, if you got value, make sure you have subscribed. We’ve got more conversations with operators like Bob who are building real businesses and we will see you on our next episode.

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