Real Estate Pros · January 30, 2026 · 20 min listen

The Real Estate Shift Nobody Is Talking About | Apartments, Condos & Opportunity

With Real Estate

Show summary

In this episode, Dylan Silver welcomes Ashten James, an accomplished investor and consultant from Cincinnati, Ohio, who specializes in renovation and disaster restoration services. Ashten shares her journey into real estate, which began at a young age and was influenced by personal experiences, including a family health crisis related to mold exposure. She discusses her approach to acquiring foreclosure properties, emphasizing the importance of having a good realtor and the challenges of buying ‘as-is’ properties. Ashten also highlights her dual role in disaster restoration, where she assists both homeowners and investors in navigating the complexities of insurance claims and property recovery after disasters.

Key takeaways

All of Ashten James's property purchases have come out of foreclosure (REO), bought directly from banks through a realtor, viewed but not inspected, and taken as-is.
Negotiating with a bank on an REO deal doesn't have to be only about price; on one deal she got the bank to clean out a property (a bathtub being used as a toilet) before closing instead of negotiating the price down.
She got into disaster restoration after her niece was hospitalized from mold exposure in a rental house; in Ohio, certification isn't required to do mold remediation but is required to be insured for it.
Fire damage and mold go together because fire response (punching holes in walls, water used to fight fire) leaves buildings wet and empty, which breeds mold.
She now negotiates with insurance companies on behalf of her restoration clients to help them get what they're entitled to, similar to how a public adjuster operates, but says she is fighting purely for the client.
Her consulting practice gets involved before a property is purchased, not after, and for local deals will drive up to 100 miles to inspect the property, neighborhood, and even what it looks like at night.
She built a 'Client Insight System,' a questionnaire-based profiling tool to understand how an investor or client communicates and makes decisions, which she says has an 87% success rate in two trial runs with business owners.

In this episode

About Real Estate

Ashten James is an investor, consultant, and owner of Integrity Services in Cincinnati, Ohio, a company that does renovation and disaster restoration work. She buys properties out of foreclosure (REO), has flipped several houses, manages large apartment complexes, and is currently working on an apartment-to-condo conversion project. She also consults with both new and seasoned investors on property purchases and built a tool called the Client Insight System.

Listen to the audio

“When you buy a foreclosure, you have to have a good realtor... you're able to see it, but you don't do inspections and you take whatever it comes. It's not for the faint of heart.”
Ashten James

“Instead of building, you renovate what's there and you turn it into now housing.”
Ashten James

“We come on board before they purchase it. That way, we walk through every step with them.”
Ashten James

foreclosure/REO investingdisaster restorationmold remediationapartment-to-condo conversioninsurance claims negotiationinvestor consultingCincinnati, Ohiovertically integrated real estate business

Questions answered in this episode

How does buying foreclosure/REO properties from a bank work?

Ashten James says you need a good realtor to navigate the process. You can view the property but can't do inspections, so you take it as-is. Negotiation with banks can sometimes happen on terms other than price (she got a bank to clean out a property before closing), though some banks hold a hard line on price.

What's driving apartment-to-condo conversions right now?

James says COVID changed the landscape everywhere, leaving apartment and office buildings empty or underperforming with owners and banks unsure what to do with them. Since there's little room to build new downtown, the solution is renovating existing buildings into housing rather than constructing new. She says this trend is happening beyond Cincinnati in cities like Dayton and Columbus and likely elsewhere, not just tied to gentrification.

Do you need certification to do mold remediation?

James notes that in Ohio, there's no certification requirement to do mold remediation, but you do need to be certified if you want to be insured for the work. She got into this space after her niece became seriously ill from mold exposure in a rental house.

What does a real estate investment consultant/advisor actually do before a client buys?

James says her team comes on board before a property is purchased, not after, so they can walk through every step with the client. For local markets, they will drive up to 100 miles to physically check the property, the neighborhood, what it looks like at night, and what kind of tenant it would attract before giving feedback.

What is the Client Insight System Ashten James created?

It's a profile/questionnaire tool she built out of necessity to understand how clients and investors communicate, negotiate, and make buying decisions based on emotion. She has trialed it twice with business owners and reports an 87% success rate; it's designed to shortcut negotiation and build rapport, for example with a landowner who isn't sure about selling.

Resources and links

Full transcript

Ashten James (00:00)

It’s no, it’s all over building. You have COVID changed our landscape everywhere. We have apartment buildings sitting empty or underperforming. Owners can’t do anything. What are banks going to do with apartment buildings? You also have office buildings. It’s all over. It’s not just Cincinnati. It’s Dayton. It’s Columbus. It’s not just in Ohio. I’m sure Dallas has them. So what’s going on outside of rejetrification is

let’s turn, let’s do, what do we do with them now? We have to make them work and real estate downtown is that it doesn’t exist. What are you going to do? So where are you going to build? So instead of building, you renovate what’s there and you turn it into now housing

Dylan Silver (02:19)

Hey folks, welcome back to the show. Today’s guest, Ashten James, is an investor, consultant, and owner of Integrity Services in Cincinnati, Ohio. They do renovation and disaster restoration services as well. And she’s currently working on an apartment to condo conversion, and that’s a big focus of her business these days. You can find her on social media, Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Ashten James. Ashten, thanks for taking the time today.

Ashten James (02:46)

Thank you for having me, Dylan. ⁓ I’m excited to be here.

Dylan Silver (02:52)

When we talk specifically about a vertically integrated business, So from investing to rehab to renovation, and then you’re in the niche of disaster restoration as well, which came first? Did the investing arm come first or did the ⁓ renovation and disaster restoration come first for you?

Ashten James (03:14)

is a good question.

It was almost synergistic, but I invested, I was already invested in me. My investing bug was input into me when I was 11, 12 years old. So I always knew I was going to invest. What brought about the restoration part is my niece getting sick and very, very sick from a house having mold. So that led to that. And I like to buy properties out of foreclosure. Foreclosure properties are run down.

Dylan Silver (03:34)

Mm.

Are you buying them at auction or are you buying them prior to the auction date?

Ashten James (03:50)

Everything that I bought has been out of foreclosure, so it’s been an REL.

Dylan Silver (03:53)

Okay, okay. So you’re getting it directly from from the bank. For folks who may not be aware of what that process looks like. What walk us through give us a little bit of gold here. Maybe not the whole bar, but a nugget for what that process looks like acquiring a foreclosure property from you know, a bank.

Ashten James (03:56)

Yes.

When you buy a foreclosure, you have to have a good realtor. I was fortunate to have two good realtors that I worked with. One property I bought as a lot. So one set I bought a house of four. ⁓ But everything outside of real estate, from that you have to work with them and you buy it, you’re able to see it, but you don’t do inspections and you take whatever it comes. It’s not for the faint of you.

Dylan Silver (04:41)

Yeah,

as is, right? When we talk specifically about this segment, so you mentioned working with the realtor. So these were on market deals that were owned by the bank. Now, what’s the communication like with the bank? it a typical process where you can make an offer? Or do they kind of have a hard line, hey, this is what we’re gonna take and we’re not looking at anything else?

Ashten James (04:42)

As is.

it’s been so long. This was back before a lot of things changed and they took a hard, some of them I could negotiate with, some of them took a hard change. The one place I had to pay what they wanted, but I said they had to go in and clean up because the bathtub was being used as a toilet and there was…

It was full of, they had to empty it out. That’s a house I flipped. I flipped a few houses. So there’s other ways that you can negotiate besides price. So you have to look at that.

Dylan Silver (06:35)

Now, did you, when we talk about renovation and disaster restoration, did you have experience swinging a hammer? Have you worked on crews or how did you get involved with that side of the business?

Ashten James (06:46)

started, well, my ex-husband worked for Sensei Millicron and he would be on the road. And we had just built a house, my kids, my kids are 37, 35 and 33. They’ll be 38, 36 and 34 this year. And he was on the road and I had little babies and a brand new house and our disposal was stuck and he was on the road. And I called him and said, hey, our disposal’s stuck. Who do I call? It’s 930 at night. And he said,

You don’t call anybody. You fix it. I’m like, how am going to fix this? He said, I’m going to walk you through it. So being a homeowner and I was 23 years old, you have to do what you have to do. we just have doing it ourselves. A lot of sweat equity. Then I bought a house in Floyd Knobs, Indiana, and I was hiring contractors and they just weren’t doing so. I was learning. was so fortunate to have

a contractor that I said, I want to do this. So I’ll teach you. He taught me how to lay tile. And so when I couldn’t work with my ex husband, he was also in my business, we’re business partners. He, he walked me through every step of the way. I’ve always been teach me, teach me, teach me. Even if I don’t do it, I want to know how to do it.

Dylan Silver (08:01)

Now the restoration, disaster restoration, this encompasses pretty extreme circumstances, fire damage, water damage, properties that have faced extreme weather conditions of ⁓ all sorts. How do you get involved in that side of the game? And in many cases, are these investors you’re working with or are these ⁓ the homeowners themselves?

Ashten James (08:28)

a bit of both with the mold as I, my niece, my sister was renting a house and my niece became very, very ill. She went to the hospital. We thought she had ⁓ SARS, think that’s what MRSA, MRSA. And they found that it was mold. My watching your little niece be hooked up to an IV, being injected with this medication.

twice a day and not sure she’s gonna pull through, I took that very seriously. And at that time, and to this day, Ohio doesn’t require you to be certified to do mold remediation or any of that. But yet if you wanna be insured, you have to be certified. So I wanted to learn more about it. And then finding that there’s mold everywhere. The houses sit empty, water gets in there. So I learned about it that way.

Dylan Silver (09:18)

Yeah.

Ashten James (09:21)

And then learning in my line of work, insurance companies, as soon as, because I was managing large apartment complexes and working with owners, ⁓ a tenant started a fire. You’ve got to clean that up. So it was out of necessity and out of love for my niece. And when I decided to take the disaster recovery, I said, well, I can just do all of this. And they really piggyback on one another. So if you have a fire,

you’re always going to have mold because the fire comes in, they punch holes in the wall, they put the water in the house, it’s empty. Water, mold. it evolved and I take advantage of every opportunity that is afforded to me. Again, if I don’t do it, I still want to know how to do it, but I’m still very much involved in that. And now I negotiate also for my clients on their behalf when the insurances don’t want to pay out. So I fight for my clients.

Dylan Silver (10:16)

You’re really in all sides of the game here. When we talk about insurance not paying out, I’m familiar with public adjusters. So you’re doing something similar to what a public adjuster might do.

Ashten James (11:02)

Yes, only I’m fighting for my client. That’s all I’m doing. I’m just fighting for them, helping them walk through it so they can get the best bang for their buck. Get what they’re entitled.

Dylan Silver (11:11)

Now,

we talk pivoting a bit here, when we talk about ⁓ condo conversion, which is something I know you’re doing right now, the apartments to condos, what’s the drive behind this? And then also too, is this a trend that you’re seeing at a greater scale that folks can do outside of Cincinnati? Or is this something very specific to that area?

Ashten James (11:34)

because companies learn during COVID, I could send that, I can keep them at home. My,

employees happier. I’m saving a lot of money because I’m not paying all this rent. I’m not paying the electric. I’m not paying the internet. I’m not paying the light bill. I’m not paying the heat and cool this. It makes sense all the way around. Although they need to pass the savings on to us, don’t you think?

Dylan Silver (12:45)

You know, one of the one

of the things that is being addressed in all of this, think, is we’re talking about, you know, markets shifting. You mentioned Covid, but then also affordable housing. as a realtor licensed in Texas, but also I grew up in northern New Jersey. So I’ve seen different markets. You know, I think there’s more demand for ⁓ smaller housing, not because people want smaller homes. It’s because people want something that they can get into. They want to get into

the on-ramp of being a homeowner of some kind, right? And so, you know, people are saying, well, I’m putting $1,500 a month into this, you know, one-bedroom apartment. I can put $1,600 into a condo or into a small single-family home. So I’m seeing, ⁓ from my vantage point, more people open to that where they might not have been in previous years, where, you know, especially pre the global housing crisis, where, you know, these mortgages were fast.

and easy.

Ashten James (13:45)

People are being smarter with their money. They want something for it now. They want to see their money working for them, working toward them. We’re becoming more educated. We’re becoming more aware. So we need to be smart with our money and, I can own this. Instead, I’m throwing this money around, rents going up. So if I put it into something I own, I’m getting something back out of it.

Dylan Silver (14:12)

Yeah, mean, and two…

with condos specifically, ⁓ you have the massive economies of scale, right? So I think we may start to see, and I don’t know, because I’m not in Cincinnati, but I can speak for markets in Texas. There’s so many multifamily buildings going up and so much apartment renting happening that you’ve seen like a horizontal trajectory, a leveling off of rents, even going down in some places. ⁓

And so there’s going to be people looking at, do we do more alternative housing? Do we do condo conversions? And I would not be shocked at all if we started to see on MLSs throughout the country more condos for sale. I do want to dive into what you’re working on these days outside of this, which is I know you’re doing ⁓ quite a bit of consulting and then also ⁓ launching a new project.

Tell us a little bit about that.

Ashten James (15:55)

Okay, consulting. I’m always consulting with clients I have. They call me. I’m very good at looking at pictures. So they’ll send me like, hey, what about this property? I don’t like the 1 % return of investment. There’s ways that you can make that better. And they’ll send like, hey, is this the good one? My clients trust me and it’s not gonna work. When we get with our clients, we don’t come on board after the property’s purchased. We come on board before they purchase it.

That way, we walk through every step with them.

Dylan Silver (16:23)

And so.

The typical ⁓ process from the cradle to the grave of someone who’s coming to you, is this ⁓ someone who’s got a personal portfolio themselves and wants your feedback, or is this someone who may be a newer, newer investor and wants to get into investing?

Ashten James (16:43)

Both with the new person, they look more to us, someone who’s just getting started or for the first time that requires more hand holding. For a seasoned investor, they know, we know what we’re talking about, like, hey, but we go make sure they’re not buying a lipstick on a pig. That’s really what it is. And we’re like, no, you don’t want this. And if it’s here local in the local market, we’ve driven up to hundred miles.

Dylan Silver (16:59)

Yeah.

Ashten James (17:09)

We’ll go and say no, but I’ll also check out the neighborhood. I don’t just say, hey, this is how it looks. I check and see what the market trends are, what the property looks like, what it looks like at night, the whole nine yards. What kind of tenant are you gonna get in there? Because that’s why they’re buying it. When I take on something for them, I’m looking at that I’m an extension of them. They’re trusting me with their money.

Dylan Silver (17:33)

Yeah, think, you know, the ability to have… ⁓

a third party come in and evaluate, just provide feedback for folks is the whole reason why this space exists, right? Because oftentimes, your own set of eyes will start to have bias. I’ve heard two different camps, the analysis paralysis, and then kind of the cowboy shoot first, ask questions later. And both can have their benefits, but also their detractors. And that’s why it’s so good to have someone like yourself in your

especially when you may be looking at a new asset class like multi-family if someone has only done single family or if they’re a newer investor in general. We are coming up on time here though Ashten. Any new projects that you’re working on and also too, how can our audience reach out to you or your team?

Ashten James (18:26)

Okay, to reach out to me, I’m at Ashten James on Facebook, LinkedIn, and Instagram. My website is currently under construction. If they told me last night, it’s gonna be another 12 days. I’m excited to see that. I scrapped the whole thing because of the new project. So I have one project I can’t talk about because I’m in the process of copywriting and trademarking it. And I’m excited about that one. And then the other one is my client insight system that I created it out of necessity.

I needed to be in two places at once. I’m like, if I do this because I can’t be here to work with my client, then that’ll give me a head start. And it it grew. So then I put it in a trial phase and gave it to some business owners I know. And I’m like, we need to keep this quiet. Of course that didn’t work. And they told everybody. So I’ve had it trial twice now and it has an 87 % success rate. So it’s the Client Insight System.

is a profile of your client and you could take it yourself and you could take it as give it to your client. I use it with my students. I use it with my with myself. I like I always like to know about myself and I use it with other business owners because they could it takes you from negotiation to referrals with an investor. If you have an investor purchasing land and you like I really need that.

I was in that situation several years ago when I bought 27 acres. I wanted that particular land and I needed that. I needed to know how I could get my client, how I could get that guy to sell. And I gave them, I had to do the hard work of communicating. I would love to give them this questionnaire now because it would have saved an enormous amount of time. I wound up getting the land, but it’s…

It’s finding out what it’s really about. Everybody makes decisions based on emotions. And they’ll say they don’t. Why does a man buy a car, a sports car? Because somewhere in his head that means success. This finds that out. How they negotiate, how they communicate, why they buy, if they’re serious about buying. It’s a whole range of personalities in there. So you know how to create synergy with that person.

it shortcuts it for you and makes it just better for both.

Dylan Silver (20:51)

and thank you so much for your time today. Thanks for coming on the show.

Ashten James (20:53)

Thank you.