---
title: "Issue 01: Welcome to Inside the Deal"
description: "Issue 01 of Inside the Deal: why we're opening the door on our deals, Episode 1 of the podcast, introducing ARENA, and a 29-unit building that ran on memory."
image: https://www.insidethedeal.club/hubfs/InsideTheDeal_Newsletter-Photo-Natalie-Brian_v1.jpg
---
[Skip to content](https://www.insidethedeal.club/newsletter/issue-01-welcome-to-inside-the-deal#main-content)
[Homepage](https://www.insidethedeal.club)
Get started
Get started
# Issue 01: Welcome to Inside the Deal
Natalie & Brian
October 30, 2026
Welcome to Inside the Deal. After 5 years acquiring and operating our own portfolio, we've decided it's time to bring everyone inside the deal with us.
*Natalie & Brian*
## Most deals happen behind closed doors.
People see the closing photo. They don't see the underwriting, the lender calls, the buildings we walked away from or the first week of phone calls to every resident. That's where the real lessons are.
We've spent our careers inside those deals, first running institutional portfolios and now owning and operating our own small multifamily buildings. Inside the Deal is where we open the door. What we're reading, what we're working on, and what we're learning from the buildings we own.
The podcast is live. Same name, same idea. Two owners talking through real deals, start to finish.
**Episode 1: We Bought 210 Units in a Year. Then We Had to Run Them.** · 32 min
## Introducing ARENA: why we started our own club
Real estate coaching and masterminds run around $10,000 to $25,000 a year, with no guarantee of ever getting into a real deal. We wanted a different way: learn the deal by being in it. We're asking you to get in the ARENA with us. No spectators.
ARENA is our private community, built so we could share real education and a way into a real deal, all in the same place.
ARENA members are part of a private lending club, lending on small multifamily buildings in first position. Every loan comes to members first with the full breakdown, and members vote on each one. One member, one vote.
On Thursday, December 3, we'll walk through a real loan live, start to finish, and take every question. Commitments for the first round close December 15.
[**Enter the ARENA →**](https://www.insidethedeal.club/arena)
[Or book a call with Natalie & Brian](https://meetings-na2.hubspot.com/natalie-johnson/inside-the-deal-intro-call)
## Worth the read: same building, different seat
The Wall Street Journal reports that roughly $757 billion in apartment debt comes due between 2026 and 2028, and refinance rates have about doubled. One Dallas sponsor defaulted on around $400 million in loans, dissolved its fund and told the people who put money in that they wouldn't get it back. The lenders took the buildings.
Here's the part the headline skips. Every deal has an order for who gets paid. The first-lien lender sits at the top. The owners' equity sits at the bottom. When a building sells or refinances for less than planned, the money flows top down, and sometimes it runs out before it reaches the bottom.
That's not an argument against owning. We own. It's an argument for knowing which seat you're in before you sit down.
[Read the story →](https://www.credaily.com/briefs/multifamily-faces-757b-apartment-debt-maturity-crunch/)
## Inside a real deal, Part 1: the building that ran on memory
**29 units · Historic building**
When we bought this building in 2021, it ran the way a lot of small buildings run: on memory and goodwill. Handwritten leases. No real systems. Some rents hadn't moved since 2004.
The first move wasn't a renovation. It was a phone call. We called every resident, introduced ourselves and gave 60 days' notice before any rent changed. Over time, average rent rose 47%, and we lost one household.
An appraisal at the five-year mark showed over $1 million in growth. That growth is the cushion, and it's the first thing we look for on every loan the club reviews.
> **The play:** Give an informally run building real systems.
*Next issue: what we fixed first, and what we left alone.*
## What we've been working on
### On the mic: our conversation with Fractional
Stella Han, Fractional CEO, sat down with both of us to talk about why we built a club around learning inside a real deal.
Posted on Fractional's YouTube channel · 26 min
### On stage: you can't automate a process you never learned to run
Natalie spoke at AppFolio FUTURE this fall on Performance Engineering, the way we design how our buildings run before we hand any of it to software. The short version: automation doesn't fix a broken process. It makes it permanent, and fast.
[Read Natalie's recap on LinkedIn →](https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:7511469376953327616/)
### On the desk: most of underwriting is saying no
Brian underwrote 7 buildings this month. We passed on 7 of them. The most common reason: basis and upside were not enticing enough to make our investment thesis cut. Every loan that reaches the club has made it through the same screen.
---
Want the next issue in your inbox? [Get inside the deal](https://www.insidethedeal.club/#get-worksheet) and we'll send Your Way In, our free worksheet, along with every issue.
Inside the Deal is educational content from small multifamily owner-operators. Nothing here is investment, legal or tax advice.
## Share this post
[mailto:https%3A%2F%2Fwww.insidethedeal.club%2Fnewsletter%2Fissue-01-welcome-to-inside-the-deal](mailto:https%3A%2F%2Fwww.insidethedeal.club%2Fnewsletter%2Fissue-01-welcome-to-inside-the-deal)
[](https://www.insidethedeal.club)
---
Privacy Policy · Legal · © 2026 Inside the Deal. All rights reserved.
New episodes every week · [Watch on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/@insidethedealclub)
[Inside the Deal.](https://www.insidethedeal.club/)
[Episodes](https://www.insidethedeal.club/#episodes)[About us](https://www.insidethedeal.club/#about)[Newsletter](https://www.insidethedeal.club/newsletter)[ARENA](https://www.insidethedeal.club/arena)[Get inside the deal](https://www.insidethedeal.club/#get-worksheet)
[Inside the Deal.](https://www.insidethedeal.club/)
[YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/@insidethedealclub)[Instagram](https://www.instagram.com/insidethedeal.club)[Facebook](https://www.facebook.com/insidethedeal)[hello@insidethedeal.club](mailto:hello@insidethedeal.club)
Inside the Deal is educational content from small multifamily owner-operators. Nothing here is investment, legal or tax advice.
© 2026 Inside the Deal
```json
{
"@context" : "https://schema.org",
"@type" : "BlogPosting",
"author" : {
"@type" : "Person",
"name" : "Natalie & Brian",
"url" : "https://www.insidethedeal.club/newsletter/author/natalie-and-brian"
},
"dateModified" : "2026-10-30T21:59:04.343Z",
"datePublished" : "2026-10-30T21:59:04.000Z",
"headline" : "Issue 01: Welcome to Inside the Deal",
"image" : [ "https://www.insidethedeal.club/hubfs/InsideTheDeal_Newsletter-Photo-Natalie-Brian_v1.jpg" ],
"mainEntityOfPage" : {
"@id" : "https://www.insidethedeal.club/newsletter/issue-01-welcome-to-inside-the-deal",
"@type" : "WebPage"
},
"publisher" : {
"@type" : "Organization",
"logo" : {
"@type" : "ImageObject",
"url" : "https://www.insidethedeal.club/hubfs/inside-the-deal-logo.png"
},
"name" : "Inside the Deal"
}
}
```