Zach Lemaster
Zach Lemaster has been a guest on Collecting Keys, the real estate investing podcast hosted by Mike DeHaan, Dan Austin and Dylan Koch.
$150k Free Equity and Cash Flow from New Construction with Zach Lemaster of Rent To Retirement
Zach Lemaster, founder of Rent to Retirement, explains how he went from optometrist and Air Force officer to full-time investor by house hacking a duplex in 2009 and buying out-of-state turnkey rentals. He walks through how his company vets builders and property managers in remote markets, how cost segregation and 1031 exchanges fit into a passive portfolio, and details a build-to-rent program in Southwest Florida where $300k new construction appraises around $400-430k and rents for $2,500 a month.
Key takeaways
- Zach's first two turnkey purchases on the South Side of Chicago went badly after the operator died, which forced him to build his own management and contractor team — the same team-building process he now replicates in every market.
- When picking a remote market, he looks for path of progress, strong rental demand, affordable prices below the median so properties still cash flow, industry diversity, and often secondary/tertiary markets next to expensive ones.
- Roughly 95% of Rent to Retirement inventory comes from vetted local partners rather than properties Zach takes title to; he has fired partners on both the rehab and management side, and pays out of pocket post-closing when needed to protect reputation.
- Cost segregation on a single family house is typically a non-engineered estimate costing about $700-$900, versus $10k-$20k for a full engineered report on commercial — worth it if you're a real estate professional holding long term.