The 29,000-Apartment Playbook for Financial Freedom with Janet LePage

Multifamily investing strategies for financial freedom

Welcome back to the Real Estate Investing Club podcast! I’m Gabe Petersen, and today I sit down with Janet LePage of Western Wealth Capital, a multifamily investing specialist in Vancouver, Canada, whose team has completed over 6.4 billion dollars in transactions. Janet has acquired more than 29,000 apartment units across roughly 130 apartment buildings, and she shares exactly how she built that portfolio, step by step. If you want to learn how to invest in apartment buildings, scale your real estate portfolio, and build lasting wealth, this episode is for you.

Flipping 58 homes and buying apartment buildings

Janet’s journey began with a surprise property tax notice and a first home purchase at 23. She went on to buy rental homes in Phoenix during the 2008 crash, borrowed 10,000 dollars from her dad, and flipped her first house from the auction steps. Within two years she flipped 58 homes using a repeatable system. That system led to her first 23-unit apartment building in 2011, closed just 26 days before her son was born. We also debate paying down a mortgage versus investing your cash at a higher return.

Replacement value, underwriting, and the 2026 multifamily market

With distress building in commercial real estate and multifamily, many investors are nervous. Janet explains why she believes the best buying opportunities may arrive over the next 18 months and how to prepare now. She breaks down replacement cost, why buying 30 to 40 percent below it matters, and her lemon tree rule for conservative rent underwriting. We also talk about market cycles, avoiding the baggage of past deals, and why facts and data beat emotion in any apartment investing decision.

Write more offers to find real estate deals

In a year when her team buys about 20 buildings, they underwrite roughly 300 deals and write offers on around 200. Janet’s message is simple: kiss a lot of frogs. Volume educates you on pricing, builds resilience, and puts you in the market when a motivated seller finally says yes. I share my own lesson that the volume needed to land a real deal is about ten times what most new investors expect.

Phoenix, dallas, atlanta, and knowing your market

Which metro should you invest in? Janet names Phoenix, Dallas, and Atlanta, but stresses that becoming an expert in your own market, down to the corner and neighborhood, is the real advantage. We discuss why Phoenix gets a bad rap, rebounds in Austin and Charlotte, and why headlines alone never tell the full story.

Relationships, discipline, and betting on yourself

Janet shares why repeat relationships are her top source of off-market deals, why staying top of mind matters, and why the discipline of no protects your returns. I tell the story of a self-storage deal near Texas Tech that went wrong because it sat one street off the good area. We close with book picks and Janet’s best advice for her younger self: bet on yourself first.

Whether you invest in apartments, single family homes, or self-storage, this conversation is packed with real estate investing lessons on deal flow, due diligence, and building a business that lasts.

Want to learn more about our guest? Connect here: westernwealthcapital.com