Musicians to Multifamily: First Multi in 6 months!
May 26, 2026
From Zero to Multifamily: How Three Musicians Built a Real Estate Empire Together
What do a music teacher, a data analyst, and a software engineer have in common? More than you'd think — and their shared journey into multifamily real estate is exactly the kind of story that makes you put down your excuses and pick up the phone to call a broker.
On Episode 3 of the Art of Cashflow podcast, host Calvin Chin sat down with Emily, Jonathan, and Ringo — three friends who met through music at USC, bonded over a shared dream of financial freedom, and went from knowing nothing about multifamily investing to acquiring their first property in Cincinnati. Fast.
Here's what they learned along the way.
Fear is a compass, not a stop sign
Every first-time investor knows the feeling. The spreadsheet looks right. The market checks out. And yet something in your gut screams: What if I'm wrong?
Ringo, a software engineer who grew up watching his dad navigate real estate, has a different relationship with that feeling. "Fear is just a defense mechanism," he says. "It's your brain trying to protect you — but it shouldn't stop you from pursuing what you want."
His approach? Flip the script. Instead of letting fear pump the brakes, he uses it as a signal to be more thoughtful — and then keeps moving. He reminds himself: I've done hard things before. What makes this any different?
For Jonathan and Emily, the shift came from clarity of purpose. During one of their early sessions with Calvin, they built what he calls a "vivid vision" — a detailed picture of what they actually wanted their life to look like 20 to 30 years from now. Not monthly cash flow. Not a quick flip. A legacy. Something to pass down to their family.
"When your purpose is bigger than your fear," Calvin notes, "it doesn't make the fear disappear — but it makes it a lot easier to keep going."
Emily's trigger was simpler and deeply relatable: taxes. "I try so hard to make money," she laughs, "and then I still have to pay so much. I needed to find another way." Real estate, with its tax advantages, suddenly made a lot of sense.
Community is the real cheat code
All three investors credit one thing above everything else for getting them to their first deal: being around the right people.
Before joining the Zencoast community, they were on their own — researching markets, visiting Arizona, staring at duplexes with no real framework. They were motivated but directionless.
That changed when they surrounded themselves with investors who were actually doing it.
"The more you talk about what you've done, the more people know who you are," Ringo says. "Partnerships take time to build. But when you have a community like Zencoast that has your back, it's so powerful."
Jonathan, self-described as "heavily introverted," admits that joining felt uncomfortable at first. But the payoff surprised him. He learned about short-term rentals just from casual conversations. He picked up market insight from people who had already made the mistakes he was trying to avoid.
Emily, coming from a cultural background where talking openly about money or vulnerability wasn't the norm, was shocked by the openness she found. "Everyone is so real," she says. "And that makes you feel like you can be real too."
Calvin frames it this way: when your only community is other W-2 workers stuck in the same routine, it's like being a crab in a bucket. Someone tries to climb out, and the others pull them back down. A growth-minded real estate community does the opposite — it pulls you up.
Get off the spreadsheet and talk to people
When it came time to find their first deal, the trio didn't just crunch numbers from their laptops. They got on a plane.
They flew to Cincinnati, visited the property, and — crucially — stopped at a coffee shop three minutes away to talk to locals. What did they think of the neighborhood? Where was it headed in five years?
"Don't just focus on the Excel sheet," Ringo says. "Actually go talk to the locals when you're out there."
They also paid close attention during their property inspection — not just to the report, but to what the inspector said out loud while walking through the building. The informal commentary was as valuable as any written document.
Their broker relationship followed the same principle. Ringo had cold-called a Cincinnati broker who told him, genuinely, that it was rare to actually get a phone call from an investor. That human connection — consistent follow-up, real conversation — is what kept deals flowing their way.
"It's a people business," Calvin says. "And that's the one thing AI still hasn't replaced."
What they'd tell their friends and family
When asked what advice they'd give to someone just starting out, the answers were consistent:
- Emily: Just step in. Join a community. You don't have to know everything — you just have to start.
- Jonathan: Find your why first. If you're looking to get rich quick, real estate will disappoint you. If you're building for the long term, it'll reward you.
- Ringo: Surround yourself with people who have already done what you want to do. Go to meetups. Go to events. Show up consistently.
The common thread? None of them figured this out alone. And they'd be the first to tell you: you don't have to either.
Check Out the Full Podcast Episode
If Bruce’s story resonated with you, make sure to check out the podcast links and listen to the full conversation. We go deeper into how he started, the lessons he learned from early deals, the mistakes that shaped him, and how community helped him scale faster. Sometimes hearing the full story in someone’s own voice makes it hit even harder.
