 |
Denver Investment Real EstateThe Denver Real Estate Investing podcast is focused on one thing: Helping your grow your Denver real estate portfolio Author: Chris Lopez - Denver Investment Broker
Denver Real Estate Investing Podcast Language: en Contact email: Get it Feed URL: Get it iTunes ID: Get it |
Listen Now...
#598: What Your Cash Flow on Equity Number Reveals About Your Portfolio
Tuesday, 13 January, 2026
Colorado’s real estate market just hit balanced status for the first time since 2012. The best Colorado real estate investing strategies in 2026 now require adapting to what Chris Lopez calls “the great stall” for single-family homes. Condo prices are forecast to drop another 4-10%. Multifamily has already crashed 15-30% from peak values. Meanwhile, builders are offering closing incentives reaching 7-13% on new construction. Private lenders are generating 10-20% annual returns. This matters because traditional rental cash flow now requires creative approaches. This is a replay of Property Llama’s flagship Portfolio Analysis Mastermind webinar. It was originally presented live to over 200 registered investors. Chris brings 20 years of Colorado investing experience as CEO of Property Llama and founder of Envision Advisors. His company has helped hundreds of investors acquire Front Range rental properties. This 100-minute workshop analyzes data from three major sources: the Denver Metro Association of Realtors, CoStar’s commercial multifamily reports, and the Colorado State Demography Office. The goal is to forecast where the Colorado market is heading and what investors should do about it. Chris reveals why 15,000 homes represents the balanced market threshold for Denver metro. He shows how all Front Range markets follow nearly identical patterns. Denver, Colorado Springs, Pueblo, and Northern Colorado all move together with 1-3 year lag times. He introduces the Cash Flow on Equity (CFE) framework. CFE shows how a paid-off property making $1,700 annually on $200,000 equity represents just a 0.8% return. That underperforms basic savings accounts. Chris doesn’t hide from uncomfortable realities. He explicitly states that Colorado’s “epic growth wave from 2010-2020 is over and will never return.” The drivers are clear: slowing population growth (down to 1% annually), rising inventory, elevated interest rates, and increased expenses. In This Episode We Cover: Why Chris classifies Colorado as a “yellow light” market – not amazing, not horrible, but requiring selective strategy The six strategies currently generating 7-16% cash flow in Colorado: new construction opportunities, room-by-room conversions, medium-term rentals, house hacking, private lending, and multifamily acquisitions How builder closing incentives work and why they’re offering 4.5% interest rates on new construction when market rates sit at 6.5% Why multifamily is experiencing negative rent growth through 2026 as peak vacancy hits Q4 2025/Q1 2026 from oversupply The three options for optimizing high-equity, low-cash-flow properties: keep and convert to better strategies, cash-out refinance to reinvest, or sell and unlock equity into higher-performing assets Chris’s personal portfolio strategy: shifting from 85% equity / 15% debt to a 50/50 balance over the next 3-5 years to maximize cash flow while preserving capital How private lending offers 10-20% returns with senior debt positions while fix-and-flip gross margins remain healthy at 24% despite market softening Live Q&A covering: ADU construction economics, when to sell multifamily, private lending risk assessment, wrap financing for house hackers, LTV targets for portfolio leverage Whether you’re analyzing your first fourplex or optimizing a 20-property portfolio, this market transition requires new thinking. You need to understand which Colorado real estate investing strategies in 2026 actually generate cash flow. Appreciation has stalled, so the old playbook doesn’t work. Chris provides the data-driven framework investors need to evaluate current holdings. You’ll learn how to identify underperforming assets through CFE analysis. You’ll determine whether to convert properties to higher-performing strategies, refinance and reinvest, or sell and redeploy equity. Timestamps 00:00 – Welcome & PAM Overview 03:22 – Chris Lopez Introduction & Background 05:53 – Colorado Market Trends Framework 07:50– Denver Metro Inventory Analysis 10:30 – Price Appreciation Charts 2007-2025 13:22 – Front Range Market Comparison 16:34 Crystal Ball: Market Predictions 18:06 – New Construction Builder Incentives 22:20 Multifamily Market Deep Dive 42:14 – Population Growth Reality Check 46:28 – Six Strategies That Cash Flow 50:52– Cash Flow on Equity Framework 52:47– Property Llama Software Demo 52:47– Property Llama Software Demo 57:15 – Three Options for High-Equity Properties 1:14:07– Chris’s Personal Portfolio Update 1:21:13– Q&A Session Links in Podcast 2026 PAM Resource Page Property Llama Chris Lopez’s 2026 Investing Plan YouTube video Detailed blog article Mountain Trends A BiggerPockets Guide to Co-Living Cash Flow Should I Put My Property In An LLC? Podcast and blog
