🎙️ Local Real Estate Developers Podcast with Kristi Kandel & Raphael Collazo
This podcast was created to break down the barriers of entry into development and make it as familiar as flipping a house or house-hacking a duplex.
We feature:
- Weekly interviews with local developers sharing their projects
- Think Like a Developer Minisodes: live in-progress deals
- Insights from strategic partners like brokers, architects, engineers, and lenders
- Exclusive Developer Vault
Most US Cities have fewer than 10,000 residents. We don’t need more outside investors, we need more locals taking action.
Opportunity Zones Could Change Your Next Deal | EP#76
What if you could boost investor returns while bringing new development to your community?
In this episode of the Local Real Estate Developer Podcast, Kristi Kandel sits down with Coni Rathbone, a real estate and securities attorney with 38 years of experience, to break down Opportunity Zones and how developers can use them to unlock tax advantages, attract capital, and make projects more profitable.
Coni explains the shift to Opportunity Zones 2.0, new incentives for rural development, and how projects of all sizes can benefit. She also shares why choosing the right property, structuring deals correctly, and working with experienced legal and tax professionals can make or break an investment.
From small multifamily deals to large-scale rural developments, this conversation reveals how smart planning and the right incentives can help bring projects to life.
Bold Truth: Tax benefits won't save a bad deal. Find the right opportunity, build the right team, and create something your community actually needs.
🔗 Full Episode: https://youtu.be/I8L9LqG4IL4
📥 Developer Vault:
http://www.localrealestatedeveloper.com/developer-vault-optin
Guest
Coni Rathbone
Website: https://rathbone-law.com/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/coni-rathbone/?isSelfProfile=false
#localrealestatedeveloper #opportunityzones #realestatedevelopment #communitydevelopment #ruraldevelopment #realestateinvesting #localinvesting #buildlocal #economicdevelopment
13 Oct 2026
From a Mountain House to an 11-Unit Micro Resort | EP#75
What started as a search for a mountain vacation rental turned into an ambitious 26-acre hospitality development in Berkeley Springs, West Virginia.
Ian Joseph shares how he went from real estate investing and commercial banking to building an A-frame, renovating a 26-acre property, and creating Branch Berkeley Springs, an 11-unit micro resort centered around nature, connection, and local hospitality.
Along the way, Ian faced zoning restrictions, construction challenges, financing delays, and plenty of roadblocks—but each challenge forced him to rethink the project and make it better.
His biggest lesson? You don't have to build alone. Find the right people, build relationships, listen to the community, and let the obstacles shape a better project.
🔗 Full Episode: https://youtu.be/-kv-1LASY-M
📥 Developer Vault:
http://www.localrealestatedeveloper.com/developer-vault-optin
Guest
Ian Joseph
Website: https://staywithbranch.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ianjoseph.co/
About the Show
The Local Real Estate Developer Podcast is for locals who want to build in their own communities. Real projects. Real lessons. No gatekeeping.
#localrealestatedeveloper #realestatedevelopment #communitydevelopment #hospitalitydevelopment #microresort #smalltowndevelopment #buildlocal #berkeleysprings #westvirginia
6 Oct 2026
The Local Investor Who Turned an Old Camp Into a Resort | EP#74
What happens when a small-town investor sees opportunity in a property everyone else overlooked?
Eddie Gonnella started investing in 2019 with small BRRRR deals, a foreclosed house, and a $75K tax foreclosure that taught him one thing quickly: cheap properties often come with expensive problems.
Those lessons eventually led Eddie to an abandoned 1940s iron workers camp in Maine. He transformed it into a 10-unit lakeside hospitality property, navigating creative financing, local banking, septic and water challenges, shoreline regulations, zoning, and permitting along the way.
Now, Eddie is taking those lessons into his next 8-acre resort project, proving that development is often about asking the right questions, doing the homework, and solving problems as they come.
From due diligence and financing to working with local officials and building a team, this episode is a real look at what it takes to go from investor to developer.
Eddie’s advice? “Vacuum the truck.” Start with the next step, learn by doing, and keep moving.
🔗 Full Episode: https://youtu.be/W_5xlw87oXk
📥 Developer Vault:
http://www.localrealestatedeveloper.com/developer-vault-optin
Guest
Eddie Gonnella
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/getogether.stays/
About the Show
The Local Real Estate Developer Podcast is for locals who want to build in their own communities. Real projects. Real lessons. No gatekeeping.
#localrealestatedeveloper #communitydevelopment #realestatedevelopment #realestateinvesting #localdeveloper #commercialrealestate #hospitalitydevelopment #maine #mainerealestate #smalltownrealestate #realestateinvestor #propertydevelopment #buildlocal #communityfirst #localownership #realestatepodcast
Who has been a guest on 🎙️ Local Real Estate Developers
Names identified in recent episode analyses. Showing up to five guests.
Rik Adamski
Raphael Collazo
Kristi Kandel
Kaaren Hall
Alex Martinsen
Reach and audience
Public platform figures. Ratings count people who left a rating, not total listeners.
Apple Podcasts (US)
5.0 / 5
14 ratings
Spotify
5.0 / 5
9 ratings
Podcast Authority Score: 52 / 100
A composite of feed quality, social presence, YouTube performance and engagement. Read the methodology.
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