Who Killed the Starter Home?

After-Renovation Value Financing - Conversation with Skip Schenker

In this episode, I spoke with Skip Schenker, who’s helping people turn fixer-uppers into dream homes by creating tools that simplify financing based on after-renovation value.
Financing problems are a huge part of why starter homes are so rare—and Skip and his collaborators at Ready4Remodel.com and Renofi are working to change that.
 

We ARE building starter homes! Conversation with Kol Peterson

In this episode, I spoke with someone who’s actually seen starter homes for sale—Kol Peterson, an author, educator, and housing advocate based in Portland, Oregon.
Thanks to Kol’s efforts, and the work of many other incredible advocates, Portland is seeing real change and real results. It’s a true success story we can all admire—and learn from.

We can bring the cost down! Conversation with Aaron Holm

 
Lots of people have asked us: Why is it so expensive to build starter homes?
In this episode, I spoke with Aaron Holm, who’s tackling that question head-on. He brings deep experience in technology and innovation to the construction industry—and he’s not afraid to challenge the status quo. 
 
Spoiler alert, By the time your bids come in too high, it’s already too late.
 
We would like to hear what you think about this conversation or if you have any ideas for how to bring the starter homes back from the brink of extinction, send us a note at starterhomepodcast@gmail.com

Housing SOS: Conversation with Shane Phillips

In the final episode of our mini-series featuring conversations with brilliant millennials, I spoke with Shane Phillips, author of The Affordable City: Strategies for Putting Housing Within Reach (and Keeping it There).
We dug into what’s broken in the housing ladder—and what kinds of housing policy could help fix it.
We would like to hear what you think about this conversation or if you have any ideas for how to bring the starter homes back from the brink of extinction, send us a note at starterhomepodcast@gmail.com
 
 
 

Policy That Helps Us Evolve: Conversation with Natali Fani-Gonzalez

I continued speaking with inspiring and brilliant millennials in this week’s episode.Natali Fani-Gonzalez is a first-term council member in Montgomery County, Maryland. With her love of numbers and community-centered leadership, she has already passed a well-balanced (yet controversial) rent control bill and an office-to-residential conversion law. She’s faced plenty of setbacks along the way, but that has not stopped her: a missing middle housing bill is next in the works.
 
We would like to hear what you think about this conversation or if you have any ideas for how to bring the starter homes back from the brink of extinction, send us a note at starterhomepodcast@gmail.com
 

Land Value Tax - Conversation with Daryl Fairweather

In this episode, I spoke with Daryl Fairweather. Dr. Fairweather is the chief economist at Redfin as well as a member of the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas Academic Advisory Council. She explained the idea of Land Value Tax and how taxing land differently can help us incentivize denser and more sustainable development. 

What is your American Dream? Conversation with Christian Calderon

In this episode, I spoke with Christian Calderon. Unlike our other guests, he isn’t working to build starter homes—he’s trying to buy one. Christian shares a powerful immigrant story and an unwavering belief in the American Dream. We were also joined by Chris Costa from Stevens & Lee, who helped shed light on the technical challenges Christian faced in the process of purchasing his home.

Is Sustainable Affordable? Conversation with Matt Kaplan

In this episode, I spoke with Matthew Kaplan, Cofounder and CEO of ReVireo, an energy efficiency and green building services company based in New Jersey. Matt and his team live and breathe sustainability as it relates to buildings. As a leader in the field, he shed light on how sustainable projects are approved and delivered—what’s not working, and what could be improved.
 
We would like to hear what you think about this conversation or if you have any ideas for how to bring the starter homes back from the brink of extinction, send us a note at starterhomepodcast@gmail.com 

Legalizing Cities: Conversation with Burhan Azeem

This is one of the most inspiring conversations I have had. 
 
In this episode, I spoke with Burhan Azeem. He is the youngest city councilor in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Burhan worked tirelessly to remove costly parking minimums and expand zoning for 100% affordable housing projects. He is laser focused on legalizing multifamily housing up to six stories throughout the city, ensuring that Cambridge remains an affordable and accessible place to live for all its residents. 
 
For those who are familiar with the work or Abundant Housing Massachusents or Ezra Klein's and Derek Thompson book, Abundance, Burhan's work is the real life implementation. 
 
We would like to hear what you think about this conversation or if you have any ideas for how to bring the starter homes back from the brink of extinction, send us a note at starterhomepodcast@gmail.com
 
 
 

Gentrification: Hopeful and Practical Solutions Conversation with Iziah Thomspon

I’m thrilled to continue the conversations with brilliant millennials about housing and homeownership.
 
In this episode, I spoke with Iziah Thompson, a Senior Policy Analyst at the Community Service Society of New York, where he researches and advocates for housing policies aimed at improving the lives of low-income New Yorkers and strengthening urban communities. We discussed Community Land Trusts, and I learned about Land Acquisition Revolving Funds. We also didn’t shy away from addressing the uncomfortable topic of gentrification.
 
We would like to hear what you think about this conversation or if you have any ideas for how to bring the starter homes back from the brink of extinction, send us a note at starterhomepodcast@gmail.com