Focus Builds Real Estate Fortunes!

October 01, 2025•3 min read

Shane Carter opens with one big lesson: focus. In his early years he chased shiny objects, made some money, but not “real” money—and burned relationships in the process. Getting calm and centered changed everything: better relationships, more income, less grind, and genuine work–life balance. 🌱

He runs a diversified real estate fund centered on housing with three prongs: (1) Multifamily—primarily A/B assets from the 2000s and newer for stable yield and preservation; (2) Land development—his roots, taking raw land through entitlements and selling finished pad sites to national builders (Lenar/Lennar, DR Horton, Taylor, etc.); and (3) Outdoor hospitality—RV parks, campgrounds, marinas—run like hotels with strong cash-on-cash. The mix is designed to blend stability, total return, and high cash yield. 🏘️🛣️🏕️

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On returns and structure, Shane frames multifamily as a “commodity” stability play: ~5–7% cash-on-cash and mid-teens IRR over ~5 years. Land development is the total-return engine with ~30–40% preferred returns (paid before sponsors participate), de-risked by securing forward contracts with creditworthy homebuilders before taking investor capital for horizontal development. Outdoor hospitality targets ~12–14% cash-on-cash with 20%+ IRRs, supported by a strong operating partner. He emphasizes that deal structure often matters more than the activity itself. 📊

It’s a Reg D 506(c) for accredited investors, aiming to hold 15–16+ assets for real diversification. There’s a 10% preferred return across tiers and four investment levels ($100k / $500k / $1M / $5M) with increasingly favorable waterfalls—up to 90/10 for the largest checks—appealing to family offices and fund-of-funds. Importantly, they say “no” to ~99% of deals and won’t force deployment; uncalled cash can sit in a money market until the right opportunities emerge. The GP co-invests at least 5%, aligning incentives. 🧭

While based in Portsmouth, NH, the team focuses on DFW, Houston, San Antonio, plus the Carolinas and Florida—high-growth Sun Belt markets with favorable demographics. New Hampshire is “good but small” with illiquidity (owners often “never sell”). Shane expects more distress and duress to surface into Q4 and especially Q1–Q2 2025, but maintains a hyper-local, basis-driven approach: if a deal is fundamentally great, they’ll buy—otherwise pass. 🗺️

Shane started in forestry and wildlife biology, worked for USFS/USFWS, then pivoted in the late ’90s after a Carlton Sheets course—wholesaling → flips → GC → luxury/sustainable builds → full community development—while steadily accumulating multifamily (largely exited 2017–2019). Personally, he’s big on holistic balance (health, spiritual, relationships) and is releasing a book, “Optimize Your Life,” to help entrepreneurs avoid success-without-fulfillment. Oh, and yes—Dave Matthews Band fan.

Takeaways

• Focus is crucial for success in real estate.

• Providing housing is a fundamental human need.

• Land development can yield high returns.

• Multifamily investments are a preservation of wealth.

• The structure of deals is key to success.

• Diversification mitigates risk in investments.

• Understanding market dynamics is essential for investment decisions.

• Shane's journey reflects the importance of following one's calling.

• Balancing personal well-being with professional success is vital.

• Investors should prioritize quality deals over quantity.

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