Clark St Capital

10/31/2026

"Most people, even attorneys, experienced investors, they really don't know what a tax lien is."

Stephen Morel has spent more than 20 years as a Louisiana title attorney in the messiest corner of title work, delinquent tax sale titles.

His simplest version is that a tax lien is like a mortgage. The owner owes the county, an investor pays the county and the investor earns interest while the owner catches up. If the owner never pays, the investor has to follow that state's foreclosure rules to the letter and be able to prove it.

This week on the Real Estate Underground. Listen here: https://www.buzzsprout.com/2182677/episodes/20028472

10/29/2026

Tax lien investors win when owners keep their properties.

Stephen Morel has spent more than 20 years as a Louisiana title attorney and now runs JurisDeed. Three things he told me on this week's Real Estate Underground:

"You have to play by their rule book." A tax lien is a government investment, and every state writes its own rules.

"It also doesn't mean that the rest of the community should suffer." The owner who falls behind gets time, and the county still has to pay for police, fire and roads.

"They really don't know what a tax lien is." That includes attorneys and experienced investors. His simplest version is that it's like a mortgage.

Full episode out now. Listen here: https://www.buzzsprout.com/2182677/episodes/20028472

10/29/2026

"That doesn't mean you should lose your home tomorrow because something happened. It also doesn't mean that the rest of the community should suffer because they paid their taxes and you didn't."

Stephen Morel says that's the balance every tax lien system has to strike. The owner who falls behind gets time to catch up, and the county still gets paid for police, fire and roads.

After Tyler v. Hennepin County, the investor who forecloses no longer keeps the owner's equity. What's left is an interest return.

This week on the Real Estate Underground. Listen here: https://www.buzzsprout.com/2182677/episodes/20028472

10/27/2026

Tax lien investors win when owners keep their properties.

That surprises people. Most assume a tax lien investor is waiting to take someone's house. On this week's Real Estate Underground, Stephen Morel explained how it actually works. He's a Louisiana title attorney who helped rewrite his state's tax sale law.

An owner falls behind on property taxes. The county still needs that money for police, fire and roads. So it sells the debt to a private investor, collects the cash and moves on. The owner gets time to catch up, and when they pay it back, the investor earns interest.

What the investor can't do is skip steps. In Stephen's words: "You have to play by their rule book, and if you don't play by their rules, you will lose your money." And since the Supreme Court's decision in Tyler v. Hennepin County, an investor who forecloses no longer keeps the owner's equity.

Also in this episode, Questions from the Underground: Marnee in South Carolina got a capital call two years into a multifamily syndication. What does the sponsor owe you before you wire more money?

Tax Liens 101 from the Attorney Who Helped Rewrite the Rules. Listen here: https://www.buzzsprout.com/2182677/episodes/20028472

This is education, not advice.

10/27/2026

Nasir Ali runs Rise360 Ventures. He comes from eight generations in commercial real estate and is the second generation in manufactured housing, a business his family just marked 45 years in, through at least nine downt...

Nasir Ali runs Rise360 Ventures. He comes from eight generations in commercial real estate and is the second generation in manufactured housing, a business his family just marked 45 years in, through at least nine downturns. His case for the asset class is simple. "We own the lan

10/24/2026

"The reality is that there's still plenty of housing out there. The problem is it's not affordable."

Nasir Ali says the same thing holds inside manufactured housing. Plenty of communities have empty lots, and it's not for lack of demand. "People talk about affordability a lot, rightfully, but also attainability is the other challenge."

Even when a buyer can finance the home, the upfront costs often aren't financed: transporting it, setting it up, installing it. His company's answer is to do it in-house, with a dealer arm, financing where it's permitted and three-bed, two-bath homes ready to go.

This week on the Real Estate Underground. Link in bio.

10/22/2026

Why own the land and not the homes?

Nasir Ali of Rise360 Ventures has spent 45 years in manufactured housing, and his family has been through at least nine downturns. Three things he told me on this week's Real Estate Underground:

"Essentially we're renting dirt." His company owns the land. The residents own the homes.

"You can't drop shelter." When budgets get cut in a downturn, housing is the last thing to go.

"The problem is it's not affordable." He says there's still plenty of housing out there. Affordability is the problem, and so is attainability: the upfront costs that don't get financed.

Full episode out now. Link in bio.

10/22/2026

"In downturn economies, people drop what they don't need. You can't drop shelter."

Nasir Ali's family has run manufactured housing communities for 45 years. In the downturns, he says, they've always seen an uptick in the business.

He's careful about the word. Self storage gets called recession resistant too, and he agrees. But when it's time to trim the budget, the storage unit can go. The home can't. In his words, manufactured housing has been "not just resistant, but resilient the whole way through."

This week on the Real Estate Underground. Link in bio.

10/20/2026

What if you owned the land and not the homes?

That's the model Nasir Ali has run in manufactured housing for 45 years. His family is eight generations in commercial real estate, the second generation in manufactured housing, through at least nine downturns.

As Ali told me on this week's episode of the Real Estate Underground: "We don't own the homes. We own the land. And sure the common areas and whatnot, but essentially we're renting dirt."

No plumbing, electrical or toilets to deal with for every door. And when the economy turns, he says, "people drop what they don't need. You can't drop shelter."

We also get into why he thinks creative financing is about to matter a lot more, how his team fills half-empty communities with turnkey homes and financing, and the business he bought after 2008 that cratered overnight.

Also in this episode, Questions from the Underground, from Dave in San Clemente: the refi appraisal came in short and the cash is stuck in the deal. What do you do now, and how do you keep it from happening?

Full episode out now. Link in bio. Find Ali at rise360ventures.com.

10/20/2026

Forrest Jinks runs Altus Equity Group, a real estate investment company that works with family offices and high net worth investors. Most sponsors chase top-line IRR: get in, get out in two, three or four years. Forrest...

Forrest Jinks runs Altus Equity Group, a real estate investment company that works with family offices and high net worth investors. Most sponsors chase top-line IRR: get in, get out in two, three or four years. Forrest says that leaves a lot of meat on the bone. "It might be awe