Drew Breneman

Protect & Grow Capital With Our Multifamily Investment Opportunities For Family Offices, Fund Managers, & High-Net-Worth Individuals

When I was 19, I bought my first property.

I didn’t realize it then, but that little duplex changed my life.

Now, 20+ years later, I’ve sourced, capitalized, and closed on over $250 million of properties for my firm, Breneman Capital.

I’ve worked closely with investors - family offices, PE, Fund of Funds, RIAs, and individuals - to help them generate income and wealth through multifamily real estate.

The old real estate adage says, “You make your money when you buy in real estate.”

I agree with that - but I think it’s only 50% true.

The other 50% comes in the execution. And I’ve built Breneman Capital through that lens. 

Our realized investments have produced an average gross return of:

• 27% IRR
• 2.3x equity multiple
• 14% average annual cash yield

This is across 14 full-cycle investments with an average hold period of 6 years.

In my opinion, our longest-standing investor relationships come down to 2 factors:

1) Our deals have performed well.
2) We focus on giving investors the best possible experience.

Real estate can be complex. But we like to keep our goals for our investors simple.

- Strong returns.
- Great experiences.
- World-class communication.

Here is what our investor said about us:

✅ Tim B.
“My wife and I wanted passive real estate heading into retirement. We’ve invested in multiple Breneman Capital deals and have been very pleased. They’ve helped us preserve and grow our nest egg without day-to-day work, and I recommend them to friends and co-workers.”

✅ Jim H.
“I’ve invested with Drew for 10+ years across 20+ projects. He’s the most knowledgeable real estate operator I’ve met and someone I trust. These investments have built long-term wealth for my family, with solid returns.”

If you’d like to set up an exploratory call, feel free to click the link in my Featured Section.

Founder & CEO

I started Breneman Capital in 2005 at age 19 to purchase my first rental properties and grow my own wealth. 

Today, we work with individual investors, Family Offices, PE, Fund of Funds, RIAs, etc., and allow them to invest alongside us in the best opportunities that we find (and have been for nearly 20 years).

Invest with us: https://www.breneman.com/invest

High-paying jobs keep you broke.

Yes, even if you're making $750,000+.

For a lot of people, high salaries become a pair of Golden Handcuffs.

• Expensive zip code
• Luxury car payments 
• Country club dues

You’re trapped.

And you can’t leave your job because your $75,000/mo lifestyle depends on your $62,500/mo income. 

So it's not really the job that might keep this person's bank account near $0. It's the lifestyle creep that some allow to happen.

A high-paying job with the conscious choice to not always increase spending as income increases is a powerful tool.

The real wealth builders are living below their means, saving, and investing. 

A good question to ask yourself:

𝗔𝗿𝗲 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗯𝘂𝗶𝗹𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘄𝗲𝗮𝗹𝘁𝗵 𝗼𝗿 𝗷𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝗳𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗮𝗻 𝗲𝘅𝗽𝗲𝗻𝘀𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗹𝗶𝗳𝗲𝘀𝘁𝘆𝗹𝗲?

Founder @ Breneman Capital | Passive Multifamily Investments That Protect & Grow Capital | 21+ years in Real Estate | Trusted by 100+ Accredited Investors

When you see people successful in real estate, it's usually not: "They went to Harvard for undergrad and MBA.”

It's:

"Yeah, that guy bought a duplex when he was like 22. Then just kept buying. Now he apparently owns 800 units. I think he's from Iowa or something."

Most millionaire investors I work with have zero interest in private jets or Lamborghinis.

A lot of my calls with new investors look like this:

"Hey Drew.

"I've been maxing out my 401(k) & IRA for years. I'm always trying to figure out what the best option is for the other assets I have. Can you tell me a little bit more about what you do and how real estate works?"

Of course, everyone is different.

But nearly all my investors have a few things in common:

-> They're savers.
-> They don't care about flashy things.
-> They're willing to delay satisfaction.

In other words:

They focus on building wealth more than showing it. 

--

P.S. If you'd like to explore investing alongside us at Breneman Capital, schedule a call with our team here: https://lnkd.in/gWFK2VmV

10 pieces of real estate advice I wish someone had given me when I was 20:

1. Start before you're ready.

I bought my first duplex at 19. I didn't know what IRR meant. My entire strategy was: If it's cash flow positive, my worst-case is holding it long-term and receiving cash flow each month.

2. Buy what's in front of you.

I was a student at UW-Madison, so I bought student rentals in Madison. My market study was polling friends about what they were paying.

3. Your W2 is education on someone else's dime...

I worked at a multifamily developer, then a retail developer. I knew nothing about commercial property when I started. I learned everything there, and I wasn't in a rush to leave while I was still learning.

4. ...So build while you work.

From 2008 to 2011, I worked three jobs simultaneously: my W2, self-managing my Madison rentals, and buying deals with my first investor.

5. Quit when your job starts costing you money.

By deal five, I'd already exceeded my W2 income. I still didn't quit until deal six was under contract. 

The math was simple: Could I make more reallocating my 9-to-5 hours to the next deal? When the answer was yes, I left.

6. Optimize for learning, not salary.

Comparing a $65K job to a $75K job? When you're 40, that extra $10K you passed up won't matter. What you learned is what compounds.

7. Get to your spot.

On that note, if you know where you want to go with your career, prioritize experience that will get you there. If you want to go out on your own someday, don't take a job as an analyst at a rating agency. Be a broker, get in the mix on actual transactions.

8. Periods of discipline feel longer than they are.

I lived in places under $1,000/month into my late 20s. At 26, I moved back in with my parents to extend my runway. 

At the time, it felt like a lot of sacrifice. But looking back from now that I'm in my 40s, it was all just a blip.

9. Get creative with financing.

I owner-occupied my first duplex for a lower down payment and better rate. You can still do FHA loans at 3.5% down on a 1-4 unit. Someone I know went 50/50 with her sister-in-law. One qualified for the loan, the other brought the cash.

10. The compounding happens later.

I bought $2 million of property as a college student. Same strategy on repeat: Buy, increase operating income, improve value, refi, buy again. 

By 2019, my first investor and I had built that into $80+ million.

--

P.S. What advice would you give to yourself when you were 20?

1 major reason you should invest in real estate: 
 
What other investment gives you 4 ways to make money?  
 
𝟭. 𝗖𝗮𝘀𝗵 𝗳𝗹𝗼𝘄 
 
You collect your rent, you pay your expenses, you have money left over. 
 
That money left over is your cash flow.  
 
It’s critical to you focus on your cash flow (especially as a new investor). 
 
Beyond just income, a strong cash flow can: 
 
✅ Act as a buffer against risks. 
✅ Help you secure more favorable financing. 
✅ Provide flexibility for reinvesting in future properties. 
 
(And that’s just the start).  
 
𝟮. 𝗕𝘂𝗶𝗹𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗮𝗽𝗽𝗿𝗲𝗰𝗶𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 
 
You know how your parents bought their house for $79,000 in 1984? 
 
And how that same house sold for $453,000 in 2026? 
 
That’s building appreciation.  
 
There’s a lot more to unpack with building appreciation, but that's the gist. 
 
𝟯. 𝗟𝗼𝗮𝗻 𝗽𝗮𝘆𝗱𝗼𝘄𝗻 𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗿 𝘁𝗶𝗺𝗲 
 
Most investors take out a loan to buy a property. 
 
You can take the rental income from your tenants to pay down that loan. 
 
As your loan is paid down, your equity in the property increases. 
 
Now, you own more of your property — and your rental income paid for it.  
 
𝟰. 𝗗𝗲𝗽𝗿𝗲𝗰𝗶𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 (𝘁𝗮𝘅 𝘀𝗮𝘃𝗶𝗻𝗴𝘀)  
 
Real estate has a bunch of tax benefits (too many to break down right now). 
 
But simply put, the U.S. government wants to incentivize real estate investors. 
 
Depreciation allows you to deduct the cost of the building over its useful life as if it were an expense. 
 
A.K.A: You can reduce your taxable income thanks to your real estate.  
 
--  
 
OK. That’s a lot.  
 
(And remember, we kept it all high-level.) 
 
Questions?  
 
Just send me a DM.



Disclaimer: This is not an offer to sell or a solicitation to buy securities. Past performance is no guarantee of future results, and investors may experience different results than those shown, including the loss of principal. You should not rely upon forward-looking statements as predictions of future events.

I’ll never forget walking through this building.

It was sad. And bizarre. 

During the walkthrough, the seller was visibly nervous. Her tenants kept coming up to her to give her hugs.

Turns out, she getting a divorce from her husband, and was quietly selling the building. So her tenants were consoling her about the divorce while she was simultaneously trying to sell the building in secret. 

And as I was halfway through the walkthrough, it hit me:

“They clearly want to keep this a secret... I was actually the only buyer the broker reached out to on this. And it’s going to be a hard deal to sell if it needs to be a secret.” 

The broker knew I had the reputation of being a closer — so I got the call before he even had the listing secured.

I don’t want to be insensitive by boiling down this woman’s personal situation with a lesson about how it’s important to build a reputation in real estate, but that’s the reality of this one.

In 2017, I acquired the building for $1.45MM.

By late 2018, it appraised for $2.45MM when I refinanced.

I upzoned the property, added a unit, and did a light renovation of all the other units. 

You can't really plan for things like this.

All you can do is build a reputation and protect it.

Behind every "deal" are real people navigating real-life situations.

You never know how that's going to come into play.

--

P.S. If you'd like to explore passive real estate investing, send me a message. Let's find a time to chat. 
 


Disclaimer: This is not an offer to sell or a solicitation to buy securities. Past performance is no guarantee of future results, and investors may experience different results than those shown, including the loss of principal. You should not rely upon forward-looking statements as predictions of future events.

The “real estate market” doesn’t exist. 
 
(𝗠𝗼𝘀𝘁 𝗶𝗻𝘃𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘀 𝗱𝗼𝗻’𝘁 𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗿𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀.) 
 
People like to paint with broad strokes in investing. 
 
• “Everything is distressed!” 
• “The market is hot right now.” 
• “I think the bubble is about the pop.” 
 
This mindset leads to passive investors missing out on great opportunities — and harming their understanding of real estate in general. 
 
I say the “real estate market” doesn’t exist because there is no singular real estate market.  
 
If you owned a multifamily property in Chicago in 2025, you probably had a great year. 
 
If you owned a multifamily property in Las Vegas in 2025, you probably had a rough year. 
 
But if you extrapolate these experiences into your perception of the “real estate market” as a whole, you’re skewing your perception of both opportunity and risk.  
 
-> Every region is different. 
-> Every asset is different. 
-> Every deal is different. 
 
Generalizing and making assumptions in real estate is no different than making stock market decisions based on fear-mongering CNBC headlines. 
 
Yes, some areas of the country and some real estate assets are distressed. 
 
But in other areas and other asset classes, opportunity is exploding. 
 
Define your goals. 
↳ 
Do your research. 
↳ 
Find a great deal. 
 
A singular “real estate market” doesn’t exist. 
 
But the benefits of real estate certainly do. 
 
-- 
 
P.S. If you're an accredited investor looking to experience the benefits of passive real estate investing, send me a DM.

Hiring general contractors can be a nightmare.

Use these 5 tips to find the best GC possible:

1. Check qualifications

Do your homework. Google the GC’s name and business name. See if any reviews are listed on public sites. 

2. Ask for referrals

The single most important part of hiring a GC is finding one you can trust. 

Reach out to other property owners and investors to ask for referrals. If you get a referral, take that GC out for a beer or coffee to get to know them better.

3. Ask questions 

• What is your payment schedule?
• How long have you been in business?
• Will I have a dedicated team for my project?
• How and where do you store your team’s tools?
• Do you have end-of-the-day clean-up procedures? 
• How far in advance do you order materials and where are they stored?

4. Vet the team

Talk with the job site superintendent and understand their expertise and approach to solving issues with subcontractors.

Who's going to run the painting crew? It's more important to talk with them than the salesperson for the contractor's company. 

5. Protect yourself when paying

Pay through a title company to ensure the contractors get paid and you avoid mechanics liens. This way, the owner is always protected since the title company will be providing a date-down endorsement.


To see the full list of 10 tips for hiring the right GC, check out our blog here: https://lnkd.in/dtdD2NjE

I didn't come from money.

My "wealth" was education.

Some people are born into trust funds.

But both of my parents were teachers.

So my "trust fund" was an emphasis on education.

I think that ended up being more valuable in the long run.

I've talked often about how I'm a self-taught real estate investor.

• I got interested in it around age 16.
• I started reading books about real estate.
• I made the leap with my first investment at 19.

My parents instilled a love for learning in me.

Turns out, there can be a pretty big ROI in that.

Since education has always been central to my success (and since I'm my parents' kid), I wanted to take a stab at doing some educating of others myself.

I spend a lot of time on the phone with beginner real estate investors.

And I get a lot of the same questions:

-> "How does this all work?"
-> "What are the tax implications?"
-> "Why would I invest in X and not Y?"

So over the last year, I took all those questions...

And I turned them into a free educational course. 

The result?

My 5-day "Passive Real Estate Investing Mini-Course."

It's free to anyone who wants to learn.

In 5 days, you'll get 5 emails (1 email per day).

By the end of the course, you'll understand what you need to know to make your first real estate investment, including:

-> How to protect yourself from a stock market downturn with real estate income.
-> How to get ownership interest in an income-generating property.
-> How to replace tenant headaches with ACH deposits.

Education is wealth — both figuratively and literally.

Get my free course here: https://lnkd.in/dFuyGq2T

When it comes to bedtime, my kids are better negotiators than most people I've done deals with.

Bedtime starts at 7:45.

By 8:30 they've secured:

• One more story
• Water
• Different water (too cold)
• Bathroom trip
• Answers to their questions 
• One more hug
• Actually, yep, another story 
• Second bathroom trip (suspicious timing)
• One final tucking in

Each concession is small. They all feel reasonable in the moment. Then somehow I end up 45 minutes past where I started, wondering how I ended up here again. I knew it was coming. I saw it coming. And here we are. 

This is the part where I'm supposed to tie it to business.

Something about scope creep? Or protecting your boundaries in negotiations? Or how small concessions compound?

But I'd rather get some actual parenting conversation going:

How do you get your kids to stick to their nighttime routines?

Put in 5-10 years of intense work in your 20s.

Don't waste that time. 

At that age, you can be on for 18 hours a day.

I expect that if you surveyed people who grinded in their 20s and people who ignored work in favor of "finding themselves" in their 20s, you'd find very few who regretted working and quite a few who regretted falling behind financially.

Real estate GPs talk about the benefits of investing.

But *how* does it actually work? Here’s how: 

𝟭. 𝗥𝗲𝘃𝗶𝗲𝘄 𝗮𝗻𝘆 𝗼𝗽𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁𝘂𝗻𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗲𝘀𝘁𝘀 𝘆𝗼𝘂.

At Breneman Capital, we provide an investment memo via email and through our investor portal that highlights:

• The strategy for that particular asset, including investment type and hold period.
• Renovation scope (if applicable).
• Competitive analysis.
• Expected returns.
• Market analysis.

From there, we welcome any questions.

𝟮𝗔: 𝗗𝗲𝗰𝗶𝗱𝗲 “𝗡𝗼.” 𝗪𝗮𝗶𝘁 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗮 𝗳𝘂𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲 𝗼𝗽𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁𝘂𝗻𝗶𝘁𝘆.

𝟮𝗕: 𝗗𝗲𝗰𝗶𝗱𝗲 “𝗜’𝗱 𝗹𝗶𝗸𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝗶𝗻𝘃𝗲𝘀𝘁.” 

If you don’t already have access to our investor portal, you’ll be given access.

Then, you’ll commit your investment amount (minimum $50K).

𝟯. 𝗣𝗿𝗼𝘃𝗶𝗱𝗲 𝟯𝗿𝗱-𝗽𝗮𝗿𝘁𝘆 𝘃𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗳𝗶𝗰𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗼𝗳 𝗔𝗰𝗰𝗿𝗲𝗱𝗶𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝗜𝗻𝘃𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗿 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝘁𝘂𝘀.

Most people just have their attorney or CPA sign a letter. 

(We have a template form we can provide to help this process.)

If you don’t have a CPA or an attorney, we use a service called Parallel Markets that makes it easy to verify your status. 

𝟰. 𝗕𝗿𝗲𝗻𝗲𝗺𝗮𝗻 𝗖𝗮𝗽𝗶𝘁𝗮𝗹 𝗼𝗽𝗲𝗻𝘀 𝗮𝗻 𝗟𝗟𝗖 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘄𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝗼𝘄𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗽𝗲𝗿𝘁𝘆, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗕𝗿𝗲𝗻𝗲𝗺𝗮𝗻 𝗖𝗮𝗽𝗶𝘁𝗮𝗹 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝘄𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝗯𝗲 𝗺𝗲𝗺𝗯𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗟𝗟𝗖.

𝟱. 𝗕𝗿𝗲𝗻𝗲𝗺𝗮𝗻 𝗖𝗮𝗽𝗶𝘁𝗮𝗹 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗲𝗹𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗿𝗼𝗻𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘆 𝘀𝗶𝗴𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗳𝗼𝗹𝗹𝗼𝘄𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗹𝗲𝗴𝗮𝗹 𝗱𝗼𝗰𝘂𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁𝘀:

• Subscription Agreement
• Private Placement Memorandum (PPM)
• Operating Agreement

𝟲. 𝗬𝗼𝘂 𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗻𝘀𝗳𝗲𝗿 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗺𝗼𝗻𝗲𝘆 𝘁𝗼 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗟𝗟𝗖 𝗼𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝘄𝗲 𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗶𝘀𝗵𝗲𝗱 𝗮 𝗯𝗮𝗻𝗸 𝗮𝗰𝗰𝗼𝘂𝗻𝘁 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗟𝗟𝗖.   
 
𝟳. 𝗬𝗼𝘂 𝗿𝗲𝗰𝗲𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗻𝗼𝘁𝗶𝗰𝗲 𝘄𝗵𝗲𝗻 𝗰𝗹𝗼𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗶𝘀 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗽𝗹𝗲𝘁𝗲, 𝗮𝘁 𝘄𝗵𝗶𝗰𝗵 𝗽𝗼𝗶𝗻𝘁 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝘄𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝗮𝗻 𝗼𝘄𝗻𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗵𝗶𝗽 𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗲𝘀𝘁 𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗽𝗲𝗿𝘁𝘆.

If you're someone who likes to:

• Get all the information.
• Study all the information.
• Understand all the information

Then you'll love my free 5-day, 5-email Passive Real Estate Investing Mini-Course.

Get access to no-frills real estate guidance for passive investors here: 
https://lnkd.in/dFuyGq2T

I help Busy Professionals Invest in Real Estate Nationwide 🏘️ | Generational Wealth Builder | Freedom Provider | Husband & Dad

I build operational software and AI systems where reliability matters.

My background combines operational experience with technical product leadership. I translate real user needs into systems that engineers can build and operators trust.

I have led product decisions in high accountability environments where tradeoffs are real, constraints are fixed, and execution quality matters.

My work has included:

1. AI enabled software systems
2. complex operational platforms
3. distributed training and simulation products
4. workflow heavy systems used in real world environments

Before product leadership, I served as a U S Navy F/A-18 fighter pilot. That experience shaped how I approach product work today: clear decisions, disciplined tradeoffs, and systems that must perform under real constraints.

Most of the highest impact systems I have worked on cannot be shared publicly because they sit inside regulated and secure environments.

For public work samples, see my GitHub portfolio:
github.com/PatrickImperato

There I share case studies and repositories that demonstrate how I think about product strategy, AI systems, workflow design, and complex software delivery.

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