He Walked Away From Physical Therapy and Built an 885-Unit Multifamily Portfolio From Scratch

From One Flip to 885 Units: How Lee Yoder Built a Cash Flow Engine in the Midwest

Lee didn’t come from private equity or a real estate family. He was a physical therapist who bought a single flip and saw a path to something bigger.

He reinvested profits from that flip into a duplex. Then sold the duplex to buy a 16-unit. From there, he grew a portfolio that today includes over 885 multifamily units across Ohio and Indiana.

At each stage, Lee kept things simple. He focused on cash flow, found deals in overlooked markets, and gradually built the systems to support more scale. When property management became a bottleneck, he brought it in-house. When returns started compressing, he doubled down on conservative underwriting.

He didn’t scale through hype. He scaled through habit.

Today, Lee runs Threefold Real Estate Investing, a vertically integrated platform managing over $55 million in assets. And it all started with one house, a clear goal, and a focus on doing the next right deal.

The Play: Go Small to Go Big, Then Bring Ops In-House

Lee’s first deal was a flip in a small Ohio town. He used the proceeds to buy a duplex, then upgraded to a 16-unit and eventually to 100-plus unit acquisitions. His strategy is built around tight geographic focus, strong operations, and long-term relationships with lenders and investors.

He focuses on:

• 20 to 100 unit multifamily in stable Midwest markets

• Mismanaged properties with room for operational improvement

• Areas within one hour of a core metro but outside major institutional competition

Once he passed 200 units, Lee brought property management in-house. That shift unlocked more control over leasing, rehab timelines, and cost structure — helping him scale while staying lean.

Why This Works

1. He focused where others won’t
Lee deliberately chose the 20 to 100 unit range in tertiary markets. These deals are too big for mom-and-pop investors but too small for institutional funds. It gave him pricing power and room to operate.

2. He scaled operations before the pain hit
Instead of waiting for problems to force his hand, Lee hired in-house PM early. It let him build consistent systems, keep property performance tight, and avoid the quality-control issues that slow down third-party managers.

3. He kept the return profile simple
Lee underwrites for 8 percent average annual cash flow and a 1.8x multiple over 5 years. He avoids inflated IRRs or big speculative exits. That helps him build trust with LPs and manage downside risk.

The Risks (and How He Handled Them)

• Geographic sprawl: Some properties are hours apart, which strains operations. Lee manages this by using remote tools, hiring onsite teams, and limiting expansion to familiar counties.

• Vertical integration complexity: Bringing PM in-house meant payroll, HR, tech stack, and compliance. Lee took one property as a test case before rolling it out across his portfolio.

• Capital raising without a flashy track record: Lee started by partnering with one or two investors on smaller deals. He built slowly, earning trust through performance instead of pitch decks.

What You Can Learn (and Steal)

1. Use small wins to build your track record
Lee didn’t start with a 100-unit building. He started with a flip, then a duplex, then 16 units. Each deal built confidence and credibility.

2. Bring management in earlier than you think
You don’t need to wait until you have 500 units. Even one test deal with internal PM can give you clarity on whether it’s worth scaling.

3. Focus on your investor base, not just the asset
Lee keeps his model simple and cash-flow focused. That consistency makes LPs come back, even if the returns aren’t flashy.

Listen to the full episode

🎙 Groundbreakers with Lee Yoder

In it, we cover:

• How Lee grew from a flip to 885 units in under a decade

• His process for underwriting cash flow in tertiary markets

• Why bringing property management in-house changed everything

• What most GPs underestimate about capital raising

• How to scale without chasing IRR