#102. John McNellis—40 Years, Multiple Fortunes Lost, and One Shopping Center He Still Owns

In this episode of the Income Flip Podcast, John McNellis shares his journey from a journalism major with no clear direction, to a reluctant lawyer, to one of Northern California's most respected shopping center developers over a 40-plus year career.

John breaks down how he turned a $1,500 investment into $90,000 in early real estate profits before he'd even left the law firm, then raised his first million dollars door-to-door to build the Healdsburg shopping center he still owns today. He's candid about the deals that nearly destroyed him too, from a wildly overleveraged mall redevelopment that ended in foreclosure and a six-figure IRS bill, to a Walmart project derailed by a granite deposit no geological survey could have predicted. He also explains why he walked away from financial partners entirely, why staying hyper-local gave him a lasting competitive edge, and why persistence, not talent or luck, is the real prerequisite for surviving decades in development.

John McNellis is a principal and cofounder of McNellis Partners, a Northern California commercial development firm. He began his career as a lawyer before moving into real estate development at age 28. Since opening his first shopping center in 1983, John has spent more than 40 years developing and owning retail, mixed-use, office, and residential projects.

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#102. John McNellis—40 Years, Multiple Fortunes Lost, and One Shopping Center He Still Owns

In this episode of the Income Flip Podcast, John McNellis shares his journey from a journalism major with no clear direction, to a reluctant lawyer, to one of Northern California's most respected shopping center developers over a 40-plus year career.

John breaks down how he turned a $1,500 investment into $90,000 in early real estate profits before he'd even left the law firm, then raised his first million dollars door-to-door to build the Healdsburg shopping center he still owns today. He's candid about the deals that nearly destroyed him too, from a wildly overleveraged mall redevelopment that ended in foreclosure and a six-figure IRS bill, to a Walmart project derailed by a granite deposit no geological survey could have predicted. He also explains why he walked away from financial partners entirely, why staying hyper-local gave him a lasting competitive edge, and why persistence, not talent or luck, is the real prerequisite for surviving decades in development.

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#101. Erich Feierabend—The Investor Who Found “Real Money” in Cost Segregation

In this episode of the Income Flip Podcast, Eric Feierabend shares how his family's deep roots in real estate, from an appraiser grandfather to a residential realtor mother, shaped a career spanning private banking, national property tax consulting, and commercial real estate development.

Eric breaks down how he went from advising Fortune 125 companies on property tax to launching his own real estate acquisition partnership, closing his first deal within ten days and later developing a Starbucks from a vacant lot. He explains how becoming a client of CSSI led him to join the company full time, and walks through exactly how cost segregation studies work, how investors can reclassify property components into faster depreciation schedules to unlock major tax savings, and how that saved money can be redeployed to buy the next asset and keep compounding. He also covers which asset classes benefit most, how look-back studies work on properties bought years ago, and why timing matters with 100% bonus depreciation currently in place.