What is The Real Estate Ladder?

The Real Estate Ladder is a real estate investing education company based in Denver, Colorado, founded by investor and mortgage broker Johnny Macias. It teaches everyday people how to build wealth through real estate with free workshops (the Block Series), a podcast, a free ebook and an in-depth online course, the Investor Blueprint.

Everyone from renters and first-time buyers to seasoned investors. Block 1 starts with money and credit basics, Block 2 covers going from zero to three properties, and Block 3 and the Investor Blueprint go into advanced investing.

Are the Block Series workshops really free?

Yes. The Block Series is three free workshops, online and in person: Block 1, Building Financial Foundations; Block 2, Grow From Zero to Three Properties; and Block 3, Advanced Real Estate Investing.

What is the Real Estate Ladder method?

An owner-occupied way to go from zero to three properties. You buy home #1 and live in it; after 12 or more months you turn it into a rental and buy home #2 to live in; you put home #1 in an LLC and trust and start building business credit; then you repeat the process to home #3.

What does IDEAL stand for?

Income, Depreciation, Equity, Appreciation and Leverage: the five ways The Real Estate Ladder teaches you to measure any property before you buy it.

Who teaches the workshops?

Johnny Macias leads them. He has 20+ years as a real estate investor, and he is a mortgage broker (NMLS #333811) and the founding broker of Colorado Mortgage Connect. He co-hosts the podcast with Ryann Muir, an investor and property manager.

What is the Investor Blueprint?

The Real Estate Ladder’s complete online course, coming soon. It covers everything in Blocks 1, 2 and 3 in far more depth, with advanced lessons and an in-depth resource library.

Is this financial advice?

No. The Real Estate Ladder is education only. Nothing on this site is financial, tax or legal advice, or an offer to lend.

The Real Estate Ladder

Free workshop series

The Block Series

Three free workshops that take you from getting your money in order to owning, renting out and growing a portfolio of properties. Each block builds on the one before it, taught by Johnny Macias, a real estate investor of 20+ years and a mortgage broker.

The three blocks

Block 1, Building Financial Foundations: budgeting, credit and a plan for your first home
Block 2, Grow From Zero to Three Properties: the owner-occupied method and three case studies
Block 3, Advanced Real Estate Investing: finding, underwriting and improving the right deal
The IDEAL investment: Income, Depreciation, Equity, Appreciation and Leverage
Where to find the capital, and how to build the team around you

Who it’s for

Renters, first-time buyers, homeowners thinking about their next property, and investors who want a clear system. Block 1 is beginner-friendly, and each block builds toward the next.

Free ebook

Climbing the Real Estate Ladder

A free starter guide to the first rungs of the ladder: what to fix, what to save and what to check before you buy your first property, from cleaning up your credit to running the rent math.

What’s inside

Cleaning up and building your credit
Saving for your down payment and closing costs
Getting ready for a mortgage pre-approval
Running the rent math on a property
The first steps of the Real Estate Ladder method

Who it’s for

Anyone starting out: renters thinking about buying, and first-time buyers who want a checklist before they talk to a lender.

Block 1 · Free workshop

Building Financial Foundations

Master the inch before you master the mile. Block 1 gets your money ready for real estate: a budget that works, an emergency fund, credit that qualifies, and a clear plan for buying your first home.

What you’ll learn

The 50/30/20 rule for needs, wants and savings
Building an emergency fund, and ways to save $10,000 in a year
Creating extra cash flow with side income
Understanding, rebuilding and managing your credit
What lenders look at: credit, loan-to-value, documentable income and assets
The steps to your first home, including down payment assistance programs

Who it’s for

Beginners. If you’re renting, rebuilding your credit, or not sure yet whether you’d qualify for a mortgage, start here.

Block 2 · Free workshop

Grow From Zero to Three Properties

The Real Estate Ladder method, start to finish. Buy a home you live in, turn it into a rental after 12+ months, and repeat it to three properties, with the numbers worked through in three case studies.

What you’ll learn

The owner-occupied method, step by step
Using Colorado down payment assistance
Rich Dad’s rules of money: assets, cash flow, taxes and leverage
The IDEAL breakdown, applied to every purchase
Case studies: a first home with down payment assistance, a second home and a fourplex
Twelve places to find the capital, from home equity to seller financing and partners

Who it’s for

First-time buyers who want their home to become their first investment, and homeowners deciding whether to keep their first home as a rental.

Block 3 · Free workshop

Advanced Real Estate Investing

For when you’re ready to grow past your own homes. Block 3 shows how to find and underwrite the right investment with the IDEAL formula, which upgrades add the most value, and how to build the team that does the work.

What you’ll learn

The IDEAL investment formula, in depth
Where to find deals: short sales, probate, tax liens, under-managed properties and wholesalers
Choosing a location, and comparing property types from condos to duplexes
The upgrades that build the most equity
Loan programs to look into: FHA 203(k), DSCR, bank statement and down payment assistance
Market studies of an ADU, a fourplex and a flip

Who it’s for

Homeowners and investors with a property or two who want a system for the next deal.

Podcast · On Spotify

The Real Estate Ladder Podcast

Ready to stop guessing and start building wealth through real estate? The Real Estate Ladder Podcast shows you how to go from 0 to 3 properties with practical steps, smart financing strategies, and real-life investing lessons. Hosted by Lead Facilitators Johnny Macias & Ryann Muir, each episode is designed to help first-time buyers, move-up buyers, and future investors understand the path to ownership, cash flow, and long-term wealth. From credit and budgeting to refinancing, rentals, and scaling up, this podcast gives you the blueprint to climb higher with confidence.

Episodes so far

Episode 1, Welcome to the Real Estate Ladder: the idea of growing from 0 to 3 properties, and why real estate investing is within reach
Episode 2, Building Your Credit The Right Way: credit reports, disputes and the habits that get you mortgage-ready
Episode 3, Strategies & Structuring Deals: guest Caleb Christopher on structuring deals ethically and protecting your assets

Who it’s for

First-time buyers, move-up buyers and future investors who want to understand the path to ownership, cash flow and long-term wealth.

Online course · Coming soon

The Investor Blueprint

The Real Estate Ladder’s complete course: an advanced framework for investors who want to operate with precision, intention and long-term clarity. It takes everything in Blocks 1, 2 and 3 much further, as the playbook for building and running a portfolio.

What’s included

Everything in the Block Series, in far more depth
Advanced video lessons
An in-depth resource library
Strategies to get the most from your portfolio
The full Real Estate Ladder system, from your first home to scaling up

Who it’s for

Investors who’ve been through the Block Series, or already own property, and want the complete system in one place.

Founder · Lead facilitator · Podcast host

Johnny Macias

Johnny Macias started in real estate in his early twenties, made a fortune, lost it, and built it back the slow way: one property at a time. The Real Estate Ladder is the method he wishes he’d had, and he leads every Block Series workshop.

Background

20+ years as a real estate investor, across residential, multi-family and commercial property
Mortgage broker for 17 years, and the founding broker of Colorado Mortgage Connect
An education-first lender: he helps people make the best decisions for their own homeownership goals
His mission: help people break the generational poverty loop by creating generational wealth

Johnny’s purpose, in his own words, is to elevate everyone he comes in connection with. Start where he starts everyone: the free Block Series.

Lead facilitator · Podcast host

Ryann Muir

Ryann Muir co-hosts The Real Estate Ladder Podcast with Johnny and is a lead facilitator of The Real Estate Ladder. She’s the team lead of The Property Ladder Group and a Certified Real Estate Ladder Agent.

Background

Real estate investor and property manager
Fix-and-flip specialist
Short-term and long-term rental expert
Real estate broker and team lead of The Property Ladder Group, eXp Realty

Ryann brings the day-to-day side of owning property: the renovations, tenants and rental strategy that turn the numbers into a working investment.

The Block Series

Learn to buildwealth throughreal estate

Climbing the Real Estate Ladder

Building Financial Foundations

Grow From Zero to Three Properties

Advanced Real Estate Investing

The Real Estate Ladder Podcast

The Investor Blueprint

The IDEAL Investment: Income, Depreciation, Equity, Appreciation, Leverage

Get mortgage-ready

Buy home #1 and live in it

After 12+ months, rent it out

Protect it, then repeat

Home #3

Learn thewhole method

The Real Estate Ladder Podcast

Start with a free workshop

Learn the
whole method