Advertise on podcast: Bookkeeping Expert - Zach Pasquariello

How do you build a $10 million real estate investment fund from scratch? In this video, I'm breaking down exactly how I'm growing ZIP Capital, my Pennsylvania-based private real estate lending fund. I'll share the marketing strategies, investor relationships, and business decisions that helped me raise $3 million in 2025 and another $4 million in 2026 as I work toward my $10 million goal. Building an investment fund isn't just about finding people with money. It's about establishing trust, developing relationships, building a track record, and consistently showing up over time. I'll walk through how I'm using LinkedIn, paid advertising, short-form videos, property walkthroughs, and investor meetings to raise capital for ZIP Capital. I'll also explain why I'm winding down my bookkeeping business to focus on one thing and how I'm evaluating new opportunities like local events, sponsorships, and industry conventions. In this video, you'll learn: - How I'm building a $10 million real estate investment fund - How I raised $3 million in 2025 and $4 million in 2026 - My LinkedIn strategy for connecting with potential investors - How I'm using paid advertising to generate investor interest - Why I create short videos documenting my lending business - How property walkthroughs help me showcase ZIP Capital's work - How I approach investor meetings and building relationships - Why I'm moving away from Harrisburg Bookkeeping to focus on ZIP Capital - Marketing strategies I'm considering to raise additional capital - Why trust, consistency, referrals, and patience matter for long-term growth I also share lessons from building Harrisburg Bookkeeping, where Google reviews, Facebook referrals, and word of mouth helped me grow the business. I'm now applying many of those same principles to ZIP Capital. My goal is to build ZIP Capital into a successful real estate lending company over the next several decades. I'm documenting that journey publicly, including the strategies that work, the challenges I encounter, and the decisions I make along the way. If you're interested in raising capital, private money lending, hard money lending, real estate investing, entrepreneurship, or building an investment fund, I hope this video gives you a useful look behind the scenes. Disclaimer: This video is for educational and informational purposes only and does not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation to buy securities, or investment, legal, tax, or financial advice. Investments involve risk, including possible loss of principal. Past performance does not guarantee future results. ZIP Capital investment opportunities are available only to verified accredited investors, subject to applicable offering documents and legal requirements. Returns are not guaranteed. #RealEstateInvesting #RaisingCapital #PrivateMoneyLending

How do hard money lenders decide which real estate deals are worth funding? In this video, I’m sharing a behind-the-scenes look at how I underwrite hard money loans inside ZIP Capital. This week, we funded 4 real estate loans in 3 days for a total of $457,000, generating $30,680 in origination, processing, and underwriting fees. But the most important part of private lending is not the potential return. It’s risk management. Click here to learn more about ZIP Capital https://www.zipcapitalfund.com/investment-offering Hard money lending can be a powerful real estate investing strategy, but only if you know how to evaluate the borrower, the property, the scope of work, title insurance, property insurance, and the numbers behind the deal. In this video, I’ll walk through what I look for before funding a real estate loan and the red flags that make me say no. In this video, you’ll learn: • How I underwrite hard money loans   • How private money lending works   • What hard money lenders look for before funding a deal   • How to review the borrower, property, and scope of work   • Why risk mitigation matters more than ROI   • Why title insurance, property insurance, a mortgage, note, and personal guarantee matter   • Red flags that make a loan too risky   • How ZIP Capital reviews real estate loan requests in Pennsylvania   • Why disciplined underwriting protects investor capital   I’ll also share a simple example deal with a $100,000 purchase price, $40,000 rehab budget, $140,000 total project cost, and $200,000 ARV to show how I think through real estate loan underwriting. ZIP Capital reviews loan requests every week, and I’m currently averaging more than 2 loan requests per day. We are not trying to fund every deal. The goal is to pick the best loans, protect investor capital, and stay disciplined with underwriting. If you want to try private lending yourself, go for it. If you want a more passive option, you can learn more about ZIP Capital. #HardMoneyLending #PrivateMoneyLending #RealEstateInvesting This video is for educational and informational purposes only and should not be considered investment, legal, tax, or financial advice. Any discussion of ZIP Capital is intended to share my personal experiences building and operating the business. Past performance does not guarantee future results. Investments involve risk, including the possible loss of principal. Any investment opportunities discussed are available only to investors who meet applicable legal and regulatory requirements. Individuals and business owners should evaluate their own business strategies, and identify any potential risks.  The information shared here is not a guarantee of success. Your results may vary.

How do you start real estate private money lending with only $50,000? In this video, I break down exactly how I made my first private money loan and how I eventually grew from lending $50,000 to millions of dollars in real estate loans. Learn more about ZIP Capital: https://www.zipcapitalfund.com/investment-offering 00:00 How to Start Private Money Lending With $50,000 00:29 How I Discovered Private Money Lending 02:07 Why I Chose Lending Over Rental Properties 03:19 My First $50,000 Real Estate Loan 04:13 How Much I Made on My First Loan 04:51 Direct Lender vs. Mortgage Broker 07:52 How to Find Your First Borrower 09:53 How Private Money Lenders Make Money 12:53 Why Investors Use Private Money Lenders 15:03 Why I Only Want First-Position Mortgages 16:00 Lending Yourself vs. Investing in a Fund 17:51 How to Protect Yourself as a Private Lender 18:16 Promissory Notes, Mortgages & Personal Guarantees 18:53 Property Insurance & Title Insurance 20:14 How I Underwrite Real Estate Loans 21:20 My 70% ARV Rule 21:29 Final Thoughts & Next Steps Private money lending is a completely different way to invest in real estate. Instead of flipping houses or owning rental properties, you become the lender. You provide capital to real estate investors and secure the loan with real estate. I walk through my experience starting with $50,000, how I find borrowers, how private money lenders make money through interest and fees, why I focus on short-term real estate loans, and how I think about protecting principal and managing risk. I also cover some of the most important parts of real estate lending, including first-position mortgages, promissory notes, personal guarantees, property insurance, lender's title insurance, borrower underwriting, ARV, comparable sales, rehab budgets, and loan-to-value considerations. If you're interested in private money lending, hard money lending, real estate investing, real estate loans, or becoming a private lender, this video gives you a behind-the-scenes look at how I personally got started. This video is for educational and informational purposes only and should not be considered investment, legal, tax, or financial advice. Any discussion of ZIP Capital is intended to share my personal experiences building and operating the business. Past performance does not guarantee future results. Investments involve risk, including the possible loss of principal. Any investment opportunities discussed are available only to investors who meet applicable legal and regulatory requirements. Individuals and business owners should evaluate their own business strategies, and identify any potential risks.  The information shared here is not a guarantee of success. Your results may vary.

How I Made $26,000 in 2 Months Real Estate Lending In this video, I break down a real real estate lending deal where I made $26,092 in total income in just 59 days on a $186,000 loan. The loan was secured by three investment properties, and I walk through exactly where the income came from, including $22,485 in fees and $3,607 in interest. I also explain my real estate lending business from start to finish: how borrowers find me, how I underwrite both the borrower and property, how I structure loan terms, what happens at closing, how rehab draws work, how I collect interest and fees, and how the capital gets redeployed after the borrower sells or refinances the property. I also cover three important concepts that have shaped the way I approach private and hard money lending: small-balance loans, capital velocity, and why interest is only one part of the economics of a real estate loan. If you're interested in real estate investing, private money lending, hard money lending, real estate finance, or becoming a real estate lender, this video gives you a behind-the-scenes look at how the business actually works. https://www.zipcapitalfund.com/investment-offering 0:00 How I Made $26,000 in 2 Months 1:26 Breaking Down the Numbers 2:13 The $186,000 Real Estate Loan 2:50 How I Made $26,000 5:22 My ROI on the Loan 6:57 Important Disclaimer 7:38 3 Lessons From This Loan 8:42 Why Capital Velocity Matters 10:32 How Real Estate Lending Works 11:48 Step 1: Investor Finds a Property 12:41 Step 2: Loan Application 13:47 Step 3: Underwriting the Loan 17:04 Step 4: Setting the Loan Terms 18:14 Step 5: Pre-Closing Due Diligence 19:32 Step 6: Closing & Loan Management 21:20 Step 7: Renovating the Property 22:01 Step 8: Rehab Draws 22:49 Step 9: Interest & Fees 23:53 Step 10: Borrower Pays Back the Loan 25:07 Investing With ZIP Capital This video is for educational and informational purposes only and should not be considered investment, legal, tax, or financial advice. Any discussion of ZIP Capital is intended to share my personal experiences building and operating the business. Past performance does not guarantee future results. Investments involve risk, including the possible loss of principal. Any investment opportunities discussed are available only to investors who meet applicable legal and regulatory requirements. Individuals and business owners should evaluate their own business strategies, and identify any potential risks.  The information shared here is not a guarantee of success. Your results may vary.

0:00 Day in the Life of a Hard Money Lender 1:42 My Typical Morning Routine 2:36 My LinkedIn Investor Strategy 5:14 Emails and Daily Admin 5:55 Running My Bookkeeping Business 6:45 Processing 10 Real Estate Loans 7:47 Why I Funded Only 4 of 67 Loan Requests 8:21 Managing Cash Flow in a Short-Term Loan Fund 9:02 Inside ZIP Capital’s $8 Million Loan Portfolio 9:59 Raising $7 Million in 20 Months 10:49 My Content Marketing Strategy 12:07 How YouTube Has Generated Customers and Investors 13:26 Why I Chose ZIP Capital Over My Other Businesses 14:48 Should I Remain a Solo Entrepreneur? 17:04 Visiting Properties and Running Paid Ads 18:37 Spending $11,000 to Reach Investors 20:39 My Goal to Raise $10 Million 23:13 Final Thoughts and What Comes Next This video is for educational and informational purposes only and should not be considered investment, legal, tax, or financial advice. Any discussion of ZIP Capital is intended to share my personal experiences building and operating the business. Past performance does not guarantee future results. Investments involve risk, including the possible loss of principal. Any investment opportunities discussed are available only to investors who meet applicable legal and regulatory requirements. Individuals and business owners should evaluate their own business strategies, and identify any potential risks.  The information shared here is not a guarantee of success. Your results may vary.

00:00 Inside My $8 Million Real Estate Private Credit Fund 01:05 How I Raised Almost $7 Million 01:54 Minimum Investment and Average Investor Size 02:06 Paying Investors $56,000 in One Month 02:47 Monthly Distributions and Compounding Interest 04:00 How YouTube Helped Me Raise $1.5 Million 05:17 My 9:00 P.M. Investor Phone Call 05:50 Regulation D Rule 506(c) Explained 06:16 What I Do With Investor Capital 07:09 How I Diversify Across Properties and Borrowers 08:17 My Typical Real Estate Loan 09:32 Breaking Down a $140,000 Loan 10:42 Borrower Cash Reserve Requirements 11:11 How ZIP Capital Makes Money 12:03 How a First-Position Mortgage Protects Me 12:51 How I Underwrite Real Estate Loans 13:13 How I Calculate After-Repair Value 15:31 Real Examples of Inflated Property Values 16:41 Why I Review County Tax Records 18:10 How I Protect Investor Capital 18:39 My Portfolio’s 61% Loan-to-ARV 19:20 Why Borrowers Need Skin in the Game 21:12 Why Cash Reserves Matter 21:47 How Insurance Protected Me After a Fire 22:16 Why Title Insurance Is Critical 22:59 What Happens After I Fund a Loan 23:39 Setting Up Monthly Borrower Payments 24:11 Bookkeeping for a Private Credit Fund 24:44 Tracking Loans, Documents, and Rehab Draws 25:14 Monitoring Maturities and Exit Strategies 26:09 Reviewing Construction Draw Requests 26:43 The Reality of Managing a Private Credit Fund This video is for educational and informational purposes only and should not be considered investment, legal, tax, or financial advice. Any discussion of ZIP Capital is intended to share my personal experiences building and operating the business. Past performance does not guarantee future results. Investments involve risk, including the possible loss of principal. Any investment opportunities discussed are available only to investors who meet applicable legal and regulatory requirements. Individuals and business owners should evaluate their own business strategies, and identify any potential risks.  The information shared here is not a guarantee of success. Your results may vary.

0:00 Micro Urgency, Macro Patience 1:49 What Micro Urgency Looks Like 2:03 Why Speed Wins More Bookkeeping Clients 3:34 Finish Today to Create Opportunity Tomorrow 4:58 How Urgency Helps ZIP Capital Fund Loans 6:01 The Importance of Communication and Organization 6:59 Why I Create Marketing Content Before 8 AM 8:00 The 9 PM Call That Could Be Worth $500,000 9:47 What Macro Patience Looks Like 10:18 Why Entrepreneurs Cannot Overreact to Slow Months 11:43 From Almost No Views to 50,000 Subscribers 12:54 How YouTube Generated $1.5 Million From Two Investors 13:46 Why I Keep Spending Money on Ads 15:11 Raising $5 Million Took Longer Than It Looks 16:20 The Boring Work Behind Business Growth 17:34 The Truth Behind ZIP Capital’s Success 17:59 Why I Am Going All In on ZIP Capital 18:20 The Principle Every Entrepreneur Should Remember This video is for educational and informational purposes only and should not be considered investment, legal, tax, or financial advice. Any discussion of ZIP Capital is intended to share my personal experiences building and operating the business. Past performance does not guarantee future results. Investments involve risk, including the possible loss of principal. Any investment opportunities discussed are available only to investors who meet applicable legal and regulatory requirements. Individuals and business owners should evaluate their own business strategies, and identify any potential risks.  The information shared here is not a guarantee of success. Your results may vary.

0:00 Why We Bought a Bigger House  1:58 Coaching Youth Football and Building a Home Gym  3:36 My Weekly Bookkeeping Meeting: Why I’m Losing Interest  7:14 ZIP Capital August 2026 Update  8:04 Paying $56,000 in Monthly Investor Distributions  8:29 67 Loan Requests, but Only 4 Loans Funded  10:23 Why I’m Scaling Down My Bookkeeping Business  12:43 The Scary Reality of Entrepreneurship  14:09 Why I’m Not Ready to Retire at 33  This video is for educational and informational purposes only and should not be considered investment, legal, tax, or financial advice. Any discussion of ZIP Capital is intended to share my personal experiences building and operating the business. Past performance does not guarantee future results. Investments involve risk, including the possible loss of principal. Any investment opportunities discussed are available only to investors who meet applicable legal and regulatory requirements. Individuals and business owners should evaluate their own business strategies, and identify any potential risks.  The information shared here is not a guarantee of success. Your results may vary.

00:00 ZIP Capital Receives Another $100,000 00:17 Can We Still Reach $10 Million? 00:35 Why Capital Raising Has Slowed Down 02:08 Why Current Investors Adding More Matters 03:31 Managing Millions of Dollars Responsibly 03:41 Your Best Marketing Strategy 05:27 Visiting a ZIP Capital-Funded Property 06:14 Finding a Long-Term Lending Partner 06:44 Meeting an Investor With 40 Rentals 07:36 Why I’m Walking More Properties 08:21 What to Do When Business Feels Slow 09:33 Finishing August Strong 10:01 Buying Our New Family Home 11:13 Why I’m Continuing to Run Paid Ads 12:14 Final Thoughts This video is for educational and informational purposes only and should not be considered investment, legal, tax, or financial advice. Any discussion of ZIP Capital is intended to share my personal experiences building and operating the business. Past performance does not guarantee future results. Investments involve risk, including the possible loss of principal. Any investment opportunities discussed are available only to investors who meet applicable legal and regulatory requirements. Individuals and business owners should evaluate their own business strategies, and identify any potential risks.  The information shared here is not a guarantee of success. Your results may vary.

0:00 How I Started Real Estate Lending 0:31 Five Ways to Invest Your Money 1:56 Investing in Real Estate Debt 2:12 How Bookkeeping Led Me to Lending 3:40 Discovering Private Money Lending by Accident 5:24 Saving My First $50,000 6:45 Why I Considered Buying Rentals 8:21 Why the Rental Numbers Didn’t Work 10:41 Why I Chose Lending Instead 11:57 Lending vs. Rental Property Returns 15:31 My First $50,000 Real Estate Loan 17:28 The Skills a Private Lender Needs 19:54 My Bookkeeping Skills Finally Made Sense 20:35 Build Around Your Strengths 21:21 Where My Lending Journey Started This video is for educational and informational purposes only and should not be considered investment, legal, tax, or financial advice. Any discussion of ZIP Capital is intended to share my personal experiences building and operating the business. Past performance does not guarantee future results. Investments involve risk, including the possible loss of principal. Any investment opportunities discussed are available only to investors who meet applicable legal and regulatory requirements. Individuals and business owners should evaluate their own business strategies, and identify any potential risks.  The information shared here is not a guarantee of success. Your results may vary.

00:00 I Made $784,000 From Three Businesses 00:08 Breaking Down My Three Income Streams 00:34 Why I Had to Choose One Business 00:52 Going All-In on ZIP Capital 00:59 Time Management as an Entrepreneur 02:06 Why Every Business Owner Should Understand Bookkeeping 03:00 Communication Skills for Entrepreneurs 03:55 How Marketing Skills Transfer Between Businesses 04:41 Why Your Next Business May Grow Faster 05:02 Discipline and Consistency in Business 05:40 Technology Every Entrepreneur Must Learn 06:30 Lessons From My Failed Trucking Company 06:38 Why Focus Becomes More Important as You Grow 06:57 Business Focus Explained With a 5K Analogy 09:38 Growing Real Estate Lending From $115K to $1 Million 10:17 What Squatting 500 Pounds Taught Me About Business 11:43 How Bookkeeping Led Me to Real Estate Lending 12:16 Learning Real Estate Investing and Loan Underwriting 12:49 Why Processing Real Estate Loans Is Complicated 13:36 How ZIP Capital Was Created 14:07 My Current Mission: Raising Capital 14:47 Identify the Most Important Goal in Your Business 15:30 Why Raising Capital Is Harder Than Finding Borrowers 15:42 How My Workday Has Completely Changed 16:13 Transitioning From Daily Tasks to Strategic Work 16:38 Breakfast With a Financial Advisor 16:45 Reviewing Documents for a Real Estate Loan Closing 16:53 What I Actually Do at ZIP Capital 17:32 Starting Over With Marketing Again 18:08 Documenting My Business Journey in Real Time

Episode 006 For the past six years, I've documented my entrepreneurial journey online. These videos are my daily journal as I build ZIP Capital, a Pennsylvania-based private lending company. I'll be sharing the wins, mistakes, lessons, and behind-the-scenes decisions that come with building a business. If you're interested in entrepreneurship, investing, real estate, or simply following the journey, subscribe and come along for the ride. https://www.zipcapitalfund.com/investment-offering This video is for educational and informational purposes only and should not be considered investment, legal, tax, or financial advice. Any discussion of ZIP Capital is intended to share my personal experiences building and operating the business. Past performance does not guarantee future results. Investments involve risk, including the possible loss of principal. Any investment opportunities discussed are available only to investors who meet applicable legal and regulatory requirements.

Episode 005 For the past six years, I've documented my entrepreneurial journey online. These videos are my daily journal as I build ZIP Capital, a Pennsylvania-based private lending company. I'll be sharing the wins, mistakes, lessons, and behind-the-scenes decisions that come with building a business. If you're interested in entrepreneurship, investing, real estate, or simply following the journey, subscribe and come along for the ride. https://www.zipcapitalfund.com/investment-offering This video is for educational and informational purposes only and should not be considered investment, legal, tax, or financial advice. Any discussion of ZIP Capital is intended to share my personal experiences building and operating the business. Past performance does not guarantee future results. Investments involve risk, including the possible loss of principal. Any investment opportunities discussed are available only to investors who meet applicable legal and regulatory requirements.

Episode 004 For the past six years, I've documented my entrepreneurial journey online. These videos are my daily journal as I build ZIP Capital, a Pennsylvania-based private lending company. I'll be sharing the wins, mistakes, lessons, and behind-the-scenes decisions that come with building a business. If you're interested in entrepreneurship, investing, real estate, or simply following the journey, subscribe and come along for the ride. https://www.zipcapitalfund.com/investment-offering This video is for educational and informational purposes only and should not be considered investment, legal, tax, or financial advice. Any discussion of ZIP Capital is intended to share my personal experiences building and operating the business. Past performance does not guarantee future results. Investments involve risk, including the possible loss of principal. Any investment opportunities discussed are available only to investors who meet applicable legal and regulatory requirements.

Episode 003 For the past six years, I've documented my entrepreneurial journey online. These videos are my daily journal as I build ZIP Capital, a Pennsylvania-based private lending company. I'll be sharing the wins, mistakes, lessons, and behind-the-scenes decisions that come with building a business. If you're interested in entrepreneurship, investing, real estate, or simply following the journey, subscribe and come along for the ride. https://www.zipcapitalfund.com/investment-offering This video is for educational and informational purposes only and should not be considered investment, legal, tax, or financial advice. Any discussion of ZIP Capital is intended to share my personal experiences building and operating the business. Past performance does not guarantee future results. Investments involve risk, including the possible loss of principal. Any investment opportunities discussed are available only to investors who meet applicable legal and regulatory requirements.