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You hear us talk about real estate all the time on this show but what most people don't realize is that the bond market may be one of the biggest hidden forces influencing real estate returns right now.

In today's podcast episode, I sit down with Jeremy Watson, CEO of Bedrock Investment Property, a longtime investor and entrepreneur who has been investing since 2006, has helped buy and sell 5,000+ properties, and has completed four business exits. Jeremy also spent a decade in the financial advice world, reviewing hundreds of millions of dollars' worth of real client portfolios and what he saw over and over again was this: many "safe" traditional strategies create a false sense of security, especially when inflation shows up.

We start by talking about Jeremy's real estate origin story how he started in 2006, got hit hard in the 2008 crash like almost everyone did, and then spent years inside the financial planning world learning why many common real estate and passive investment structures fail in practice. That experience led him back into real estate with a sharper focus on what matters most: control, cash flow, and predictable outcomes.

From there, we dig into turnkey real estate and why it gets criticized today. Jeremy breaks down the real issue with turnkey: it's not the concept it's the vetting, the quality of the market, and the administrative burden that most companies never tell you about. Property managers don't keep your books, don't keep LLCs compliant, don't manage insurance claims, and don't hold themselves accountable. If investors don't realize this upfront, "passive" real estate quickly becomes a part-time administrative job.

Jeremy shares how Bedrock approaches turnkey differently by building systems to handle the backend workload, overseeing property managers, providing tax-ready reporting, and focusing on homes and markets that can realistically perform. The emphasis is on buying assets that can withstand market shifts, not chasing hype or "cheap" properties in unstable neighborhoods with no real exit strategy.

Then we get to the core topic: bonds and real estate. Jeremy explains why bonds are often treated as the safe asset in retirement planning and why that logic breaks down in inflationary environments. Bonds may feel safe, but when inflation rises, fixed-income instruments can silently destroy purchasing power. If interest rates rise after you've locked in a lower-yield bond, your bond becomes less attractive on the secondary market, meaning you could take a major haircut if you need to sell before maturity.

This matters because many retirement plans assume older investors can simply "shift to bonds" for safety. But if inflation persists or if rates fluctuate bonds can lose real value while locking investors into negative real returns. That's why Jeremy argues that single-family real estate with fixed-rate debt can become a powerful hedge: rents can rise with inflation, asset values can adjust over time, while mortgage payments remain fixed. In other words, inflation can work in your favor when you own the right real asset with the right financing.

We also address the big question: what about deflation, weakening spending power, and softening rents? Jeremy explains why real estate is a long-term macro bet, why supply constraints still matter, and why buying in stable cash-flow markets can reduce volatility compared to speculative "boom" cities.

If you've been wondering whether real estate still makes sense and how bonds, inflation, and interest rates play into that decision, this episode will give you a clearer framework to think like a real investor.

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