What if an extended stay hotel could do more than give someone a place to sleep? What if it could also create strong investment opportunities while helping people rebuild their lives?
In this episode of The Hyper Driven Investor Podcast, Zeke Martinez talks with real estate investor and entrepreneur Jen Maldonado about looking at real estate in a different way.
Jen shares how she went from engineering into real estate investing. Her path was not easy. At one point, she had just $35 in her bank account while living in Los Angeles. Instead of giving up, she kept learning, found the right people, and discovered how working with others could help create new opportunities.
That experience helped shape the way Jen thinks about money today. For her, an abundance mindset is not about believing money is unlimited. It is about believing that people can create more value when they bring the right resources, knowledge, skills, and relationships together.
Jen also explains why she became interested in extended stay hotels. These properties sit between real estate and an operating business. They can also offer flexibility that traditional rental properties may not have.
One area Jen is exploring is the use of extended stay properties alongside experienced addiction recovery operators. She explains how certain properties may be adapted to support treatment and recovery services when zoning, licensing, regulations, and the right operators are in place.
Zeke and Jen also talk about the challenges. Hotels can require more capital, deeper due diligence, strong management, and experience. Jen explains why she does not see this as a beginner real estate strategy. She also discusses the importance of separating the real estate from the operating business and carefully reviewing the people who will run the recovery services.
For passive investors, that distinction can matter. Some investors may want exposure only to the real estate, while others may be interested in the operating side as well.
Jen also shares why data guides many of her decisions. Instead of following the latest real estate trend, she looks for problems, studies demand, and then asks which type of property could help solve that problem.
Today, Jen continues to pursue opportunities in hotels, real estate, private lending, and other investments while building Catch Her Spark, a platform focused on helping women move from earning money to owning, investing, and deploying capital with purpose.
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