From brain tumor and foreclosure to $175M in closed deals. Now he's solving the housing crisis AND delivering 15-18% returns. No trade-off required.

From brain tumor and foreclosure to $175M in closed deals. Now he's solving the housing crisis AND delivering 15-18% returns. No trade-off required.

John Laine is a real estate syndicator, affordable housing advocate, and brain tumor survivor who has closed over $175M in real estate transactions across a 38-year career. He is the Founder of StarterHome Fund, a Reg D 506(c) real estate investment fund that acquires distressed multifamily properties, converts them into condominiums, and sells them to first-time homebuyers at prices $300,000 below market.His journey started at 11 years old, running a chain of three Kool-Aid stands on an Army base in Fort Ord, California, hiring neighborhood kids as "marketers" and clearing $200 a month while his dad earned $800 as a military helicopter pilot. By 19, he bought his first home. By his mid-30s, he was flipping houses and helping 300 families avoid foreclosure.Then life hit hard. In 2001, John was diagnosed with a golf-ball-sized brain tumor. He lost his home to foreclosure, watched his car get repossessed, and emptied his 401K trying to cover medical bills. A late-night infomercial about real estate investing and a friend who paid for a five-day boot camp changed everything. His first wholesale deal earned $25,000 in six weeks.By 2007, John and his partners had amassed $77M in assets and controlled 429 properties, generating $1M a month for 18 consecutive months. When the 2008 crash hit, Lehman Brothers was their lender. He lost everything. Again.After a decade of healing, hiking Redwood forests, and rebuilding his life, John launched StarterHome Fund in partnership with CEO Jerry Miller. The fund now operates nine projects across five states with 21 nonprofit housing partnerships, delivering homes at $175K-$325K in markets where the median exceeds $525K. The fund targets 15% or 18% annualized returns for accredited investors with a 12-month hold and 30-day liquidity.John lives in Portland, Oregon with his wife Cyndy Hagin, an educator-turned-investor and operational partner. He is an unrepentant Star Wars fan who has been "Rebel Scum" fighting the "Evil Empire" since 1977.