Helping Locals Take Back Real Estate Development with Kristi Kandel

In this episode of Cash Flow Fight Club, we’re joined by Kristi Kandel, a powerhouse in local real estate development who’s flipped the script on who gets to lead the shaping of our communities.

With nearly 20 years of experience and over $450M in developments, Kristi’s worked on everything from national retail rollouts to adaptive reuse and clean energy infrastructure. But today, she’s focused on helping locals take back control through her operating system for development, Dev-OS.

She shares how the aftermath of Hurricane Ian in Fort Myers Beach transformed her mission — and how regular people can now lead impactful local real estate development without waiting for permission or outside capital. From funding tips to dealing with cities to repurposing vacant buildings, Kristi offers a playbook anyone can follow.

We also dig into how she went from semi-pro beach volleyball to opening a regional office at 25, why developers blow millions unnecessarily, and the small-town coffee shop conversation that led to a 19-lot development. This episode is packed with practical advice, real stories, and next steps for anyone ready to build something meaningful where they live.

Here are some power takeaways from today’s conversation:

00:00 - Introduction 02:45 - How Kristi got her first break in development 05:00 - Scaling retail projects across California 14:00 - Leaving corporate to start her own consulting firm 20:00 - The Hurricane Ian rebuild and her shift to local real estate development 25:00 - Why locals are key to long-term community stability 30:00 - How to get started with your own small-town project 33:00 - Building your five-person development team 35:00 - Why most developers don’t know what they’re doing

So much power lies within communities, and communities are where real connections happen.