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Solving America's Problems

Jerremy Alexander Newsome & Dave Conley

America's Opportunities: From Conversation to Candidacy.

Solving America's Problems is a weekly podcast that turns real conversations about America's toughest issues into a movement, so the best and brightest serve in government, not chase Wall Street or Silicon Valley. It's for anyone who wants a serious hour on the country's problems without a team jersey.

Hosted by Jerremy Alexander Newsome (co-host and candidate) and Dave Conley (co-host and producer). Guests include authors, academics, presidential advisors, activists, CEOs and everyday people with lived experience. Solving America's Problems is about everyone.

Topics: the economy and the Fed, housing and homelessness, education and school safety, immigration, AI and work, the national debt.

Jerremy is running for office. The movement comes first; the campaign follows. Party: undetermined. Self-funded. No sponsors. No party.

Start here: https://solvingamericasproblems.com

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#272
Yesterday · 23 min
Who Should Decide How Fast Your Neighborhood Changes?
For roughly the first 85 to 90 years of zoning, the left and right split on it. Now they agree it's the problem. Christopher Serkin says that convergence makes him nervous, and he calls it the liberal-tarian consensus. Jerremy Alexander Newsome and Dave Conley ask who should decide how fast a neighborhood changes. He says it depends on the market, and that a state overriding local control feels very different in Tennessee than in California or New York. He gets heavy pushback when he asks for government to build housing itself, and he doesn't trust a less regulated market to deliver affordability. Looking twenty years out, he pictures cheaper building costs, more multifamily housing and a move away from the suburban ideal the federal government pushed in the 1930s and 1940s. The lightning round and the hosts' own debrief close it out. Timestamps: (00:00) Who decides? – The question under every zoning fight, asked point blank (01:18) Tennessee versus New York – Why state takeovers of local zoning feel so different (02:24) The liberal-tarian consensus – Left and right agree, and it worries him (07:39) Twenty years out – The housing future he wants people to inherit (11:05) Good density, dumb density – A conference line that stuck with him (17:07) The hosts' debrief – Homeownership as a home, not an investment thesis 🌍 Connect with us: Instagram | YouTube | X | Web
#271
Tuesday · 19 min
Housing Can't Be Both Affordable and a Good Investment
Housing can't be both affordable and a good investment. Christopher Serkin says that tension is the lesson the country forgot after 2008, when so many recent buyers lost everything. Jerremy Alexander Newsome and Dave Conley ask whether zoning is really the whole story. He says it's one problem among several, and that fixing only zoning could make outcomes worse in many markets. He also argues home prices are one piece of a wider rise in asset prices, a return to capital instead of labor. Jerremy asks whether it's so bad if people rent and put their money in the stock market, and Christopher explains why rent and ownership costs stay linked. Timestamps: (00:00) The two-goal trap – Affordable and a great investment can't both happen (01:22) What 2008 taught – Scholars questioned homeownership as the goal for most people (07:28) A 40% price crash – Would anyone blame zoning reform for it? (08:42) Asset prices everywhere – Stocks, tuition and homes all inflated together (09:59) Is renting so bad? – Jerremy asks if owning is overrated (15:36) The one law – Dave asks what single change he'd make tomorrow 🌍 Connect with us: Instagram | YouTube | X | Web
#270
Monday · 25 min
Nashville Approved Every Rezoning Request. Prices Exploded Anyway
Nashville approved every one of roughly 200 rezoning requests over two years and added about 75,000 housing units in a decade, and it is still net less dense than it was 25 years ago. Christopher Serkin says that's why he doubts looser zoning alone delivers affordability. Jerremy Alexander Newsome and Dave Conley ask what fills the gap if zoning disappears, and he says homeowners associations would, which he calls worse in every dimension. He also tells the story of his mother, a weaver in a Vermont town of 900, who helped the town buy a defunct ski mountain and lock it up with conservation easements. On Wall Street, he says he can't prove how much private equity moves prices, but his phone rang every few days with offers to buy his house. Timestamps: (00:00) Forty-year-old first buyers – Home prices have outrun paychecks for a decade (05:08) The ski mountain buyout – A town of 900 blocks development permanently (10:05) Nashville said yes – Every request approved, yet the city got less dense (15:07) Public zoning or HOAs – What fills the gap if zoning vanishes tomorrow (18:03) Wall Street's real role – He admits he can't prove how much (21:04) The unsolicited offers – Private equity kept calling to buy his house 🌍 Connect with us: Instagram | YouTube | X | Web
#269
September 24 · 1 hr 10 min
Gene Eidelman Is 3D-Printing America Out of a Housing Crisis (Full)
In 1976, homes under 1,400 square feet made up a third of new construction; by 2020, that number was 7%. Gene Eidelman sold $100 million in real estate within three years of arriving as a refugee, then built Azure Printed Homes, which 3D-prints houses from recycled plastic in weeks instead of months. He details the zoning fights blocking affordable manufactured homes, wildfire data showing 2008-code houses survived 80% of the time versus 80% destroyed before it, and how LA could house its homeless for under $100,000 each instead of a million. Jerremy and Dave press him on financing, factory quality control, and how his company stacks up against newly public competitor Boxabl. Timestamps: (00:00) A refugee's first deal – $100M in real estate, closed almost by accident (07:39) Built in a factory – Why that doesn't mean lower quality here (25:43) The Columbus rule – A city bans manufactured homes for no real reason (32:59) The financing gap – Lenders still won't fund modular homes despite new law (43:08) The 2008 code – It decided who lost their home in the fires (54:08) Boxabl comparison – How a newly public rival stacks up against him Connect: Gene Eidelman – Website | Azure Printed Homes Crowdfunding – Invest 🌍 Connect with us: Instagram | YouTube | X | Web
#268
September 23 · 27 min
Houses Built After 2008 Survived Wildfires 80% of the Time
Homes built under California's 2008 fire code survived last year's wildfires 80% of the time; homes built before it were destroyed 80% of the time. Gene Eidelman breaks down the cheap fixes behind that gap — double-pane windows, mesh over AC vents, no wooden fences touching the house. He and Jerremy also dig into LA County's homelessness numbers: 75,000 people, with only 18% showing drug addiction the moment they first hit the street. Cities routinely spend up to a million dollars and six years building one unit; Gene says he can do it for under $100,000 in six months. He closes by comparing his company directly to newly public competitor Boxabl and revealing plans for a public crowdfunding round. Timestamps: (00:00) The Malibu fire – He lived through it and later found the pattern (06:48) The addiction myth – Only 18% show drug use at first (08:23) The real cost gap – Cities spend a million; he does it cheaper (11:15) Boxabl comparison – How his approach differs from the newly public competitor Connect: Gene Eidelman – Website | Azure Printed Homes Crowdfunding – Invest 🌍 Connect with us: Instagram | YouTube | X | Web
#267
September 22 · 17 min
Zoning Still Blocks the Affordable Homes America Needs
One Ohio city's zoning code outright bans manufactured homes in a low-income neighborhood — even for a project explicitly meant to be affordable. Gene Eidelman calls it a holdover from 1960s trailer-park stigma that has nothing to do with how these homes actually perform today. He walks through how ADUs, junior ADUs, and new state rules allowing four to eight units per lot are quietly solving California's housing shortage, while cities like Laguna Beach still block almost everything. Dave presses him on how an ADU actually changes a homeowner's life day to day. Gene also flags a real financing gap: some lenders still refuse to fund modular construction, even with a new federal law requiring Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to back it. Timestamps: (00:00) The zoning fight – One city won't even approve his affordable homes (00:22) The Columbus rule – A city bans manufactured homes for no real reason (04:25) Two cities, two outcomes – Why one welcomes density and one blocks it (07:32) The financing gap – Some lenders still won't fund modular homes at all Connect: Gene Eidelman – Website | Azure Printed Homes Crowdfunding – Invest 🌍 Connect with us: Instagram | YouTube | X | Web
#266
September 21 · 26 min
Gene Eidelman Sold $100M in Real Estate, Then 3D-Printed Homes
In 1976, homes under 1,400 square feet made up a third of new construction; by 2020, that number had fallen to 7%. Gene Eidelman arrived in the U.S. as a refugee from the former Soviet Union, got his real estate license within a year, and sold $100 million in property within three years. He's since built thousands of homes and co-founded Azure Printed Homes, which 3D-prints houses from recycled plastic in weeks instead of months. America is short roughly 10 million homes, he says, and the real fix isn't more supply of any size — it's smaller, factory-built homes people can actually afford. He also breaks down why factory-built housing carries a stigma in the U.S. that Japan and Scandinavia never developed. Timestamps: (00:00) First deal ever – A refugee closes $100M in three years (03:07) The tiny home test – His son loves living in 200 square feet (05:26) Ten million homes short – That number already undercounts the real shortage (07:39) The trailer stigma – Why factory-built homes still read as cheap here Connect: Gene Eidelman – Website | Azure Printed Homes Crowdfunding – Invest 🌍 Connect with us: Instagram | YouTube | X | Web
#265
September 17 · 1 hr 5 min
Austin Built 3x More Housing. Families Left Anyway. (Full)
Austin added new housing three times faster than the rest of the country for a decade — rents dropped below the national average, and young families left anyway, in numbers big enough that schools are now closing. Ryan Puzycki, who sits on Austin's zoning board, says outdated codes banned entire housing types — no fourplexes, no missing middle, no SROs. He traces the homelessness crisis straight back to America banning its cheapest housing type. Jerremy and Dave press him on BlackRock, Houston's fix, and what's next. Timestamps: (00:00) The core stat – why "build more" isn't fixing housing (01:13) Meet Ryan – the man rewriting Austin's zoning code (06:25) Rents fell – but young families left Austin anyway (13:06) A preschool waitlist – San Francisco's scarcity problem up close (20:31) The banished bottom – cheap housing America chose to destroy (32:54) One metric – that actually proves if a city is failing (39:08) The BlackRock myth – why Wall Street isn't the real villain (44:50) Cities doing it right – Houston's quiet fix for homelessness (55:06) Rapid fire – Ryan on zoning, BlackRock, and the American dream Connect: Ryan Puzycki – Website 🌍 Connect with us: Instagram | YouTube | X | Web
#264
September 16 · 20 min
The City Quietly Beating San Francisco at Homelessness
Houston cut its homeless population by 60 to 70 percent over the past decade — while San Francisco spends roughly five times more per person for worse results. Ryan Puzycki says Houston made it easy to build housing, then used homeless dollars for rapid rehousing instead of expensive permanent supportive housing. He also names Texas's bipartisan Senate Bill 840 as a state model, and argues single-family zoning mostly protects incumbents, not future homeowners. Timestamps: (00:00) Alex teases – Houston's quiet fix for the homelessness crisis (00:14) Which cities – are actually getting housing policy right today (10:30) Ryan fields – rapid-fire questions on zoning and the American dream (15:38) The hosts' honest – take on what this episode nailed Connect: Ryan Puzycki – Website 🌍 Connect with us: Instagram | YouTube | X | Web
#263
September 15 · 24 min
The Housing Type America Banned — Then Got a Homelessness Crisis
America once had millions of single-room-occupancy units — the cheapest legal housing in the country — and cities spent decades tearing them down. Ryan Puzycki calls this lost category the "banished bottom," and traces the rise of chronic homelessness to almost the same years those units disappeared. He also argues family flight, not average rent, is the real measure of whether a city is failing. Dave presses him on Wall Street buying up single-family homes — Ryan says the outrage is mostly overblown. Timestamps: (00:00) Alex sets up – the housing type cities erased on purpose (00:21) The banished bottom – cheap housing America chose to destroy (12:44) One metric – that actually proves if a city is failing (18:58) The BlackRock myth – why Wall Street isn't the real villain Connect: Ryan Puzycki – Website 🌍 Connect with us: Instagram | YouTube | X | Web
#262
September 14 · 20 min
Austin Slashed Rents to Record Lows. Families Left Anyway.
Austin added new housing three times faster than the rest of the country for a decade, and rents fell below the national average. Young families left anyway — enough that Austin's own schools are now closing for lack of kids. Ryan Puzycki sits on Austin's zoning board and says a decades-old code banned entire housing types, from fourplexes to corner stores mixed with apartments. He also ran a San Francisco preschool with a waitlist of hundreds, where teachers commuted 90 minutes each way just to afford rent. Timestamps: (00:00) The core stat – why "build more" isn't fixing housing (01:13) Meet Ryan – the man rewriting Austin's zoning code (06:25) Rents fell – but young families left Austin anyway (13:06) A preschool waitlist – San Francisco's scarcity problem up close Connect: Ryan Puzycki – Website 🌍 Connect with us: Instagram | YouTube | X | Web
#261
September 10 · 1 hr 5 min
Inside the Housing Standoff Freezing 1.7 Million Sales (Full)
More than half of homeowners are locked into a rate under 4%, and an estimated 1.7 million home sales never happened because of it. Daniel Sosa has worked mortgages since 2007, when he watched Stockton become the foreclosure epicenter of the country. He tells Jerremy Alexander Newsome and Dave Conley that 65% of today's homeowners sit below a 4% rate with zero incentive to sell, while 5 million buyers wait on a market short roughly 3 million homes. He explains why 97% of today's loans are fully documented and fixed-rate — the opposite of the "Wild West" stated-income loans that caused 2008 — and describes turning away a police officer earning $300K who technically qualified for a $1.7 million house. Timestamps: (00:00) 1.7 million home sales – that never happened, explained (06:40) The $2,500 bank fee – he flatly refuses to ever charge (23:05) 65% of homeowners – are locked in and simply won't sell (35:38) Why a 2008-style crash – literally cannot happen again, he says (39:15) He turned away a cop – who could technically afford $1.7M (42:42) The invisible split – between who gets approved and who gets denied Connect: Daniel Sosa – Website | Facebook | Instagram 🌍 Connect with us: Instagram | YouTube | X | Web
#260
September 9 · 22 min
The Exact Playbook For Turning a No Into a Yes
Dave Conley presses Daniel Sosa on exactly who gets rejected versus approved. Daniel says anybody can eventually qualify for a home — the real question is credit profile and income, and credit-challenged buyers get a step-by-step plan instead of a flat no. He describes taking one client's credit score from 702 to 740 over 30 days to avoid $16,000 in points, and explains how self-employed borrowers who don't show enough income on paper still qualify through bank statement programs. Looking 20 years out, he predicts the average family will pay $5,000 a month in rent within his lifetime. Timestamps: (00:00) Dave asks the real question – who gets approved, and who gets denied (01:55) The exact line – between an approved buyer and a rejected one (05:15) 702 to 740 – the credit move that saved one client $16K (10:27) $5,000-a-month rent – is coming, and here's the math behind it Connect: Daniel Sosa – Website | Facebook | Instagram 🌍 Connect with us: Instagram | YouTube | X | Web
#259
September 8 · 21 min
The 65% of Homeowners Who Will Never Sell
Jerremy Alexander Newsome challenges Daniel Sosa to steelman the case against his own industry: don't easier loans just inflate prices further? Daniel doesn't dodge it — he says 65% of homeowners today sit below a 4% rate and have zero incentive to sell, while an estimated 5 million buyers wait on a market short roughly 3 million homes. He lays out why a 2008-style crash can't repeat, since 97% of today's loans are fully documented and fixed-rate instead of the adjustable "ticking time bombs" that caused the last one. And he describes turning away a police officer earning $300K who technically qualified for a $1.7 million house, because the payment would trap him in overtime for life. Timestamps: (00:00) Daniel gets challenged – on whether his own industry inflates prices (02:00) 5 million buyers – stuck waiting on the sidelines right now (13:44) Why a 2008-style crash – literally cannot happen again, he says (17:21) He turned away a cop – who could technically afford $1.7M Connect: Daniel Sosa – Website | Facebook | Instagram 🌍 Connect with us: Instagram | YouTube | X | Web
#258
September 7 · 22 min
For the First Time Ever, Renting Beats Buying Here
More than half of homeowners are locked into a rate under 4%, and an estimated 1.7 million home sales never happened because of it. Daniel Sosa, a mortgage broker who started in the business in 2007, tells Jerremy Alexander Newsome and Dave Conley he never charges the $1,300 to $2,500 in ancillary fees most banks build into every closing, saving clients $7,000 to $9,000 per transaction on average. He walks through the bank statement and profit-and-loss programs self-employed borrowers use to qualify without tax returns, and says entry-level buyers in his market now need six figures of household income just to qualify. For the first time in his 20-year career, he says, it's cheaper to rent than to own. Timestamps: (00:00) 1.7 million home sales – that never happened, explained (06:40) The $2,500 bank fee – he flatly refuses to ever charge (14:40) Self-employed buyers – who qualify for a mortgage without tax returns (20:21) Renting now beats buying – for the first time in his career Connect: Daniel Sosa – Website | Facebook | Instagram 🌍 Connect with us: Instagram | YouTube | X | Web
#257
September 3 · 1 hr 2 min
The House Always Wins: Inside America's Mortgage Machine (Full)
More than half of Americans with a mortgage are locked in under 4%, freezing nearly two million home sales. JD Cobb has spent two decades closing loans in Texas, and his advice runs against the wait-and-see instinct: buy at today's price, refinance later. He takes Jerremy Alexander Newsome and Dave Conley through the whole machine — the four Cs, who really owns your note, the pay option ARMs he watched build the 2008 collapse, and the occupancy fraud no computer catches. He explains why self-employed borrowers get squeezed by their own write-offs and how insurance now kills approvals outright. He closes with the twelve assistance programs in one county and calls twenty percent down "the biggest myth ever." Timestamps: (01:07) JD's first closing – a cash-out refi, not a purchase (05:43) The four Cs – what lenders actually check (08:07) Who owns your loan – servicing gets sold, you keep paying (11:16) Pay option ARMs – balances grew when you paid (17:43) Starter homes are gone – the average buyer is now 38 (25:44) Self-employed problem – write-offs make you unlendable (30:21) "Fast and Easy" – Countrywide's no-verification program (34:29) Insurance kills deals – wind, flood, and AI drawing lines (39:17) A dozen programs – the money nobody asks about (49:54) Lightning round – twenty percent down is the biggest myth (52:28) It's energy – JD's call on what moves rates next Connect: JD Cobb – Website | Instagram | Email 🌍 Connect with us: Instagram | YouTube | X | Web
#256
September 2 · 23 min
The 20% Down Myth That Keeps Renters Renting
There are twelve down payment assistance programs in Austin and Travis County alone, and JD Cobb says almost nobody asks. He names TSAC and TDHCA, which cover three to five percent down, plus a mortgage credit certificate he can count as monthly income. He tells Jerremy Alexander Newsome and Dave Conley that a soft credit pull costs the buyer nothing and that he'll pay to rescore a client's credit himself. He calls out new-build "incentives" as money rolled straight back into the loan. In the lightning round he names the biggest myth his clients believe — that they need twenty percent down — and says the real lever on rates is energy. Timestamps: (00:12) A dozen programs – the money buyers never think to ask about (00:37) TSAC and TDHCA – three to five percent, handed to you (02:50) The builder "incentive" – it's just rolled into your loan (04:23) Soft pull, no charge – what talking to a lender really costs (06:33) One lever – JD's pick if Congress could pull it (10:49) Lightning round – the myth every client walks in with (13:23) It's energy – why JD says that sets your rate Connect: JD Cobb – Website | Instagram | Email 🌍 Connect with us: Instagram | YouTube | X | Web
#255
September 1 · 21 min
Starter Homes Vanished. Here's What Replaced Them
The average American buyer is now 38 years old — Dave Conley bought his first home in his twenties and had to borrow the down payment from friends. Dave and Jerremy Alexander Newsome press JD Cobb on where the starter home went, and JD is blunt: Gen Z is skipping steps, and his own first house cost $187,000. He explains what happens when a self-employed file hits an underwriter's desk, why writing off most of your income makes you unlendable, and the one thing a computer can't catch — occupancy fraud. Then insurance: a file that died on flood costs, and AI drawing block-by-block lines around what can't be covered at all. Timestamps: (00:12) Borrowed the down payment – how Dave bought in the '90s (05:15) Starter homes are gone – JD's first house cost $187,000 (08:15) Self-employed problem – your write-offs are killing your loan (11:30) The fraud computers miss – lying about who lives there (12:50) "Fast and Easy" – the Countrywide program with no verification (16:58) Texas wind insurance – $6,000 a year and climbing (20:02) AI draws the line – block by block, who gets covered Connect: JD Cobb – Website | Instagram | Email 🌍 Connect with us: Instagram | YouTube | X | Web
#254
August 31 · 17 min
Why 2 Million Home Sales Are Frozen in Rate Lock-In
More than half of Americans with a mortgage are locked in under 4%, and that lock-in alone has frozen out nearly two million home sales. JD Cobb's answer sounds backwards: don't wait for the rate, buy at today's price and refinance later. He walks Jerremy Alexander Newsome and Dave Conley through what a refinance actually involves, the four Cs every lender checks, and who owns your loan once it's sold on the secondary market. He explains why a portable mortgage would unfreeze the market and why mortgage-backed securities make it so hard. He also names the loan programs that were quietly building the 2008 collapse while he was selling them. Timestamps: (01:07) JD's first closing – a cash-out refi, not a purchase (05:43) The four Cs – what lenders actually check before approving (08:07) Who owns your loan – servicing gets sold, you keep paying (11:16) Pay option ARMs – balances grew when you paid (11:52) Stuck at 3% – a family who can't afford to move (15:27) $15,000 gone – what a bad pre-qual costs a buyer Connect: JD Cobb – Website | Instagram | Email 🌍 Connect with us: Instagram | YouTube | X | Web
#253
August 13 · 1 hr 3 min
Rethinking Rent: Ownership Through Community Care (Full)
22.6 million U.S. households now pay more for housing than they can afford, and the average home costs five times the average salary. Sam Froerer, who co-owns thousands of apartment units through Compass Capital, has never owned his own home himself. He tells hosts Jerremy Alexander Newsome and Dave Conley that the industry treats tenants like a commodity, and the top 50 owners control under 11% of it. He's building a model where a slice of every rent check turns residents into fractional owners of the building itself. Timestamps: (00:00) 22.6 million households – can't actually afford their own rent (01:33) Never owned a home – this landlord explains exactly why (10:14) Same fries, different profits – Chick-fil-A earns 3x more than McDonald's (16:24) Can't pay on the 5th? – here's what happens to that resident (21:39) "Value-add," defined – and exactly where it crosses a line (26:33) What gets you rejected – the real bar for renting an apartment (32:05) Tax tricks renters never see – the leverage investors quietly get (36:37) Insurance tripled – how it quietly rewrote real estate deals (39:50) Rent that turns into equity – the blockchain idea behind it (49:19) $50 million, first check – what he'd fix in housing first (51:35) Lightning round – is homeownership already dead under 35? (55:09) The identity shift – what could replace the homeownership dream 🌍 Connect with us: Instagram | YouTube | X | Web

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