The Andrew Hines Real Estate Investing Podcast · Andrew M. Hines

Port Elgin’s Bold New Vision for Urban Living with Dane Buttenaar

·47 min·3 clips

The 12-plex can qualify for 50-year amortization and 95% loan-to-value through MLI Select.

Andrew welcomes Dane Butner on episode 276. Dane drives down from Southampton and talks through what he is building across Port Elgin and the surrounding area. The conversation starts with his background in landscaping. From there, it moves into the bigger shift into land development and the mindset changes that come with it. Andrew keeps asking for the practical follow-up. That gives the episode a steady, operator-first feel as Dane walks through single-family, duplex, apartment, cottage-resort, and motel-style plays. A lot of the value comes from how he thinks about whether a property still makes sense in its original form. If the math breaks, he looks for a structure that works better. The motel discussion shows that clearly. Dane explains that the as-built appraisal made more sense when the property was treated as a hotel, not just as a conventional annual rental. He also talks through how seasonal revenue changes the picture when a property has enough rooms and enough high-demand weeks to matter. That kind of operating leverage is a recurring theme here. The Beach House comes up as another example. What began as a duplex became more attractive once rates moved and the long-term rental plan no longer looked as strong. Andrew and Dane keep coming back to the same question. Can the asset earn more if it is positioned differently? The conversation also touches on the camp business and the reach of Instagram promotions. Dane points to a campaign that pulled huge attention and a flood of contest entries, which shows why scale matters when you are spending on marketing. By the end, the episode feels like a case study in local execution, brand-building, and patient development. It stays rooted in real numbers and real projects, which is exactly why it works.

As heard by us

A clear look at local development and hospitality math, where the deal only works when the numbers and operating model line up.

Episode 276 follows Dane through projects in Port Elgin and Southampton, where a landscaper's path has widened into land development and deal-making that only works when the math holds.

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Why you'd press play

See how a landscaper turned Port Elgin and Southampton projects into development math that actually works.

Read the full recommendation in PlayNext →

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