VIDEO
with Derek Petersen
San Diego’s housing shortage and evolving ADU laws have created one of the most powerful wealth-building opportunities in today’s market.
But…most investors are either overcomplicating it
Derek Petersen, founder of Aviara Capital Investments, has built a scalable model by converting underutilized space, garages, carports, and existing structures, into high-performing rental units across San Diego.
In this session, Derek will break down how he is actively creating cash flow and long-term equity using ADUs and micro-units in today’s market. This isn’t just talk — it is a proven system being executed right now.
Topics include:
Financial Freedom: How Derek structures his portfolio to generate consistent cash flow and long-term wealth. San Diego Focused, ADU Strategy: How to identify properties with hidden potential and maximize density. Low-Cost Unit Creation: Converting existing space into rentable units without ground-up costs. Real Numbers: What it actually costs, what it rents for, and how deals pencil today. Scaling: How to repeat the process and build a portfolio without constantly acquiring new properties.
Open Q&A:
Bring your deals, scenarios, and questions. This will be an interactive session where you can get direct feedback from an investor actively executing in today’s market.
ABOUT THE SPEAKER:
Derek Petersen is the Chief Compounding Officer at Aviara Capital Investments (ACI), a San Diego–based firm he built by turning a working-class upbringing into a 20-property multifamily portfolio spanning five markets. A Professional Engineer (P.E.) and Project Management Professional (PMP), Derek spent 26 years in the civil engineering industry before retiring from his corporate career in 2022 to focus on real estate full-time.
Derek’s investment philosophy centers on buying and holding multifamily properties for the long term, with a current focus on San Diego’s ADU (accessory dwelling unit) opportunity — adding units to existing properties under California’s favorable ADU laws to generate double-digit returns on reinvestment. He is also the founder of Aviara Property Management (APM), which manages both ACI’s portfolio and luxury single-family homes along the Carlsbad coast.
Derek’s path to financial freedom started on a hobby farm in rural Minnesota, where early jobs paid $2.75 an hour and family vacations didn’t exist. That upbringing became the fuel. After earning a Civil Engineering degree from the University of Minnesota, a post-college road trip to Utah’s canyon country changed the trajectory of his life — he packed his bags for the American West and never looked back. He house-hacked his first property in Flagstaff, Arizona in 1998, moved to San Diego in 2002, and began acquiring multifamily deals during the Great Financial Crisis alongside his wife, who later left her own corporate career to become a Real Estate Professional and accelerate their portfolio’s growth.
An avid traveler and surfer, Derek has backpacked through Europe and South America, surfed the breaks of Costa Rica, Panama, Nicaragua, and Baja Mexico, and believes that the point of financial freedom is exactly that — freedom. He speaks candidly about the decisions, strategies, and occasional mistakes that took him from manure-cleaning farm kid to retired engineer to full-time real estate operator.
Prior to the presentation, we start off with our famous Market Update presentation with Jerry Ryan, a few words from our Valued Sponsors, and the “Haves and Wants” segment.
If you have a deal, service or you are looking for a specific investment, come prepared to share!
IMPORTANT: PHOTOGRAPHY & VIDEO RELEASE
If I do not wish to be recorded, I agree that I will not post in the chat, unmute my microphone, or turn on my camera.
