Jeff Lewis rose to fame as the obsessive compulsive house flipper who made hundreds of thousands of dollars per house speculating on high-end real estate in LA -- while the whole thing was chronicled on Bravo's hit show Flipping Out.

And then the high stakes game of musical chairs that is high-end property speculation ground to a halt -- and Lewis was stuck with four high-end homes and no buyers. He lost about his half his net worth, spent a few months paralyzed with depression, and then came roaring back with a new design and remodeling business, while also investing in multi-family properties on the side. But hiring a property manager? Most certainly not. Jeff told me that he's "so anal" that he'd be stopping by every unit once a week anyway to make sure it's well-kept. So there you have it: The once high-flying real estate developer has been reduced to Mr. Furley, the nosy landlord from Three's Company.

"I'm licking my wounds," he told me, but he considers himself one of the lucky ones. He sold his homes at big discounts, took big losses, but walked away with at least some of his capital. Many of his competitors are going through defaults and foreclosures, something he was able to avoid.

Last week I had a chance to interview Mr. Lewis via podcast. Click the link below to find out:

• How Jeff's adjusting to life working for other people.
• How you can take advantage of the recession to save money on your remodeling projects.
• The green-friendly home improvement project that actually makes financial sense too.
• Why now is a great time to buy real estate.

On the new season, there's no house flipping -- but still plenty of drama. The new season premieres Tuesday night at 10/9 central on Bravo.

Listen to my interview with him here.