If Rent Controls Block Profits, Repurpose Land for Higher Returns
Long-term real estate ownership is basically speculating on the increasing value of land. If local government demonstrates to you that it will not allow you to monetize the growing value of land devoted to multifamily (for example, by imposing rent controls), you ought to consider other uses for that land which you *will* be allowed to fully monetize.
Secure Deal‑Specific Commitments, Skip Discretionary Fund Hassles
You think you want to raise a small discretionary RE fund, but you probably don't.* 1. Much harder to raise $$ without being able to point your investors to the specific assets you're going to buy, and 2. Your promote (the piece...
Industrial Deals: Buy Low, Wait, Re‑lease, Then Profit.
Industrial real estate in a good area: 1. Figure out roughly what tenants are willing to pay 2. Buy a building for a price where that rent will generate a reasonable return 3. Once the existing tenant(s)' lease ends, re-lease at market rent 4....
Six‑year‑
My 6 yr old not satisfied with a verbal agreement (swear we didn't put him up to this) https://t.co/eZiWETKn86
Hire Juniors Without Experience—They Can Be Rockstars
The person we hired for this position turned out to be a rockstar. Strongly recommend other business owners consider opening up junior positions to promising people with no experience and/or no college.
From Refugee to Licensed LA Contractor: New Construction Firm
Update on the Ukrainian refugee family we helped get situated in LA: As you may recall, the husband, Oleh, had run a successful construction business in Ukraine before coming here. But he was a business guy who had never really worked...
Operators Favor Legacy PMSs Over Risky AI Startups
Appfolio and the other "legacy" PMSs are racing to build AI agents before the new AI-native startups can build their own PMSs. For the record, all the operators I know (from people running 100 units to people running thousands) are rooting...
Update Insurance: Rising Construction Costs Leave Owners Under‑insured
Often, long-term real estate owners set their insurance coverages when they buy, then fail to review them as the policies renew annually. That's a mistake. Construction prices have soared over the past 10 yrs. If you...
Mandatory AC Mandate Overloads DWP, Triggers Panel Replacements
Good post And, by the way, the local politicians pushing mandatory AC have no idea of the tidal wave of work they would be sending to our already totally overloaded DWP (I bet ~25% of the main electrical panels in apt buildings...
Brokers Earn Full Lease Commission Upfront, Not over Time.
Why do commercial brokers get paid their commission on the full lease at move-in, rather than getting paid over time, as the tenant actually pays rent? Feels like it would be fairer for them to bear the risk of default alongside...
Turn Job Hunt Downtime Into a Value‑Building Venture
Without meaning to be insensitive: Really find it hard to get inside the brain of someone sitting around applying for jobs for six months, waiting to be hired. It for sure doesn't take all day to apply. You have unbelievable amounts of...
From LA Rehab Success to Bootstrapped Bend Property Management
After doing a *ton* of successful home / small apt building rehab deals with his family in LA (his mom actually spoke at Reconvene years ago), Jonathan in now bootstrapping a property management business in Bend, OR. Really enjoying following his...
Co‑Living Experiment Crashed by Tenant Overstay and Eviction Freeze
In late '19, we made the decision to experiment with running a few of the 4/4 units we own as co-living (rather than conventional rentals). An apparently young, single person applied for a room. We vetted and approved him and signed...
AI Judges Could Bridge Small Claims‑Arbitration Gap
Problem: The large gap in commercial dispute resolution between small claims court (capped at like $10k damages in CA) and arbitration (where you're going to spend $20k+ on legal, which you may or may not get back). Proposed solution: A neutral AI...
Combine Cost Seg, Depreciation, RE Pro to Slash Taxes
Cost seg + accelerated depreciation + RE pro status (so you can use the losses to offset active income) a v powerful combo (I actually looked into starting a business helping non-working spouses get and maintain RE pro status, but couldn't...