Have been wrestling with the question of whether or not to continue blogging.
The downside is obvious: We have tons of copycats / competitors who read this site to glean information about where we buy, how we renovate, etc. The more competitors, the more prices for deals are bid up, and the fewer deals make sense for us.
So, what are the upsides? I can think of several:
- The way this city handles land-use planning is, to put it mildly, screwed up. I enjoy having a platform to object when, for example, the city proposes a new HPOZ in Boyle Heights… a neighborhood in desperate need of housing.
- The blog attracts brokerage clients. While our brokerage has receded in importance to the overall enterprise as our development and property management businesses have expanded, we remain (in my opinion) the absolute best choice for investors looking for help buying apartment buildings in LA. And the blog reminds them (you?) that we’re here and ready to help.
- The blog attracts management clients. Adaptive is a peculiar property management company, in that we aim to manage only high-quality buildings with high-quality tenants owned by high-quality people. That’s a rare mix; but some of my readers (and their buildings) surely qualify.
- The blog attracts investors. Our second and third most important sources of capital were originally blog readers who reached out to me via email.
- And, finally, writing the blog forces me to clarify my thinking about the kind of complex problems and opportunities that we confront every day.
Anyway, deals are few and far between these days, I’ve got some time, and the upside clearly outweighs the downside. So, here we go again. Thanks for sticking with me!