Seems like everyday, I find myself explaining to brokers what it is that I want to buy. And I also hear from brokers that they read this blog. So, at the risk of boring the hell out of my regular readers, figured I’d remind everyone what we’re looking for. We want to buy older, dilapidated … Continue reading “What we want to buy”
Category: Uncategorized
Resisting magical thinking
Doing good deals is all about resisting magical thinking. Hour after hour, you comb through possible acquisition targets, looking for the needle in the haystack that will allow you, if everything goes well, to deliver the kinds of out-sized return your investors expect. When something looks like it might work, you build a model. You … Continue reading “Resisting magical thinking”
A signaling problem in real estate transactions
Have been listening to a bunch of podcasts and reading a lot of blog posts about the venture capital / start-up space. Don’t worry, I’m not changing fields… am just curious about other kinds of businesses and always looking for analogies and ways to improve what we do. Core to the whole tech world is … Continue reading “A signaling problem in real estate transactions”
The key to Opportunity Zones Deals
Got asked an interesting question by a journalist at the Opportunity Zone Expo, and wanted to share my answer here. Question: What is the most important thing to look out for when considering an opportunity zone investment? Answer: By far the most important thing is the quality of the deal itself. Right now, Opportunity Zones … Continue reading “The key to Opportunity Zones Deals”
Speaking at the Opportunity Zone Expo today
Am joining an interesting panel today at the Opportunity Zone Expo at the JW Marriott downtown, regarding selecting interesting opportunity zones in which to do business. We’ve done 10+ deals in relevant locations in LA over the past few years, all of which would have qualified for OZF status, had the law been in effect. … Continue reading “Speaking at the Opportunity Zone Expo today”
Back to doing what I love most
Have spent the past few months mostly focused on securing a pool of capital for us to invest during 2019. As you probably know, I’m getting better at fund-raising, but it’s not my favorite part of the business. Anyway, now that I have capital to deploy, have turned my attention back to finding interesting properties … Continue reading “Back to doing what I love most”
An amazing real estate story
Apologies for the slow posting; it’s been a very busy few weeks.Heard an amazing story from one of our management clients over the weekend and want to share with you all, to let you know what’s possible with a ton of hard work, risk acceptance, and good luck. For ease of storytelling, am going to … Continue reading “An amazing real estate story”
On my way to IMN Winter Forum
Apologies for the light posting. Have been tied up with investor calls, emails and meetings for the last few weeks. In any event, am heading down to the IMN conference in Laguna Beach today. Will be speaking on the Emerging Manager Panel at 11:45AM tomorrow (Thursday, 1/17/19). Hope to run into some of you there.
Doing things backwards
Just had an interesting exchange on a call with the other people participating in my panel at IMN’s Winter Opportunities conference. Our moderator, an attorney experienced in putting together large real estate funds, asked the panel about our experience transitioning from raising capital on a deal by deal basis to raising commingled funds. I piped … Continue reading “Doing things backwards”
What we ignore
Just finished work on the deck for our new fund*, and thought I’d share a “philosophy” slide of which I’m particularly proud. Veteran investors / sponsors will notice that our way of thinking about deals differs dramatically from those of most real estate private equity shops. For example, as you will see below, we refuse, … Continue reading “What we ignore”