Regular readers know that I’m not a fan of using lots of debt. Debt (“leverage”) magnifies outcomes… so if you’re highly levered and the deal goes well, you do REALLY well, but if it goes badly, you get crushed. There are, however, some nuances to my view and it has to do with where you … Continue reading “When to lever up, and when not to”
Author: Moses Kagan
Interesting book on early LA architecture
Further to yesterday’s post on the ubiquitous two up / two down 1920s fourplex… I reached out to Sian Winslip, the president of the Society of Architectural Historians SoCal chapter. Sian kindly recommended that I take a look at Mary Ovnick’s book Los Angeles: The End of the Rainbow. The book isn’t available on Kindle, … Continue reading “Interesting book on early LA architecture”
Someone please educate us about architecture
All over LA, there are four unit apartment buildings with basically the same design: Roughly 4,000 sq ft Two units upstairs, two units downstairs Separate entrances Parking in the back for four cars They were all developed between, say, 1920-1929 (though you can sometimes find what I think of as early prototypes built in the … Continue reading “Someone please educate us about architecture”
Renewing my offer
Back when we were first starting Adaptive and I started writing this blog, I offered to take a meeting with anyone who was willing to come sit down with me at Bottega Louie, which was across the street from our first offices on 7th St. (Even calling that space “offices” makes it sound grander than … Continue reading “Renewing my offer”
Unsafe leverage building up (again!)
Here’s an interesting piece re the systemic risk being created by FHA loans. For those just joining us: FHA is a program through which the federal government insures banks against losses on loans for 1-4 unit properties, allowing banks to make loans up to 97.5% of the purchase price and to people with beat-up credit. … Continue reading “Unsafe leverage building up (again!)”
How you know when you’ve trained your agents well
At Adaptive, we take a very quantitative approach to brokering income property deals for our clients. I’ve personally trained all of our agents to focus first on the achievable yield on the downpayment and only after that on other, more qualitative factors. While this doesn’t guarantee that every deal will be a homerun, it does … Continue reading “How you know when you’ve trained your agents well”
Knowing when to push and when not to
Have been doing some thinking about what makes an “enlightened agent”. One very important skill / talent is knowing when/how to push a client and when to back off. What do I mean by “push”? I mean the times during the course of a deal where the client is unsure about whether to proceed and looks to … Continue reading “Knowing when to push and when not to”
All yields are not the same
Sometimes I’m guilty of throwing around yield numbers on this blog without providing specifics. I’ll say “we legged into a 9% un-levered yield” or “the cash-on-cash yield on this deal is 6%”. Some of you are probably sitting there thinking that you can compare those yields with, for example, what you can get by lending … Continue reading “All yields are not the same”
3210 Bellevue is in lease-up
Regular readers will remember that Adaptive Realty Fund 1 bought four deals, three of which have been exited already. The fourth, 3210 Bellevue, entered lease-up last Friday. Here’s the relevant CL posting. The units are really special: Brand-new bungalow style 2 bed / 1 baths Efficient, open-layouts Private decks Private yards 2 outdoor parking spaces each … Continue reading “3210 Bellevue is in lease-up”
How to get started in real estate
Get a sales person license. Join a decent brokerage. Get your personal expenses under control so you can survive for 6 months without earning. Read voraciously to learn about the business. Hustle like crazy to bring in your first deal. Work your first deal as hard as you know how. Ask questions of your broker … Continue reading “How to get started in real estate”