For a long time, as young professionals aged into their late 20s / early 30s, they would move out of LA to suburbs in search of a big single family home with a yard, etc. Demand for apartments in LA, particularly in the areas east / north of Hollywood, was therefore mostly constrained to professionals … Continue reading “One way to think about our business”
Blog
Another seminar?
Have been thinking about holding another seminar / property tour. Think this one would focus on one property we’re currently renovating. We’d examine the initial listing, our thinking in pursuing the deal, how we got it, what the issues were in diligence, and our pro forma. Then, we’d go walk the property to take a … Continue reading “Another seminar?”
Off market-deal
Not to beat a dead horse, but: We have a reasonably interesting, off-market 4plex deal that we’re going to send out tomorrow. It’s not going to set anyone’s world on fire, but we think it’s a worthwhile project for someone who likes Silver Lake and is willing to do some work to add value. And … Continue reading “Off market-deal”
3210 Bellevue is sold
We finally sold the last Fund 1 property yesterday and I thought I’d take the opportunity to share the (unaudited, unofficial) numbers: Purchased 5/23/2013 for $690,000 Spent ~$410k renovating (including all fees to Adaptive) So, all in for $1.1MM Took in ~$40k from rents while we owned it Sold 10/9/2014 for $1.42MM Net sale proceeds of ~$1.32MM … Continue reading “3210 Bellevue is sold”
Building a reputation
One of our agents and I just signed a listing agreement on a 4plex we will be bringing to market shortly. (If you want to hear about it before it goes on the MLS, I recommend joining the mailing list right now.) When we were preparing our pitch to the owner, my colleague pulled all … Continue reading “Building a reputation”
Help wanted
We’re looking for help in the following roles: 1. Assistant project manager. This one is pretty straight-forward. We have a ton of renovation projects going on right now and need one more set of hands to assist with purchasing and arranging material deliveries, liaising with contractors / subs, etc. We’re offering $15 / hr for … Continue reading “Help wanted”
Only in LA…
…would you have huge buildings on Broadway, where studios rent for $4 sq ft, totally vacant above the first floor. Why haven’t the owners used the adaptive re-use ordinance to re-purpose these interesting old buildings as either condos or apartments? Simple: Prop 13. The owners probably bought the buildings a million years ago for pennies, … Continue reading “Only in LA…”
How DWP steals your money
If you manage apartment buildings, you can probably guess what I’m about to write about. If not, here goes: DWP is criminally under-staffed / incompetent DWP makes huge numbers of mistakes Getting someone on the phone to correct the mistakes and/or request normal service changes takes 30-90 minutes, each time For an individual trying to … Continue reading “How DWP steals your money”
Why we don’t announce closings
If you’re at all active in real estate, your email account is spammed daily by brokers announcing the closings of their latest deals. Why do they do this? Because doing so: Shows everyone in the market how active the broker is Keeps the brokers’ name in front of potential clients, increasing the chances potential clients call … Continue reading “Why we don’t announce closings”
Adaptive’s proof of funds problem
When you make an offer on a building, what you’re really saying to the owner is: “Please give me the exclusive right to consider buying your building at this price for the next 21 (or 30 or 60) days.” For an owner to accept, she needs to be ok with your price and, crucially, as … Continue reading “Adaptive’s proof of funds problem”