We just entered lease-up on a fourplex we renovated at 363 S Leslie Way in Highland Park. Embarrassingly, we had to put the breaks on leasing this weekend, because we leased two of the units in about two minutes and realized we were underpriced. (This is a high class problem!) Anyway, here are some amateur … Continue reading “363 S Leslie Way is done”
Category: Building Adaptive
Losing a good deal to make a better track record
Am looking at a deal now that has an interesting problem: While ZIMAS and the county both show 12 units, the certificate of occupancy shows 11 units. The building only has 11 parking spaces, so it was pretty clearly built as 11, with the final unit added at some point along the way, most likely illegally. … Continue reading “Losing a good deal to make a better track record”
Thinking about the path not taken
Recently, I’ve been doing a lot of thinking about where we are in the cycle, debt, risk and asset allocation. You see, many of my contemporaries have been doing fairly high-leverage development deals and doing very well with them. We at Adaptive have shied away from those sorts of deals, for two, related reasons: You … Continue reading “Thinking about the path not taken”
The importance of a great insurance broker
Want to get into the business of repositioning apartment buildings? You’re going to spend a ton of time working with insurance brokers. Why? Well, consider what happens when you buy a building: You need a standard policy for the period between closing on the building and the beginning of construction; Then, you need a construction … Continue reading “The importance of a great insurance broker”
Letting a pitch go by
When someone joins Adaptive, one of the things I tell her is that she should not worry too much about making a mistake. The reasons are that (i) we can fix pretty much any mistake, so long as we know about it*; and (ii) Jon and I make bigger mistakes than any of our employees … Continue reading “Letting a pitch go by”
What hustle can do for you
Further to my earlier post about the amount of opportunity available for Millennials who want to seize it… thought I’d share with you the experience of one of our leasing agents this weekend. Keep in mind this woman has a full-time job she works during the week. Instead of sitting around all weekend (like I … Continue reading “What hustle can do for you”
Why a real estate career isn’t that risky
I began my career in investment banking helping entrepreneurs sell their media and tech companies to bigger, usually public companies. I quit because I knew I wanted to do something entrepreneurial myself. My first venture was a pretty stupid one. I invested a lot of time and money into an interesting tech concept, but one … Continue reading “Why a real estate career isn’t that risky”
Rebuilding the plane in the air
One of the strange things about Adaptive is that neither Jon and I have never managed lots of people before. So, as our operation has grown, we have had to learn by trial and error (mostly error, honestly) about hiring, retaining, motiving people. We’ve also found ourselves having to re-think entire aspects of our operations, … Continue reading “Rebuilding the plane in the air”
Looking for an intern
Readers: We’re looking for an intern. Ideal candidate will be available to spend, say, 10-15 hours per week with us. The intern will work on some interesting / serious stuff but also plenty of scut work. Would be a good way for a college (or, potentially, an extremely mature highschool) student to learn about our business. Pay … Continue reading “Looking for an intern”
Some thoughts on Millennials and the economy
I generally avoid politics on this blog, because there’s no need for yet another place for people to get angry. But today I want to address what seems like a creeping demoralization among Millennials, in particular, that’s causing them to question capitalism. There’s no doubt that Millennials have had it pretty rough. Many of them … Continue reading “Some thoughts on Millennials and the economy”