If you’re going to do multifamily projects, you need to know your target post-rehab rents. In our business, we rely heavily on proprietary information from our existing portfolio. Since almost all our units are renovated to a similar standard and all our buildings are clustered in a few areas, we have very granular information about … Continue reading “How to research asking rents on Craigslist”
Category: How to
How to think about assemblage
When you’re in a hot market, every second thing you get from brokers is a development opportunity. That’s generally code for “over-price land”. And I’ll tell you what your first impulse is: To see if you can maybe buy the land on either side and have that make the project work. (That’s called “assemblage”.) But this … Continue reading “How to think about assemblage”
Building a platform
Here’s a sobering fact: The overhead at Adaptive Realty runs something like $45k / month. That means, before Jon and I see $1 in 2016, we need to bring in revenue of around $540k. Why have we set our business up like this, rather than just being “deal doers” who are lean and mean? The … Continue reading “Building a platform”
How to handle weather-related construction delays
El Nino is finally here and we’re pretty well prepared, at least with respect to the existing portfolio. But, unsurprisingly, construction workers generally don’t love working in the rain. And that confronts us with an irritating dilemma. We can: Suck up the resulting construction delays; or Bonus the workers (either directly or via their employing … Continue reading “How to handle weather-related construction delays”
Should I buy a condo as an investment?
Had two conversations with people interested in buying condos for investment purposes yesterday, so figured I’d repeat what I told them here. The first thing to understand about buying condos (and single family homes) in Los Angeles right now is that doing so is not really an investment. Why? Because prices are so high relative … Continue reading “Should I buy a condo as an investment?”
Keep talking
I spend an unbelievable amount of time either negotiating myself or quarterbacking other peoples’ negotiations. This doesn’t mean I’m good at it. In fact, I think I’m probably only an average negotiator, at best. But it does mean I’ve learned some things. And the most important of these is: Keep talking. Fairly often, I find … Continue reading “Keep talking”
The difficulty in building a money management business
Had an interesting dinner last night with a couple of guys who work for other people but are thinking about going out on their own to do deals. Found myself explaining the difficulty inherent in doing so and think it might interest you, my readers. The money management business is fundamentally amazing at scale. Here’s … Continue reading “The difficulty in building a money management business”
What I did yesterday
From the “This Ain’t Just Capital Deployment” files: What did you do at your job yesterday? Me? Oh, I negotiated and then personally oversaw voluntary move-out by a guy who had been arrested for threatening his neighbors with an ax. Of course, I brought along two armed guards, plus a crew to help move his … Continue reading “What I did yesterday”
938 White Knoll is done
We’re just finishing up renovations on this 9 unit property on behalf of another investor group. The property is fully leased and, in my opinion, pretty damn awesome. Take a look at the before and after shots below:
Using a tenants-in-common structure for 1031 proceeds
Over the past six months, we at Adaptive have got a crash course in tenants-in-common deals and I think this may open a new avenue for growth in our business. To understand why, you first need to understand what a TIC deal is: A tenants-in-common situation is one in which multiple owners possess a property … Continue reading “Using a tenants-in-common structure for 1031 proceeds”