Category: Uncategorized

I think this is kind of an inane game, because the definition of the “game” and an “inning” are so vague. But I think it’s the 7th inning, for what that’s worth. Here’s a piece with the views of a lot of people richer than I am (and who love talking their own books). For … Continue reading “What inning are we in in the multifamily cycle”

Have been doing some thinking recently about why people pay the rents that they do. More specifically, I’m interested in understanding why someone would happily pay $2,000 for a 1 bed in Silver Lake, but refuse to pay $1,500 for the same apartment in, say, Mid City. Obviously, there are a bunch of “hard” factors, … Continue reading “Real estate and the personal brand premium”

We just completed renovations on 865 N. Hoover, a 5 unit complex in Silver Lake right near Sunset Junction. This was a pretty painful deal, because we had a long fight with the city over whether we could add some basement space to the two bottom-floor units. In the end, we won, but it was … Continue reading “865 N. Hoover is done”

Hi Moses and Jon- My boyfriend and I are gearing up to move into a 1 or 2 bedroom apartment in the Silver Lake/Echo Park/Los Feliz area.  We’ve spent the past couple of months looking at apartments to get a feel for what’s out there, and every time we found one that we liked, we’ve … Continue reading “Here’s an email I got yesterday”

Rapidly rising rents over the past 3-4 years have sparked a lot of conversation about the effect of housing costs on poverty rates. We are pretty sensitive on this issue, because our business is basically about raising rents. But we and everyone else in our business are responding to market forces. Simply put: LA is … Continue reading “Adding density without changing LA (too much)”

Apologies for the lack of posts this week… I’ve got a bunch of deals going at the same time and I’m swamped. But I do want to pass along this job opportunity: My CPA, who does a lot of work for real estate people, is looking to hire a full-time bookkeeper to work with him … Continue reading “Accounting job opportunity”

As discussed yesterday, we’ve recently run into some issues with appraisals. The most irritating issue is a deal where the appraiser has totally botched his estimate of market rent for a vacant unit in the subject property. The unit is an 800 sq ft, 2 bed / 1 bath, standalone house with parking in Mid … Continue reading “An irritating appraisal issue”

Regular readers know I’m not a big fan of leverage. Yes, it has the ability to dramatically improve your results in upside scenarios. But I got started in this business during a total wipe-out and I’m determined not to expose myself or my investors to any real risk of losing properties in the event of … Continue reading “Using a little leverage”

Am spending most of the day today at RealShare, the big real estate conference in Century City. If you’re attending, too, come say hello. I’ll be the guy with the inappropriately shaggy hair and beard (because I’m not selling anything).

Today is a very, very good day for Boyle Heights. The Exide battery recycling plant, the one that has been poisoning the air and ground in BH for decades, is shutting down. The company made a deal with the US attorney to close in exchange for the feds not pressing criminal charges for illegal dumping / … Continue reading “Some good news for Boyle Heights”