Some of the incredible and unexpected surprises of my first 3.5 months on Twitter, a short thread 👇🧵
1) Real World Connections
Surprisingly, lots of my Twitter connections have turned into real world connections. I regularly speak to lots of folks via text and phone, and
some are becoming genuine friends. I share my identity once I realize we will have a “beyond Twitter” relationship, and so far everyone's been amazing about keeping the anon thing private. We often find we have friends in common, etc.
2)Positive Impact the Tweets seem to be having
Sure, I get the occasional negative DM etc, but the vast majority of folks that have reached out have been incredibly kind and have shared that they really enjoy the account – love this!
3)Learning a ton each day
When you’re
coming up on 20 years in the industry, you’re not learning as many new things as you want to, especially when you have the same circle of industry peers. I have learned so much from the folks on Twitter, and continue to do so each day.
4)Ability to get specific questions answered in real-time
The fact I can send a Tweet and get immediate expert feedback on insurance, loans, etc. is incredible beyond words. Powerful stuff right there.
5)Conversations with folks all over the world
Suddenly being in contact
with great folks from all the world really makes the planet feel smaller. Whether I head to Hawaii, Kentucky, Japan, Canada, Paris, Saudi Arabia, etc – it will feel a bit more like home than it otherwise would. I know there are some great folks I could grab coffee with in so
many towns now.
6)Writing!
I’ve always loved writing, and you don’t write too much beyond emails/letters when you’re in real estate. You don’t use most of the writing skills you did in college, and Twitter sharpens your writing and critical thinking skills, and fast.
7)I love this!
I look forward to my time on Twitter each day, and it’s been extremely fulfilling so far. If that changes down the road, or I can't run the real estate portfolio at the same level, I will divide my time accordingly, but so far so good!
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Simple -- many owners are not in the real estate business.
Their main priority is to ensure that the property is fully leased and minimize their expenses, and are not focused on maximizing the value of the asset.
If a
tenant is paying 20% below market rent, but the landlord believes increasing the rent will force them to leave, they will keep the rent low.
A vacancy is the worst thing in the world for them. They are afraid of interrupting their income stream, and super afraid of having to
spend the money on leasing commissions, tenant improvement allowances, legal fees, etc.
The result is that the asset stays leased, but it's also grossly undervalued.
When they go to sell the property, a savvy real estate buyer will be much less concerned with occupancy and
Just a few of the value-add items we tackle at purchase -- make the property more appealing to customers, which drives business for the tenants, which drives rents!
*Landscaping: low-cost, HUGE bang for your buck
*Paint: moves the needle, incredible how folks skip this
*Parking: Parking can make or break the property -- look at ways you can increase parking by maximizing compact spaces and making sure neighbors aren't parking in your lot. If they are, leave a warning note, and then tow if they ignore it.
*Stucco -- incredible what some
stucco will do to a strip mall.
*Signage -- require all new tenants to install individual channel letters instead of big box signage, and pay to replace the current tenant signage
*Monument -- add a monument sign if one does not already exist
*Patio -- provide an outdoor patio
My mentor barely finished high school and built a huge real estate empire which started with him selling shoes at the flea market to help support his family as a child.
He’s got the most brilliant real estate mind I’ve ever come across.
Here are some of his habits:
*He refreshes every listing website at least 100 times a day
*He calls probably 50 brokers a day, in multiple markets
*He knows if a deal is good or not within seconds
*He goes non-refundable day one as often as he can
*He answers his phone 99.9 percent or the time
*He never drops a deal
*He calls people again and again relentlessly if they don’t answer
*He won’t let anyone else get the deal - fights tooth and nail
*He has a great reputation
*He doesn’t talk about money
*He never gets angry
*He never talks bad
I stopped by one of our old strip malls not too long ago, and just sat in my car a bit and reflected.
I recalled what an intense redevelopment project it was for us 10 years ago, and how much time and effort we spent transforming the property from a tired eyesore into the...
vibrant jewel I was staring at that afternoon.
There were families enjoying a nice day on the outdoor patio we spent countless hours planning and negotiating with the tenants over. Both restaurants were packed, and I recalled all the back and forth over who was going...
to pay for the grease traps and whether they would be shared among the tenants or if each would have its own.
The place was now running on all cylinders only because of the many months we spent working with the utility company to design and upgrade the power capacity so we...