Real deals. Real numbers. The mistakes I paid for in cash.
Most real estate content is written by people who have read about real estate.
This is not that. Everything on this page comes off a deal I own, a deal I consulted on, or a mistake that cost me money I would rather have kept. Twenty six years. Condos, townhomes, single family, apartment buildings, infill development, new construction, new subdivisions.
Some weeks it is a financing structure broken down to the dollar. Some weeks it is a market I think everybody is reading wrong. Some weeks it is something I got badly wrong in 2004 and still think about.
New post most weeks. No hype. No theory. If a claim shows up here without a number attached to it, I have not done my job.
Everything is below, newest first. Dig in.
Kicking and Screaming: Nothing Happens Until You Write the Offer
The most important act in real estate is the one you will fight hardest to avoid. I spent an hour trying to name the one property I analyzed and never made an offer on. I cannot do it. Not because there isn't one. Because there are too many. I still have the file...
The Plumber Charged $200 for Five Minutes. He Was Right
A plumber hit a pipe four times and charged $200. Everyone thinks he overcharged. He didn't. And the invoice he wrote explains why you've been undercharging your whole career. There's an old story I keep coming back to. A man calls a plumber to fix a pipe. The plumber...
Everybody’s Pivoting. Almost Nobody Knows When to Hold
Somebody asked which matters more, wisdom or adaptability. Watch who answers which way. It tells you almost everything about how long they've been in the game. Somebody posted a question this week that's been rattling around my head since. What matters more: wisdom,...
Somebody Called Me a Robot This Week
I use AI to help me write. A guy in my comments called me a robot for it. He was wrong about me, and dead right about something bigger. Right there in a Facebook comment, under one of my posts: "Interesting, but every AI post on this site reads identically these...
Fantasy Island Pricing
Nobody asks if you should build. Only how. I can still get hypnotized by a number. Twenty-six years in, and a clean appraisal on a nice PDF still tugs at me for half a second. Big number. Bold font. A discount off the top, just for me. The number wants to be believed....
What Were They Saying in 2021?
The crystal ball is broken. For everyone, mine included. So the real skill was never the real estate forecast... it's what you do with all of them. Let me tell you who's actually talking, because it should change how you hear this. I'm not a pundit. I'm an investor...
Drug Along The Bottom
Rock bottom doesn’t bounce you. It drags you. Holding is allowed. Hiding is not. Here’s the honest checkup that tells you whether to hold, sell, or prune.
The Thing That Kills You Doesn’t Knock
It started in January with a sore calf. Five months later, a doctor found blood clots in my lungs. Here’s what almost dying taught me about the quiet problems we keep ignoring.
We Trained Them To Leave. We Forgot To Make Them Want To Stay
The Leaving Problem · Part 2 of 2. The exit tax is the wrong tool. Here's the one lever you actually control... and the rule I hold myself to every time I coach. In Part 1, I told you about one of my clients walking his capital, his team, and his projects across the...
You Can’t Tax Your Way Out Of A Leaving Problem
The Leaving Problem · Part 1 of 2. One of my clients moved his whole operation south. The opportunity wasn't the problem. That should stop all of us cold. One of my clients recently moved his entire investing operation to the United States. Capital. Plans. Ambition....
Calgary Gets the Love. Edmonton Gets the Math.
The 2026 Alberta Verdict for Canadian Real Estate Investors Here’s an embarrassing confession. The best performing analysis I’ve ever published was my Calgary vs Edmonton breakdown. People shared it, quoted it, built decisions on it. And then I let it sit for four...
Nobody’s Calling Unit 1402
Part 2 of 2. They cut a deal for the developer. They'll cushion the bank. But the couple who did everything right and bought the unit? Nobody is dialing their number. Last piece I told you everybody grabbed the blame thrower and aimed it at the developer. I made the...
