Artem Tepler | R.E. Developer
@ArtemTepler
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Apartment Developer | SoCal | General Contractor |
Joined July 2021
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The actual owner of the house we were about to purchase was tied up in a carpet, dead in the basement, and his tenant/killer was pretending to be him and selling us the house. This was back in 2005-2006 in NJ.
What's the biggest surprise you've uncovered during due diligence?
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$17,500 savings ordering living room furniture direct from China.
Living room set for my personal house from Restoration Hardware for 5 pieces, would have been $21k+ with tax
Cost from China = $3500 including tariffs and shipping for custom made exact replica. 👇
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$22,139 savings ordering floors direct from China.
Hardwood for my personal house 4,048 sq ft x $8 = $32,384 plus 10% tax = $35,622 (US Quote)
Cost from China = $9,959.76 (materials) + $3,524 (tariffs/shipping) = $13,483.76 = $3.33/ft
See my Substack for supplier contact info.
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How does one become a real estate developer? Here is my path:
My name is Artem Tepler, and this is my journey in developing multi-family real estate.
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$17,500 savings ordering living room furniture direct from China.
Living room set for my personal house from Restoration Hardware for 5 pieces would have been $21k+ with tax
Cost from China = $3500, including tariffs and shipping for a custom-made exact replica. 👇
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We made a $3M profit on this deal.
Which profit level do you prefer: $3M, $30M, $300k, or $30k?
I believe we all have a choice in the level we play at, whether we realize it or not.
Our self-esteem and skill set, play a significant role in the level we end up playing at.
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$22,139 savings ordering floors direct from China.
Hardwood for my personal house 4,048 sq ft x $8 = $32,384 plus 10% tax = $35,622 (US Quote)
Cost from China = $9,959.76 (materials) + $3,524 (tariffs/shipping) = $13,483.76 = $3.33/ft
Info in my blog, subscribe.
@ArtemTepler
Thx for recommending that hardwood supplier. We saved $200K on flooring for a project ordering from her.
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I used to live from house flip to house flip.
Then we started developing apartments.
$288k per year positive cash flow from the first two apartment buildings my partner and I built 10 years ago.
13 and 16 units ≈ $8M Profit
Commercial real estate can truly change your life.
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The Boutique Apartment Development Business in Los Angeles is Booming - Los Angeles Business Journal
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When people complain about America, I think back to communist Russia and my father being arrested for buying and selling cars for a profit. It truly boggles my mind that many don’t realize they won the lottery by living in America with all its opportunities.
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🧵We met a real estate billionaire.
I asked him what advice he'd give his 20-year-old self.
His answer: 'Go as big as possible; it takes the same amount of work.'
How...?🧵
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How does one become a real estate developer?
Here is my path: My name is Artem Tepler, and this is my journey in developing multi-family real estate.
*Update to an Original Popular Tweet (grammar corrections and clarifications)
How does one become a real estate developer? Here is my path:
My name is Artem Tepler, and this is my journey in developing multi-family real estate.
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Rehabbing an Apartment or a House
(Scope of Work Attached)
Here are the steps to rehabbing a house or an apartment building:
1. Have a comprehensive scope of work to bid out to different GCs (attached, delete what's not needed)
2. Have different GCs bid on the SAME scope of
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How to Source Materials from China:
Step 1: Go on Alibaba.
Step 2: Search for your desired item or perform a reverse image search.
Step 3: Choose a supplier that offers "Trade Assurance" and is a "Verified Supplier," having been in business for a couple of years or more.
Step
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Rehabbing an Apartment or a House
(Scope of Work Attached)
Here are the steps to rehabbing a house or an apartment building:
1. Have a comprehensive scope of work to bid out to different GCs (attached, delete what's not needed)
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Ground-Up: 13 Unit Townhome Rental Project
Land Purchase Price in 2015: $825,000
All in Costs: $4,101,023
Appraised: $6,570,000
100% of the Equity Returned
Positive Cash Flow in 2023 = ~$8,000 per month
Cash on Cash = ∞
13 out of ≈ 500 units we've developed.
*updated
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@heIpfullandlord
My buddy went to pick up "the owner" and take him to the closing, and the guy was acting weird. My buddy suspected something was off and called the cops. The police found him. I think if I remember correctly, it was a drunken fight gone wrong, and the tenant thought he'd sell the
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Bank References: My partner Paul and I have borrowed over $100,000,000+ of fully recourse personally guaranteed construction loans. Since they are commercial loans, they do not show up on your personal credit. Therefore...
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Residential real estate is great, but one commercial deal can change your life.
We bought this 20 unit in August of 2020 for $1.35m
Spent $500k in renovations
Appraised last month at refi for $4.6m
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🧵Mistakes We Made Building Our First Multi-Million Dollar Custom Home:
These are the things I wish I had known before starting to build custom homes.🧵
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Grief: today my father would have been 67. Still not a day that goes by that I don’t think about him. When he passed nothing anyone really said made it any easier, but the following passage someone sent me did help a bit.
==
As for grief, you’ll find it comes in waves. When the
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I think multi-family real estate is the easiest asset class to break into.
My reasoning is you can start with 2-4 unit properties using FHA 3.5% down payment mortgage and go up from there.
Change my mind.
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If I were starting again in real estate in my 20s with no money, knowing what I know now, how would I do it differently today? (Today's DM)
I would start as an agent/broker, focusing on smaller fix-and-flip deals such as SFRs, duplexes, triplexes, and fourplexes. 👇
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Per my mentor: What most messes with the mind is doing less than you can. It causes all kinds of psychic damage, damages the mind and self-image. Being less than you can be, doing less than you can do, trying less than you can try, and doing with less enthusiasm than you could be
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Is it just me, or is it more enjoyable to watch smart tech guys discussing political events using logical reasoning, compared to seeing MSM discuss this topic? I mean, i know it's not "The View", but still pretty good.
David, Chamath, Jason, and Brad from the
@theallinpod
talk about the US and NATO's refusal to accept a peace agreement at the beginning of the Russia-Ukraine War, citing Naftali Bennet, Fiona Hill, and a Ukrainian article:
@DavidSacks
: "They chose to fight an optional proxy war
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Not my project, but I’m becoming a huge fan of James Hardie artisan siding, especially this white and black motif.
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The Los Angeles Eviction Moratorium began in March 2020. To this day we have a couple of residents in our properties that have not paid rent since then. Due to this assault against property owners, the State created a Rental Relief program that would pay the owners the rent
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Case Study: "Creating the Downpayment"
The following is a 13-unit, 1-bedroom townhome project.
We "created the downpayment" by generating enough equity to withdraw 100% of our original investment upon stabilization.
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Health Advice: Everyone should get a food sensitivity test, from this laboratory. I have a top concierge doctor in LA, and this is who he recommended on our first appointment. Got rid of inflammation enough that I stopped snoring after trying everything including fixing a
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@alisonmartino
Looks great. Probably took 10 years to get approved because some people want LA to look identical to how they're used to. This is why there's a housing shortage.
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Kayu Batu decking looks as good as IPE decking and is roughly half the price.
You can just say: "IPE Oil™ treated Exotic Hardwood Decking (Red Balau)" for advertisements when selling and 99.9% of people won't know the difference.
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DEAL STRUCTURES in Ground-Up Development
What's the right structure to setup between you, the General Partner (GP) and your Capital Partners (LPs)?
50/50
60/40
65/35
70/30
72/25
80/20
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This bunk bed is really well done, saved as inspiration for a future project.
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The goal is to own a business, not run a business. It's been 20 years, and I'm still not there.
Is anyone else stuck in the same boat?
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@BlueShieldCA
@Mark_Seelig
, why are you guys denying this?
Pls ask
@BlueShieldCA
why they denied this man and his family (wife and son) life saving surgery 24 hours before it was to take place.
@Mark_Seelig
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3rd Party Construction: Our construction company will be breaking ground this week on a fourplex covering 8,576 sq. ft. in an area adjacent to Beverly Hills (within the City of LA) for one of our clients. Our estimated hard costs are roughly $300 per sq. ft. We are using only
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I have personally guaranteed over $100 million in recourse construction loans, but I have never been able to qualify for a home loan. Traditional lenders really prefer W2 employees over real estate professionals with paper losses.
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Question: How do you find good General Contractors or Sub Contractors?
Answer: When we were flipping homes, we would know who our competitors were, and we would stop by their sites after they've just bought a property (you can search properties by searching for the LLC), and we
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🧵Deep "Value-Add" - Additions on Single-Family Homes
Want to be a developer but don't know how to start? Here's one way...
Doing small single-family home additions.🧵
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I will forever be grateful to my father , who left everything behind and brought me to this amazing country when I was in 4th grade. Not a day that goes by that I don’t think about him and how grateful I am for the sacrifices he made for his family for me to get from Siberia to
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641 Hobart, completed 2023, a COVID baby, started as a 14 unit will add 3 ADUs and make it into 17. We got hit with cost increases on this one, hard. I would not build a single lot deal with sub parking today knowing the costs. Last small deal we’ll do.
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As a plumber/roofer etc you can get to own your own company one day and make more than most corp employees, you have zero shot of that as a corporate employee for most large corporations. My roofer lives in a multi million dollar house and has a Rolls Royce. You are wrong.
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A wealth manager recently told me, 'You have to be a statistical anomaly now to own a house in Los Angeles.' I think it's the same for all major cities: NYC, London, etc. I met an older radiologist who owns a 20-million-dollar lot in the flats of Beverly Hills; that's not
In 1989 a Chicago police office salary could afford this 4 bedroom 5 bathroom house.
Now worth close to $1 million with an estimated payment of $6700, the average police officer in this area now makes $65k per year 🚨🚨🚨
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"Back of the Envelope" way to calculate the value of an apartment building:
Assumptions:
10 Unit - New Construction Building building in Los Angeles
Monthly Rent: $2,000
Market Cap Rate is 4.25%
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Pro tip: How to upgrade the facade of your project to make it more appealing on a budget.
One of the top local developers in Los Angeles gave my partner and me advice: "Spend $10 a foot more on the facade; it's worth it."
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Painting? Need a Scope Of Work (SOW)?
Here is the Scope of Work we've used to paint 25+ apartment buildings.
To minimize the change orders and misunderstandings, details matter (colors don't). 👇
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$17,500 savings ordering living room furniture direct from China.
Living room set for my personal house from Restoration Hardware for 5 pieces, would have been $21k+ with tax
Cost from China = $3500 including tariffs and shipping for custom made exact replica. 👇
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Success leaves clues:
Competitor gets a loan: pull title.
Like the architecture design: pull building plans.
Need a GC: see who pulled permits or ask architect.
Need an electrician: look up electrical permit.
Need a pool builder: pull pool plans.
Need a zoning consultant? Check
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See my Substack (in my bio) for supplier contact info.
I get zero credit for this, my fiance Carla Jones sourced the supplier, got samples and chose the furniture.
When I was choosing the furniture, I had black leather couches.
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Pro-Tip: If you're selling, refinancing, or applying for a construction loan, invest in an 'MAI' appraisal before the bank's appraisal. Choose an appraiser whom you trust to be logical and receptive to the market data you provide. Then, present that appraisal to the bank's
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Buying Direct from Sellers: The Negotiation Game 🧵
Buyer: "Mr Seller, what's the least amount you'd take if I was to pay you cash and close quickly?"
Seller: "I would like $1,000,000 for my property"
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We've had attorney sue and win against a guy in contruction in 2011. It was a $40k issue, cost us about $30k in legal fees, we won the $40k+our legal fees, and the guy filed a BK and we were down $70k. And that's the story of how I become a contractor.
@JohnJBlatchford
@ArtemTepler
If your lawyers can't solve your problems, you're hiring the wrong ones.
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Things I ALWAYS try to do in business:
Always be on time (at LEAST 5 min early, I'm usually 30 min or more).
Do what I say I'm going to do.
Don’t say I'll do things that I won't be able to complete.
Be honest.
When in doubt “What is the right thing to do here?”
Be extremely
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The best time to start a business is before you have the "golden handcuffs", and have to pay for a mortgage, wife, and kids.
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I've flipped close to 100 houses and built close to 30 apartment buildings before I bought & built my first home at 40.
As a single guy without kids, you don't need to own your own home.
Renting by choice is freedom and optionality.
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Amortizing or interest-only loans: which is better?
Two of the wealthiest real estate developers I know always choose interest-only (IO) loans for as long as possible. Why? According to them, there are several reasons: 👇
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Some people believe they have 10 years of experience when, in reality, they've simply repeated one year of experience 10 times. If you're not constantly pushing past your comfort zones and trying to improve, you're likely in the latter category.
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For FAT LOSS, most people would find walking on an incline treadmill superior to jogging outside. I've walked on an incline consistently for 3 miles in the morning and 3 miles in the evening for 15 weeks, no knee pain. I just came back from a 3-mile jog and my knees are in pain.
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My mother's life partner of 25+ years, Tony, an immigrant from Italy, has passed away.
This remarkable individual, though not a product of formal education, was molded by the trials and tribulations of life, including his courageous transition from Italy to this great land of
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Why are there no high-rises near the water on the California coast? (cities like Malibu) Is the California Coastal Commission reserving the right to live near the water for the ultra-wealthy? Florida has plenty of towers near the ocean. What's the actual justification?
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Our Due Diligence (DD) process for Ground-Up Development (Los Angeles)
Here is what we do before we buy land to build an apartment building...
Step 1: Figure out Unit count (see unit count substack post)
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Property crime stats are BS. We have had dozens of break ins and theft from our construction sites. Never reported any of them because it’s useless. Cost of doing business in LA.
BREAKING: Violent crime in CA increased by 6.1% in 2022, while property crime rose 6.2% (though it fell 7.1% from 2017-22). Astonishingly, the homicide rate rose nearly 24% from 2017 to 2022, though it fell 5% from 2021-22, per new report from
@AGRobBonta
.
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Don't delay payments to your suppliers/subs - they are not in the lending biz.
Pay your daily labor at the end of the day and your weekly labor at the end of the week.
Borrow from banks or prvt lenders who are in the business of lending money, not your employees/subs/suppliers
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How to find your first deal?
Use the app LandGlide to identify the owners of a beat-up property. Then, use IDIdata to find the owners' contact information. Call them and ask, 'Would you consider selling for the right price if you didn't have to pay a broker's commission?' 1/2
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Q: "How do you find suppliers on Alibaba?" A: I look for ones with "Trade Assurance" and "Verified supplier." I also look at the length of time they've been in business and $ Volume they do and then take a leap of faith on a small order. Build trust over time. 1/4
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Property Management
Balancing Local and Offshore Staff
(List of Activities attached)
During the Covid pandemic, we broke down a list of all the activities in property management that could be done virtually and those that had to be done in person. Attached is our list.
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In high-crime areas like LA & SF, crime statistics are meaningless. We have break-ins and thefts at our construction sites all the time, but we don't report them, knowing that the police are so understaffed they can't do much about property crime and prosecutors won't prosecute.
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The best way to learn real estate is by actually doing real estate deals. Don't be the person who spends their life studying the roots; go to the field and pick some fruit. The size of deals you start with doesn't matter; just start.
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Artificial green wall, from….China.
I’ll be doing all my fencing with this.
I’ll be creating a green Oasis in my backyard.
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Pro Tip: When doing additions on a house, instead of opting for the standard 8-9 ft ceilings, consider making the ceilings 10-14 ft in height. The labor cost remains the same; it just requires a bit more drywall and framing. This will make the rooms feel much more spacious.
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Today, we're moving into our first "adult" office in a proper office complex.
We built over $100 million worth of apartments from my partner's 1,600 sq ft two-bedroom apartment that served as our office and where our first three office hires would report.
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Our Latest Project: Studio City, CA - 28 units.
All-in costs are roughly $500k per unit, consisting of 28 large 2-bedroom condos with high-end finishes.
Based on old GRMs, each unit should be worth $750k to $780k.
The location is just 2 blocks away from where I live (also 2
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Due Diligence Mistake: Not pulling ALL historical permits.
We bought two single-family homes and later found out that one of them had been illegally converted from a duplex many years ago. As a result, our new construction property became subject to rent control.
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I'll correct you; you are wrong. I know nothing about painting, but I can easily run a painting business because I have a GREAT painter who knows a lot of other painters, and I can get the business. He'd be happy to paint because he doesn't have the skill set of bringing in the
@ArtemTepler
But many of service business in construction industry requires hands on experience in that service to get succeed, like when you don’tknow painting it’s almost impossible to run a painting service company. You should have practical skill in that service. Correct me if I am wrong
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Remodeling rent controlled units with a bulldozer. This is what gentrification looks like. Replacing an SFR and a triplex with a home for 87 people. East Hollywood. Opportunity Zone.
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LA is one of those markets where if you want to own a home, you have to "drive until you qualify". Long drives not only consume people's budget on housing and transportation, but it also wears them out, and they lose a lot of time with their family. So here we are, in a
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I always wanted sons, I had no idea how much joy a 3-year-old girl can bring to her "papa".
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I’m careful who I listen to, I had to unfollow and mute some doom and gloomers on here. Some on twitter will have you thinking that rates will stay high forever and the whole commercial RE industry will fall apart, and they seem themselves as standing there scooping up it all up,
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Value Engineering: On our Studio City project, in order not to go two levels of sub-parking, we're going 15ft down and using ParkPlus lifts to increase our parking count. First time doing this, saving close to 7 figures by doing this vs going an extra floor below and potentially
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PSA: Males over 40, check your testosterone levels, 300 might be in the "normal" range but it's far from optimal, optimal is the upper 1/3rd of the normal range. I've been on TRT for years and it's one of the best decisions I've ever made.
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Pro tip: When using a new subcontractor or general contractor, have the owner undergo a credit check similar to the one you would use for tenants. If you wouldn't rent them an apartment, why take the risk of giving them business worth far more than a one-year lease?
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This is our latest project in an OZ (Opportunity Zone), spanning roughly 40,000 square feet with no parking. It yields a bit above 6% YOC and is located in prime Hollywood, just half a mile from Netflix HQ. I am still working on the Investment Memo (IM), but it should be ready in
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Sleep Hack: For those who have trouble falling asleep, whats worked for me is listening to fiction audiobooks on Audible, at a barely audible volume, through sleeping headphones with a 15-minute sleep timer, really helps me fall asleep. It stops my racing thoughts.
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This is what my doctor recommended to boost my immune system when I got sick. I send it to everyone:
50,000 IU of vitamin D3, oral for 5 days, then 10,000 IU daily after that.
1000mg of Vitamin C x 3 times per day
300mg CoQ10
50mg zinc twice a day
Curcumin - 1 gram
Asprin 500mg
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Tools of our Real Estate Development Trade:
Laptop
MS Office (Word/Excel)
Google (Sheets/Slides)
Ring Central
Mobile Phone
CoStar
Landvision
IdiData
Marco Polo app (video walkie talkie)
Dropbox
Gmail
Plangrid (construction)
Appfolio
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Today, I learned that there is a reason why Phoenix has so many units under construction while Los Angeles doesn't. The city of Phoenix is well-organized. Within a short period of time, all the necessary departments held a Zoom meeting, and during the pre-application meeting for
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I'm humbled. I've always wanted to teach. I made a post last night on my Substack, and I received close to 6k views. This is better than what I ever expected when I set a goal of teaching. This picture shows what a capacity crowd of 6k people at the Greek Theater looks like. 🙏🙏
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Mindset: "Ideal Scenes"
Mindset is important in life because you can't hit a target you can't see.
I have always had written goals since I was 21 years old, but most of them were geared towards business.
When I was working towards my Master's Degree in Spiritual Psychology, I
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This
@super73
is the most fun thing I’ve purchased for myself in a LONG time.
(I’ve had ninja and harley, this is more fun)
It really opens up the neighborhood, makes me feel like I’m 13 again!
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A term I appreciate:
"Chutzpah." It's a Yiddish word denoting audacity or boldness, often melded with a hint of arrogance. It captures the essence of nerve, occasionally to the point of presumption. Starting a business and betting on yourself takes chutzpah.
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Pro Tip: Order electrical switchgear at the start of your project.
I wonder how much equity RE developers lost due to the delay in electrical switchgear supply.
We lost a few million because were unable to energize two projects.
Rates going up didn't help.
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Whoever isn't using ChatGPT4 ($20 a month) in their biz is likely falling behind. The same applies to students. You wouldn't submit a paper w/out using spell check, why would you not use the latest technology. That's like riding on horseback across the country vs taking a jet
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Any GC that tells you they can accurately estimates costs of a gut rehab before they take the building to that studs is either A) lying or B) padding the numbers a TON.
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🧵Mistakes ESTIMATING Custom Home Building Costs: Lessons Learned
"How much does it cost to build a custom home today?" we asked in 2012
$250 per ft, we were told. "The PRICE IS WRONG.......tch"🧵
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916 N Alvarado St, Los Angeles, Echo Park
Sale Price: $11.3 million
Date of Sale: April 2023
Number of Units: 28 Micro Units
Timeless Design (RH Inspired)
Architect: Sammie Tabrizi
Developer/Builder: Schon Tepler Partners
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