For landlords & investors
Deals that pencil,
not listings that don't.
New name. Thirty years behind it.
I'm not forwarding you everything that hits the market. I watch this rental cycle from inside it — I'm one of the tenants — so I know which streets fill first, which buildings turn over clean, and which ones eat your margin in turnover costs. Send me your criteria and I'll go find what actually works.
The diligence
What I actually check before I bring you a deal.
I'm not going to hand you a made-up cap rate. Send me a specific address and I'll run it properly, with the real rent roll, the real tax bill and the actual condition of the building. Here's the shape of what I check on every property before it's worth your time.
WHAT COMES IN
| Rent roll, per unit or per bed | signed leases, not asking rent |
| Occupancy through the school-year calendar | not a flat 12-month average |
| Other income — parking, pet fees, storage | if the property actually collects it |
| What the property produces | before anything comes out |
WHAT GOES OUT
| Property taxes | current bill, not last year's |
| Insurance | a real landlord-policy quote |
| Management, if you're not self-managing | an actual fee, not a rule of thumb |
| Turnover costs between leases | paint, cleaning, the stuff that always comes up |
| Deferred maintenance | what the seller isn't advertising |
| Debt service | your actual rate, your actual terms |
| Net, against the asking price | the number that actually matters |
What this deliberately leaves out: appreciation. Same rule I use with parents — home values here have been roughly flat over the past year, and I'm not going to sell you on a market that isn't currently producing that number. If a deal only works because the building goes up in value while you hold it, it's not a deal, it's a bet. I care about what it produces while you own it.
Straight answers
When I tell you to pass.
The rent roll doesn't match the leases
Asking rent and signed rent aren't the same number. I check actual leases before anyone runs a return on this one.
The building turns over messy
Some properties re-lease clean every August. Others are still chasing tenants in October. That difference shows up directly in your return, and I check it before you close, not after.
You're underwriting to a management fee that isn't real
If you're not self-managing, get an actual quote before you run the numbers — not a rule-of-thumb percentage that doesn't hold up when you call a manager.
The discount is smaller than the deferred maintenance
A cheap price on a building with a bad roof or old plumbing isn't a deal. I walk the property myself — I don't underwrite off listing photos.
Send me your criteria.
Price range, area, unit count, how hands-on you want to be. I'll go find what fits — most of what sells near campus never makes it to a public search anyway.