Real Estate Observer This newsletter will provide frameworks & analysis you can use to confidently invest your capital in private market real estate. It is written from the perspective of someone who reviews many deals in search of one that fits my personal or my investor community’s preferences. To keep up with what I’m working on, click here. |
I always joke that I won’t fly first class until I have $5 million in investable assets. That might be a bit extreme, but for now, I value the money more than an upgraded seat on a plane.
I was thinking about this as I shuffled past the first-class passengers and squeezed into my seat in row 36, wondering if I should lower that threshold to $2.5 million instead. A man sat down beside me, and like most reasonable people on airplanes, we sat in silence until the last few minutes of the flight.
I had my laptop open, attempting to get some work done. Answering emails mid-flight? No problem. But analyzing properties and working in spreadsheets? Nearly impossible. I need at least two screens for that, but work had to be done. So when the flight attendant announced that all “large screens” had to be put away, I was relieved to close my laptop.
The man next to me in the middle seat, dressed casually in blue jeans and a t-shirt, struck up a conversation. “Hey, I saw you fumbling around with that spreadsheet - what do you do?”.
I gave him my usual spiel: “I’m in real estate. I do land acquisition for residential development and allocate my own and investor capital into various private market real estate deals.” That caught his interest, and he mentioned that he does a lot of accredited investing. From there, we started discussing specific deals he had invested in.
Based on the amounts he mentioned and his comments about portfolio allocation, I estimated his net worth to be somewhere between $5 million and $10 million. The guy in the middle seat, way back in row 36, was worth a relatively large sum of money.
It’s easy to assume that wealth always comes wrapped in designer suits and first-class tickets because that’s what society conditions us to believe. But that’s just not reality all the time. The guy in row 36 was a great reminder of that.
I mean… just look at AJ Brown. The guy signed a $100 million contract and still chooses to drive a Honda to the game. Come on, AJ.
Thanks for reading! If you’re interested in North Carolina single-family development or existing multifamily opportunities, you can follow along by clicking here. I usually only come across 1–3 deals per year that are worth investing in.
