SSS #313: Out to Lunch

Livin' La Vida Luna y Luca

"Take a picture! Take a picture!" *Proceeds to get blinded by the sun* 😂

Out to Lunch

I hardly ever go out for lunch. Maybe 2-3x/month, and typically on a day Dia goes into the office.

This week I went out every day. A bit much on the belt and budget, but super fun and accretive overall.

Monday: Girard Closing

Lunch on Monday was signing closing docs for Project Girard with my partner. Two cups of coffee and ~80 signatures later, I had my fill.

After closing, we did a quick state of the union. Where are we on all projects, how we feel about 2026, and of course, we spent 10 minutes analyzing a new deal that I'm in the middle of sourcing for us.

Despite talking on the phone 3-4x/day, my partner and I don't get much facetime. He's always on the go, and I'm more of a desk jockey. It was good to hang IRL - even though it was strictly business.

Tuesday: New Business

On Tuesday, I met with a 3rd generation local investor. Half the people reading these words have been in a building his family owns. Big boy stuff.

I met his cousin out in LA during Reconvene, and he was generous enough to make an introduction.

I'm not exactly sure where this relationship goes, but sitting down with someone like this is always an eye-opening occasion. The way he talked about grocery-anchored retail, large multifamily, and the entitlement process for adaptive use is so far beyond my current understanding. I'll have to come up with fake reasons to get in front of him again.

Wednesday: Damage Control

A few weeks ago, I made an offer on a house sitting on an oversized lot. My offer price was probably 1.5x the value of the existing home. However, I required a subdivision contingency - meaning I want the town to approve the subdivision before I have to buy it.

We came to terms on price and timing and sent the contract to the attorneys. In the seller's first round of revisions, they increased the price by 20%. I was shocked. Price is not usually something that gets revised. It's usually nitpicking certain terms like deposits, contingencies, and closing dates.

So my partner and I scheduled an in-person meeting with the sellers at their home and found out:

• They can't wait for the subdivision
• They want more - they want us to pay market rate for 2 lots
• They want out yesterday - for personal reasons I can't disclose here

We left their home in shock. We went into the meeting thinking we'd meet in the middle on price and move forward with the same subdivision contingency, but we got railroaded. They aggressively told us they wanted more than what we offered, and they weren't willing to give us the time we needed to pursue.

I needed some comfort food after that beating, so my partners and I grabbed an early lunch to lick our wounds.

We're presenting a new offer on Tuesday. Will report back. 💪🏽

Thursday: Fam Time

My cousin works near my home, so we grab lunch once/month. He's an IT guy, so naturally, he's fooling around with AI right now. He showed me a private chatbot he made that's super cool. It uses lesser-known LLMs to generate responses. The conversations don't get uploaded to "the cloud". Instead, they're hosted locally on his computer.

V cool, but also way above my pay grade.

I pitched him an idea that I've had for years now, and he sent me an MVP while I was eating dinner later that same day. 😅🤯

Developing with AI is a game-changer. It also removes my excuse to procrastinate on this idea.

Friday: Luna Salad

Luna's school was off on Friday. Dia took care of her in the morning, and I had her in the afternoon.

After a quick lunch, I took her to the library to play on the computers and pick up some new books.

On the way home, she helped me drive for dollars. I taught her which houses we want to buy and which houses we should leave alone.

Start with the grass and then scan your way up to the roof. We're looking for multiple signs of neglect:

• Overgrown grass or bushes
• Undersized home compared to neighbors
• Full or broken mailbox
• Dirty or broken windows or siding
• Moss or stains on the roof
• Furniture or Heavy Equipment in the yard
• Oddly shaped houses - weird additions or bump outs

We did 1 street with ~10 houses to start. She crushed it.

Then we did another street with ~60 houses, and she tapped out. She started yawning, groaning, and complaining around house 40. 😂

I brought her home, we went straight to her room, and she fell asleep in like 3 minutes, lol. She woke up when Luca came home from school.

I get it, girl. Daddy's work is a snoozefest.

😴😴😴