Livin' La Vida Luna y Luca
"Dad, dad, dad, dad, dad, can we take a picture with the statue?"
"Sure, stand next to it and do something cute"
Luca 🤣🤣 😆 😆
Portfolio Performance
On April 4, 2025, the S&P 500 experienced a decline of 5.97% to 5,074.08, marking its biggest single-day decline since March 2020 (😷), due to concerns about President Trump's tariffs and a potential global economic slowdown.
YTD returns are -14%. 😳
Y'all already know my stance on massive sell-offs. Close your eyes and keep buying (preferably automatically)
In the meantime, focus on what you can control. Now's a good a time as any to do a brief portfolio performance overview.
We'll start with the active new construction deals and then pivot into the passive rental properties.
Project Hillside
Closing is scheduled for 4/15.
I haven't talked much about Project Hillside because at some point in the past ~6 months, Dia decided we were going to move into it.
... And we did. Surprise!
Project Silver Spring
We're nearing the finish line.
Paint is done and vanities are in. We're installing light and plumbing fixtures this week. We're also installing the underground irrigation system and sod by the end of this week. New garage doors should be installed by the end of the month.
Our final clean and stage team is on standby. 🎉
Project Oliver
We just finished putting the tiles and floors in this week. I think vanities and cabinets are coming in next.
We're under contract to sell and scheduled to close on May 31st. We're likely not making that date and we already let the buyers know. 😬
Project Fairmount
The roof is on and the windows are in (pic above is slightly dated)
On the heels of the success we found with Project Oliver, we decided to test our luck with Project Fairmount as well.
We hit the market a few days ago and there's a good amount of interest brewing. 🤞
Project Weston
We closed on 1/7/25 and took the house down on 3/20/25, which is only 72 days!
It's also worth mentioning the prior owners were in the house until 1/31/25, so we technically broke ground 48 days after the keys were handed over. That's lightning fast.
Compare that to Project Fairmount where it took us 100+ days to start demo.
As of today, we have a gigantic hole in the ground. We're starting the foundation this week and should start framing by the end of the month. 👏
We got our renderings in as well. They came out sweet!
Project Townsend
We're scheduled to close on 4/17/25. We already received CTC from the lender so we're in a great position as far as the acquisition goes.
My partner and I are still making love to the floorplan. That sounds weird, but it's accurate. We're trying to make sure everything is in the right position so all parties are satisfied.
Designing a 7 bed, 7 bath home isn't easy. You'd think having ~6,000sf to play with would make things easier, but it doesn't. It's difficult to fill that much space effectively.
Now let's move on to the rentals. A few weeks ago I told you I was selling everything. I wasn't kidding.
Champion
We accepted an offer. 🎉
Bittersweet moment.
I bought this property 4 months before Luna was born. My original plan was to hold it until she went to college and then sell it to cover her tuition. I didn't even make it to Kindergarten 🤣 .
But the timing was right. This sale kills half a dozen birds with one stone. I may or not do a post-mortem after the check clears and the dust settles.
Walnut
Is currently listed for sale and the first open house is this weekend. 🤞
Walnut is to Luca what Champion was to Luna.
Dah well. The kids will be alright. 🤣
Catharine
Is also currently listed for sale.
This is our failed flip from 2 years ago. We decided to hold it as a rental and test the market each spring to see if we could dump it. We've been sitting on the market for 39 days as of today.
We've had a handful of private showings, and the feedback has been decent, but not a single offer.
We're going to drop the price ~5% tomorrow 😬. That's about all we can afford to do. If it doesn't sell at the updated price, we'll pull it off and hang onto it for another year.
Project Baltimore
This 4-unit behemoth has been a thorn in my side since the day we purchased it. Well, the day after to be specific. When the City of Philadelphia notified us that this building was now considered a historic property.
It jacked up our plans and it's been a bureaucratic roller coaster since.
Thankfully, we're in the final stretch. Floors and tile are getting done this week. Cabinets and vanities are ordered. We're going to start marketing units for lease towards the end of April. As soon as the building is fully rented and stabilized, my partner will seek a long-term fixed-rate loan to refinance me out of the deal.
I'm walking away at breakeven. Hopefully, by the end of summer.
That's a wrap!
I do have a handful of other positions, but those are loans I made to, or equity investments I've made in other people's projects. Since I have no direct say in those project's inputs or outcomes, I'll skip talking about them here today.
The theme of today's post is to focus on what we can control.
And if you're feeling anxious at all about the sea of red that is Mr. Market right now, just remember this 1-2 punch: Close your eyes and keep buying, followed closely by putting your head down and keep working.
