Caleb Wursten

Okay let’s figure this out. How do we make homes affordable?

If you sell and you know real estate, hit me up. I'm about to launch a product that keeps landlords compliant and out of court.

When you can build software for almost nothing, the economics flip. You can afford to pay sales 50% commission and still win. The scarce resource is no longer the ability to build. It's the ability to sell. Relationships are everything. The age of the nerd is coming to a close.

Salespeople are about to get rich in the AI economy. Software development costs are collapsing. The budget that used to go to engineering headcount is being reallocated to two things: usage credits (rapidly commoditizing — see OpenAI dropping prices) and go-to-market.

This building was headed for condemnation. I brought it back. Under the Massachusetts rent control plan clearing hurdles for the November ballot, it would have been a loss of time and capital. The path to lower rent is removing barriers to supply. open.substack.com/pub/calebwurst…

If you haven’t heard from me in a couple of years — I’m alive. I’ve been heads-down redeveloping a three-family building from the 1880s in the Berkshires. It’s wrapped up now. To mark the end of the renovation, Here's what I learned about the economics of old buildings.

@drinkspindrift I'm a huge fan of your product (lemon lime all the way). Unfortunately the last batch was bad. It wasn't expired either! Purchased in Brooklyn, NY. Any idea why?

How to not get ripped off by contractors: Tell them you got a bid 40% cheaper. Ask why theirs is so much higher. Be friendly, say you want to work with them, but the numbers don't make sense. I saved $1,000 on a boiler repair by doing this today.

The Gem of the Berkshires: North Adams open.substack.com/pub/calebwurst…

Housing affordability is getting serious airtime. Kamala’s housing proposals: $25,000 first time homebuyer subsidy, crackdown on property management software and cutting red tape. More on this below.

The data is in – rural leisure towns are trouncing urban centers in property appreciation. The winners are Cape Cod and the Berkshires. The laggard is the Boston-metro area. Link in the comments.

What makes Nantucket special? open.substack.com/pub/calebwurst…

Over sixty five year-old homeowners are 14% of registered voters but make up 27% of voters in off-cycle elections, when local elections typically occur. That is a whopping 2x overrepresentation of retirement-age homeowners in local elections.

The status quo in housing production is not working. Until states govern zoning we should not expect a solution to the housing crisis. Fortunately, they are stepping in! Article in the comments.

The Housing Crisis on Nantucket. Nantucket’s median home price is $4.5 million. Suffice to say, it’s not an affordable place. In fact, the island is one of the least affordable places in the world... calebwursten.substack.com/p/the-housing-….