Dan Hagberg

Reflecting on the past few years I'm truly amazed by what Bolt has been able to put together. A visual representation below, check it out 💪

@AjOsborne1 Nice, congrats

Under contract on a 5 million self-storage deal, seller financing. 100k+ rentable sqft. Five-year interest-only at 4%. Far below replacement cost under market rates in a growing market. 30% under listing price. You don’t find deals, you make them.

@aussieflya Ha I’m sure they do this as well.

@DanStorage This is like a meeting to schedule a meeting

The irs sent me a letter just to tell me they needed more time to send me another letter.

We are renting storage units at record pace. 386 units rented in the first 8 days of May. 48.25 units per day. Same period last year: 206 rentals for 25.75 per day.

@CoachDanGo @homegymcoop Idk the tonal is worth it to me. Personal trainer in my basement who adjusts all the weights for me without having to think! Only piece of exercise equipment I’ve happily paid a subscription for

@homegymcoop No piece of home gym equipment should come with a subscription. That’s what gyms are for.

The first time I tried a Tonal, I knew digital resistance was going to be the future for many home gym owners. I got ripped on by every Tom, Dick, and Harry for recommending anything that wasn't free weights. Now, everyone who can afford it is buying Voltra's. My biggest issue with Tonal: the subscription cost...

@ChrisRamsey60 What area?

@DanStorage I know a lot of 40 year old D1 athletes with a beer belly

One of the main reasons I can keep weight off easier than 99% of people: I never allowed myself to get fat. I've stayed between 195 and 200 lbs for my entire adult life. Once you allow yourself to get fat, your body will work against you in every biological way forever working to get back up to that weight. You will burn less calories at rest than a metabolically healthy person. This metabolic disfunction increases as you throw more intense, crazy diets at your body. Your metabolism enters a state of constant fear, never knowing when you might starve it again. Long term consistency is the key! Stay on it early.

It doesn’t work this way in self storage for brokered deals. Buy side agents get told to kick rocks. So an early “look” is essentially a 6-12 hour head start before a deal is email blasted out into the world. Industrial (and seemingly retail) work much differently and the concept of an off market broker deal exists/is helpful

Why do I see many deals before they hit the market? It’s very simple. When a broker gets a new listing, the commission is typically between 2% to 5%, depending on the size of the deal, etc. Let’s take a $10M deal, for example, and let’s use a commission of 5%. If a broker finds a buyer themselves, they’re not splitting the fee with a buyer broker, so the $500k goes to their side. This is typically split among their team members (if any), and the their brokerage takes somewhere around 40%. So with two three team members, that’s $167 per person, or $100k after their company takes their cut. Now - things change dramatically when the buyer is represented by a different broker. It’s very common for the fee to be split 50/50 between the buyer’s broker and the seller’s broker. So if a different broker brings the buyer the deal, that broker gets half the fee, or $250k. The selling team now splits $250k, each getting $83k, and $50k after the company split. The last thing a listing broker wants is for a buyer they already know to see the deal through another broker, therefore essentially giving away half their fee for no good reason. So, before they get ready to put the deal on crexi, etc - listing brokers very commonly reach out to buyers they know are active in the market. If they do this and another broker brings the deal to that buyer - the buyer will alert them that “thanks but we already saw this.” If brokers don’t know you, or don’t know you’re actively looking, you’re not going to get those pre-market calls. Simply put: you better be working hard to create a brand presence as a proven buyer, or every deal you see will be a deal others have already passed on.

In the real estate business you can always count on 3-5 year stretches where not much happens. No refis. No buying sprees. No sales. Just put your head down and operate your properties well and wait for the next cycle.

@BobKnakal @BKRealEstateAdv 2.2b in sales congrats Bob

Two years ago, I took a leap that felt, at the same time, uncertain and inevitable. After more than four decades in the business, I launched @BKRealEstateAdv with a very simple idea: strip brokerage down to its core purpose—represent the seller, work only on exclusives, eliminate conflicts, and focus relentlessly on achieving the highest possible price, on the best terms, as quickly as possible. No distractions. No competing agendas. Just alignment. Today, as we hit our two-year mark, I could not be more proud of what our team has built. Their work ethic is relentless—six and seven days a week—and it shows. In just 24 months, we have closed 54 transactions totaling more than $2.2 billion in sales volume. We’ve advised some of the most sophisticated owners in New York City on development sites, vacant buildings, and complex repositioning opportunities. More importantly, we’ve proven that with the right systems, strategies, and tactics, highly driven professionals—regardless of tenure—can thrive in this market. We’ve also continued to invest heavily in information. The evolution of the Knakal Map Room, the Knakal Land Index, and the launch of our Developer Ranking System all stem from a belief I’ve had since day one: better information leads to better outcomes. Most of all, I’m grateful. To our clients, our teammates, and everyone who has supported this journey—especially my wife and partner, Cynthia. At 63, after 42 years in the business, BKREA has me feeling like a kid again. We’re building something special—and we’re just getting started.

Patiently waiting for the day a unit like this makes it to auction

@twallyweb Go gettum tiger

Everyone please wish me luck on tonight’s planning commission

@DallasAptGP 👀👀

Every apartment operator is hunting for margin right now. Rents are flat. Insurance is up. Taxes are up. Most owners stare at the revenue line and hope. The smart ones look at the expense line and act. The first place we look, in good markets and bad, is the water bill. Your water bill is not a fixed tax. It is a controllable variable. If your water bill shows use of over 200 gallons per unit, per day, you are burning cash. We see deals in due diligence averaging 500 gallons. That is not "old plumbing." That is system failure. We target 130 to 160 gallons per unit, per day. Hitting this number does not require a miracle. It requires a specialized crew and a checklist. You can cut usage by 50% or more in less than a week. A crew of eight plumbers can sweep a 200-unit property in days. The scope is surgical. Toilets. Replace tanks with high-efficiency models (Toto Entrada CST244EF). Regulators. Install low-flow showerheads residents won't notice. The "silent" leaks. Replace angle stops. These drip for years, rotting subfloors and draining bank accounts. Main line. Fix underground leaks that never surface but spin the meter. Now the math: Take a 100-unit property in Dallas. Current usage: 300 gallons per unit, per day. Annual water bill: $120,500. We spend $100,000 on a full conservation sweep. We drop usage to 160 gallons per unit, per day. New annual bill: $64,250. Annual savings: $56,250. That is a 56% return on capital in Year 1. But the savings are only half the story. Real estate trades on a multiple of NOI. At a 6% cap rate, that $56,250 in savings adds $937,500 to your asset value. $100,000 in. $937,500 out. In a flat rent market, this is how you force appreciation. If you operate 100+ units in Texas and need to find margin immediately, DM me. We run the analysis. We find the leaks. You keep the equity.

@DallasAptGP Wow, can’t believe this is possible. Sorry you had to deal with it and great PSA

In Texas, a criminal can steal your $6,000,000 building for $30 in cash. No ID required. No background check. Just a forged signature and a trip to the county clerk. In 2022, this happened to two of our buildings. If you own real estate, you are a target. The Texas county recording system runs on a "notice" basis. The clerk’s job is to record documents. Not verify them. A criminal created a fake deed for two of our assets. They used a cut-and-paste notary stamp pulled from a different public record. They used a courier to send the documents into the clerk’s office. The courier handed over the forged paper and paid $30 in cash. The clerk accepted the document. No driver's license. No signature check. The public record showed a Delaware LLC owned my property. $6 million in equity vanished from the legal chain of title in seconds. Once a criminal controls the deed, they have two moves. They sell the property to an unsuspecting buyer and disappear with the cash. Or they get a hard money loan against it, collect the proceeds, and vanish. Either way, they try to be long gone before you find out. I found out during a refinance. My title company called with a question: "Why did you quitclaim these buildings to a new entity?" I hadn't. I contacted the Dallas Police Department, the FBI, and the Texas Secretary of State. Every agency gave the same answer: they are overwhelmed with this type of fraud and didn't have the time or resources to pursue it. The criminals hide behind Delaware shells and registered agents. The county takes cash, so there is no bank trail. There is no ID requirement, so there is no face for the cameras. Most investors assume their title policy covers this. It does not. Standard title insurance covers defects that existed before you closed. It guarantees you received a clean deed at purchase. It does nothing for crimes committed after. This is a gap in your risk management you did not know you had. It took 90 days of legal work to fix. The "new owner" was a ghost. I had to file a lawsuit to quiet the title. I spent $20,000 in legal fees and secured a default judgment because the criminals never showed up to court (obviously). I won. But I am out $20,000 and three months of sleep. Criminals hunt three targets: raw land, free-and-clear buildings, and estate properties. A mortgage acts as a tripwire because banks flag transfers. If you own your assets outright, you are defenseless. Here is what I did after this happened to me: Property alerts. Most counties offer a free service that emails you when a document is recorded against your parcel number. Sign up for every asset you own. This costs nothing. Entity audits. Make sure your Secretary of State filings are current. Criminals look for lapsed registrations and "zombie" entities to find their next target. Push for policy change. State legislatures are starting to act. The law must require a government-issued ID to record a transfer of real property. It is insane that it does not.

@EllliotttB @sweatystartup Bromato’s made 100k for charity so was worth it I’d say👌

@sweatystartup Not all of them right

All the same people who were hyping crypto then NFTs then virtual reality are now pumping AI agents.

@sweatystartup Who built this for you?

The best investment I made in 2025 was this golf simulator for $50k. An entrepreneur flew down from Toronto to install it in my office. Virtually guarantees my kid a golf scholarship. Will pay for itself 5x.

@ajv It always seems to go that way ha

@DanStorage Had 1 guy who folded after turn. Very small pay out

Had the best poker hand of my life the other day: flopped it too

@realEstateTrent Yea Gusto rocks (so long as you don’t have too many employees). I use it everywhere. My old company we hired armies of PT ee’s seasonally. After 3-4 years Gusto stopped loading because of the back log. Can’t delete someone they’re entered it was frustrating

Thanks. Just sent this to my assistant.