Levi Thornton

You’re correct. If we step back to 2019, it was cheaper to buy than to rent, but that has since inverted. That’s a normal part of how the housing market functions over multi-decade cycles. We move through phases where renting becomes cheaper, which expands the renter base. As demand builds, rents rise to the point where they begin to compete with the cost of homeownership. At that point, more people shift toward buying, accelerating, that normally starts the next bull run on home prices.

@ramit yeah totally backwards. renting is cheaper than buying right now. it was not like this 10 years ago.

This person says "most places rent is more expensive than a mortgage." Reality: It's more expensive to own than rent in 100% of the top 50 metro cities in America In my experience, American homeowners REFUSE to run a simple buy vs. rent calculation

@JackieHirsch_ Cut out all the noise and ask for POF. They will produce it or disappear.

On the phone today, a Buyer told me…money is no problem. Me: “Is the money sitting in your bank account?” Buyer: “No.” But I know where to get it. Me: “Tell me more, have been given $5MM by this person previously?” Well…I kept asking questions and…we could both see very quickly…money would be a problem. Have a plan of action prior to speaking with brokers. Not just what you’re going to say…but an actual plan on how you’re going to raise capital, how are you going to use your own capital, what lenders are you speaking with, what HNWI are you speaking with?

@Jacob_Naviaux I’m the same way. I won’t entertain deals that don’t hit my box, however I will forward the deal to others that will work those, and they will give me a finders fee.

I have a friend in Atlanta who flips 40–50 houses a year. He only buys what fits his box. Everything else? Pass. I’ve told him for years—wholesale the near-misses. His pushback: “Too much hassle.” I get it. But that “hassle” is real money left on the table. If a deal is within ~$10k of your buy price, there’s often another investor who’ll pay more. If you’re only monetizing what you close… You’re likely leaving a lot of profit behind.

@ChrisRamsey60 Or just stop growing. That’s what most do. The friction becomes so great they get stuck fighting their own success.

Growth forces organization. More deals, more complexity More customers, more problems More revenue, more moving parts At a certain point, chaos stops being manageable. You either: Build systems Tighten processes Get sharper as an operator Or fail

I’ve got a story. About a decade ago, I dealt with an elderly woman who had an unbelievable number of cats, well over 30. It had gotten so bad the county refused to trap them outside because there were just too many. So I went over to talk to her, and during the conversation she mentioned she had roommates. I asked where they were staying in the house because clearly she was the only person living in it.. she said “the crawlspace”. I thought she was joking.. so she showed me. Sure enough there was three men on cardboard and sleeping bags in the crawlspace. Apparently there were her “boyfriends”.

@levithorntonxc @realfrugalmogul Yep that’ll change your take on pet deposits and pet rent real fast lol

Tenant: Hi Frugal, I am thinking about surprising my boyfriend with a puppy. I am curious if you accept pets and how much the rent would increase by? Me: Congratulations! I am a pet friendly landlord. There’d be no increase in rent. Tenant: OMG, seriously? We have been considering a pet but I have been afraid to ask Me: No concerns with me. You’re both great tenants and I’d like you to stay and be happy. If a pet supports that, god bless. I am going to share a quick list of breeds that my insurer excludes. Outside of that list, I hope you find a great pet! Tenant: Thank you!!

If we get any closer to a repeat of the 1970s-1980s, bellbottoms and Afros are going to start trending again.

@Jacob_Naviaux @realfrugalmogul Till he gets crazy cat lady with 32 cats 😆

@realfrugalmogul Was waiting for the message at the end saying, “No, of course not. It’ll be a $1,000 pet deposit and $50 pet rent per month.” Lol

@Heston83 @ChrisRamsey60 I think software like 11Labs is having a run-to-zero at the moment. They now have more than 100+ competitor, and that’s multiplying daily. Complex software problems are no longer a moat it once was.

@levithorntonxc @ChrisRamsey60 Wow man that’s awesome. I was fully expecting “11Labs” or something else that similarly doesn’t work lol

Who’s got ideas about how we can use AI in real estate?

We rolled our own using NodeJS with advanced neural voice models, real-time audio streaming, and A2P compliance. We built in voice modulation with AWS and others, full event logging, and database-triggered workflows so conversations can automatically drive actions across the platform to support full range of on demand forwarding, recorded messages, extensions, or transcribing based on the customers desires from a prompt based system.

@levithorntonxc @ChrisRamsey60 What did you use for ai voice answering?

@markcecchini My attorneys, accountants, and CPA don’t even speak the same language, much less even operating in the same jurisdiction.

Level 0 - My financial advisor and CPA don’t know that each other exist. Level 1 - My financial advisor and CPA are sometimes on the same email chains. Level 2 - My financial advisor and CPA have both been in a 3-way meeting with me to talk annual planning strategy / liquidity event prep / planning for upcoming tax prep. Level 3 - My financial advisor has a login to the CPA’s online portal, proactively uploads tax docs, provides context behind investment activity, clears major tax-related planning moves with my CPA before execution, and my CPA knows that they can go to them at any time with questions or missing info.

@N8RealEstate It’s not you. The market is compressing

My direct mail is not working good this year so far Very low response rates, bad leads Going to start mixing some stuff up

@MarketPalmer_ The one thing I’ve learned from this social media platform is everyone talks a good game, hardly anyone is actually in it.

I asked my followers, "If you've owned rental properties, is the stress worth the return?" 95% of people said no.

@Jacob_Naviaux Market compression is wild right now. A seller, who is apparently also an agent, called us yesterday asking if we wanted to pay cash as-is for her property. Her price.. $100,000 above Zillow’s Zestimate 😆

Me: “I can offer $170K.” Agent: “That’s not going to work. We have an as-is appraisal for $220K.” Me: “You’ve been listed at $220K for 3 months…” As-is appraisals mean absolutely nothing in this business. The only thing that matters is what an investor is actually willing to pay today. Value isn’t determined by a report. If it hasn’t sold (especially after 90 days on market)… …it’s obviously not worth anywhere close to list price.

Everything on the 2nd. The late fee kicks in at midnight on the 1st. Eviction can start immediately. You need to legally punch so hard that their great grandpappy can feel it from his grave. Joking aside, tenants view the late fee date as the due date. You can start eviction immediately after that, secure the writ, and hold it as long as the state allows for an instant strike if needed later on.

@levithorntonxc So for you rent is due 1st, 1 day grace period, then late fees assessed on the 3rd? When do you start eviction proceedings?

If your tenant is late on rent, the worst thing you can do is let it go on for weeks or months before taking legal action. Here’s what I do: Rent due on the 1st. • 4-day grace period • 6th → 10% late fee added Once the late fee hits, tenant gets an automated email: – Notifying them it’s been added – Reminder that if not paid by the 10th, dispossessory will be filed (with additional fees) No rent by the 10th? • File dispossessory in Magistrate Court • Post notice on their door • Loop in my eviction specialist (Eastern European woman who’s incredible at resolving these situations) Goal: Get them current ASAP. If that’s not possible → get them out quickly without dragging through a full eviction. The key is showing you’re not playing games. Legal starts just 10 days late.

@realEstateTrent All of real estate right now in a nutshell

Was pitched a strip mall deal this morning. It’s around a 4% cap based on today’s income. The pitch: If I can get back a space where’s there’s a non-paying restaurant tenant, spend a year releasing it, pay TI and leasing commissions, then it becomes a 6.75 cap, or $5M. Which is roughly market. The price they’re asking: $5M. So, I’m supposed to pay $5M today… Do all the work… take all the risk… spend the time and money… And then it’s worth $5M when I’m done? Correct. The strip mall world right now, in a nutshell.

@bavedikian Depends. I knew a guy who was in that format, because he had an ex wife 😆

Every once in a while, I'll come across someone who owns real estate in a corporation. They always say they know it's bad, but their attorney and CPA said it was fine at the time. Any lawyer or CPA that recommends owning real estate in a corporation should be jailed.

This creates a "policy trap" where the economy is visibly cooling while inflation remains stubbornly elevated. This divergence leaves both markets and policymakers in a state of prolonged confusion as the old playbooks no longer match the data.

The primary complication is that inflation is no longer driven by overheated demand. Instead, it is being propped up by external and artificial pressures like energy spike from war, new tariffs, and persistent supply-side bottlenecks that refuse to ease.

We’re transitioning into a late-cycle slowdown. We’ve moved past "peak growth" into a phase of gradual deceleration rather than a systemic collapse. It’s not a cliff-drop; it’s a "grind" where the economic engine starts to feel heavy. 📉 🧵