Donovan

Very long re-introduction for the new followers! - grew up to working class parents who each made no more than $25/hr (still some of the most incredibly hard working people though) - my two brothers (I’m the middle) and I all shared a room until we went to college - went to Univ of Tulsa for petroleum engineering (hated that we lived paycheck to paycheck growing up so googled the highest paying major and did that) - graduated 2019, accepted FT role in Houston at large o&g company (w/ $30k in student loans) - within a few months realize no way I can do that for 40 years (commuting, traffic, too tired when you get home to do much else) - search YouTube for “something” else (looked at dropshipping, tutoring, Uber, real estate) - no friends or family that own businesses or RE so began consuming large amounts of Biggerpockets content and set my sights on house hacking - April 2020 (23 at the time) close on a new construction duplex with 0% down loan (didn’t have any money) - Covid has hit, very tough to get it rented but got it done (rented it by the room instead) - Immediately realize there is not enough duplexes in Houston for the amount of the demand (took me 6 months of looking to close on one) - Put together a sh*tty presentation and began pitching investors in FB groups to invest w/ me - 40+ people tell me some version of “no” (rightfully so) - a 66 yr old doctor in NJ agrees to get on board (give him 85% of upside, no fees, give visibility into bank account) - close on first piece of land August 2020 - get two more investors from FB groups - (no idea what Im doing just winging everything) - only thing I felt confident in was the 25% margins (w/o leverage) - get up to 12 land parcels with 3 investors by early 2021 - first duplexes take about 50% longer than I estimated (why the he*l do I need a driveway permit before I can order my electric meters??) - mid construction on my first few is when I get more active on ReTwit - share what I’m working on and get a few more investors from here plus going to @REconveneLA - this is all on the side of my engineering job - leave engineering job to join an amazing start up (Jan 2022) in the resi lending space @build_Upright (currently raising $20MM debt fund w/ $14MM raised) - through 2022 and 2023 continue to rinse and repeat building mostly the same floorplans - currently finishing up duplexes 24 and 25 soon with 19 more in permitting + 3 townhomes under construction - closing on a small $140k revenue cleaning biz this month with @651Michael (follow him to keep up with that) I turned 27 in September my goal is to continue learning as much as I can over the next few years where building relationships > money at this point I’m hoping this pays off over the next 27 years as I sit here probably with less liquid cash then you reading this 🙂

@TannerBuilds Agreed on the people but there are some pretty sick views in Manhattan (not smart enough to work in any of those offices, but still sick!)

@DonovanBuilds Comparing apples to oranges. Sf views and NYC people is the best combo

Hate to admit it but nyc is so much better than SF even with the shi*ty weather

@KenjiCapital Oakland over sf all day though

@DonovanBuilds Hurting my heart D. But yes, NYC is incredible.

@dealflow_guy Kinda jealous I didn’t think of this first

Talked with a group and their entire business is taking post-Codie/Ben course people and selling them a subscription to scour Biz Buy Sell listings. They have 70+ clients and growing. It’s kind of insane.

@YIMBYLAND AHC is going to sell units for $ 6MM if this is going for $5

Dude these people are going to be so fucked when we inevitably crest over the backside of this local maximum.

@ScottChoppin Looking good 🔥

The 5 Properties of Competitive Real Estate Development Strategy — from 25+ years in development: 1. Complete - no missing pieces 2. Coherent with reality - no magic thinking 3. Effective - produces intended outcomes 4. Strategic - advances your position 5. Competitive - beats the alternatives Miss any one and your deal falls apart (Project shown is an SB1123 project on behalf of a developement services client)

Great reading for any new developer Experiencing all these issues on the same project and still seeing it through is incredible

@YIMBYLAND We’re turning all cities that have built 25k+ homes annually into spring break destinations

“There’s a clear, growing interest in Houston as a spring break destination” 1) what

@benjamintink Paging @DevaniAlkarim for his take

I need feedback. Is this right design choice for a small lot build or more modern? Modern designs can look better as part of a cohesive, denser project, like the famous Blackbirds build in LA. But buyers love this farmhouse look on single family lots. Silicon Valley market.

@651Michael Dude belongs underneath the jail Glad the kiddos weren’t in there

Got into the craziest car accident I’ve been in last night. Left a clean, blizzards going. Guy doing 40, and drunk driving down the wrong lane smashed me dead on. Legs thrashed. Chest and ribs all bruised. Car is gone. Think I’m done cleaning for a little. What a night

@ScottCa17132677 The ol inside job Have had that one happen a few times They even locked up afterwards!

@DonovanBuilds Was walking with my inspector for frame inspection and he noticed your missing copper in all our units. It happened again but this time we caught the culprit, a day laborer stuffing the copper in his bag for a few dollars that cost us thousands in repairs and lost time.

Someone broke into one of my Houston 4plexes under construction recently Thousands of dollars worth of damage for what I assume to be tens of dollars worth of copper Quick work by HPD caught him and they asked if I wanted to press charges What would you do?

@mattbramanti I feel the same way “Does a bear sh*t in the woods?”

@DonovanBuilds x.com/mattbramanti/s…

@resetbasis This is the only way

@DonovanBuilds Ruin his life in any way possible

@_FlipMan I said absolutely But this is twitter

@DonovanBuilds How is this even a question? Lock em up and throw away the key.

Don’t sleep on local TV news. Alongside sports, it’s the only content that people who aren’t terminally online watch in a linear fashion. We’ve had 75+ TX homebuyers sign up for TurboHome since this piece ran yesterday on Fox 4 in Dallas.

The perfect tweet doesn’t exis——

@mnolangray Congrats!! First words will be SB684 (Probably)

Well, this puts a lot of things in context.

@moseskagan And reasonable eviction timelines for tenants who don’t pay

What many YIMBYs miss about the Austin housing supply miracle: Investors were willing to capitalize that construction, in part, bc, except in cases of *actual* emergency, Texas bans rent control at the state level.