Most of my deal reviews happen too late
At the end of every project, my team and I run an after-action review:
- What went right. (Always start positive.)
- What could we do different. Not "what went wrong," and not who. What.
- What we projected versus what actually happened.
- If the numbers are different, why.
- What changes in our process so it doesn't happen again.
If you have been reading these for a while, you know I think it's the most important thing we do. More important than anything else I teach, honestly.
But here's the problem with it. By the time we run it, the deal is done. The money is already made, or already gone. It's an autopsy. Great for the next deal. Useless for that one.
Nobody learns anything when they're making money
Not because there's nothing to learn. Because nobody looks.
That's why our review asks "why" even on the wins. If we projected a $300,000 sale and it sold for $320,000, we still dig in. Was it the bathroom we added? The finishes? The market? Or did we just get the comps wrong and get lucky?
Most people never ask. When a deal makes money, we celebrate and move on to the next one. When it doesn't, that's when we finally pull the spreadsheet back up. (Ask me how many of my best lessons came from deals I'd rather not talk about...)
And the lessons are expensive when you pay for them yourself. One Savannah property cost me $90,000. A Bentonville project left $78,000 of my own cash sitting in the house when it was supposed to be none...
But you don't have to learn every lesson with your own money. You can learn from somebody else's.
That's what Wednesday is
Last week I tore down my own duplex in this newsletter while it was still live. Same questions as an after-action review: what was the plan, where is it actually, why the gap, and what do I do about it. Except I asked them early enough to change the ending. Running the numbers changed what I'm doing on it: appraise now, lock the rate, finish.
There's no value in knowing the number. The value is in knowing what to do about it. (I stole that one from Tony Robbins.)
This Wednesday we're doing it with three real investors and their actual deals.
It's going to be direct, honest, and hopefully help some people out. Including the people just watching...probably more than anyone.
You don't need a deal to come. Most people are just coming to watch, and that's the point. Three investors are putting their real numbers on screen so the rest of us don't have to learn it the expensive way.
The Deal Teardown: Wednesday, October 21st
7:00 PM Eastern, live on Zoom. About an hour, plus live Q&A. Free.
Can't make it live? Register anyway. The recording comes with your registration.
Good luck, it's that sort of market right now.
Tarl Yarber
(Once again, I personally write these...)
PS: Need funding? We are actively lending on single family deals, hard money, DSCR loans, plus small multifamily, in 40 plus states. Go to www.fixatedfunding.com, or just email me and it comes straight to me.
