Scaling doesn't require partners.
I own 100% of what I buy. No LPs, no promote, no investor updates.
It's slower. Real estate X says raise money daily.
I'd still rather own 100% of 50 properties than 10% of 500.
Sometimes the hardest part of investing is discipline when deals don't pencil.
Sitting on cash while everyone else is busy buying.
Then, when the cycle turns, we pounce.
Friendly reminder:
Buy a bunch of cash flowing real estate with 30-year fixed debt. Hold it for 30 years.
You will be Scrooge McDuck rich.
Real estate can take you from zero to real wealth.
But it isn't easy, and it isn't always pretty:
- Boring years where nothing moves
- Down markets where you question everything
- Deals that don't pencil, so you wait
The people who make it are the ones who keep going through all of it.
The most dangerous line in any pro forma is the one that says "rents grow 3% a year."
We model flat. Growth is the upside, not the plan.
If I could go back in time, I'd buy everything in 2008.
But I was a broke law student with no money.
This time, we're ready.
Played Arcadia Bluffs last month.
Best course I've played. Every hole sits above Lake Michigan, and the wind decides what kind of golfer you are that day.
Already planning the trip back.
Why we're raising liquidity right now:
Real estate is sitting in Columbus market with no buyers. If rates stay here or go higher, we expect:
- More motivated sellers
- Less competition from buyers who need cheap debt
- The best entry prices we've seen in a decade
Be greedy when others are fearful.
Unpopular opinion: the best real estate investors I know aren't "real estate guys."
They're former accountants, attorneys, engineers, and operators who brought serious professional skills to an industry full of people winging it.
Your career isn't a detour. It's your edge.
Chris Stanley retweeted
Business Mission:
Build a portfolio of premium real estate assets that generates passive income exceeding our family's lifestyle needs, appreciates consistently, requires minimal management, and creates generational wealth - while allowing us to be fully present for our family and live with intention.
I love this self awareness from Ben Kern. You get to choose your path!
41 year old PGA Professional Ben Kern shot a 3 under par 67, the tied 2nd lowest round of the tournament so far, to comfortably make the cut at the PGA Championship.
Ben is the GM of Hickory Hills GC outside Columbus and says he plays “once a week” with the members, playing off a +6 handicap. After playing well at the 2018 PGA Championship, he said he felt like he finally belonged after spending 6 years “chasing it” on mini tours when he left college:
“Yeah, it just tells me, it shows me, it proves to myself that I can hang with these guys when I'm playing solid, and it was really nice. I felt good yesterday, didn't put up a good score, but the game's -- I hung my head high yesterday, and I had a goal today and I surpassed it.”
He went on to say:
“I spent a good amount of time five, six years after college chasing it, Q-School, mini-tours, and then got married and got in the business. Once I did that, I'm pretty happy with it.
“I am not one to want to practice all the time, so the week in, week out grind doesn't really appeal to me anymore. So I'm very happy with what I'm doing.”
Ben is currently the leader in total birdies for the tournament and no matter what happens this weekend, he will have one awesome story to tell his members back home.
PGA Professionals are the lifeblood of the game and it’s awesome to see them performing on one of the biggest stages in the sport alongside the world’s best players.
@PGAChampionship
Chris Stanley retweeted
41 year old PGA Professional Ben Kern shot a 3 under par 67, the tied 2nd lowest round of the tournament so far, to comfortably make the cut at the PGA Championship.
Ben is the GM of Hickory Hills GC outside Columbus and says he plays “once a week” with the members, playing off a +6 handicap. After playing well at the 2018 PGA Championship, he said he felt like he finally belonged after spending 6 years “chasing it” on mini tours when he left college:
“Yeah, it just tells me, it shows me, it proves to myself that I can hang with these guys when I'm playing solid, and it was really nice. I felt good yesterday, didn't put up a good score, but the game's -- I hung my head high yesterday, and I had a goal today and I surpassed it.”
He went on to say:
“I spent a good amount of time five, six years after college chasing it, Q-School, mini-tours, and then got married and got in the business. Once I did that, I'm pretty happy with it.
“I am not one to want to practice all the time, so the week in, week out grind doesn't really appeal to me anymore. So I'm very happy with what I'm doing.”
Ben is currently the leader in total birdies for the tournament and no matter what happens this weekend, he will have one awesome story to tell his members back home.
PGA Professionals are the lifeblood of the game and it’s awesome to see them performing on one of the biggest stages in the sport alongside the world’s best players.
@PGAChampionship
2 Breakfast Sammy’s and the Georgia Peach Ice Cream.
Those Breakfast sandwiches and coffee are MONEY!
🔥🔥
This is it.
There are 3 levels to success—but they don’t work the way you think.
🪜 Level 1 is climbing the ladder and chasing success as society defines it ($).
The ladder has infinite steps, and most people stay on it forever.
A few start to question why they’re climbing…
🪜 Level 2 is stepping off the ladder, redefining success on your terms, and taking bold steps to live in alignment.
You still play the game but you are not the game.
It’s a good life, but eventually it dawns on you:
You’re still chasing… just different things.
🪜 Level 3 is climbing back down the ladder.
It’s not a goal, it’s a state of being. There’s no score.
It’s knowing the secret that Jason Mamoa describes:
—Less is more
—Only a few things really matter (and they can’t be bought)
This is true whether you’re a billionaire or broke.
Level 3 is rarefied air—not because it requires credentials, but because it requires that you break your programming and want less.
It’s not sacrifice, it’s liberating in a way that financial wealth can never be.
There’s no conflict here—Jason Mamoa still makes movies (and millions of dollars). He can visit that world and walk the red carpet while inhabiting another world.
A question for you:
Are you leveling up… or climbing the infinite ladder?
I stepped off the ladder to Level 2 about 8 years ago (better late than never). Now, at 55, I’m eyeing Level 3.
I couldn’t be more excited.
💯
If we assume the point of investing is ultimately to improve your quality of life and the quality of life of those you most care about, investments that consistently add stress over long periods of time probably don’t make sense.
Money is traded for things or experiences that catalyze certain feelings. If your investments are generating the opposite spectrum of feelings, it might be time to reassess. It’s easy to miss the forest for the trees.
Money is a means, not an end.
And in the end, most things matter very, very little.
Do what helps you sleep at night and wake up with a low heart rate.
To me, those are the hallmarks of a world-class investor who gets the big picture.
Business Mission:
Build a portfolio of premium real estate assets that generates passive income exceeding our family's lifestyle needs, appreciates consistently, requires minimal management, and creates generational wealth - while allowing us to be fully present for our family and live with intention.
Both of my kids' basketball seasons ended this weekend.
I coached my son's team. We weren't the most talented squad, but we improved every single week - and by the end of the season those kids were competing with anyone. That's all you can ask for as a coach.
My daughter played travel ball for the first time. Third grade. Her team won a championship. Watching her hold that trophy - almost as big as her - was one of those moments that stops time for a second.
In moments like that, I think about:
5 years ago, I would have missed some of these games. I was General Counsel of a billion-dollar company and I was good at it - but "good at your job" and "present for your life" are not the same thing.
Real estate has been the key that allows me to be in the gym for every game, every practice, every post-game pep talk. Not some of them. All of them.
People ask me if I miss the career. I don't. Not because it wasn't great - it was. But nothing in a boardroom has ever come close to watching your daughter hold her first huge trophy.












