DISPATCHES · MMXXVI
Market analysis, thesis work, and deal teardowns — published when we have something worth saying, not on a schedule.
An anatomy of three deals that cleared the screen, moved through underwriting, and still ended in "no." The discipline of declining is a portfolio construction tool — and a frequently under-taught one.
A specific, un-fancy play: take a 4-bed/2-bath duplex in the right Akron zip code, convert it to 6-bed/2-bath, underwrite the rent delta against HUD Fair Market Rent, and watch the cash-on-cash arithmetic do what most strategies cannot.
Why a single Cleveland zip code produces better risk-adjusted yield than most Sunbelt markets nobody talks about. A walk through the numbers, the neighborhood, and the reasons the rest of the industry keeps looking past it.