Private money lending decisions do not get made at a desk, and this episode proves it. In episode 2 of The Route, Jason and Abraham drive a full route through South Florida: three live loan deals to analyze, two portfolio properties to check on, and one rule that decides everything. Protect the principal first.
The Construction Loan on the Intracoastal
The first deal is a half built new construction right off the Intracoastal, in a pocket where finished homes sell north of 20 million dollars. The borrower bought the lot for 1.2 million as a teardown, put roughly 500 to 600 thousand into getting the build halfway done, and needs another 700 thousand to finish. The comp supports it: a similar finished house nearby sold for 2.7 million. The quote on the table is 11.5 percent with 2 percent origination. Deals this size sometimes get shared, with Price Capital bringing partners in or being brought in by others, taking a portion that fits the situation. The paperwork looks like a perfect deal package. The episode is about why the paperwork is never enough.
The 2.2 Million Dollar Parking Lot
The second request: a 600 thousand dollar loan at 11 percent over 24 months, about 5,500 a month, secured by a parking lot the borrower claims is worth 2.2 million. Standing on the asphalt, the answer gets simple. There is a reason it is still a parking lot. Developing it means years of permitting, serious capital, city relationships, and construction that disrupts the four buildings surrounding it. Land that cannot be developed anytime soon is weak collateral no matter what number gets attached to it. Pass.
Saying No in Thirty Seconds
A broker calls mid drive with 40 condo units in Coral Springs, 2006 construction. Jason and Abraham pass before the pitch finishes: they do not do condos, and controlling only part of a building inside an association is a structure they want no part of. The lesson is in how the no gets delivered. Fast, direct, and with the door open for the next deal, because wasting a broker's time is how you stop getting calls.
Protect Principal, Then Yield, Then Appreciation
When Abraham asks whether the Intracoastal deal still works at 10 percent instead of 11.5, Jason lays out the framework that governs every decision on the route. Priority one is protecting principal. Two is yield. Three is appreciation. The second and third can flex deal by deal. The first never moves, because if the principal is not protected, the promised return is irrelevant. Growth gets all the attention, but there are times to grow, times to maintain, and times to cut, and knowing which time it is matters more than chasing the highest number.
Value Add Real Estate in Action
The route ends at two Price Capital properties in Coral Springs. The first is a nine unit apartment building bought in 2022, since renovated top to bottom: kitchens rebuilt with islands, bathrooms redone, new fencing that gave every tenant a private patio, cameras throughout, and a property manager walking the asset monthly. Average rents went from 1,750 to 2,000 dollars. That is roughly 25,000 dollars a year in new income, and at a 6 percent cap rate it translates to about 400 thousand dollars in added value. That is value add real estate and the core of multifamily investing: buy it, fix it, raise the income, and let the cap rate math do the rest. It is the same discipline that runs through every deal the team analyzes.
The Office Building Going to Market
The last stop is an 18,000 square foot office building the team has owned for six years, converted from a dental office with about 200 thousand dollars of work into open modern space. It is being sold for one reason: headquarters moved to another building the team owns, and holding space you do not need is not a strategy. The decision echoes the principles from The Price Perspective: look at the numbers, make the call, move.
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