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When to Sell an Asset
Investment December 6, 2021/Investment Good investors are also storytellers. An investment is a bet that we see potential others have missed (or undervalued). We buy when we have a theory of how and when the asset will reach its potential. Correctly laying out the story at the start gives us a picture of how…
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Never Stop Growing Your Business
Uncategorized December 6, 2021/Uncategorized When I was a kid, my uncle joked that there are only two certain things in life. Death and taxes. He wasn’t wrong, but now that I have my own kids, I put things a little differently. They don’t need to worry yet about death or taxes, but there is a…
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Gratitude is Contagious
Lifestyle December 6, 2021/Lifestyle I love holiday season and Thanksgiving is my favorite. In my view, a good holiday has a purpose and gives us a chance to step outside our personal dramas remember the bigger context of our lives. We’re all blessed, and we need to remember that. This year, I am grateful for…
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End the Year Strong
Lifestyle December 6, 2021/Lifestyle Now that we’re into the final month of 2017, it’s time to think about how to close out the year. To many people, December is a time for shopping, vacations, and relaxing with family. There’s nothing wrong with any of that. But the end of the year is also an opportunity…
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Materialism and the Holidays
Lifestyle December 6, 2021/Lifestyle Winter holiday season is upon us. No matter what your religion, this is a great time to reflect on the year gone by and hopes for the future. It’s a time for warmth in a cold world, strengthening our souls by focusing on other people, and bringing families together. Unfortunately, like…
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Making the Most of Family Time
Lifestyle December 6, 2021/Lifestyle I always look forward to gathering with relatives at the end of the year and it saddens me that so many people feel anxious about family time. Even the tightest-knit families have plenty of friction. Whether we enjoy ourselves or simmer with frustration is mostly up to us. Families know how…
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Staying Healthy in the Holidays
Lifestyle December 6, 2021/Lifestyle It’s the season of temptation. Cold weather encourages us to stay indoors just as family plies us with hearty meals, endless sweets, and booze. We’re all at risk for entering the new year with expanded waste lines, clogged arteries, and feelings of guilt. Fortunately, we can avoid this outcome with a…
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Resolutions for 2018
Lifestyle December 6, 2021/Lifestyle New Year’s resolutions might seem corny to some people, but I take them seriously. The turn of the year is a special opportunity to reflect on what matters and focus on my goals: continuing to expand and improve Alliance; eating well; pushing my fitness level; and being the best husband and…
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Case Study: When Demand Outpaces Supply
Investment December 6, 2021/Investment Anybody can buy market exposure and rise with the tide. But the best investors make a heck of a lot more money, and they do it by being consistent over time. That requires relentless focus on supply and demand. It seems simple. When demand is growing faster than supply, prices will…
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Case Study: Smart Risk, Big Reward
Investment December 6, 2021/Investment Commercial real estate investing isn’t hard to understand. Find a property; pay an agreeable price; manage it competently. But to beat the market, it takes something more. See the unmet potential in a property. Take some risk to realize that potential. Lock in long term value. Nothing illustrates this approach better…
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What Will Happen With LIBOR?
Technology December 6, 2021/Technology I’m always on the lookout for new risks to Alliance’s business. Usually, they’re deal-specific, but recently I’ve been looking at something bigger. An important piece of the financial world is changing, and there may be a bumpy road ahead for the world economy. The London Interbank Offering Rate (LIBOR) is an…
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The Government Shutdown is Just Theater
Uncategorized December 6, 2021/Uncategorized The recent government shutdown inspired a lot of hyperventilating. While it ended quickly, the underlying political fight has not been resolved, so we could see another government closure soon. But is this a threat to the economy? Hardly. The US economy is huge. We currently produce about 19 trillion dollars…
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Fundamentals, not Gambling
Investment December 6, 2021/Investment There’s an old saying in economics, a rising tide lifts all boats. Stocks, bonds, homes, commercial real estate – all are way up since the financial crisis. To make money, all you had to do was be invested. But there’s luck and there’s skill, and luck doesn’t last forever. There…
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Make Room for Others to Shine
Development December 6, 2021/Development Successful people are used to being in control and taking care of business. Like the old saying goes, if you want something done right, do it yourself. There’s truth in that. If you care about something, you have the focus to see it through. But it’s also a self-fulfilling prophecy that…
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Alliance Case Study: Good Relationships, Good Business
Investment December 6, 2021/Investment My long-time readers already know that single tenant net-lease medical facilities are our bread-and-butter. Here’s the story of one of my favorite deals. In 2011, we found a specialty medical facility for sale in Austin, Texas. It was owned by a real estate developer who needed cash to fund other deals.…
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