6th Annual Article on Books and other Life Updates

You can access my prior articles here: 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021 Career Change, 2022).? You can also email me at brandon@vistablock.com if you'd rather read or print this as a PDF (it's "only" 22 pages in Word->PDF format). As always, you can safely skip to whatever sections might interest you without offending the author.?

I.???????Opening Comments on Article Background and Reading Books

II.????? Brief Thoughts on Each of the 52 books of 2023 (top 10 in bold)

A.????? History Books

???????? i.??????????? Independence/Revolutionary War

???????? ii.?????????? Slavery/Civil War/Reconstruction

?????????iii.????????? History that Reads like a Novel (i.e., more entertaining)

?????????iv.????????? History that Reads like a List of Facts (i.e., more efficient)

?????????v.?????????? Books that Don’t Fit in Any of Above Categories

B.????? Business/Real Estate Books

C.????? Some of “The Classics” + Beartown Trilogy

III.??? Jackson’s Ranking of his 20 books (for those looking for some options for young readers)

IV.??? Real Estate Investment Discussion

A.????? Quick Family Story on a Real Estate Investment

B.????? Where Vistablock is, Where We are Going, and What We Need

C.????? Vistablock Investment Options

??????????? i.???????? Equity 1

??????????? ii.??????? Equity 2

?????????? iii.??????? Equity 3

?????????? iv.???????? Debt 1

??????????? v.????????Debt 2

?I.???????Opening Comments

For the first timers wondering why I take all the time to publish this article every year: Fundamentally, it’s a value proposition for both my “audience” and for me.? In my view, the value to a reader of creating something worthwhile is multiples higher than the superficial content I would have to create to post in a “typical” content creation campaign every week.? I’m not creative or disciplined enough to have something worthwhile to post every week.? And for me, capturing 15 minutes of the attention of even the 1% of my potential audience who choose to engage with it is worth multiples more than the value of capturing 1-3 seconds of attention every week if I engaged in a “typical” campaign.?

It is also the best way I know of holding me accountable to my reading goal of 52 books per year, forever. ?This year’s post is late, and I had a few dozen people already asking me where my article is and if I was slacking.? Can’t let those people down!? My hypothesis created 6 years ago was that reading this many books over the next 20 years would make me a better litigator, father, husband, friend, marketer, etc.? I wanted to run a small sample-size prospective “correlation v. causation” experiment because so many people at the top of their profession credit voracious reading as an indispensable part of their success, but it is easy to say that after you’re at the top.? How do we know all the people grinding away at the bottom aren’t reading a ton with nothing to show for it?? And what about all those people who got to the top without reading any books?? I thought in 20 years, we could see if it worked, in multiple facets of life.?

Unexpectedly, I received an opportunity to run a real estate development company 3 years ago (incidentally, the opportunity was directly related to a connection generated from that year’s article!), so I no longer litigate or work at a law firm.? But reading has already given me in six years more than I imagined I would get out of the 20-year experiment, so I am more convinced than ever of its benefits.

Also, I enjoy the feedback loop created from the article: when someone tells me they read my articles; when someone reads some of the same books (even – or especially – if they have different opinions on it); when someone offers me a book recommendation they want to add to my list of my next 500 books (or, for the ambitious few who really want to skip the line, they mail a book to me ??).? Especially when it is someone I am not in frequent contact with or a literal stranger who found my article because someone else they know on LinkedIn liked it.? I saw an acquaintance last month for the first time in many years, and they said, “hey by the way I love your book articles, I read X, Y, and Z from your list.” ?

Finally, in my view, nothing “scales” for creating deeper connections with people better than one’s own long-form written word, whatever it is you choose to write about.? If you can get the reader to engage with your work for 15 minutes, they can learn something about your primary topic of choice, but interspersed in there they learn about your passions, thoughts, reactions, plans, successes, and challenges, in a way you could never scale by having individual calls or meetings. Of course 90% or more won’t read it, won’t like it, won’t get it, or won’t care - a lot of people can only focus on one thing for a few seconds these days - but you don’t write for them. You write for the top 1% or even 0.1% of those “impressions” a post might make who want to build a deeper business or personal (or both) relationship in 2024 and beyond.? Whether that’s talking about books, life, real estate investments, Philly sports, or ski trips to Jackson Hole, Snowmass, or following Hemingway’s tracks in Switzerland summarized below.?

Here’s an average night for me at my boys’ sports practices, slightly exaggerated for effect and humor:

Me: [reading a book while keeping an eye on my son’s practice].?

A fellow sports parent: Hey Brandon, whatcha reading?

Me: Hey what’s up? It’s called [Name of book]

Them: Cool, how is it? Me:

[some version of] exceptional/really good/just ok.?

Majority of Them: [some version of] "You’re so lucky, I wish I had the time to read books."

Me: I hear ya. It is hard to find time for anything these days.?

Them, next 90 mins of practice: [scroll to the end of every social media app]. [insert facepalm emoji]

I recognize in the grand scheme of the history of mankind, it IS an amazing luxury that I can spend 5% of the 8,760 hours per year engrossed in a book.? It is 9-10 hours per week on average, all of which are at my kids’ practices/games/meets (if I’m not coaching), on the stairmaster gauntlet, or the 15-30 minutes in bed before I fall asleep at night. But I'm not hearing "I wish I had the time" from Grapes of Wrath dispossessed Oklahoman farmers en route to California during The Great Depression or The Jungle Lithuanian immigrants working in the Chicago stockyards in the late 1800s.? Those people literally had no time to read because every minute was focused on survival.? But I’ve heard this from people who watch nearly 162 Phillies games/year + playoffs; people who play over 20 rounds of golf per year; people who watch to the end of the Netflix catalog; and even multiple people who are literally retired.? Come on folks, what you mean is probably “I don’t like to read books enough to prioritize it above other things I enjoy.”? No problem with that whatsoever, but you definitely have time if you want to read them!? Just like I technically have time to work out, eat healthy, and play golf, but I don’t prioritize them enough.? So I’m left with the proverbial DadBod, can’t hit a fairway, and blade most of my chips.?So it goes.

Two quick rules if you think you do want to prioritize reading books.? #1: Hide your phone. I absolutely love reading and can focus intensely for lengthy periods. But if my phone is within reach, there is no chance I won't look at it at some point and then all bets are off. ?There's trillions of dollars invested in apps and their algorithms to distract us, so none of our brains can compete against those algorithms regardless of your interest in a book's content or your ability to focus. #2: Newton's First Law of Motion applies to reading. If you read every day, even if it's only for 15 minutes, you will stay "in motion" and keep going until you finish. If you wait to read until you have an uninterrupted two hour block, and you're a parent with a full-time job and young kids and friends and other hobbies, your reading will stay "at rest." I don't think I've had two uninterrupted hours to read in the past 6 years, but as long as you keep the momentum going in the little pockets of 15-30 minutes, you can still read a significant amount.

As promised last year, I have ventured more into classic literature this year with Steinbeck, Hemingway, Stowe, Dickens, and Sinclair, to help breakup the business, biography and history tomes that are my usual diet. Many have given me slack for it - "why read those now, school was decades ago?" I read a Weekend WSJ article that featured a quote that answered this question: “The trouble with education is that we always read everything when we're too young to know what it means.? And the trouble with life is that we're always too busy to reread it later.” – Margaret Ayer Barnes.? Margaret is long dead, unfortunately, but she was right.? Reading these Classics at 40, I found them more valuable, relevant, and insightful than I ever could have at 20 or 30. To wait to read them until "time permits" at 50, 70, or 90, assuming one is fortunate enough to live that long, would mean less time to put all that insight to good use.

Books (at least the better ones) are still the greatest bargain for knowledge, wisdom, and entertainment out there.? A great writer spends 2,000 - 20,000 hours learning about a specific series of events, key people, outcomes, and conclusions sometimes spanning an entire career.? He or she then spends another thousand hours writing and revising it as concisely and as well-organized as possible. ?I buy the majority of my books for $1 or $2 at book fairs, but even when I “splurge” for the brand new Barnes & Noble title for $25, I still consider that quite a bargain.? That’s like paying the writer one penny per hundred hours of labor for them to create this for you.? At most, 52 books might cost $1,200 per year, and you will learn more and like it more than spending $80,000 for a year of college classes, to say nothing of the “$1.50 in late charges at the public library” option expressed in my favorite movie.?

II.????Brief Thoughts on Each of the 52 books of 2023 (my top 10 in bold)

A.???History/Biography

??????????i.??? American Independence/Revolutionary War

1.?????? The Cause – The American Revolution and its Discontents 1773-1783, by Joseph Ellis: I am always interested in the logic and justification of the American “Loyalists”, because I think it would have felt risky to go to war with the British Empire.? But once war commenced, I like to think I would have joined “The Cause.”? Ellis relates General Nathanael Greene’s opinion of the British sympathizers on Long Island.? “Among all the reasons New York would prove difficult to defend, perhaps the most worrisome was that a substantial portion of the residents did not wish to be defended.”? Ellis’s ultimate conclusion runs counter to Washington and historians’ characterization of the American victory as a miracle.? “In truth, Great Britain never had a realistic chance to win the war, despite its military and economic superiority.? American victory was not a miracle; it was foreordained.”? I was persuaded.

2.?????? Founding Brothers - The Revolutionary Generation, by Joseph Ellis: Pulitzer Prize winning book, I read back to back with The Cause.? Interesting chapters on Hamilton, Washington, Jefferson, Adams, Franklin, and Madison.? It is impossible to read Ellis’s work on this period without becoming convinced that the overwhelming majority of founding fathers were against slavery:? “Slavery was an anomaly in the American republic, a condition that could be tolerated in the short run precisely because there was a clear consensus that it would be ended in the long run… there was a prevailing consensus that slavery was already on the road to extinction.”?

3.?????? The Birth of the Nation, by Arthur Schlesinger: Unlike Ellis’s books that focused on the leaders of the US and Britain during the revolutionary period, Schlesinger describes the typical family life in the countryside, the towns, and the growing cities.? For the Lancastrians reading this, some special mention of the German market-town of Lancaster, the Conestoga Wagon, and the Ephrata Cloister.? A chapter on the Labor Market reported the overwhelming number of settlers, whether rural or urban, were their own masters.? “Only the unambitious or unlucky were willing to work permanently for others in America.”? 3 years ago, every tenth of my hours was determined, scheduled, worked, and billed for others, but the last 3 years have provided me this opportunity to be my own “master.”? The extra motivation inherent in knowing I am rewarded by successful outcomes more than outweighs the stress of knowing I also bear the risk for poor ones.?

4.?????? Our First Civil War – Patriots and Loyalists in the American Revolution, by H.W. Brands: Brands focuses on Franklin’s role in trying to orchestrate a peace between Britan and America, using letters between Franklin and his London friends in Parliament.? Franklin wrote, “And it seems to me that until you have found by dear experience the reducing us by force impracticable, you will think of nothing fair and reasonable.? We have as yet resolved only on defensive measures.? If you would recall your forces and stay at home, we should meditate nothing to injure you.? A little time so given for cooling on both sides would have excellent effects.”? Franklin, of course, was unsuccessful in this regard, but his efforts were illuminating.?

5.?????? The Age of Franklin, by Robert Allison: Engaging Wondrium Course assessing different aspects of Franklin as Printer, Scientists, Satirist, Indians, Slavery, Politics, British Empire, Independence, Revolution, the Constitution, and Making Peace.? Can never learn enough about Franklin.?

6.?????? Turning Points in American History, by Edward O’Donnell: A second excellent Wondrium course on 48 turning points.? I love any “myth busting” or “contrarian” history, and this delivered great examples.? It also represented my last Wondrium Course because I finally accepted that, much to the chagrin of my wife, I do not retain the spoken word as well as written.? I can’t highlight and write notes in the margins.?

??? ii.??????????? Slavery/Civil War/Reconstruction

7.?????? The Souls of Black Folk/The Talented Tenth, by W.E.B. Du Bois: This book should be required reading for anyone digging into race relations in 2023, especially many of the hot button topics raised by the recent debacle surrounding President Gay at Harvard.? I wish I had read it earlier in life, as it would have shaped the way I thought about the last twenty years of identity politics.? Du Bois experienced excruciating racism in the American South in the Jim Crow era.? He writes, “Men of America, the problem is plain before you.? Here is a race transplanted through the criminal foolishness of your fathers.? Whether you like it or not the millions are here, and here they will remain.? If you do not lift them up, they will pull you down.”? While he puts responsibility on the white race to “lift them up,” he adds particular responsibility to “The Talented Tenth.”? “The Talented Tenth of the Negro race must me made leaders of thought and missionaries of culture among their people.? No others can do this work and Negro colleges must train men for it.? The Negro race, like all other races, is going to be saved by its exceptional men.”? There is a lot more to it, obviously, but it was well worth the read.?

8.?????? The Impeachers, by Brenda Wineapple: Another thrilling narration of a controversial period in our history, Wineapple depicts the actual detail of Johnson’s impeachment trial in details that are both fascinating from a “I can’t believe that happened” perspective and repulsive from a “corrupt senators voting to acquit in exchange for patronage” perspective.?

9.?????? Reconstruction – America’s Unfinished Revolution, 1863-1877, by Eric Foner: This was the best book of the seven I read around this era, jam packed with primary sources from the era, illustrating the numerous misconceptions about the time, and evaluating what “freedom” really means for recent slaves.? It is really long though – basically a college level course on Reconstruction.? Foner provides too much data to recount here about how much progress southern blacks actually made during these 14 years in terms of land ownership, voting rights, political office, and total wealth, which made it particularly deflating at its conclusion.? “What remains certain is that Reconstruction failed, and that for blacks its failure was a disaster whose magnitude cannot be obscured by the genuine accomplishments that did endure.? Reconstruction’s demise and the emergence of blacks as a disenfranchised class of dependent laborers greatly facilitated racism’s further spread.”?

10.?? Slavery by Another Name – the Re-enslavement of Black Americans from the Civil War to World War II, by Douglas Blackmon – Pulitzer Prize winner sheds light on that dark period when American Blacks had come so far and endured so much to become free citizens, only to have their 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendment rights violated as the Reconstruction policies wore off and the Federal Government deferred to the States on police issues.? All readers of history know that lynchings occurred during this era, but this book reports the details of so many of those episodes that force the reader to marinate on the details and the ubiquity of these events.?

11.?? The President and the Freedom Fighter – Abraham Lincoln, Frederick Douglass, and Their Battle to Save America’s Soul, by Brian Kilmeade: Both men were obsessed with reading, speaking, and learning from a young age, and developed independent and evolving opinions on slavery and the constitution.? Douglass initially worked with William Lloyd Garrison giving lectures on abolition.? But they had a split in the 1850s because Douglass came to believe the text of the Constitution provided the necessary support for abolition, whereas Garrison believed the Constitution was irredeemable and needed to start from scratch.? The book evaluates Lincoln’s public comments on slavery including during the 1830s in the Illinois State House “slavery is founded on injustice and bad policy,” to the House Divided speech in 1858 “this government cannot endure permanently half slave and half free,” to his attempt at calming the South in his inauguration in 1861, “I have no purpose, directly or indirectly, to interfere with the institution of slavery in the States where it exists.”? It tracks Lincoln’s comments with Douglass’s reaction, particularly his disappointment at Lincoln’s inauguration comments and later Lincoln’s delay at allowing Blacks to fight on the Union side and to emancipate all slaves.? While they did meet three times, I wrongly inferred more of a relationship from the title of this book than actually existed.?

12.?? Thaddeus Stevens – Civil War Revolutionary, Fighter for Racial Justice, by Bruce Levine: As a Lancastrian, I should have read a biography on Stevens before my 40th year, but better late than never.? Much of his prominence in abolition and reconstruction is well-known, but most interesting in my Lancaster bias were two anecdotes.? First, his attempt to create public schools in Pennsylvania during the 1830s, which faced fierce opposition from the large ‘Pennsylvania Dutch’ population who wanted each man to educate his children, or not, as he saw fit.? Second, his successful defense in the criminal trial of the “Christiana Riot” participants, including Castner Hanway.?? Hanway helped protect escaped slaves from Edward Gorsuch, who had travelled north from Maryland to try to reclaim his four escaped slaves shortly after the Fugitive Slave Act was passed.? I was also surprised and disappointed by how many Lancastrians (and our newspapers) so strenuously opposed him and his policies on abolition, equality, and reconstruction.? Finally, his ability to use wit and sarcasm to persuade and engage were evident through many examples, which I aways appreciate.?

13.?? Lincoln at Gettysburg – The Words that Remade America, by Garry Wills: Imagine winning a Pulitzer Prize for writing a book about a few minutes of oration from Mr. Lincoln, but Wills earned it with this one.? As many times as I have read or listened to the Gettysburg Address, I had never studied each word as this book requires.? I never knew there were journalists and politicians who, having heard the speech, disputed that the Constitution and Declaration of Independence meant what Lincoln said they meant.? “For most people now, the Declaration means what Lincoln told us it means, as a way of correcting the Constitution itself without overthrowing it.? By accepting the Gettysburg Address, its concept of a single people dedicated to a proposition, we have been changed.? Because of it, we live in a different America.”?

?? iii.??????????? History that Reads Like a Novel (i.e., more entertaining)

14.?? Thunderstruck – Erik Larson – The fast-paced world-wide competition for the invention of “wireless” around 1900 by Guglielmo Marconi, meshed together with the murder and escape via cruise liner shortly after 1900.? As always, Larson weaves so much interesting background, including a famous quote about the fledgling technology by England’s Lord of Science, Kelvin, “I’d rather send a message by a boy on a pony.”? Emblematic of how hard it is to change someone’s mind/habit/preference about something innovative.?

15.?? Dead Wake – Erik Larson – most of us have heard of the Lusitania sinking that started the slow advance of U.S. involvement in World War I, but few probably know the “perfect storm” of factors that had to occur for this huge passenger ship to be sunk in a matter of only 18 minutes, killing 1,200 people and 123 Americans just a few miles off the coast of Ireland.? The biggest surprise was how much the British Navy knew about the German U-Boat strategy and exact locations, but concealed from the U.S. and commercial shipping companies.? Larson even suggests, with a fair amount of evidence, that some on Britain’s side (including a young Winston Churchill) thought the U-Boat torpedoing of civilian boats would further Britain interests because it would provoke American involvement.?

16.?? Nothing Like it in the World – The Men Who Built the Transcontinental Railroad 1863-1869 – Stephen E. Ambrose: Great book for any real estate developer.? These men overcame all the struggles we grapple with (land acquisition, government bureaucracy, competition, obtaining approvals, public opinion/dissent, raising capital, managing large teams of specialized experts, etc.) plus so many that we thankfully don't have to solve. It helps put our challenges in perspective and provide inspiration. If those guys could build a railroad across the mountains with 1860s technology, we should be able to build some residences and industrial buildings.

17.?? The Last Castle, by Denise Kiernan: I have never wanted to visit a landmark more than I now want to visit the Biltmore after reading this book.? The reports about the Vanderbilt dynasty and family succession planning in the Gilded Age were also engrossing.? George Vanderbilt received $13,000,000 of assets in 1888.? He went on to acquire 125,000 in acres and build the 175,000 square foot Biltmore castle, the exceptional details of which are too lengthy for this article.? Kiernan summarized, “Those who had earned their wealth were two generations removed from those who now enjoyed it.? Many wealthy scions lost the ability to earn.? For those, it would soon be once again back to shirtsleeves.”? George died at 51 from a heart attack.? One take away: If plowing that much money into the nicest castle and estate in the country didn’t increase Vanderbilt’s happiness, it is unlikely a nicer/bigger/fancier house will do so for any of us.?

18.?? The Wager – A Tale of Shipwreck, Mutiny and Murder, by David Grann: Good reminder not to end up shipwrecked on a deserted island in the mid 1700s.? I would have died within a few weeks, but many of these men survived for over a year and even found their way back to England.? Good themes of morality and leadership during trying times.?

19.?? The Boys in the Boat - Nine Americans and Their Epic Quest for Gold at the 1936 Berlin Olympic, by? Daniel James Brown: Most of us know anyone who does crew is a masochist, but this book reaffirms how hard the training is, how competitive the sports is, and how much teamwork is involved.? I have plans to see the movie, but am glad I read the book first.? In addition to the saga of the Washington Crew, the book dovetails the struggles of the Great Depression for families in? Washington State.?

20.?? The Watermen - The Birth of American Swimming and One Young Man’s Fight to Capture Olympic Gold, by Michael Loynd: I read this back to back with Boys in the Boat, so they run together a bit.? Hard training, socio-economic class disparities, underdog, and Olympic patriotism.? Very good story even for non-swim families, but if you have a competitive swimmer in the family, it is a must read.?

21.?? Lightning Down, A World War II Story of Survival, by Tom Clavin – American pilot shot down in August 1944, captured by German soldiers, and sent to Buchenwald with 170 other Allied airmen.? They were tortured and treated like the other concentration camp prisoners.? They were even ordered by Hitler to be executed as the allies were closing in on the camp.? Like being shipwrecked on a deserted island in The Wager, I would not have lasted long in one of these camps.?

?? iv.??????????? History that Reads Like a List of Facts (i.e., more efficient)

22.?? How the States Got Their Shapes, by Mark Stein: This might sound like an elementary level book, but it was quite advanced and detailed in its descriptions of all 50-state borders.? For instance without looking, I challenge any Pennsylvanian to tell me why their shared border with Delaware is a perfect arc.? It teaches so many historical facts, disputes, and compromises in our nation’s history on the east coast, while exploring how we encouraged settlements and uniformity in the western states.????

23.?? The Dirty Dozen – How Twelve Supreme Court Cases Radically Expanded Government and Eroded Freedom, by Robert Levy and William Mellor: The analysis of these 12 cases was completed with a lay audience in mind, which is probably why I understood it way better than I ever understood Constitutional Law in Law School.? Or maybe I am just more interested in it now.? The cases are all from the last 100 years and caused the bloated, inefficient, intrusive, and expansive government we suffer today.? I highly recommend this book if you want to get angry about the failure of unelected judges from both sides of the aisle to uphold the Constitution that they are sworn to uphold in matters of promoting the general welfare, regulating interstate commerce, rescinding private contracts, lawmaking by administrative agencies, taking property through regulation and/or eminent domain, and restricting business formation.?

24.?? The Invention of Power – Popes, Kings, and the Birth of the West, by Bruce Bueno de Mesquita: My Poli Sci Major mind loved this book, wish it had been published 20 years earlier.? The premise is that Western Exceptionalism – more freedom, prosperity, and peace compared to the rest of the world – was not caused by culture, work ethic, religion, or race, but rather by the 1122 Concordat of Worms that incentivized economic growth, accountability to citizenry, and secularization.? Concepts like a Parliament and representative democracy were a function of this competition with the Catholic Church.? The evidence shows the farther a ruler’s distance from Rome, the harder it was for the Church to inflict punishment. ?As a result, “Northern Europe become wealthier, less dependent on the Church, and more likely to create sovereign states, while southern Europe stagnated economically, sustained its loyalty to the church, and was slower to adopt political accountability.”?

25.?? Metropolis – A History of the City, Humankind’s Greatest Invention, by Ben Wilson.? Reading about the lessons from the development of dozens of different cities around the world across different centuries is both inspiring and intimidating - great opportunities to improve communities, but great responsibility not to negatively impact the community as well.? The most disappointing part from my macroeconomic view is the government-subsidized fomentation from the 1950s-2000s of large single family homes in the suburbs with big grass yards, two (or three)-car garages, and car-dependent commutes to work, eat, shop, and play. Vistablock has six large residential projects working its way through various stages of approvals in Central PA, and the hostility against anything except large single family homes, both inherent in zoning ordinances and maps drafted 50+ years ago and among a portion of the citizens and decision makers, is a common hurdle to any more efficient use of remaining developable land. I say that as an owner of a SFH, so I more than understand their appeal, but still wish we could have encouraged and incentivized alternative housing options more than we did and do.

26.?? The Columbian Orator, edited by David W. Blight: Referenced by Lincon and Douglass so much that I figured I should read it.? It’s the resource they both used to improve their oratory skills, based off about 75 famous speeches of the past.? “The orator is not born; he learns and practices his craft.? The greatest of orations are likely to be the product of long education, revised drafts, borrowed and reinvented words.”? In reading all these speeches from British Parliament, American Founders, Romans, Greeks, and others, you not only improve your oratory skills but get first person historical accounts from key moments in history.?

?v.??????????? Books that Don’t Fit Neatly in Above Categories

27.?? Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance – An Inquiry into Values, by Robert Pirsig: I was skeptical of this book due to is title (I don’t care about motorcycle maintenance), but thankfully you don’t have to be a mechanic to really enjoy it.? Pirsig and his 11-year-old son complete a cross-country motorcycle trip with a married couple, delving into the details of motorcycle maintenance on a granular level while tackling big issues of philosophy, parenting, and understanding other people.? Pirsing embraces motorcycle maintenance so he can save money, save time, and do it better than a random bike shop, whereas the couple rely on mechanics along the trip because it would take them too long and be too irritating to learn how to maintain it.? “The range of human knowledge today is so great that we’re all specialists and the distance between specializations has become so great that anyone who seeks to wander freely among them almost has to forego closeness with the people around him.”? I felt that as a developer managing a dozen or more different specialists with great distance between them.? ??

28.?? Currency Wars – The Making of the Next Global Crisis, by James Rickards: A great book to read if the Ukraine/Russia War, Israel/Hamas War, and the threat of whatever Iran and China are up to is not enough to get your juices flowing. While published in 2011, it is in many ways prophetic of the last few years of monetary and fiscal policy.? it applies even more to the world today than it did in 2011.? For instance, the negative feedback loop accelerated by today’s social media is even more catastrophic in the bank runs we experienced in 2023; we have seen de-dollarization at record levels with 95% of the trade between Russia and China transacted in currency other than the dollar; and we have seen discussion and criticism of the dollar’s suitability as the global reserve currency.? This is all well above my pay grade, and I probably need to read the book 2 or 3 more times to fully understand it, but it was really good.?

29.?? Hoover, by Kenneth Whyte: My first biography on Herbert Hoover, or really any in depth learning about him at all beyond presiding over the worst financial crisis in American history.? He was a very effective, organized, well-read, and successful international businessman before World War I.? During the Great War, he led the greatest humanitarian venture in history trying to provide the entire food supply for Belgium’s 7.5 million people.? Henry Stimson said Hoover had “the greatest capacity for assimilating and organizing material of any man I ever know.”? Surprising me, his handling of the financial crisis as reported by contemporaneous newspaper accounts was positive.? Many thought he had calmed the initial panic and the U.S. was back on the path to prosperity, until European banks crashed amid all the reparation payment defaults. ?But my greatest surprise was how much of Roosevelt’s programs were Hoover’s own initiatives related to “bank relief, agricultural aid, labor reform, industrial cooperation, federal aid to local government, separating commercial from investment banking, and a federal deposit insurance program.”? Essentially, FDR gets too much credit and Hoover too much blame.?

30.?? The New Testament, by [Various Authors]: They say not to talk about money, politics, or religion in polite company.? Of course most of the books I read touch on money, politics, and/or religion, so I probably should just not write anything.? Boring!? I know nothing I write can possibly persuade someone to believe in Jesus Christ, nor is that a purpose for my writing.? I am far from a biblical scholar and, since the onslaught of my sons’ sporting schedules, an unreliable church attendant to boot.? But I argue reading the actual text straight through at least one time in your life regardless of your faith (or lack thereof) without study guides or obsessing over individual passages is worth everyone’s time.? Somehow it took me forty years to do it, but it was more powerful (and efficient) for me than any sermon, hymn, Sunday school, or bible study I’ve experienced.? We (or, at least, I) tend to consume the New Testament in bite-sized sentences of a specific book of the Bible, analyzing every word and application, but we can lose the forest through the proverbial trees.? What I came away with most strongly is this thought: Knowing there was no livestreaming, twitter (I mean X), or videorecording at the time, I don’t know what else we can expect The Apostles to have documented to persuade a reader that they were documenting the truth about Jesus’s life and resurrection.? It is intellectually easier, instead of reading it, to just think: “it was over 2,000 years ago, I know nothing like a resurrection has ever happened since, it seems physically impossible, some Christians are a little nuts, so I just won’t engage with it.”? And if you read all and conclude it’s made-up, that is perfectly fine too.? But at least read it through once, heck if you’ve read this far into the article, you can read it easily because it is much more captivating.? Yes, I made it a Top 10 choice in part because if there really is a God, as I believe, he’d be pretty insulted if I chose ten other publications over his own ??.? ??

B.??? Business/Real Estate

31.?? Super Founders – What Data Reveals About Billion Dollar Startups, by Ali Tamaseb: Tamaseb knows the inner workings of the Venture Capital world and is well-connected enough to include many interviews from around the VC sphere.? One that I latched onto was Keith Rabois from the Founders Fund, “I don’t like founders from the industry.? I typically avoid them like the plague.? I prefer people who are much more na?ve.? Mostly industry expertise teaches you what you can’t do or shouldn’t do, not how to do it.? And you don’t ask enough why questions, like, ‘Why is this that way?’ So I strongly prefer people without industry expertise… the best description of what I’m looking for is people who can navigate this intellectual maze.”? When I took the Vistablock leap, plenty of people, including the CEO of my law firm where I was a partner, questioned (as politely as possible) whether I knew enough about the real estate development business to leave my steady income and growing book of business to found a new company.? While I knew relatively little three years ago compared to now, “navigating intellectual mazes” is sort of my jam.? So with the help of dozens of vendors in the industry and, as you can guess, constant reading, Vistablock managed to pull off some success in the first three years and is set up for some really significant success stories in 2024 and 2025.?

32.?? Moonshots – Creating a World of Abundance, by Naveen Jain: “We have to create more of what we need rather than consume less of what we have.”? That’s the premise of much of Jain’s book, but he uses three examples of his own companies to demonstrate possible Moonshots.? My favorite is Viome, which may or may not be a successful company any time in the future, but its premise is almost all chronic diseases (depression, obesity, diabetes, cancer, auto-immune diseases) are caused by chronic inflammation.? The gut microbiome plays a key role in controlling inflammation.? But “most drug companies focus solely on suppressing the symptoms of the chronic conditions, rather than understanding and treating their root causes.”? So viome analyzes each person’s gut microbioime and then offers a personalized food and nutrition plan to reduce inflammation and reverse chronic conditions.? Have I used Viome yet?? No.? But I hope to take the plunge in 2024.?

33.?? The Smartest Guys in the Room – The Amazing Rise and Scandalous Fall of Enron, by Bethany McLean and Peter Elkind: I have a side that loves reading about a good public company scandal - the truth is always stranger than any fiction thriller.? So it is with Enron.? I was in high school when Enron blew up, so I wasn’t following the day-to-day the way some of you might remember.? But reading this book, it just blows your mind what they were doing internally, not to mention the accounting and law firms going along with them.? I would be so curious if anyone has a connection to anyone involved with Enron for any time at any role during the decade before ’01 just to talk to them, if they are willing.? Because as much as the book and the criminal trials uncovered, I am sure there are so many untold stories.? Internet, please work your magic.?

34.?? Dave’s Way – a New Approach to Old-Fashioned Success, by R. David Thomas: Some interesting tidbits in here.? I didn’t know the KFC background (Thomas worked there for 13 years), so he has some interesting anecdotes with Colonel Sanders.? For instance, Colonel Sanders sold KFC for $2 million, to a group who sold it 5 years later for $130 million.? Colonel Sanders could never live with himself after selling it.? Also his explanation of leaving the steady, secure income at KFC for starting his own company was valuable for me.? “If you need lots of studies and information to make decisions, it’s risky to be on your own in business.? You can’t afford either all the time or the money to get that kind of comfort.? Had I said, “Let’s go research this Wendy’s idea and see how we make a niche for ourselves,” the first Wendy’s would never have been built.? This felt particularly applicable to me, because of course I did some research on Vistablock’s plan 3 years ago, but it is impossible to study every potential outcome and detail that a company might encounter over its first 3 years.? While the hardest 3 years of Vistablock’s existence is now behind us, if I had known about every expense, every hurdle, every risk, and everything that could have possibly gone wrong, would I have still made the leap from law firm partner to this? ?Probably not! ?Which is a scary thought to think I would have missed out on everything I got to learn, all the people I got to meet, all the hurdles I got to learn how to clear, and all the time I got to spend with friends and family.?

35.?? The Psychology of Money, by Morgan Housel: Such a quick and easy, but valuable read using short stories to teach us about our emotional/psychological relationship with money.? I had at least six people recommend this book to me over the years, and there is definitely at least one chapter in here for everyone.? The two that impacted me the most were: 1) Use money to gain control over your time.? The ability to do what you want, when you want, with who you want, for as long as you want, pays the highest dividend that exists in finance.? We all know people who make a lot of money, but have almost no control over the bulk of their time and no reasonable horizon when that can change.? 2) Know what is your “enough”.? “There is no reason to risk what you have and need for what you don’t have and don’t need.”? He uses a few stories of people who had hundreds of millions of dollars, but engaged in reckless behavior to try to earn more. Avoiding goal post moving is hard (especially with inflation!) and for the entrepreneurial among us, it is not necessarily about the money; it’s about building something significant, or special, or lasting, or unique, etc.? ??

36.?? Real Estate Ventures – Formulating and Interpreting Promote Hurdles and Distribution Splits, by Sevens A. Carey: 500 pages on the technical details of how real estate partnerships/syndications work with hurdles and distribution splits might seem like a bit of overkill, and it probably was, but I wanted to know all the possible options of how to structure syndications to make it as attractive and straightforward as possible for investors while also ensuring they get their return of capital and a preferred return, and then reward Vistablock if we are successful.? I have talked to dozens of corporate and real estate attorneys over the last three years, and there is no easy, straightforward answer to most of these structures and most attorneys have not done enough to have true expertise yet.? The one attorney who truly blew me away with her knowledge and expertise with these syndications was Olesya Baker from Holland & Knight, but while I am sure she and her team are worth every cent, she doesn’t fit into Vistablock’s legal spend just yet.? Hopefully one day.?

37.?? The Book on Advanced Tax Strategies – Creating the Code for Savvy Real Estate Investors, by Amanda Han and Matthew MacFarland: This was a more digestible book than Real Estate Ventures, and probably more pragmatic too.? The biggest lesson I learned is that most people who have a 401(k), traditional IRA, or Roth IRA can directly invest in private real estate syndication deals through a self-directed account.? Of course there is some “hassle” factor in getting retirement money transferred to a self-directed account, but then it can be used to invest both as a “note” investor where it would generate tax-deferred income or an “equity” investor.?

C.????? Some of “The Classics” + Beartown Trilogy

38.?? Uncle Tom’s Cabin, by Harriet Beecher Stowe: One of those books many of us Lincoln/Civil War scholars read about, but never actually read.? Stowe was not only a brilliant writer, but had a brilliant political mind.? My favorite tactic she uses is communicating sarcastically directly with her “refined Christian readers” at various points throughout the novel.? “If any of our refined and Christian readers object to the society into which this scene introduces them, let us beg them to begin and conquer their prejudices in time.? The [slave] catching business, we beg to remind them, is rising to the dignity of a lawful and patriotic profession.? If all the broad land between the Mississippi and the Pacific becomes one great market for bodies and souls, and human property retains the locomotive tendences of this nineteenth century, the [slave] trader and catcher may yet be among our aristocracy.”?

39.?? The Jungle, by Upton Sinclar: The descriptions of life working in the Chicago stockyards are disgusting, revolting, and incredible, and yet the descriptions of being a Lithuanian immigrant trying to survive in the city are even worse.? “Such were the cruel terms upon which their life was possible, that they might never have nor expect a single instant’s respite from worry, a single instant in which they were not haunted by the thought of money… in addition to all their physical hardships, there was thus a constant strain upon their minds.? This was in truth not living; it was scarcely even existing.”? Like Uncle Tom’s Cabin, it is one of those books I heard about through reading history about this era, but never actually took the time to read.? ??

40.?? Walden, by Hendry David Thoreau: Getting inside Thoraeu’s mind in 1854 as he lived at Walden Pond is a pursuit well worth the time.? He makes exceptional points relating to life, money, time, and our choices about all three.? Relevant to any real estate developer, he compares Indian wigwams to modern houses, writing, “If it is asserted that civilization is a real advance in the condition of man, it must be shown that it has produced better dwellings without making them more costly; and the cost of a thing is the amount of what I will call life which is required to be exchanged for it, immediately or in the long run… so that [a civilized man] must have spent more than half his life commonly before his wigwam will be earned.? Would the savage have been wise to exchange his wigwam for a palace on these terms?”? 170 years before the iPhone and social media, he prophetically wrote, “Our inventions are wont to be pretty toys, which distract our attention from serious things.? They are but improved means to an unimproved end, an end which it was already but too easy to arrive at.? We are in great haste to construct a magnetic telegraph from Maine to Taxes; but Maine and Texas, it may be, have nothing important to communicate.” ?One more passage I have to include: “This spending of the best part of one’s life earning money in order to enjoy a questionable liberty during the least valuable part of it, remind me of the Englishman who went to India to make a fortune first, in order that he might return to England and live the life of a poet.? He should have gone up garret at once.”?

41.?? The Hemingway Stories, by Ernest Hemingway, Selected by Tobias Wolff: Hemingway was already my GOAT for A Farewell to Arms, For Whom the Bell Tolls, the Old Man and the Sea, The Sun Also Rises, and a Moveable Feast – loved all of them.? But then to describe my favorite activity of all time (skiing) in Cross-Country Snow, together with the camaraderie of ski friends mixed with the responsibilities and duties of actual life, really cemented his status. Nick and George are skiing together in Switzerland. “The rush and the sudden swoop as he dropped down a steep undulation in the mountain side plucked Nick’s mind out and left him only the wonderful flying, dropping sensation in his body.” ?They stop for a strudel and a bottle of wine in a cozy Inn.? “There’s nothing really can touch skiing, is there? The way it feels when you first drop off on a long run.”? “It’s too swell to talk about.”? George is leaving that night to get back to school and Nick is returning to the States with his wife, who is expecting a baby.? “Maybe we’ll never go skiing again, Nick.”? “We’ve got to,” said Nick.? “It isn’t worth while if you can’t.” “We’ll go, all right.”? “We’ve got to.”? “I wish we could make a promise about it.”? “There isn’t any good in promising.”? Ok, so that last part is a little defeatist, but explains why I put so much time and effort into making sure I can ski with my friends and family (involving years of planning, organizing, strategizing, and cat herding).?

42.?? A Moveable Feast, by Ernest Hemingway: As stated above, I loved all the Hemingway books I had read, but had not heard of this one until I finished the other four and asked Google what other Hemingway book I should read.? (This won out over To Have and Have Not, maybe next year).? I don’t really know how Classic books get ranked or become popular, but this should be way higher on Hemingway’s career list.? It is thrilling to read about his young adult life drinking coffee and wine throughout 1920s Paris with Scott Fitzgerald, Gertrude Stein, and others, and then hopscotching to Austria to ski with his wife and newborn.? As in Cross-Country Snow, he has a special talent in describing the thrill, art, and sport of skiing, along with the culture of the Apres world.? IYKYK, as the kids say these days.???

43.?? Great Expectations, by Charles Dickens: I loved reading this in a way I never could have loved it in high school.? Who among us cannot look back at the “great expectations” we all had in our teens with a mixture of emotions encompassing bits of nostalgia, disappointment, happiness, and many others?? Of course we all had some level of ambition and a belief we could achieve all our goals, whatever they were. ?But 20 years later some of those goals probably seem na?ve or silly, and we have new goals that seem wiser and more important. ?I will probably look back on my current goals as a 40 year old in 20 more years and think they were somewhat na?ve and silly, but at least I have that self-awareness now, whereas at 20 I was certain my goals would be universally applicable to me forever.? And also, many of us loved an “Estella” at some point of our youth, Dickens has a unique ability to describe what that feels like.? Finally as a father with two sons, this passage warranted special attention: “In the little world in which children have their existence, there is nothing so finely perceived and so finely felt, as injustice.? It may be only small injustice that the child can be exposed to; but the child is small, and its world is small…”? Of course we have to teach and prepare our boys that the world is not fair, because it certainly is not, but how we accomplish that lesson can cause some serious disruption, so I thought this passage was good perspective – it might seem small to us, but their world is small!

44.?? Slaughterhouse Five, by Kurt Vonnegut: “So it goes.” ?I don’t know much else about this anti-war novel other than he wrote “so it goes” a lot and I never knew where he was, what year he was talking about, or what was happening other than Dresden was being destroyed by the Allies while he was a German POW. ?I have found myself thinking or saying “so it goes” quite a bit this year though, which is due to this book.? It is a great stoic reaction to anything the world can hit you with, and we all know the world can hit hard at times.? Kids are sick – “so it goes.”? Big deal falls through – “so it goes.” ?Township Supervisors don’t cooperate with an exquisitely defined development plan – “so it goes.” Eagles lose 4 out of 5 to squander home field advantage after a 10-1 start – “so it goes.”?

45.?? The Road, by Cormac McCarthy: Probably the most depressing novel I read this year, if you like that sort of dystopian future in which almost everyone is dead, it is freezing, there is almost no food or water, and a father and son work their way through the landscape of dead people and marauders – and how could you not? There was something comforting and tear-jerking about the father-son relationship McCarthy expresses throughout the dismal surroundings.? Also a memorable passage for me when they meet another struggling old man and have a conversation around a fire.? “People were always getting ready for tomorrow.? I didn’t believe in that.? Tomorrow wasn’t getting ready for them.? It didn’t even know they were there.”? I love that – tomorrow doesn’t even know we are here!?

46.?? Blood Meridian, by Cormac McCarthy: McCarthy’s writing is an acquired taste, which I cannot really say I have fully acquired yet.? You really have to focus on the names, places, and character development, which he complicates by omitting names and quotation marks from his dialogue passages, which is all well and good when it is two people talking back and forth, but often there are three or four people in the same passage.? Who is saying what to whom?? No clue.? But he writes some excellent passages about life, innocence, human nature, war, and country set in the antebellum American West.? “Men are born for games.? Nothing else.? Every child knows that play is nobler than work.? He knows too that the worth or merit of a game is not inherent in the game itself but rather in the value of that which is put at hazard.? Games of chance require a wager to have meaning at all.? Games of sport involve the skill and strength of the opponents and the humiliation of defeat and the pride of victory are in themselves sufficient stake because they inhere in the worth of the principals and define them.? But trial of chance or trial of worth all games aspire to the condition of war for here that which is wagered swallows up game, player, all.”

47.?? Of Mice and Men, by John Steinbeck: See 49.

48.?? The Grapes of Wrath, by John Steinbeck: See 49.

49.?? East of Eden, by John Steinbeck: I’m combining all three of these classics together because I enjoyed them all, but I just don’t have as much to say about them.? Steinbeck writes in a spellbinding way, so each book really feels like a dramatic movie that you’re watching unfold, only with much more detail and background than a movie could ever provide.? How we choose to live, earn a living, treat the people we love, and treat the people we don’t even know are all powerful themes to read about.? Also, be grateful that you aren’t an Oklahoman farmer during the Great Depression.?

50.?? Beartown, Fredrick Backman – This novel set in a hockey town in Sweden tracked a junior hockey team's drama with its players, its friends, its parents, and its supporters. Exquisite character development throughtout the novel. Some of you know I have two pre-teen boys who adore ice hockey and many other team sports. This book was a good reminder that for all of the life-long benefits of athletics, team work, passion, discipline, and competitiveness, we also want to raise kids who would be brave enough to be more like Amat (at least the Amat of Book 1).

51.?? Us Against You, Fredrick Backman - Book 2 of the triology definitely had some more somber themes than Book 1, but I continue to love Backman's character development. Sad how much some of the plot resembles real life related to local politics, sports, corruption, stereotypes, economically distressed areas, etc.

52.?? The Winners, Fredrick Backman - I continue to be a sucker for Backman's theme development of families, childhood sports, and geographic rivalries. "We fool ourselves that we can protect the people we love, because if we accepted the truth we'd never let them out of our sight." "What can the sport give us? We devote our lives to it, and what's the best we can hope for? A few moments... a few victories, a few seconds when we feel bigger than we really are." "So what the hell is life, Peter, other than moments?" "All teenagers have a window when they have the chance to fulfill their potential, but no one is ever prepared for how quickly that window closes." "The very finest thing you can give a child is somewhere to belong. The biggest thing you can have is being part of something."? That last one makes me tear up a little thinking about the Manheim Township Blue Streak football team I coached last year (8-0, not that we counted ??), but I know we all want that feeling of belong for our children, in whatever form it may come.?

III.?????Jackson's Ranking of his 20 books (for those looking for some options for young readers)

Some of you might have compliant kids who just do what you tell them any time. ?Getting them to read is probably easy.? I have what some call “strong-willed” boys (10 and 7), today’s euphemism for a combination of insubordinate, rebellious, and borderline mutinous boys.? They carefully evaluate whether to obey a given parental command based on their own willingness and excitement about doing it measured against potential punishment if they don’t.? I am sure I failed hundreds of times during my first decade of fatherhood to have them be this way, so I have few, if any, parenting answers and my answers probably don’t work for others.? But here is one answer for my boys who don’t listen to their parents: they still mimic their parents.? Sometimes this works against us (they copy phrases I utter in my more impatient moments).? But here it was beneficial.?Telling them to read did not get them to read, but seeing me read 52 books a year did.? So much so that Jackson wanted me to share his list of 20 books (his goal was 12) he read outside of school this year along with his 1 out of 5 ranking, in the event anyone is looking for books for young readers.?

1.?????? Spy School – Stuart Gibbs – 4.5

2.?????? Spy Camp – Stuart Gibbs – 5

3.?????? Evil Spy School – Stuart Gibbs – 5

4.?????? Spy Ski School – 5

5.?????? Spy School Goes South – 4

6.?????? Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban – 5

7.?????? Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire – 4.5

8.?????? Alien Superstar Hollywood v. The Galazy – Henry Winkler & Lin Oliver – 4

9.?????? Alien Superstar Lights, Camera, Danger – Henry Winkler & Lin Oliver – 4.5

10.?? Alien Superstar – Henry Winkler & Lin Oliver – 5

11.?? Epic Zero Tales 1 – 3 – R.L. Ullman – 5

12.?? Percy Jackson and the Olympian – Rick Riordan – 5

13.?? Bounders – Monica Tesler – 5

14.?? The Silver Arrow – Lev Grossman – 5

15.?? Hoot – Carl Hiaasen – 4.5

16.?? The One and Only Ruby – Katherine Applegate – 3.5

17.?? The One and Only Bob – Katherine Applegate – 4

18.?? The Book of Perfectly Perilous Math – Sean Connolly – 3

19.?? Underdogs, The Philadelphia Eagles’ Emotional Roller Coaster to Super Bowl Victory – Doug Pederson – 4 (how he ranked this lower than a 5 is a mark on his record)

20.?? ChupaCarter – George Lopez – 3

IV.?????Real Estate Investment Discussion ?

A.????? Quick Family Story on a Real Estate Investment

Psychology of Money (described above) warned me that our experience with money growing up represents 0.0001% of how the world works and 80% of how we think the world works.? But I’m going to relate my own story anyway because it does impact how I view the world, how I view Vistablock’s future, and how I view my relationship with our current and future investors.?

My dad grew up as the son of a hard-working high school football coach / athletic director.? As you can assume, while he always had life’s essentials, there wasn’t any real wealth generation or wealth building strategy discussion going on in that household.? Also, my granddad wasn’t around for the evening routine because he had to work evenings to support the family.?

My dad became a hard-working orthopedic surgeon.? He still replaces a few hundred knee joints every year at 73 while swimming 10-12 hours per week with a masters swim group half (or a third) his age – he is a wild one.? He was the best man in my wedding and remains my best friend despite our different opinions about the appropriate run/pass ratio of a modern NFL offense.? Hard-charging orthopedic surgeons, especially entrepreneurial ones willing to start their own practice from scratch in a small town like Lancaster, PA, had some decent years in the 80s and 90s before the healthcare “system” evolved into what we have today (a topic for a different article).? Like his dad, he wasn’t around for all the evening routines when I was a kid while taking “call” every other night and every other weekend.? But as he recruited more surgeons to his practice and became more established, that gradually changed as I entered high school.?

On the way to and from my various sporting events in high school and our road trips to and from Northwestern and Michigan during college and law school, in between the Sports Radio jabber, we had a steady dose of financial discussions. ?He rarely missed a game despite my attending high school 90 minutes from home, and now that I’m a father I realize it was probably in large part because of the uninterrupted 90 minute car rides home that he came to so many games.? Of course he had a financial advisor guiding him into the standard diversified array of stocks and bonds. ?We talked about “Time in the market, not timing the market, is what matters;” “saving early and often”; “The magic of compounding;” “education is the best investment;” and his favorite, “it’s only money” – the standard stuff that a lot of dads teach their kids.?

But his investment that we discussed the most back then and that I have tracked annually since was the ~2.5% equity he acquired in a real estate partnership that developed one of the first high-end business parks in Lancaster County.? A friend (who remains his friend and graciously helped me with this analysis) presented him the opportunity.? For ease of numbers, let’s call it a $100X investment in 1989.? He was 39 (I was 6), only 5 years into starting his own practice, and the amount was more than a financial advisor would probably recommend (then or now) as a percent of his “investable assets”.? For 7 years, as the project was built, there were no distributions.? Then it started distributing about $10X per year for a decade, creeping up to $20X and $30X the following decade (when I became aware of its existence), and for the last few years close to $50X per year.? A total of $500X in distributions so far and an estimated value of >$1,000X if he sold his interest (which he has instructed us kids never to do ??).? Learning that a $100X investment could, with patience, eventually pay out $50X per year forever makes one think about life, work, savings, investing, and money differently, at least for me.

This concept that one could ultimately replace all or a portion of their annual wage income – the one they have to sacrifice 40 or 60 or 80 hours every week to earn – with passive income from investments that could cover all their annual expenses is not revolutionary to sophisticated people.? Indeed a tiny percentage of folks are born into a world in which they never have to “earn” income (I’m reading a book now on the Astor dynasty, you’ll see it in next year’s article).? I fairly assume only sophisticated people have slogged through this far, so while it is not new, you might remember the first time you realized that if you invest enough money into worthy investments over the years, a day could come well before “average retirement age” when you would not have to work (or at least not have to work as many hours or in a job you don’t love).? Some of us have probably done the math and have an idea of the number we want to meet to get to that stage.? I can remember creating spreadsheets even in high school, college, law school, and the early years of marriage while I was billing absurd amounts, calculating various savings and investment outcomes and projections.? Of course, that was before I had kids and realized not only that financial spreadsheets, for most spouses, do not always foster a harmonious marriage during the throes of child-rearing, but also that the life Ashley and I want to live simply costs more than I expected.? She might point to the ski trips and Eagles/Sixers tickets – priceless family memories I don’t want to sacrifice.? I look at the home renovations, “organic” grocery bills, and other priorities of hers.? But we get to the same spot – we have a long way to go to get to that “magical” turning point when passive income > annual expenses.?

I put “magical” in quotes above because for some lucky people, the turning point wouldn’t change how they live their life.? My dad wants to operate until he is physically unable to do so (especially since he stopped taking “call”). ?In the law firm world, there is sometimes chatter about those rare attorneys who will “die at their desk,” because they just love what they do regardless of the financial benefits.? Personally, I loved the adrenaline of the one or two trials per year in my prior career, but the other 48 weeks included too much drudgery to imagine doing it at that pace one day longer than I had to.? The court-imposed deadlines, the boss-dictated hours/dress code requirements, and the client-focused expectations all meant a likely third Conrad generation of missing the evening sports routine.? Getting to that turning point was a little more “magical” for me than it is now.? In my current role of developing real estate and generating wealth for a stable of investors, I can mostly protect my evenings so I can be at every practice, every bed time, outside of the 1 to 2 Township meetings per month.? I would be blessed to do this my whole life, even if I happened to arrive at that “magical” point in the future.?

As fate would have it, my dad did not invest in another real estate development partnership opportunity from 1989 until the present.? Not because he did not have the risk tolerance or the liquidity, but because nobody ever presented him (and he probably never actively sought out) another opportunity. ?LinkedIn didn’t exist back then.? Part of my goal in writing on this platform is so the people who do want to create passive income streams through real estate development without having to do any of the work know that they have Vistablock as an option.? Of course there are other real estate options out there too that may be worth exploring and may be a better fit for you.? The more that people carve out a portion of their investment portfolio from the stocks and bonds world and deploy it into any type of real estate fund or partnership, the better.? A rising tide lifts all boats.?

B.????? Where Vistablock is now, where we are going, and what we need

Vistablock is owned by two partners, me and Sam Stoltzfus, owner of a manufacturing empire generating $50 million of revenue per year.? For those who remember that we started out with a third partner, we went from three to two.? So it goes.? Sam contributes the capital and some weekly strategic guidance.? I contribute the day to day labor: managing our team of dozens of independent contractors; making each decision on each project (So. Many. Decisions.); negotiating every Agreement of Sale with sellers/buyers; executing the overall growth plan; and, more and more, meeting with potential investors to raise outside capital for the vertical construction on projects.? Vistablock now owns three multi-family real estate projects (our “Big 3”) on which 900 luxury townhomes and apartments can be built by right (or in one case, by conditional use).? 201 of those units are fully approved (The Pond on Fulling Mill outside Harrisburg) and the other 699 units (Chiques Crossing in Rapho Township and Westmount in Mount Joy Township, both close to 283 between Lancaster and Harrisburg) should be fully approved in 2024 if everyone behaves themselves, which is always a big “if” in our business.? Vistablock also has under agreement, but does not yet own, two industrial projects (can build up to 800,000 total square feet) and three residential projects (320 single family homes and 380 townhomes).? ??

The total capitalization of the 900 units on our Big 3 sites will be about $270 million, projecting rents in the $2,000-$2,600 for elevator-serviced 1, 2, and 3BR apartments and approaching $3,000/month for the 3BR luxury townhomes with 1 and 2 car garages.? Estimating that we will use debt financing on 2/3 of the total capitalization, there will be a combined $90 million of equity, of which Vistablock will contribute at least 20% ($18 million).? That leaves a cool $72 million for me to raise over the next 5-7 years – roughly $10 million/year.? Once stabilized with tenants (historic demand and undersupply in all areas), the net operating income will gradually pay down the debt while distributing excess cash flow to the Investors (Limited Partners).? There is a realistic scenario in which that $90 million of equity, over the long-term horizon, doubles three times with some smart execution and letting time work its magic.?

The industrial projects are a different model with a quicker return and less “long-term” wealth generation.? On one project, we plan to get the ground fully approved, complete the horizontal infrastructure (roads, stormwater, utilities) for 8 different lots, up to 75,000 square feet building per lot, and then sell off individual lots to business owners.?

Similarly, the large single family home development is one we plan to get fully approved, complete the horizontal infrastructure, and then sell lots to a luxury home builder.?

Our only need is capital. We are already profitable, firmly in the black, with $12 million of equity tied up in our projects.? We know it takes cash to get this many projects of this scale approved, and then it costs even more to construct the buildings that will create a portfolio of stabilized, cash-flowing assets.? My team and I can execute the projects, but we cannot do it using only Vistablock’s capital.

C.????? Different investment options

I have learned so much through dozens of potential investor meetings with people this year from 25 year-olds just starting out their careers who inherited a rental property to 80-year-old business scions.? Everyone is different: different relationships with money; different preferences and risk tolerance on where to allocate it; different time horizons and desired durations for an investment; different opinions on real estate as an asset v. stocks and bonds; different thoughts about investing with someone local who they know and trust v. someone far away and anonymous (who they won’t have to see if things go south).? Even within one’s own portfolio, one might have money set aside for “alternative” investments, with the majority earmarked for standard stocks and bonds.??

What I have spent the greater part of the last year studying, evaluating, and creating is a set of investment options that fits the widest swath of potential investors, because we can truly take all kinds.? So, if you read this and are interested (or know someone interested) in deploying capital into real estate projects regardless of your preferences on duration, projected return, or amount deployed, please let me know which group(s) you might fall into.? I am 40, planning to do this for the rest of my life, so even if someone wants to carve off a small amount annually, I care about the long-term relationship and building wealth together.? It doesn’t mean you are making any type of commitment; it just means you would want to see more information about projects that might fit your preferences.? For the financial advisors/asset managers that may be reading, I would love the opportunity to connect as well and learn more about your general guidance, principles, outlook, experience with real estate, and whether Vistablock may be a suitable alternative for some of your network.?

Equity 1.? Investors Who Want Lower Risk; Satisfied with Lower Returns

This group does not want to take any “development”, “construction”, or “lease-up” risk.? Show them an existing, reliable, cash-flowing multi-family asset, and they may be interested in the steady 7-10% returns, distributions beginning immediately, and the tax benefits of owning equity in a real estate project.? Vistablock does not own any of these assets yet, nor do we target acquiring them because the “value” we create is generally in the development, construction, and lease-up stages.? Buying a stabilized asset once that value has been created is a different game than the one we’re playing.? But in the not-too-distant future we will have developed, constructed, and leased up several projects that will create stabilized assets.? Not all investors in the construction and lease-up group (Equity 2) want to stay on for the long-term hold piece once it is stabilized.? All that to say, I do keep a list of potential Equity 1 investors for the potential swaps down the road.?

Equity 2.? Investors Who Can Accept Medium Risk in exchange for projected Higher Returns

This group can tolerate the “construction” and “lease-up” risk, but doesn’t want the “development” risk.? Show them a fully approved, “shovel ready” multi-family project with 12-20% returns on which construction can start right away, and they may be interested. ?Buying “equity” in one of (or all of) Vistablock’s “Big 3” multi-family projects, each between 200 and 400 units, is one option for them.? Like my dad’s 1989 investment into the business park described above, this involves putting your money into a project knowing you are not going to get income from it for a few years (though you will get some tax losses in the early years that could be valuable depending on your situation).? In a reasonable projection, a $100X equity investment may start distributing cash after year 3, double in value by year 6, and double again over the next 6 to 8 years.? Ride it out for a generation and a $100X investment could turn into a $1,500X investment.? For the high net-worth folks, using a good trusts & estates attorney, this can also be an exceptional tool for creating a legacy investment in an irrevocable trust so that only the initial equity investment “counts” toward your federal estate tax exemption, while all the appreciation and future cash flow a generation from now, is excluded.?

I will emphasize that you can use IRA/401k funds for this type investment, once they are transferred to a self-directed account.? The benefit there is you’re already planning to invest that money for the long-term anyway, and it is tax-deferred.? If there is a percentage (5, 10, 20%) of your total retirement assets that you want to spin off into real estate, we can explore that option.?

Vistablock structures these syndications to minimize our investors’ downside risk by contributing 20% of the equity and establishing in our offering documents that all investors get their return of capital and a preferred return (that accrues 11% annually), before Vistablock recoups any of its return of capital or preferred return. ?As an example, The Pond on Fulling Mill is a $62.3 million project with $20 million of equity, $4 million of which is Vistablock’s and $16 million of which we are raising.? Vistablock would have to lose all $4 million before an investor’s capital is at risk.? Investors talk about wanting the General Partner to have “skin in the game”, so I created it this way to not only ensure our skin is heavily in the game, but that all our skin gets burned first in the event of a downturn before any of our investors even feel the heat.?

Equity 3.? Investors Who Want Highest Possible Returns, Accepting Higher Risks

This group is willing to accept the “development” risk, in addition to all the risks incurred by the Equity 2 group, knowing that it is the painful 2, 3, 4, or even 5-year process with lots of expenses and no income that can ultimately generate the highest returns (20-100%) if, and only if, the project ultimately gets approved. ?It could also be a complete zero. ?

Say a raw piece of ground zoned high-density residential is worth $100X/acre as-is.? Get it fully approved so that you can start building apartments or townhomes on it, and it might increase to $200X/acre.? Assuming we structure the Agreement of Sale with the Seller so that you do not have to close on the ground until it is fully approved, we’ve just created equity of $100X/acre at the cost of all the labor required and all the Township fees - a range of, say, $100,000 - $750,000.? The math works assuming you have a decent sized parcel.? Since it is an increase in value in the land, not "income," it is not taxed unless and until you sell it in exchange for cash (if you exchange for another property through a 1031 Exchange, you can defer it indefinitely).? That may be years from now or may be after your death when your heirs get a step-up in basis to the fair market value on that date.?

Investors who want to passively generate the higher returns while Vistablock does all the search, management, organization, and executive functions, this is an option.

Debt 1.? Investors Who Want Stable Income, Shorter Durations, Personal Guaranty

Some investors want to deploy capital for a significantly higher annual return than U.S. Treasuries, but don’t want to tie it up for the 4+ years required for equity positions in the “Big 3.”? Vistablock has attracted several investors who receive a 12% annual return if we can use their capital for 3 years, 11% for 2 years, and 10% for 1 year.? This debt will be guaranteed by Vistablock’s balance sheet (~$12 million of equity now, projected $8 million additional value created in 2024), as well as Sam’s.? While Sam has contributed several million dollars, we spend more than that in down payments on land, carrying costs of land, operational costs of vendors, and our low overhead.? Sam has a $70 million of net worth, though it is largely illiquid.? All that said, the reason we offer a higher return for this debt is because there is some added risk, obviously, over a U.S. Treasury bond.?

Debt 2.? Investors Who Want Stable Income, Shorter Durations, but need collateralization beyond Personal Guaranty

Some investors want their debt to be secured by an asset instead of only backed by Vistablock and/or Sam’s guaranty.? While it is subordinated to the senior lender (usually a bank, in our case), they know that they will recoup their investment with interest as long as the value of the land stays above their exposure.? This creates some more leg work for all parties, including the senior lender, but it can ultimately work just as well as the Debt 1 group.?

Conclusion

Wow, congrats on making it through to the end!? I am mailing out customized Vistablock bookmarks to the people who have supported me and followed this article over the years.? If you read this far, you deserve one too (it might be in the mail already, I’m running a little behind).? Send me your mailing address and I will make sure you get one.? Thanks and have a great 2024.?