Chris Units @ChrisUnits Twitter profile

Pinned Tweet

Chris Units

11 months

If I run for mayor of Durham: More affordable housing, more public transit, safer biking, more walkable neighborhoods, less sprawl, more density, more public art projects, sensible growth. Got Units?

Sarah Krueger

@WRALSarah

11 months

Breaking: #Durham ’s mayor, Elaine O’Neal, tells me she will not be running for re-election. She said she wants to focus on family. @WRAL

4

26

59

10

1

29

Last Seen Profiles

@wenwencoin

@CindyJoyce46253

@GiselleLea85697

@mathurapolice

@RinesZandr67752

@Genybet_Turf

@CarlenaHer24231

@SteadviewCap

@McdanielsOmega

@Worthikids

@TaylorREIGNXXX

@FrogmansWorld

@kayleighastuart

@Chief_Papichulo

@LafabSolutions

@f_malinbaum

@RaphRittenhouse

@VernonWCampbell

@GeneralGate

@jisooyatlk

@kerimankayayah1

@Reuben_Rancourt

@GHPod

@georgeenglehar7

@JakeWright720

@ClerkWildfire

@Dominic72796543

@lecmonza

@y41509198

@CordFicklin

@RUSH_BALL

@doctorclothes

@Leolucassen

@nemu1ya

@sumapo_

@Anthony22070281

Chris Units

@ChrisUnits

1 year

I'm a minivan convert. I don't see the point of 3rd row SUVs. Our Toyota Sienna comfortably seats 7, holds a crazy amount of cargo, and can tow a boat. We've camped in it and gone on roadtrips. Extremely pleasant experiences. I also get ~38 mpg. Beat that.

123

27

1K

Chris Units

@ChrisUnits

2 years

@Kermelos @fienixtaranova It's a penis

7

1

565

Chris Units

@ChrisUnits

11 months

Said it before, but it's time to refresh my hottest take 🔥🔥🔥: Inheritance tax should be 100%. America's obsession with generational wealth is weird and exacerbates economic inequality. Your kids should work hard for their money like everybody else.

4K

35

538

Chris Units

@ChrisUnits

8 months

I think I spend 50% of my non-working hours unloading and loading the dishwasher This is my third time today

102

7

342

Chris Units

@ChrisUnits

1 month

Pro tip: These are the best t shirts I've found and they cost $5.83 each. Just bought 13 for $99 including shipping. Been doing this every spring for 4 years. Why are people paying $30 for crap t shirts?

99

11

331

Chris Units

@ChrisUnits

2 years

@junker_jo I really don't see a problem here. Why does everyone want their peers to be stressed out working shit jobs? Good for them working outside in the sun enjoying life.

8

1

274

Chris Units

@ChrisUnits

1 year

Is there a single Realtor who knows even the bare minimum of information about residential zoning in their local market? I have yet to encounter this.

90

4

281

Chris Units

@ChrisUnits

4 months

Another plug for Toyota Sienna. Went camping again this week with the kiddos. Didn't need our roof cargo bin. Fit 2 kids bikes, large cooler, sleeping bags + mats, cookware, food, 2 large duffel bags, toys, etc inside with the rear seats down. Try that in your 3rd row SUV

104

4

275

Chris Units

@ChrisUnits

7 months

Working on designs for my spite triplex. Exploiting a loophole in the local UDO that allows A-frames to be ~2x taller than other buildings by right. NIMBYs don't want to fix the UDO so I'm just running with it as is. What do you think of my designs?

35

11

272

Chris Units

@ChrisUnits

2 years

Lots of price cuts in North Carolina beach cities all of a sudden...

25

8

229

Chris Units

@ChrisUnits

1 year

@JoshRAgee @madebymagnolia

0

1

138

Chris Units

@ChrisUnits

1 year

Came across these manufactured cabins recently. Probably the best looking manufactured homes I've seen. Made in South Carolina! Makes me want to buy up some land in the mountains. 1 bedrooms start at $80k. Finished home in just a couple months is pretty compelling!

23

3

136

Chris Units

@ChrisUnits

2 years

Tip for RE small timers: pay the $130/yr for a domain and Google business email. Completely worth it. We did it about a year ago and people take us *way* more seriously right from the first interaction. Get yourself a business email address.

10

11

89

Chris Units

@ChrisUnits

1 year

Had an offer accepted on some land last week at 33% less than list. Completely ignored the seller's "best and final" counter. Got them down another 11%. Call everybody's bluff.

3

4

82

Chris Units

@ChrisUnits

1 year

Funny how people will use long lines as an argument that the real estate market is fine. Screen shot is from a house in Oakland in 2008, a year after people said the same thing.

Connor Hughes

@Connor_J_Hughes

1 year

Trying to find a house in 2023: A line out the door for an open house. I think I’m just going to take my wife & baby and move back in with my mom. Sadly I hear there’s already 5 similar offers.

161

36

780

12

76

Chris Units

@ChrisUnits

2 years

Who has a traditional downtown mixed use building? Retail at street level, apartments above. I've wanted one forever and just found an interesting property. Not sure what traps I should be looking for.

27

3

73

Chris Units

@ChrisUnits

6 months

I'd love to see a group redevelop a struggling Main Street in a small city. Refreshed storefronts. No cars. Convert most of the street to green space & seating areas. Rest of the street is for bikes. Where is a good candidate for this? I can think of a few in NC.

26

3

75

Chris Units

@ChrisUnits

5 months

@holz_bau OK I'm glad somebody is talking about this. I don't know where the tradeoff is, but building standards are increasingly moving towards high carbon intensity, low sustainability building materials in the name of energy efficiency. Would love to see some research on the topic.

2

72

Chris Units

@ChrisUnits

9 months

@KevinEspiritu But... the reason there's a fine is because society doesn't want his truck there. It's a middle finger to the community. I imagine it's probably limiting visibility for cars, bikes, and pedestrian traffic.

7

0

72

Chris Units

@ChrisUnits

2 years

Noticing more of these rapid price decreases.

15

4

71

Chris Units

@ChrisUnits

1 year

@JackBarnett101 Gonna have to disagree here. Respectfully, I think this is one of the tackiest things STR hosts ask if their customers.

1

0

70

Chris Units

@ChrisUnits

2 years

@Oates4Council @chapelhillgov Completely ridiculous. So renters shouldn't be allowed to live in townhouses? How does this help affordability for renters? Come on. This makes no sense.

2

0

68

Chris Units

@ChrisUnits

2 years

What's the best way to do a midlife crisis if you're cheap

59

2

66

Chris Units

@ChrisUnits

1 year

Love this flip 😍

18

2

66

Chris Units

@ChrisUnits

7 months

This site has been super boring and scammy lately. Can we all stop with the LinkedIn style "here are 45 things I learned about my personal failings" essays? So lame. This is a subtweet of hundreds of accounts.

4

2

63

Chris Units

@ChrisUnits

2 years

Privately fenced multifamily yards = huge value add, big differentiator. Rented this 1 bedroom 400sf ADU last year for almost as much as nearby 2 bedroom 1,000sf units were going for.

3

4

61

Chris Units

@ChrisUnits

1 year

Really weird to see run-of-the-mill NIMBY talking points pitched as progressivism in Durham right now. What are the real motives here other than NIMBYism and denying housing opportunities to lower income people? The SCAD amendment is mostly about building ADUs ... 1/

5

11

61

Chris Units

@ChrisUnits

3 months

@Carnage4Life Sounds like those employees had a D player CEO

2

0

60

Chris Units

@ChrisUnits

6 months

@JoshInEncinitas Fill the oil all the way to the brim to ensure it all cooks

4

0

61

Chris Units

@ChrisUnits

9 days

@chloecypers Outlook is a hot mess. Gmail has its flaws but nowhere near Outlook. Let me tell you how many meetings I've missed because Outlook sucks with time zones.

20

0

60

Chris Units

@ChrisUnits

2 years

@JoeCassandra Now do PPP, farm subsidies, mortgage interest deduction, QOZ funds, and the million other freebies given mostly to rich people that nobody complains about one tenth as much as this. I don't get the outrage here. Rich people looting government for decades yet nobody cares.

4

3

57

Chris Units

@ChrisUnits

1 year

@LA_Multi_Fam I think free rent is the answer here! How did you get a CO without the gas turned on?

1

0

55

Chris Units

@ChrisUnits

1 year

@shawngorham What's the point of just amassing all that wealth and not using it? Can't take it with you.

12

0

57

Chris Units

@ChrisUnits

1 year

@deenashanker @BW Seems very strange to call it a fad already. Their products taste great and I see them in supermarkets more and more, especially from Impossible. Kind of a sensationalist headline IMO.

1

0

53

Chris Units

@ChrisUnits

2 years

@SeanODowd15 Large corporations largely run themselves. Very few are actually existentially dependent on the CEO. Disagree with this take.

9

0

52

Chris Units

@ChrisUnits

9 months

Tomorrow, Durham will likely join the wave of progressive urbanism sweeping the nation. The UDO amendments called SCAD promote walkable, dense, and more affordable development with a lower carbon footprint. Great article today gives a solid overview. Link in next tweet.

2

11

52

Chris Units

@ChrisUnits

2 months

Durham developers take note: this is how you do modern

Melissa Savenko

@melissasavenko

3 months

This is one of my favorite infill projects in my neighborhood. On the left is an original 1910s home that was renovated with historic tax credits. On the right is 1 of 3 infill homes. This one was built on an empty lot, 2 additional matching homes were built in the rear.

84

28

818

8

1

54

Chris Units

@ChrisUnits

1 year

I had no idea people were craving minivan content.

2

0

52

Chris Units

@ChrisUnits

2 years

I'm becoming a single issue voter: simplifying our tax code. Filing your taxes should not be a 9 month endeavor that costs hundreds to thousands of dollars.

9

1

51

Chris Units

@ChrisUnits

2 years

@anothercohen If it works as well as other Google products, some vendors will be just fine

1

49

Chris Units

@ChrisUnits

6 months

We did it Durham!

BartholomewHamentaschen 🟣

@hamentaschennow

6 months

We ended parking minimums, y'all!

4

8

117

3

1

50

Chris Units

@ChrisUnits

2 years

REtwit is such a weird corner of my reality. If I tried to explain Baker's story arc to anybody in real life it wouldn't make any damn sense. Yet as it played out, I felt like I was part of something. Love all you weirdos.

Barrett Linburg

@DallasAptGP

2 years

RIP @mhprvpmvp

26

0

52

5

0

49

Chris Units

@ChrisUnits

1 year

I genuinely don't understand the Adam Neumann fanboy phenomenon. All I see is a guy who incinerated cash with a horrible business model and made himself unfathomably rich in the process. What's the admirable part? What am I missing here?

Dare Obasanjo🐀

@Carnage4Life

1 year

One of the greatest transfers of wealth from VCs to a founder we’ve ever seen.

89

344

5K

17

1

48

Chris Units

@ChrisUnits

2 years

@financeguy725 @Breck_Maynokur And they keep trying to double down. So many recent ballot initiatives aimed at letting them take their tax rate to NEW properties. Cajones

3

0

46

Chris Units

@ChrisUnits

11 months

@arestaurant_guy Government already double dips. You could argue that triple and quadruple dip.

95

0

45

Chris Units

@ChrisUnits

20 days

@N8RealEstate Those vintage corner tubs are worth a lot. Definitely keep or at least salvage!

0

44

Chris Units

@ChrisUnits

11 months

@nebraskabryce I think you've misunderstood something

52

0

43

Chris Units

@ChrisUnits

2 months

@JulieChangRE I don't believe half the costs on here. $1,100 on utilities??? What utilities? $6k "shopping"? What does that even entail. I don't think I have enough time to casually spend that much at the mall.

20

0

40

Chris Units

@ChrisUnits

7 months

I've interviewed 8 people in the last 2 months. When I asked why they were looking for a new job, 7 of the 8 had either been laid off due to serious business challenges, or their current employer was on the brink of failing. Trouble is brewing out there folks.

6

3

39

Chris Units

@ChrisUnits

5 months

@buccocapital I've been inside several that were nothing but smoke and mirrors. My favorite part is how many of them are each others customers. A game of musical chairs passing cash around while burning investor cash.

2

0

40

Chris Units

@ChrisUnits

5 months

Honestly vastly prefer this to the multi-material siding, and articulation overload present in basically every city. Honestly sort of impressed Durham is developing as well as it is considering we have the same dumb requirements. Still prefer the Spokane look.

Spokane Rising

@spokanerising

5 months

Another cool thing about housing in Spokane is that we don’t require façade articulation and seven different types of material. That means new buildings in our city can utilize more classic, timeless design.

21

53

705

8

2

39

Chris Units

@ChrisUnits

2 years

@iamkid_A @kashanacauley @eastgorteau Life liberty and the pursuit of happiness. It's right there. The first one.

5

0

35

Chris Units

@ChrisUnits

2 years

At 37, I still manage to spill food on myself on a nearly daily basis

7

0

37

Chris Units

@ChrisUnits

1 year

In 2007, I worked very briefly at a mortgage shop. The training included scripts for every type of mortgage to convince people theirs was bad for them. I made like 3 calls and walked out. Felt so gross.

Jessica Goedtel, CFP®, EA

@JessicaGoedtel

1 year

I just called my mortgage company to check up on something. At the end of the call, the person said "Our records show you could benefit from a refinance today." My rate is 2.85%. How in the actual fuck is it legal for them to say this? How many people believe them when they do?

88

35

754

7

2

33

Chris Units

@ChrisUnits

8 months

Everybody should read this article. It's bananas. On my 4th read--each read is crazier than the last. Basically a case study on anti-development hysteria: boomer homeowner, politician, and confused progressive alliancess to reject zoning reforms. (Article link at end) 1/

1

4

35

Chris Units

@ChrisUnits

5 months

There was a big startup in NYC that paid starting salary of $70k. Readily acknowledged behind closed doors that meant only wealthy kids could work there. Still bothers me 10 years later. Operating this way perpetuates wealth inequality and creates barriers for lower incomes

StripMallGuy

@realEstateTrent

5 months

It's unbelievable. We have a job opening right now for someone who wants to learn real estate private equity inside and out. No prior real estate experience necessary. It's a hands-on role, with daily hands-on training for someone who is smart and hungry. The person will…

1K

99

2K

4

37

Chris Units

@ChrisUnits

1 year

Business I want to start: tree farm, primarily fruit trees. Mature trees sell for $$$. Immature fruit trees can be propogated by the hundreds/thousands every year for very low cost and sell for $30-50.

15

1

36

Chris Units

@ChrisUnits

2 years

@RikAdamski @td_dion Underrated comment. Every European city I've been to is like this.

1

0

34

Chris Units

@ChrisUnits

9 months

PSA: your STR sucks if it has 1. Hollow core doors 2. No toilet paper or soap 3. Cheap mattresses (good mattresses aren't expensive!) 4. Bottom of the line kitchenware 5. Requirements to clean everything on check out You're running a hospitality business. Come on.

3

2

35

Chris Units

@ChrisUnits

2 years

@rohindhar These intensely themed/decorated STRs are so cringe

0

33

Chris Units

@ChrisUnits

7 months

Caved and paid for Midjourney. Totally worth it. Digging this design for downtown neighborhoods near city council members 😝 This project is clearly resonating! Maybe we should actually do it? Spite Fund LLC?

9

1

34

Chris Units

@ChrisUnits

2 years

Sure, sex is great but have you ever gotten a survey back in less than 4 weeks?

4

0

34

Chris Units

@ChrisUnits

8 months

Teardowns of Durham is an extreme NIMBY Facebook group. So NIMBY that you'd think it must be satire. Today they're upset that an empty warehouse is being replaced with housing 🤣 Can't make this stuff up.

Another Guy Named Michael

@DurmBull

8 months

People are mourning the loss of the Coca-Cola bottling plant in Durham.

7

0

13

8

0

33

Chris Units

@ChrisUnits

11 months

The "taxation is theft" people have arrived.

216

2

31

Chris Units

@ChrisUnits

10 months

Microsoft Teams AI autocomplete going rogue

2

33

Chris Units

@ChrisUnits

2 years

@WaterChestnutII @junker_jo Product manager is not a middle management job lol

2

0

29

Chris Units

@ChrisUnits

2 years

STR pricing is feeling pretty bubbly right now. I'd love a beach house for us to use personally, but afraid to buy at these nosebleed prices. Some beach cities in NC are up 75-100% in the last 2 years.

11

0

32

Chris Units

@ChrisUnits

2 months

Just bought a bike! Watch out world. I'm soon to be insufferable.

8

0

31

Chris Units

@ChrisUnits

1 year

It feels increasingly strange to call myself a "real estate investor" when nothing has penciled for 8 months. Is that why we're all on Twitter? Idle hands?

8

0

32

Chris Units

@ChrisUnits

11 months

I don't think I've ever had so many comments on a single tweet. Nice to be able to share my great ideas with so many of you.

193

1

30

Chris Units

@ChrisUnits

1 year

A complaint I keep hearing about Durham's SCAD amendment: "it's 87 pages! developers are trying to radically change our zoning code!" Reality: our existing UDO seems almost intentionally intertwined for max complexity and min housing. Real world example in this thread👇 1/

6

7

31

Chris Units

@ChrisUnits

11 months

Worth noting this isn't a pro government tweet. Government as an institution generally sucks. But it's also the only organization than can offer universal healthcare, free education, entrepreneurship grants, etc. It's what we've got.

370

2

29

Chris Units

@ChrisUnits

2 years

Continuing my series (rant?) on "RE has nowhere to go but down" It seems folks don't appreciate how crushing cap rate expansion is on market values. That $630k 4 cap from last year is only worth $504k as a 5 cap. That's a 20% decrease! Goodbye down payment! 🤯 Continued 👇

6

8

30

Chris Units

@ChrisUnits

1 year

I can't tell you how many times I've asked an agent about the zoning of a property for them to respond either 1) incorrectly or 2) with a zoning designation that doesn't exist

9

0

29

Chris Units

@ChrisUnits

1 year

@realkellye lol join the Sienna Owners Facebook group. People take their Siennas very seriously and do all kinds of ridiculous upgrades. That picture actually looks sorta normal to me now.

1

0

28

Chris Units

@ChrisUnits

5 months

How many times does this need to be researched? We continue to let NIMBYs pretend they actually care about affordability. "new homes rented by higher-income people set off a chain of moves that opened up housing to lower-income people"

2

7

28

Chris Units

@ChrisUnits

2 years

@SievaKozinsky This applies anywhere if the tenants have leases

1

0

26

Chris Units

@ChrisUnits

1 year

This person does not exist.

7

1

28

Chris Units

@ChrisUnits

3 years

@CatchKristen I feel like this is a very strong response to an assumed opinion that I haven't heard from pretty much anybody.

0

28

Chris Units

@ChrisUnits

1 year

@MultifamilyMark Where'd the trees go?

2

0

27

Chris Units

@ChrisUnits

1 year

Might seem cold of me, but investors making poor assumptions is part of what's led to all of this market craziness, and if they're now losing their shirts because of it, that might actually be a good thing. Feels like we need to reset and flush out the wild speculation.

Levi

@Levijameshere

1 year

A friend invested with a young apartment syndicator who bought $32M+ of apartments with uncapped floating rate debt He says the GP told him he thought interest rates would never go up This week he is drafting a letter to his LPs letting them know all of it is going to be lost

100

57

688

2

4

26

Chris Units

@ChrisUnits

3 months

No income tax states: living a lie

16

0

27

Chris Units

@ChrisUnits

2 years

@JesmanPaul Nope. Redo. Been there and it's an uncomfortable conversation but I'm always glad I did it.

2

0

26

Chris Units

@ChrisUnits

2 years

@michelletandler Yes? What good is an economy if there's a civil war or the government is toppled?

1

0

27

Chris Units

@ChrisUnits

1 year

Local Durham folks: There's a scandal brewing around this story. Two people have sent me credible information that a Durham anti-development activist coerced Habitat for Humanity into withdrawing support for SCAD, apparently using false information. 1/

Chris Units

@ChrisUnits

1 year

Absolutely bizarre. Habitat for Humanity is now claiming they never had any involvement in Durham's UDO proposal (aka SCAD) A Google search yields Planning Commission meetings that Habitat attended and multiple references to their involvement on official city letterhead. 1/

2

11

5

26

Chris Units

@ChrisUnits

1 year

A project I've wanted to work on forever: searchable database, including owner info, of all properties in central North Carolina, expanding to other areas thereafter. I'm finally doing it! Who would find that data valuable?

7

0

25

Chris Units

@ChrisUnits

11 months

@RickFelten People who promote zero inheritance tax are doing exactly the same, just on the other side. That's literally what governance is all about!

32

2

26

Chris Units

@ChrisUnits

11 months

@duncan__c Most people will hate it. There's a deep human desire to hoarde resources. Gotta start the conversation somewhere.

104

1

26

Chris Units

@ChrisUnits

2 years

A lender told us recently they can fund our deal at .9 DSCR. Is that normal? Lending on a cash-flow negative deal?

19

0

25

Chris Units

@ChrisUnits

1 year

Limiting density basically ensures teardowns that get replaced with more expensive housing. Upzoning creates more affordable housing units in multifamily housing. #SoundsLikeScad 🤔

Addison Del Mastro

@ad_mastro

1 year

This is what happens when zoning prohibits rising land values from leading to greater density. Fairfax County, Virginia.

7

49

1

5

25

Chris Units

@ChrisUnits

5 months

Peak entitlement. Somebody is building a high rise NEXT TO HIS HIGH RISE. Bro. Your building did this exact same thing to other neighbors.

Jake Wurzak

@JWurzak

5 months

Upsetting vote here in Fort Lauderdale. I’ll share more over time, but in sum, the city commission approved significant variances for a NY developer at the expense of my property, The Dalmar Hotel. The impact will be severe. In my view it amounts to a quasi taking. If you…

148

19

105

5

0

25

Chris Units

@ChrisUnits

2 years

Did you know there are people who don't refrigerate butter?

22

0

23

Chris Units

@ChrisUnits

2 years

@carywesterbeck I hosted some Argentinians many years ago for a business trip and they were flabbergasted that you could turn at a red light. I vividly remember one of the guys pantomiming spinning out while turning right and ramming pedestrians.

2

0

23

Chris Units

@ChrisUnits

8 months

@GRomePow Interviewed 4 people this week. 2 had just been laid off.

3

0

21

Chris Units

@ChrisUnits

2 years

@joshdaneee I am. People went completely insane the last two years. Made it impossible for regular investors to transact in real estate. Worst part is all these inexperienced late entrants are going to lose their shirts.

4

0

23

Chris Units

@ChrisUnits

7 months

Oh shit this is huge. About time. This was a huge blocker for ADU legitimacy and adoption! Next allow duplexes with ADUs to use conventional financing.

Alexis Rivas

@alexisxrivas

7 months

BIG news for ADUs today. FHA policy now allows ADU rental income to qualify for mortgages, further cementing ADUs' role in the housing market. Many more changes rolled out making it easier to buy a home with an ADU, or build an ADU. ADUs are a great way to add some much needed…

17

73

629

4

1

23

Chris Units

@ChrisUnits

6 months

Good news: a major zoning reform package passed in Durham last night Bad news: city council amended it in the last 2 minutes of a 4 hour debate and nobody understands what actually passed 🙃 The most Durham process ever

Chris Units

@ChrisUnits

6 months

Here we go again: August's zoning reform vote (SCAD) was delayed until today, Nov 20. The meeting tonight will be a complete circus, led by Durham's infamous NIMBY group INC. INC had 2 council and 1 mayoral candidates who lost spectacularly (Green, Rosenthal, and Freeman). 1/

1

19

1

3

22

Chris Units

@ChrisUnits

7 months

@bohlenlabs I think a good question to ask here is why is your LTV only 4 months of MRR? That's horrible. I guess if you're in that spot, this isn't the worst idea, but man, you're giving away a lot rather fixing the core churn problem. Maybe it's cause I'm in the B2B space but this seems…

1

22

Chris Units

@ChrisUnits

1 year

Why don't developers build more "big A" affordable housing? The sad reality is it would be challenging if all variables aligned perfectly, but nearly impossible in practice, largely due to planning regulations and zoning restrictions. Walkthrough below: 1/

3

2

21