The Valhalla Ventures

Don't Let Our Town Become Another Strip Mall

I've spent over 30 years in construction and development. I've built retail centers, office space, medical buildings, and more. I know how these projects get approved, because I've been on the other side of the table. So when I tell you what's coming for small towns, I'm not guessing.
Drive through the cities next door and you'll see it. Fields where cows used to graze are now a Target, a Chick-fil-A, a nail salon, and a mattress store. Then comes the next one, and the next. The ribbons get cut, the officials smile for the photo, and everybody's told this is growth.
Here's what the developers know and the public usually doesn't: most of these deals are won in the planning and zoning meetings, where almost nobody shows up. A well-funded developer with a good presentation, facing a room with four citizens in it, gets almost whatever they ask for. That's not corruption. It's just who showed up.
So ask what the people in those cities actually got. Did their taxes go down? Did anyone build a community center, a decent park, a library branch? Mostly, no. They got traffic, more places to spend money, and a few more minimum-wage jobs. The profits leave town, and the folks who live there keep the congestion and the same bills as before. That's not growth for them. That's a place to shop.
I'm not against development. It's my living, and done right it makes a town stronger. But done right means the town negotiates. It means asking what we get in return for the zoning change, the road improvements, and the tax breaks. A good developer can answer that. A bad one will dodge.
Small towns have something those strip-mall cities gave up. We know each other. We've got a main street, a ball field, a church lot where people actually talk. Once it's gone, it's gone. And if we don't decide what happens to the land around us, somebody from out of state with investor money will, and they'll build what the spreadsheet says.
None of the people making these decisions hold power we didn't hand them. Here's what I'd do:
Talk to your neighbors. Ask what they want this place to look like in twenty years. You're probably closer to agreement than you think.
Go to one meeting. Planning and zoning, the council, the water or drainage district. Agendas are public. Sit in the back and listen. You'll see how few people are in the room, and that's your opening.
Ask the plain questions. Who benefits? What does the town get besides sales tax? Will it lower our taxes or just raise our traffic? Make them answer in public.
Check the ballot. Find out who's been in the same seat for fifteen years and what they've done for us. If they're doing right by us, good. If not, somebody local can run against them.
Expect a slog. The early going is slow and people will disagree. That's where most of these efforts quit. Don't.
Our kids will live in whatever we build or whatever we let slide. I'd rather they inherit a town with a soul than one that looks like every other exit off the highway.
If you want to know what to ask or where to start, my phone is always open.

Solving other people's construction problems is only possible because I spent years failing to solve my own. Decades of doing it over until it was done, right. The hardest lesson is that there are no actual shortcuts. Doing the work and doing it right is the quickest path to success.

Thinking about moving from single-family flips to commercial real estate? Here's what's the same, what's different, how the loans work, and how to structure your first deal so it doesn't bite you.
If you've flipped houses, you already know more than you think. You can read a scope of work, you know when a contractor is padding a bid, and you know what a delayed permit does to your carry. That experience transfers.
But I see flippers step into commercial thinking it's just a bigger flip. It isn't. Different math, different lenders, different timelines, and mistakes that cost six figures instead of five.
Here's what I'd want you to know before you make your first offer. No theory, no guru pitch.
link in the comments.

One thing I tell the pros I work with is this:

Stop looking at an investment property like you're buying a house. Start looking at it like you're building a business.
Before you buy, get a full inspection from a licensed inspector.
Then have someone who understands construction look at that inspection, and look beyond it.
Because not everything that's going to cost you money is going to show up on an inspection report.
I want expert eyes on the immediate construction costs, but I also want someone thinking about what that property is going to need three, five and ten years from now.
If the roof has five good years left in it, that's not a surprise waiting to happen.
That's a future expense you can plan for today.
Put money aside. Build it into the strategy. Know when it's coming.
Same thing with HVAC, plumbing, electrical, exterior work, major systems, whatever applies to the property.
Then build the plan.
What needs to happen first?
What can wait?
What's the budget?
What's the timeline?
Where's the money coming from?
What happens if something costs 20% more than you expected?
That's how I think about investment property.
Not just “Can I buy this?”
But “Can I build something here that I'm going to be able to rely on?”
Because if you're going to put your money, your time and your reputation into a property, you shouldn't be crossing your fingers and hoping it works out.
Build it like you're going to have to rely on it.
Because you are.

I’ve had a few people reach out and ask what I actually do besides buy property.
Fair question. Looking at some of my posts, I can see how it might be confusing.
I’m Jeph. I’m a real estate investor, developer, and retired contractor. I work from the investor’s side of the table.
Before you buy: I help uncover the problems you may not know to look for, like buying a property already on the condemned list or discovering half the land is wetlands and can’t be developed.
When things go wrong: I solve construction, development, and repositioning problems that can make other people walk away.
When a deal needs expertise: I can help develop the strategy, bring the right people to the table, or partner when it makes sense.
I’m not a mentor. I’m not a guru. And I’m not looking to make money because you’re spending money.
My rule is simple: If I can add real value to your project, I want to be involved. If I can’t, I don’t want to be part of it.

So if you have a deal, a problem, or a project that needs another set of experienced eyes, let’s talk.

There is plenty of great projects in the real estate world right now. A lot of people are too busy marketing to find them.

An MVP, 3 Cy Youngs, 2 World Series Rings, one of the best pitchers of all time. Married a literal supermodel, and just retired. The pride of being a father was what overwhelmed him to the point of tears. All the sacrifices and time away to follow his dreams now get to be put in a lockbox of memories as he dedicates the rest of his life to being there for his kids.
Congrats Justin, you are living most American mens dream life and stepping away early enough to enjoy the rest of yours.

"Demo is done" doesn't mean "done, done." It's better to check.
This looks like I'm walking the ruins of Pompeii.

I see flaws in projects from a distance now that I am not swinging the hammer. The flaws within the blind spots of those with their nose to the grindstone.
It's not a super power or even a talent, just having done the actual work makes watching it done wrong by others easy to see.
The drywall guy who uses a corner knife to mud or the investor buying skinny "deals" from wholesale firms both think they are doing it right.
But with distance and time I can see what almost everyone involved can't, not because I am smarter or even been doing it longer. It's because my only goal is the project success. I don't care if it makes money or makes someone gitty with excitement. The deal is the deal, the numbers are the numbers, and the solutions are never that complicated.