Atlas Brief · Free guide
One bad deal can undo ten good years.
Too much debt and one bad year can blow up decades of hard work. I wrote down what I’ve figured out about avoiding it, and how to look at a deal and actually know it’ll hold up when the market turns on you.
A short guide to underwriting deals that survive the worst-case.
The 11 ways investors blow themselves up
A plain checklist of the balance-sheet mistakes that wipe out equity — from negative leverage to running out of liquidity.
The Atlas Brief Survival Framework
Ten boring, unglamorous rules that survive every cycle. Positive leverage, in-place income, and the endgame most owners forget.
The Four Worlds test
Rates fall or stay high, rules hold or tighten. If your deal only works in one world, it isn’t a deal — it’s a bet.
Pricing the risks that quietly destroy equity
Insurance shocks, property taxes, deferred maintenance, rent control, evictions — how to price them instead of fearing them.
The single biggest variable in your return
Why RSO status is the one line that decides everything, and how to underwrite it honestly.