My first day in senior living, when my life changed. On my first day in assisted living back in 2013, I was 26 years old. In 2010, I had launched a small RE business focused on purchasing, renovating, and managing student housing, multi-family, and self-storage buildings. Although we experienced some success, I found the work unfulfilling and sought a change. At the time, I believed I needed to increase my earnings. Intrigued by the demographics and profit margins, I decided that assisted living was the path forward for me. Having no clue where to begin, I reached out to everyone I knew, explaining my interest in senior housing and seeking guidance from anyone willing to assist. A former colleague referred me to an experienced nurse who managed a 12-bed residential community in rural Michigan. After listening to my spiel about cap rates, HUD loans, and equity raises, she instructed me to report for duty at 7 am on Saturday if I truly wanted to learn the business. After a late Friday night out with friends, Saturday morning arrived sooner than expected. Despite nursing a slight hangover, I donned a smart cashmere sweater and my best boots before heading to her community. Expecting to delve into profit and loss statements, balance sheets, and business strategies, I was surprised to discover that my day would be spent assisting with showers. Operating her community as a non-profit, she had a reputation for accommodating residents with higher care needs than most assisted living facilities could handle. Both she and her staff found it amusing to watch a 'numbers' guy struggle through tasks such as showering and toileting. It was evident from her demeanor and the tasks assigned that she was trying to test my mettle and took pleasure in doing so. Wearing the cashmere sweater turned out to be a poor choice. Throughout the morning, I was pushed, teased, and even narrowly avoided a bite. Many of the residents were non-verbal and grew impatient with my slow pace. It took five hours to complete the morning routines. By lunchtime, I was ready to call it quits. Why would anyone choose this line of work? The most challenging resident of the morning was an elderly woman with Down syndrome. As she finished her lunch, she looked at me and simply said, 'I love you,' with a smile. Right then, it clicked why someone would choose this profession. It was the first time I felt that what I was doing truly mattered. Perhaps it was the first time I felt I mattered to someone other than myself. It took another year before I could secure a deal to acquire my own community. As of writing this post, we operate 16 communities, caring for over 1,000 residents. Every day, I am grateful for the work we do, knowing unequivocally that it matters and makes a difference.

We’re 90% occupied, and most of our peers are in a similar position. Meanwhile, virtually no new senior housing is being built. Across the country, there are roughly 900,000 occupied senior housing beds and just 70,000 vacant beds. Over the coming years, the population needing senior housing is expected to double.

Thought you’d appreciate this. One of our residents at Oak Leaf is 96 years old and went hunting with his grandson this weekend. Pretty damn cool. This is the kind of stuff I love seeing in our communities. Just because someone moves into assisted living doesn’t mean they have to stop doing what they love.

Some interesting data on senior housing. Occupancy hit 89.9% in Q2, the highest level since 2015. Meanwhile, new inventory grew just 0.4% year over year, with fewer than 16,000 units under construction across the 31 largest U.S. markets. Demand continues to grow, and almost nothing new is being built.

Cardinal grew again this week, welcoming three new communities to our portfolio: • 48-unit assisted living and memory care community in the Cleveland area • 134-unit independent living community with cottages in Green, Ohio • 94-unit assisted living and memory care community in Green, Ohio Cardinal now operates 21 communities, six of which are in Ohio. We’re incredibly excited about our continued growth in Ohio and the opportunity to serve more seniors, families, and communities across the state. And we’re just getting started.

Hang out with beautiful women Go into hundreds of millions of dollars of debt if you have to

The Cleveland metro is a great market. We’re growing on there this week and couldn’t be more excited about what’s ahead. If you, or anyone you know, owns a senior living community in Ohio, send me a DM. We’d love to connect.

Saw this today and thought it was worth sharing. This is one of our communities in Ohio. Polly got back in the kitchen and made her homemade spaghetti and meatballs for everyone, and her son made the noodles from scratch.

Coffee and a bottle of water: $14 Then asking for a tip? Respect the hustle.

Grand Valley won 96 to 0 yesterday and didn’t cover the spread.

Trying to get my 9 year old to practice piano. I assure you son, this is hurting me much more than it’s hurting you.

This makes me sad

Had to share this with you. One of our longtime residents told us that one of her bucket-list items was to ride in a red convertible. She’d always wanted one and dreamed about getting to take a ride in one someday. Guess who got to cross that one off her bucket list today? She was in tears she was so excited.

Steve was in Canton and swung by to hang out with a few residents. Love that he took the time to stop in!

Brighton High School class of 2005

Those over 80 are growing even faster

Enjoy!

Cap rates are compressing in senior housing 240 senior housing deals were announced in Q2, up 26% year over year, while new supply grew just 0.4%.

How common is it to have a business running without a budget? We’ve seen numerous 8 figure transactions where the previous owner never used a budget.

Italy has been the trip of a lifetime. Huge thanks to my wife Claudia for bringing together an incredible group and sharing the people, places, food and traditions she loves.