That said, based on my experience working with real estate bookkeeping clients and using AI tools internally, AI still has meaningful limitations.AI is good at recognizing patterns, but bookkeeping—especially for real estate—is full of nuance: distinguishing repairs vs. improvements, properly handling owner contributions and distributions, allocating expenses across properties, class tracking, loan activity, depreciation-related items, and state-specific considerations.

A pattern has started, and now he' testing the waters to see what he can get away with in the long run, which means you no longer have authority in the relationship.

I think we see a pattern here. 

Renters are also being much more price-sensitive and they have more options due to slower sales activity and longer days on market for rentals.Like you mentioned, this seems to be part of a broader national pattern tied to overall economic cooling.

Tying repairs to specific appliances lets you spot patterns fast like a fridge that’s been serviced three times in 18 months or a washer that’s becoming a money pit.

One thing experience taught me is that most underwriting mistakes aren’t math errors but are assumption errors that get treated as facts too early.A few patterns I see repeatedly:• Modeling to max density or ideal layouts without pressure-testing what actually gets approved or built• Treating timelines as fixed when they’re really conditional on people, process, and politics• Assuming consultant inputs reduce risk, when sometimes they just advance the deal before the risk is understood• Relying on tight margins that only work if execution is clean and uninterruptedThe biggest shift for me was learning to separate what’s knowable now from what’s still uncertain, and then structuring capital, timing, and expectations accordingly.

The number one thing you need to know before you head down this road is that unless you have substantial income AND you can use the cost seg to lessen your tax burden, then it doesn't matter.

Another pattern I see on small land and infill deals is risk showing up not in the zoning itself, but in how the contract is structured relative to the entitlement path. 

But like all things real estate, one Dollar General may be worth it all day long, while another may not even be worth being given for free.Given we are talking about the dollar store concept, any macro economic issues will apply universally.If you are talking about Dollar General, specifically, and all are corporate guaranteed, tenant quality is equal across all possible properties.So then you get into market analysis, store sales, lease terms, structure condition of property, specific location (mid-block with no left turn vs hard corner at signalized light), traffic patterns, re-tenanting ability and demand, current rent to market rent delta, etc.All deals are unique, but I would not go in with an assumption that all Dollar General's appreciate. 

One pattern I see repeatedly on small land and infill deals is investors assuming that zoning equals entitlement certainty.