Today’s track: Clint Eastwood — Gorillaz
Opportunity is afoot.
Something’s in the air right now. Everybody’s got their thinking caps on — and I don’t know why I love that phrase so much, but I do. I might turn it into a song lyric. Speaking of which — I know every word to today’s track. Every one. “I’m useless, but not for long / the future is coming on.” That’s the mood this week.
People are collaborating. Connecting. My calendar keeps filling up, and every meeting is somebody bringing a cool new thing to the table. New opportunities, left and right. It’s been thrilling.
Some of it feels downright serendipitous.
The other day — before 3pm, on a single day — three different people reached out to me about wanting access to properties that would work for recovery homes. Three. Same day. They must’ve heard the same podcast, or the universe just decided to nudge all of them toward my inbox at the same time.
And here’s the thing: I know how to find these. So let me actually show you how.
Recovery homes are like Airbnbs — they can get temperamental with neighbors. A neighborhood decides it doesn’t want you there, and suddenly you’re in a fight you didn’t come for.
So you don’t give them the fight. You buy property that already has the proper zoning for what you want to do. When you’re operating under the right zoning, nobody can really combat it — you’re doing exactly what the property is zoned for.
That means OR and commercial zoning. No BOZA hearings. No permitting gauntlet. No waking up to find the rules changed and your operation shut down. You skip all of it.
And here’s the part I really love — the optionality. A property zoned like this can become almost anything as the market moves. Insurance office. Real estate office. Midterm rental. Short-term rental. When the market ebbs and flows, you’ve got flexibility instead of a corner you’re stuck in. It’s an easier resale, too — “this is a flexible property” is a much easier pitch to the next buyer than a one-trick place.
Now — there was a time I had this exact advantage on the Airbnb side. I could find the listings with the right zoning, and my clients didn’t have to chase permits down. I was kind of the plug for Airbnbs in this town.
Then the CUP process came in. And suddenly there was grayness — real question marks about whether you’d actually be able to run your property as a short-term rental.
So I shut my whole zoning program down.
I didn’t want somebody to buy a property off me and then not be able to use it the way they intended. That’s the thing I can’t stomach — putting a client into risk they didn’t sign up for. So I walked.
It cost me a lot of money. I was locked in, dialed in, doing really well in that exact spot. Walking away hurt.
But it’s a long game. It always is. And now — with three people in one afternoon asking for the exact thing I know how to source, done the right way, insulated from all of that — it’s coming full circle.
And here’s something else worth saying out loud — the forecasts have converged. Nobody credible is calling for 5-anything this year. That sounds like bad news. It’s actually clarity. You can underwrite a deal at 6.4 to 6.6% with confidence instead of gambling on a refi that might never show up.
“Marry the house, date the rate” is dead. Underwrite the deal to work at today’s rate. If it only pencils with a future refi, it doesn’t pencil.
Something’s shifting. I can feel it. Recovery housing, off-market deals, people building things together instead of guarding their corners — the ones paying attention right now are going to look up in a year and realize this was the moment.
So let’s make things. Plug into my network. Bring me what you’re working on. If you want one of these properties — or you want to build something and need someone who knows how to find the pieces — reach out. I’m collecting good people right now, and the door’s open.
Opportunity is afoot. Keep your thinking cap on.
Warmly,
Rob Bergeron
Owner–Realtor at Award-Winning Winner Realty
The Morning Bergeron daily track playlist: https://music.apple.com/us/playlist/the-morning-bergeron/pl.u-pMyl2GlSW1N3qv
PS: Two awesome opportunities looking you in the face.
One — Hand in Hand is hiring seasonal cooking staff at their Appalachia Program Center. You’d build the menus and cook breakfast and dinner for groups of volunteers, working right alongside the director. Must be able to cook for a crowd, lift a little, and actually like people. Reach Gail Spradlin at [email protected] or 606-886-0709.
Two — a growing real estate company here in St. Matthews is looking for one smart, hard-working person to train up in transactional work. Think real estate paralegal meets project manager. They’ve screened 100+ applicants and haven’t found the fit yet, so the bar is high — but the opportunity is real. Learn a valuable skill set from the ground up, work alongside smart, kind people, and grow with the company. In person, 40 hours a week, $45–60k to start, bilingual a plus. Send your LinkedIn, resume, or similar to be considered.