Tom Milford
@tommywarboys
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Family man (👨👩👧👦) // @laurenhmilford’s husband // Scout Capital Group // real estate private equity
St. Louis, MO
Joined July 2009
First deal closed!. I know celebrating a purchase is not as cool as celebrating an exit, but my heart is full of gratitude, so I’m going to drop (not enough) mentions below to some #retwit folks who made this possible.
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Just spent a week in France for my wife’s 40th. Three takeaways that I want to carry forward, if possible:.
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All of the above created space, margin for thought and reflection. These are such rare gifts in the states that I forgot they even existed. TL/DR: hustle culture is toxic. Needed to return to the Old World to remember that.
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1. Waking up every morning, knowing that you’re walking everywhere (supplemented by public transport) just adds vigor to the day. We were outside all the time. Dressed for the weather and went for it. I felt amazing all week.
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2. Everything is slower. Every meal was punctuated by long moments between being seated & ordering, ordering & food arriving, being finished & getting the check (checks had to be asked for!). The slow pace gave us time to talk (or not talk). I loved it.
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3. Less than 10% of people sitting down or walking were looking at their phones. Even during the long meals, people were enjoying conversation with their phones out of sight. We did the same and it was marvelous.
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You know who sucks?. Men who are creepy around young women at networking events. She’s here on business, pal. It’s 4:30pm, she has a wedding ring on, and you’re wearing a name tag. Get bent, douchebag.
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Bank ordered an appraisal for a property we have under contract. You'll never guess the appraised value.
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Wire fees. Can someone explain why delivering a physical check, which certainly has a higher actual cost to the bank to process, is free but a wire is not?.
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Chris Powers deleting account is a huge bummer for me. He (along with @moseskagan and a few others) changed my life in 2020 with the content he (and they) produced. I went from a corporate career to entrepreneur largely in part because of the playbook Chris laid out. We are.
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Lost a $7M deal this week because a competing buyer was willing to put up $200K nonrefundable EM. Can’t decide if that’s a game I ever want to be playing.
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@HighPlainsWY When my loan amount is pegged to the appraisal amount, it’s frustrating when I’m capped by how much I’m paying. What if I’m beating the market? It would be more beneficial for an appraisal to reflect an actual market value rather than confirm the purchase price.
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We are doing a Phase II on a property bc there was a dry cleaner next door. The Seller wants us to agree that we won’t disclose our findings…to the Seller!.
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For you golfers, Payne’s Valley in Branson, MO is an absolute must. Tiger Woods design. Took my parents for my dad’s 70th and he said it was the best golf experience of his life.
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It’s better to be lucky than good. Here is a deal we passed on:
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A peek at how Scout Capital is taking care of our investors. Pretty stoked to drop these bad boys off.
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Have a $3.0M property under contract, huge value add upside (call it $1.0M) but records indicate a dry cleaner was there in 60’s & 70’s. Cost to investigate is $15K but Seller won’t give any concessions. So a $15K bet to make $1.0M. Odds unknown. WWYD?.
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@CREgir1 Attractive people get looks. It’s the burden they bear for winning the genetic lottery and getting free drinks at bars. But nobody should be treated like an object. Related: there are loads of broken men in this world that need to grow up.
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Went under contract today on a small strip center in St. Louis. Good location in south county, at a light. All-in for $102/sf with avg net rents of $10.27/sf and one small vacancy. So essentially a 10 cap. Market rents should be $14/sf+, so over next 2-3 years, the plan is to.
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@moseskagan I sold all my side hustle multifamily, quit my corporate job, and launching a REPE firm in a couple weeks. Couldn’t have done it without reading/listening to @fortworthchris @moseskagan @sweatystartup. Always had the tools, just needed the encouragement.
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First full executed LOI in Scout Capital history today, almost exactly two months after quitting my job. Now the real hard work begins!.🚀🌙.
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Terminated a deal yesterday that I spent 6 months and $30K on. It’s not all fun and games, you guys.
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I have spent ~$10K attending two @ReconveneLA events (2022 & 2023). Worth it? Well our latest offering will have at least $100K of LP checks from people I met at the convention. More importantly, I was paired up for lunch in 2022 with @NNNIncome and the feeling from this side.
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@admsteiner A bank we use charges $20 for an incoming wire. What is that fee for? The margin on that has to be insane. As opposed to the cost of a teller who has to handle my check, verify my account number, print a receipt, while I sit there idling in my car for 10 mins. Infuriating.
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@moseskagan If you want to own real estate, you need to work for someone who buys real estate. Brokerage can be a great gladiator pit for learning how to transact, but you don’t learn much about owning. Some small brokerages do both, find them.
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Incredible Day 2 at @REconveneLA. Crazy how easy it is to connect with people when you don’t have an agenda and can freely engage with them about their lives and business.
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We closed a deal with a great broker earlier this year. We worked really well together and he got a big check. He called three months later with a client that needed a developer and we're in the drivers seat on a potential new project. Put another point on the board for "real.
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Last week we closed a capital raise of $2.305M with the intent to acquire a 40,000 SF class B retail center in suburban St. Louis for $5.325M. Model is a syndication: 8.0% pref with a 25% promote. 2% AF and 2% AMF on revenue. GP group putting up $350K (15.2%), ~40% of which is.
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Incomplete list of people I wish I had met at @REconveneLA:.- @Camp4 .- @mhprvpmvp .- @lcrothlisberger .- @shiloebear .- @sweatystartup .- @rhunterh .- @StudentRentPro .- @bobbyfijan .- @PaulinaJones . I guess I’ll just have to come back next year. 🤷🏻♂️.
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Yesterday, an investor gave me a verbal commit to our fund for $200K, and I was so damn excited, you’d have thought they were investing $50M. It is a genuine thrill and an honor to have a person trust you with their hard earned capital.
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Told my partner Adam today that without #retwit I’d probably still be at my old corporate job. After putting the pieces of his skull back on his head and showing him a few @moseskagan & @Levijameshere tweets, he of course said “Ok, you need to tweet more then.”.
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St. Louis is only a "we" when the county wants something from city. All other times city is on its own (crime, metro, poverty, etc.)
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Checking in for my flight @ReconveneLA feels different this time. Third time attendee, going to see lots of familiar faces, in a very strange economy, right before an election. Going to be doing a LOT of listening.
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In light of a prominent RE developer on here dying yesterday, I just want to say that if you are struggling right now, staring at a mountain of debt, no end in sight, and are in a very dark place. Call me. Your life is valuable and I want to help.
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@LPInvestor @SideHustle_LP @NNNIncome @mu2myoc I better not raise a penny more than necessary or Marlo will have the knives out!.
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@investing_law I’m transparent as hell with my prospective LPs. I’ve sent copies of actual quarterly updates. But for that level of detail, you would need to email me and have a follow up phone call. Not just blasting it out on Twitter.
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@moseskagan I notice so many eye rolls when a person receives parental help to buy a nice house - as though we are supposed to condemn those who aren’t completely self-made. I imagine there is immense pride from the parents being able to provide that opportunity.
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Scout Capital closed today on what I'm calling our 6th deal. Three Class B strips centers, a medical retail build-to-suit, an office-retail building, and 6 acres of vacant land. I'm beyond grateful for my partners - both my GP partners and our LP partners - for putting an.
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At its most basic level, being a GP/sponsor is about providing value over and above what an LP can get on their own (typically from their brokerage account). So you need to have an edge. Some inside track. Some differentiated lens. We pass on perfectly ok deals all the time as.
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Our most common GP/LP structure: 8% pref, 25% promote, 2% AM fee on revenue. The biggest boost to my daily work life is that every action that benefits me also benefits our investors. I just get to be selfish. Pretty good gig.
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@jclarkson203 @Alphaholic1 My guy, that’s why we have laws. Unless you’re suggesting that these guys aren’t anonymous assholes but but are the actual heroes we need right now?.
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Was too excited for @REconveneLA that I forgot my luggage at home. Luckily I have a fantastic wife who brought my suitcase and made it to the gate with luggage with 5 mins to spare.
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Yo @REconveneLA. I’m at the Calabra bar on the roof of the Proper Hotel. I’m the dude by himself tweeting. Come say hi.
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To my GPs out there, any hesitation when investors ask for documents, such as the contract or the loan docs? My gut says “of course, their money is on the line, send”, but part of me wants to protect the info. Cc: @fortworthchris @moseskagan @Levijameshere.
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@sweatystartup @moseskagan Admitted to @fortworthchris yesterday that listening to his podcast was gasoline for quitting my job and starting our firm. Grateful for you both.
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If you post a banger of a tweet and it only gets two likes, do you delete it and hide your shame or let it stay up and serve as a reminder that you’re very bad at this?.
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Scout Capital closed a deal yesterday! 3,375 SF neighborhood center in South St. Louis City. 8 investors: half new, half repeat. (closed alone unfortunately, so here is me with a key)
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30 days from launch of our fund and we are over $20M in commitments. Happy Father’s Day weekend! 🍻.
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As of this morning, Scout Capital has four deals under contract! . J-Pow not gonna hold us back!.
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No words from yesterday at @REconveneLA (my voice is shot). Here’s an incomplete list of amazing people I met: @realEstateTrent .@kylematthewsceo @sulemanali @fortworthchris @corr_james @_apryor @investing_law @shiloebear @mwmoedinger @joshmatalon @DallasAptGP @BabakZiai.
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Helluva Day 1 of @ReconveneLA. In addition to connecting with old friends (too many to name), I got to meet @bethanyjbabcock, who is incredible, and also sat next to @Bethazor1 for an hour+ at dinner! I could listen to the Queen talk for hours about retail leasing stories.
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Been ONLINE less these days. Head has been down, fundraising. But man, can’t wait to see my people at @REconveneLA in a month!. LFG @NNNIncome @JustinABeck @iononrecourse @Nick_Keesee @EllliotttB @LPInvestor @CaseyMericle @Benjamin_Pile.
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For the new followers: I’m a partner in a REPE shop that focuses on neighborhood retail centers in major metros throughout the midwest with a long-term hold mindset. Typical deal size is $1M-$10M. We also pursue single tenant build-to-suits in the retail and restaurant space.
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Need graphic design help to take our PowerPoint pitch deck and make it look professional. Someone out there know a good freelancer that can help?.
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Great Tweetup this morning w/ @bencherry36, @Teeny_11, @retailbroker and @glafser. This crew is smart AF.
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Made an initial offer on an off-market deal in November 2021. As of yesterday, we finally have it under contract. This ain’t no hobby!.
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Chatted today with a prospective LP I met at @REconveneLA. Talked strategy, our competitive advantage, how we see the world. Thoughtful questions that were hopefully met with compelling answers. 90 minutes flew by until we both realized that we should get back to work.
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@MalcolmJess Great insight. Definitely market dependent. Some counties don’t do sales-based reassessments - we like to consult with a firm that appeals taxes to make sure our assumptions are right.
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Every once in a while in this business, you run into such a scumbag that you want to put on your Batman suit and use whatever power you have to destroy him. Sue him for breach of contract, send him all the discovery you can think of, tie up his property in liens such that he.
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@KeybumpC9898 Growth is the killer app. Write that down and repeat it to yourself in the mirror every morning.
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@realEstateTrent Disagree. As @moseskagan so often says, if you have a differentiated lens, you can absolutely pay market prices. We will pay market prices if we have specific knowledge that others can’t access, particularly around tenants and what they want to do.
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An aside: I shook hands and briefly chatted with @moseskagan at both events, and listening to him speak, he’s exactly who is online persona is. I did get to spend 20+ mins talking with @fortworthchris and his personality is exactly who he is on the podcast. Very generous with.
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Odd thing about LinkedIn is the requests to connect from complete strangers, with no message or reason why they want to connect. Do some people just accept all connection requests or is the best practice to only connect to people you actually know?.
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$3M raised for in 3 weeks. WAY ahead of schedule. My partners are incredible.
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Update: this is what the roof deck looks like where the dry cleaner was 50+ years ago. The rust indicates there was steam being used at one time, so very likely solvent was being used as well. Phase II drill rigs arrive Friday.
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Happy to share that we sold this deal in May at a 6.6 cap, two years after signing the LOI in May 2022, and 19 months after signing lease and closing on the ground in October 2022. This was by far the best case scenario with an engaged tenant, a first class contractor, and an.
Ribbon-cutting for our @BJC_HealthCare project in Godfrey, IL. This place is spectacular. As the silver tsunami continues to gain steam, these outpatient centers are going to provide critical services that won’t require hospital visits.
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Needing a deal is a dangerous spot to be in for a GP. Doing deals is how most GPs generate regular income, but if your daily needs are under threat, that’s when your clients/investors suffer. Given the dearth of transaction volume these last two years, many GPs are in a tight.
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Nothing like signing a $6M loan to excite you and terrify you at the same time.
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Love you @REconveneLA, I’m out. Brain decompression & reflection has begun. Will have more to say next week. Til then, make good decisions out there!.
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@fortworthchris @STL_PJ @khzny We’re in a JV right now where we brought the deal and will do three retail pads, our partner bringing capital and developing 214 MF units. JV is true 50-50 and so incentives are perfectly aligned - we maximize value of retail and they maximize value on MF.
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@moseskagan @fortworthchris @sweatystartup we’re gearing up for 1st deal & have 45 day DD/10 day close. What should we do if we get to closing & we’re undersubscribed (say it’s 10% GP $ and we get 85% LP $)? As GP do we grow our stake to 15% or take 5% as LPs?.
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Reminder (to myself): when you feel like you’re spinning your wheels, pick up the phone and talk to people about deals. Whether it’s calling a seller, talking to a listing broker, or a potential investor, even just 10 calls in a day will lead to something positive.
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As of yesterday, we are oversold on our biggest single asset raise ($2.3M). I feel like a storage bro in 2021 right now!
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@NNNIncome @CRE_Legends Priority to come see my Blues come visit. Looking forward to schedule release this summer.
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@stevegarthwaite If developers did math this way, we’d have a lot less developers. Part of being a developer is having goldfish brain and seeing $700K as $700K and not $140K/year.
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Ribbon-cutting for our @BJC_HealthCare project in Godfrey, IL. This place is spectacular. As the silver tsunami continues to gain steam, these outpatient centers are going to provide critical services that won’t require hospital visits.
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