J.P. Dahdah

The Best Deals Hide in Plain Sight I once thought great investments had to make headlines. The prime office buildings in downtown Sacramento, the retail centers in growing neighborhoods - properties you could proudly show in presentations. I was wrong. The revelation came after reviewing the numbers on a simple apartment complex we'd acquired in Sacramento. While our office buildings kept us constantly busy with tenant negotiations, broker demands, and expensive improvements, this "boring" apartment building just quietly performed. Month after month. Without drama. The pattern was clear but easy to miss: office buildings and retail centers are custom puzzles. Each tenant negotiation is a unique challenge. Each improvement is a specialized project. Each vacancy is a significant hit to revenue. But apartments and industrial parks? They're math problems with predictable answers. If one tenant moves out, another moves in. The improvements are standardized. The management systems are repeatable. What I initially dismissed as "boring" was actually the key to scaling. So we shifted. We gradually built a portfolio focused on apartments in markets like Fresno and Sacramento - places with stable demand where small pricing inefficiencies add up to significant opportunities. Now, with 40 properties across 8 markets, the wisdom of "boring" is clear in our numbers. What these investments lack in excitement, they make up for in consistency and scalability. I had a conversation with a shopping center owner last year who was constantly juggling tenant issues - renegotiating leases, managing tenant improvement allowances, and dealing with anchor tenants threatening to leave. "I don't know how you stay interested in those apartment buildings," he said. Just last month, I spoke with him again. He complimented us on the quiet but substantial portfolio we'd slowly built. Not much in the way of headlines, but far less stress and much more recurring revenue for our investors. The sophisticated capital world often rewards complexity. But lasting returns follow invisible patterns so obvious they're overlooked. What simple, repeatable opportunity are you ignoring while chasing something that sounds better at dinner parties? #RealEstate #ScalableInvesting #CapitalAllocation #MarketInefficiencies #CashFlow

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If you're acquiring a small business and want to explore non-SBA financing (e.g. because there is seller rollover equity), you'll have to structure your deal differently than if using SBA financing. Remember that non-SBA deals will typically support MUCH LESS leverage.

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THINKING BEYOND SBA: HOW TO STRUCTURE LARGER BUSINESS ACQUISITIONS ($5m to $20m) People constantly ask me how to finance acquisitions in the $5m - 20m range (beyond SBA limits). Here's what you need to know... Stop thinking in terms of LTV or LTC ratios. Start thinking in terms of debt service multiples. The Golden Rule of Acquisition Financing: Debt / EBITDA should be 3x or less In some cases you can get up to 4x Debt / EBITDA, but you shouldn't count on it. Why? Non-SBA lenders don't have the benefit of a government guarantee removing 75% of their risk, so they're more risk-averse. Whereas SBA lenders will often do 4 or even 5 "turns" of debt, that's very rare for non-SBA loans. How to structure a $15m acquisition at 5x EBITDA of $3m: 🏦 Senior Debt: 3x EBITDA ($9m) 🤝 Seller Note: 0.5x EBITDA ($1.5m) - on full standby 👥 Seller Equity Rollover: 0.5x EBITDA ($1.5m) 💼 Investor/Sponsor Equity: 1x EBITDA ($3m) Remember: That seller note needs to be HEAVILY subordinated and potentially on full standby if the senior lender believes the business is already at maximum debt service of 3x. Otherwise you need to substitute in additional equity. Why This Works: Focusing on debt service ratios rather than percentage of purchase price aligns your financing with lender constraints. You can build the rest of the capital stack from there. Question: What acquisition capital stacks have you seen for deals in this size range? Comment below!

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EP Wealth Advisors announces a new partnership with Phoenix, AZ-based Clearview Wealth Advisors (Clearview). This partnership expands EP Wealth’s presence in the Phoenix region, adding new support to the Clearview team in both Salem, Oregon, and Peoria, Arizona. “Clearview has built strong, planning-led relationships we want every EP client to experience,” said Ryan Parker, CEO of EP Wealth. “Bringing their team into our Phoenix region allows us to surround their clients with deeper resources while keeping advice personal, local and aligned with the values that matter most to the families they serve.” Read the full press release here: https://hubs.la/Q03YkvV-0

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R&D Tax Breaks Set to Expand - Tuberville’s Bold Proposal On May 9, 2025, Senator Tommy Tuberville introduced the American Innovation and Jobs Act, aiming to revamp the R&D tax landscape for small businesses and startups. This bill proposes: 🟢 Restoring immediate full deductions for R&D expenses, reversing the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act's requirement to amortize these costs over several years. 🟢 Doubling the refundable R&D tax credit cap from $250,000 to $500,000 immediately, with plans to increase it to $750,000 over the next decade. 🟢 Expanding eligibility by raising the gross receipts threshold from $5 million to $15 million and extending the claim period from 5 to 8 years after generating at least $25,000 in revenue. As someone who has navigated the complexities of R&D tax credits, these changes could significantly ease the financial burden on innovative startups. The ability to fully deduct R&D expenses annually would provide immediate tax relief, encouraging more investment in innovation. This bipartisan effort, co-sponsored by over 30 senators, reflects a growing consensus on the importance of supporting domestic innovation. By enhancing these tax incentives, the U.S. aims to maintain its competitive edge in technology and innovation. What are your thoughts on these proposed changes? How might they impact your business or the broader innovation landscape? #TaxPolicy #Innovation #SmallBusiness #RDtaxcredit #AmericanInnovation #Startups #TaxReform

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California keeps selling this proposal as a “one-time 5% wealth tax.” That framing is deeply misleading. The structure of the 2026 Billionaire Tax Act would, in many cases, impose effective tax rates far above 5%, sometimes exceeding the actual value of the assets being taxed.   The initiative systematically overvalues private businesses, ignores liquidity constraints, taxes voting control instead of real economic ownership, and punishes reasonable valuation judgments with draconian penalties. Founders could be forced to liquidate controlling stakes, destabilize public companies, and trigger cascading losses for employees, investors, and retirement funds. This is not theoretical, it’s embedded in the mechanics of the proposal.   Even worse, the tax reaches beyond California’s borders. It retroactively captures assets, sweeps in nonresident spouses, disregards ordinary trust planning, and exposes taxpayers to years of jurisdiction and uncertainty through deferral regimes that effectively turn the state into a permanent co-investor. That’s not a wealth tax, it’s an assertion of ownership over private capital.   The consequence is predictable. Capital will move. Founders will relocate. Investment decisions will change long before a single dollar is collected. History shows that aggressive wealth taxes don’t broaden the tax base, they shrink it, while weakening innovation, job creation, and long-term growth.   Tax policy should fund government without destroying the ecosystem that creates prosperity in the first place. California’s proposal does the opposite.   https://lnkd.in/e8_359Nf   #TaxPolicy #WealthTax #CaliforniaTax

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Want an SBA loan? You better live in Goldilocks Land. Not too poor. Not too rich. Just right. Here’s the deal: If you’re broke… you’re out. If you’re flush with cash… also out. You need to land in the sweet spot. SBA wants you to have skin in the game—but not so much that you could’ve just bought the business outright without them. Here’s how it works: 10% down is the bare minimum. If you don’t have it, you have to have a flexible seller. Then they want to see another 10% left in your bank account after closing. That’s called post-close liquidity. It shows you won’t run the business on fumes. BUT… if you’ve got so much money left over that you didn’t need the loan? The SBA’s like, “Why are we here?” They call this the “credit elsewhere” rule. If you can self-fund, they won’t approve the loan. You’re too rich for them. So what do you need to be? You need to be a Goldilocks buyer. Not too broke to close the deal. Not too wealthy to make the SBA irrelevant. Just enough to show you’re serious, but not so much that you didn’t need their help. The SBA isn’t for dreamers or ballers. It’s for folks right in the middle who are ready to run a business—and just need a solid partner to help get it done.

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