Wendell’s Weekly Wins and Whiffs

🏆 This Week’s Win: Building Real Momentum

This week marked a meaningful step forward in the long game. Not because of a big closing or a flashy announcement, but because the infrastructure behind my companies got stronger in ways that will compound for years. ⚒️📈

Flip Fuel Lending continues to accelerate. I now officially have three loan officers working with me, which is a major milestone considering how recently this was just a concept I was grinding on solo. Bringing in real production capacity allows us to serve more investors, structure deals more efficiently, and move with greater speed. We also funded another loan this week, adding more proof of execution as we refine our systems and build the engine for scale.

Tide and Timber Ventures leveled up its operational backbone by onboarding a new transaction coordinator. This role is crucial as our pipeline expands because smoother communication, tighter processes, and better deal execution will directly impact how aggressively we can scale in 2026. Every addition makes the entire operation sharper.

On the branding front, I am getting my social media manager fully up to speed. Their primary focus is elevating my personal brand, but that visibility will support all three companies which include Hammerhead Capital, Flip Fuel Lending, and Tide and Timber Ventures. 🎥🔥 The stronger my brand becomes, the more credibility partners talent and deal opportunities it attracts. This is about building a platform that fuels the entire ecosystem.

Outside of business, I made a personal move I have been wanting to take for a long time. I joined a Bible study. I have always been curious about reading the Bible for myself, not just hearing about it indirectly. It has been a surprisingly meaningful experience already with great conversations thoughtful perspectives and genuine connection with friends. 🙏 It feels like a different kind of growth and I am glad I finally stepped into it.

When I zoom out, the real win this week becomes clear. We are building capacity. We are building a structure. We are building momentum. The kind of momentum that comes from people systems clarity and alignment, not luck or chance.

Every role added, every decision made, and every intentional improvement is part of the foundation for what we are creating.

And this week, that foundation became much stronger. 💥

💨 This Week’s Whiff: The Ceiling Incident

Some weeks remind you that owning real estate is basically running a live action sitcom, and this week delivered a new episode. 🎬🏚️

At our thirty two unit complex, a tenant’s brother and his girlfriend decided the warmest place to sleep was not their actual unit but the ceiling crawlspace. Yes, the ceiling. They climbed through, dropped into a vacant unit, and settled in for the night like it was some kind of off grid Airbnb experience. 🧗‍♂️🔥🛌

The next morning, our handyman walked into the unit expecting to do normal, ready work and instead found two people asleep on the floor under a fresh hole in the ceiling. Not exactly the morning surprise he signed up for. ☕😳

I have seen a lot in real estate, but ceiling campers are a first. You can budget for broken appliances, late rent, and wear and tear. You cannot budget for people turning your vacant apartment into a crawlspace resort.

And of course, the fun continues. Now I get to figure out how to remove them from the property, which likely means eviction or some very direct conversations about why “warmer” does not equal “break into the ceiling and sleep in a vacant unit.” 📄🚫

The good news is no one was hurt. The bad news is my ceiling was, my handyman is probably still confused, and I now own a story that will absolutely get told at future investor meetups. 😅🏚️

Real estate will humble you, entertain you, and test your patience all at the same time. This week covered all three.

Next week, we aim for fewer surprise ceiling guests and a smoother path forward on getting these folks out. 💥➡️🚪

🔦 FROM THE FIELD: New Builds Might Be the Sleeper Strategy

This week’s lesson came straight from the ground up, literally. After spending years doing fix and flips, I always assumed new construction would be more complicated, riskier, and slower. But the deeper we get into our projects, the more I am realizing something surprising.

New builds are actually a lot more simple than I expected. In some ways, they are almost easier than a fix and flip.

With a flip, you are constantly dealing with surprises behind walls, changing scopes, shifting budgets, and discoveries that make you question every decision you have ever made. With new construction, once you secure land at a good price and your zoning lines up, the process becomes pretty straightforward.

Pick a plan. Set the specs. Hand it off to a GC you trust. And that last part is the key.

We use Slate Building Group, and they have been seamless from day one. The communication, the coordination, and the execution have all been tight, which makes the entire process feel controlled and predictable. When you have the right GC, new builds become a system instead of a guessing game.

The hard part is not the construction. The hard part is acquiring the dirt at the right price in the right zoning. But once that piece is locked in, everything else flows.

Check out the new build progress pic below. Watching a project rise from nothing is a different kind of energy. No surprises behind walls. No unexpected foundation issues. Just clean execution from blueprint to structure.

The field lesson this week is simple:
Do not overlook new construction. With the right land, the right zoning, and the right GC, it might be one of the most straightforward paths to scale. Sometimes the strategies we assume are complicated turn out to be the ones that give us the most clarity and control.

More builds coming. More lessons coming. And more proof that simplicity is often a competitive advantage.

Keep Building,