Writing by Richard Joseph Spinelli https://richardjosephspinelli.com/writing Essays by Richard Joseph Spinelli on operating student housing in Belmont, the Bronx, the market around Fordham University, and buying and renovating small prewar buildings. en-us Fri, 23 Oct 2026 01:41:05 GMT The student leasing cycle runs on a calendar nobody set https://richardjosephspinelli.com/writing/student-leasing-cycle https://richardjosephspinelli.com/writing/student-leasing-cycle Richard Joseph Spinelli walks the twelve months of a student housing leasing year in Belmont, and why eight of them carry almost no decisions at all. Off campus housing operations Richard Joseph Spinelli Wed, 23 Sep 2026 12:00:00 GMT Fordham housing demand is fixed, dated and almost entirely inelastic https://richardjosephspinelli.com/writing/fordham-housing-demand-calendar https://richardjosephspinelli.com/writing/fordham-housing-demand-calendar Fordham housing demand near Rose Hill is set by the campus calendar, not the market. Richard Joseph Spinelli on what that does to the off campus blocks. The Belmont and Fordham market Richard Joseph Spinelli Tue, 22 Sep 2026 12:00:00 GMT Guarantors, co signers, and who is actually carrying a student lease https://richardjosephspinelli.com/writing/guarantors-and-the-lease https://richardjosephspinelli.com/writing/guarantors-and-the-lease Richard Joseph Spinelli answers what students and parents ask about who stands behind a group lease, what joint liability means, and where it goes wrong. Off campus housing operations Richard Joseph Spinelli Mon, 21 Sep 2026 12:00:00 GMT Who actually supplies Fordham off campus housing, by category https://richardjosephspinelli.com/writing/fordham-off-campus-housing-supply https://richardjosephspinelli.com/writing/fordham-off-campus-housing-supply Fordham off campus housing comes from five distinct kinds of owner. Richard Joseph Spinelli sets out what each is, and what a group gets from each. The Belmont and Fordham market Richard Joseph Spinelli Sun, 20 Sep 2026 12:00:00 GMT What an empty unit actually costs a portfolio this concentrated https://richardjosephspinelli.com/writing/vacancy-math-in-one-neighborhood https://richardjosephspinelli.com/writing/vacancy-math-in-one-neighborhood Richard Joseph Spinelli works through the arithmetic of a single empty student unit in Belmont, and why concentration changes the answer in both directions. Off campus housing operations Richard Joseph Spinelli Sat, 19 Sep 2026 12:00:00 GMT What actually sets the price of a bed near Rose Hill https://richardjosephspinelli.com/writing/fordham-housing-cost-inputs https://richardjosephspinelli.com/writing/fordham-housing-cost-inputs Fordham housing cost near Belmont is built from six inputs, most of which a landlord does not control. Richard Joseph Spinelli takes them one at a time. The Belmont and Fordham market Richard Joseph Spinelli Fri, 18 Sep 2026 12:00:00 GMT Buying a prewar walk up in the Bronx, from first walk to closing https://richardjosephspinelli.com/writing/buying-a-prewar-walk-up https://richardjosephspinelli.com/writing/buying-a-prewar-walk-up Richard Joseph Spinelli sets out the steps of buying a small prewar building in Belmont, what each step really tests, and the two that most often end a deal. Buying and renovating in the Bronx Richard Joseph Spinelli Thu, 17 Sep 2026 12:00:00 GMT The order renovation work has to happen in, and why order beats speed https://richardjosephspinelli.com/writing/renovation-order-closing-to-move-in https://richardjosephspinelli.com/writing/renovation-order-closing-to-move-in Richard Joseph Spinelli on the dependency order of renovating a prewar Bronx unit, why the sequence is fixed, and what happens when it is run out of order. Buying and renovating in the Bronx Richard Joseph Spinelli Wed, 16 Sep 2026 12:00:00 GMT What an economics degree gives you, and what it very plainly does not https://richardjosephspinelli.com/writing/economics-degree-is-not-a-manual https://richardjosephspinelli.com/writing/economics-degree-is-not-a-manual Richard Joseph Spinelli studied economics at Boston College and now runs a student housing company. Where that training helps, and where it gets in the way. Building from the operator seat Richard Joseph Spinelli Tue, 15 Sep 2026 12:00:00 GMT The numbers that looked important from outside, and the ones that turned out to matter https://richardjosephspinelli.com/writing/which-numbers-matter-to-an-operator https://richardjosephspinelli.com/writing/which-numbers-matter-to-an-operator Richard Joseph Spinelli contrasts the figures that describe a student housing company with the smaller ones that actually predict how a year will go. Building from the operator seat Richard Joseph Spinelli Mon, 14 Sep 2026 12:00:00 GMT An event with no finishing line, and the single decision it keeps asking https://richardjosephspinelli.com/writing/forty-two-miles-and-when-to-stop https://richardjosephspinelli.com/writing/forty-two-miles-and-when-to-stop Richard Joseph Spinelli ran forty two miles at a last man standing race in Maine. The distance is not the interesting part. The repeated decision is. Endurance and decision making Richard Joseph Spinelli Sun, 13 Sep 2026 12:00:00 GMT Even splits, and why the discipline transfers further than the running does https://richardjosephspinelli.com/writing/even-splits-are-a-management-idea https://richardjosephspinelli.com/writing/even-splits-are-a-management-idea Richard Joseph Spinelli takes the runner's idea of an even split, tests it as a way of running a small company, and says where the analogy stops being useful. Endurance and decision making Richard Joseph Spinelli Sat, 12 Sep 2026 12:00:00 GMT