Due Diligence, Bad Partnerships & Why Listening Is Your Most Valuable Asset | Tanh | Part 5

This episode isn't a highlight reel. It's a closing accounting - what went wrong, what the checklist should have looked like, and what Tanh would do differently if he could run those deals again.In the final part of this conversation, Tanh Anh closes the series with his two biggest real estate mistakes, the operational habits that keep him building when deals are slow, and what he'd tell someone starting from zero in commercial real estate today.We cover:The $2M flex property post-mortem: an off-market deal with insufficient area research, a tenant who ghosted at four months and left with the keys, $50K in leasing commissions already paid, zero market absorption, and a break-even exit two years laterWhat a proper due diligence checklist actually looks like - including contacting economic development, checking local social media for neighborhood sentiment, viewing the property at night, and underwriting the downside scenario before closingThe partnership mistake that came first: knowing from the beginning that values weren't aligned, getting persuaded to proceed anyway, and why he still holds himself accountable for ignoring his gutWhy he wrote 900 pages in a year, self-published on Amazon, and considers the book a labor of love rather than a revenue strategy - and what his second book (a parable) is going to requireWhy listening is the most underrated skill in commercial real estate - and how it functions differently when you're talking to an investor, a seller, or a tenant who can't make rentThe SAVERS framework from Miracle Morning and how Tanh adapted it to protect the first half of his day: no email before noon, gym before calls, reading before decisionsWhy he's a partner to his tenants, not just a landlord - and how that framing changes what problem-solving looks like when a tenant's business is strugglingWhat he'd tell someone starting today: stay open-minded, because one commercial lead has multiple ways to generate capital if you're willing to see all of themThis is the final episode of a five-part conversation. Parts 1-4 are available in the Chief Milestones feed and cover the value-add model, buy-and-hold math, leverage strategy, investor relationship systems, and the networking habits that actually close deals.Reach out: [email protected] Milestones is a video podcast featuring honest conversations with founders, parents, and investors about building real businesses, staying healthy, and raising families.New episodes release Tuesdays and Fridays.Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@ChiefMilestonesInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/chiefmilestones/Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/7HLDAe7SP3GnJSTOgAQqLy?si=6e9ac82be46f413cApple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/chief-milestones/id1861185226