Longship Ventures

Founder

Northwestern Mutual

Financial Representative

US Army

Signals Intelligence Analyst

Helping steady hands build generational wealth with Ohio real estate ⁃ 9x Dad of the Year ⁃ Husband ⁃ Veteran

Hey there, thanks for stopping by. 

I appreciate you giving me your most valuable commodity: your time and attention.

My name is David.

Who I Am:
- Ohio native, currently residing in Dayton, OH.
- Former Division 1 wrestler (2x NCAA National Tournament qualifier).
- Served 8 years as a Military Intelligence Collector/Analyst for the U.S. Army.
- Farsi language qualified with a combat tour in Afghanistan.
- Medically retired after a training accident during one of the Army's toughest courses.

My Journey:
- Graduated magna cum laude with a Master’s in Real Estate from Georgetown University in 2023.
- Transitioning my discipline and resilience into the real estate space.

My Mission:
- Helping hardworking people make their money work even harder.
- Creating lasting legacies through real estate syndication.

Let’s Connect:
If you're interested in investing, collaborating, or sharing ideas, reach out. 
I would love to hear about your journey

19,000,000,000 in economic output and sub-$1,200 rents in a tier 2 market

Check it out.

Dayton is the definition of quiet compounding, built on eds, meds, and feds instead of hype cycles.
Tech and manufacturing are ramping up too, they just didn’t fit the rhyme.

Dayton is beating national averages on cash flow and stability, 
So why isn’t it in your portfolio?

Here’s what the numbers actually say

Wright-Patterson is Ohio’s largest single-site employer, roughly 38,000 people on payroll and more than $4 billion a year in direct impact.

Layer in the region’s other federal installations and you are looking at about 19,400,000,000 in total economic activity tied to the “federal spine” alone.

Average apartment rent in the Dayton HMA sits around $1,130, with vacancy near 6.4%, 
Tighter than the roughly 8.4% national multifamily vacancy.

C class workforce housing posted rent growth of about 6.4 percent in the year ending early 2024, 
A top-10 performance nationwide.

Most of the housing citywide was built before 1970, 
Meaning a deep bench of tired infill assets sitting inside established job and transport corridors.

When you buy older stock in these corridors, 
You are not betting on a story, 
You are improving housing that working families already depend on while stabilizing cash flow.

Rehab is targeted, 
Finishes are right-sized to the income bands, 
And you are repositioning into a rent premium that residents can still afford, 
Not trying to invent a new tenant base.

You are also playing in submarkets where new supply is limited, 
So every competent reposition on a 1950s to 1970s building stands out against tired comps instead of competing with a glass box down the street.

For early movers, that combination looks a lot like durable, boring, repeatable checks.

The thesis is simple

Follow the federal and healthcare payroll, 
Buy the infill buildings everyone else calls “too old,” 
Fix what matters and let time and rent growth quietly do the heavy lifting.

Steady hands do not chase the loudest market, 
They accumulate in the most reliable one.

Long-term value usually hides where the payroll is huge, 
The buildings are tired, 
And the capital is still asleep.

If Dayton isn’t on your radar, why not? If it is, why haven’t you taken action?

If you own or operate in Southwest Ohio, let’s connect, I’m always looking to trade notes with others in the market.

David Wade

Make 2035 money show up in 2026

You don’t build wealth by chasing tax “tricks”
You build it by using the code to keep more of what your money already earned

Every dollar you shield with depreciation
Is a dollar that keeps working inside your deals.

Cash flow is preserved,
Downside is buffered, 
And equity compounds faster.

That is how steady hands protect wealth in tight cycles

Most people treat taxes like a bill to pay,
Disciplined investors treat taxes like a system to design.
The code is not just compliance, it is infrastructure for your cash flow.

Are you leaving money on the table, or are you using every lever available?

Here is what the 2026 world looks like for cost seg and bonus
Bonus depreciation is back at 100%.
Engineered cost seg studies still pull future deductions into the early years

Assume a $5,000,000 multifamily purchase
Land is $1,000,000, building is $4,000,000
Assume 70% LTV, so the loan is $3,500,000 and total equity is $1,500,000

Without cost seg
You depreciate $4,000,000 over 27.5 years
That is about $145,000 of depreciation in year one

With cost seg in 2026
Assume 20% of the building, $800,000, is reclassified into 5 and 15 year property
Bonus depreciation is 20% in 2026 on that short life slice

Year one looks roughly like this

Bonus on short life property
20% of $800,000, about $160,000

Regular year one depreciation on the remaining basis, 
Roughly $180,000

Total year one depreciation for the partnership, 
Around $340,000

As an investor, you only take your pro rata share of that deduction based on your ownership

Result

Your deduction more than doubles versus doing nothing.

At a 35% combined tax rate, that extra ~$195,000 deduction is about ~$68,000 kept in the deal before pro rata split to each investor.

On $1,500,000 of equity, that is roughly a 4.5% boost to year one after tax return on equity at the partnership level.

If you invest 10% of the equity, a $150,000 check, your share of that year one tax benefit is roughly $6,800.

If your passive income is only $200,000, and you generate $340,000 of depreciation, the unused loss carries forward instead of disappearing.

That is not a hack,
That is the code doing its job

This is how steady hands think about taxes.

Not as a once a year scramble,
But as a design problem.

Get the study done early in the hold,
Map passive income, other K 1s, and future acquisitions.
Use carried losses to smooth out lumpy years and protect cash when the cycle tightens

The mindset shift is simple.

Taxes are not just a liability,
They are a tool, 
Even a weapon, 
When you understand timing and structure.

If you are not using them at all, the question is how much compounding you are quietly giving up

Disciplined investors are rethinking how they protect what they earn.
If your strategy stops at “pay less,” you are missing the bigger picture, what is your approach?

If you would rather keep more of what your deals earn than hand it to the IRS, Repost.

146,000 paychecks are quietly protecting your NOI


Hospitals and code writers are doing more for rent stability here than most.
If you still underwrite Cincinnati like a one note logistics town, 
Are you really pricing for the risk  
Or just guessing at a distance?

Greater Cincinnati now supports roughly 146,000 healthcare jobs, most of them clinical.¹

That is 146,000 chances for families to keep kids in the same school, 
Stay current on rent and avoid emergency moves.

TriHealth, UC Health, and other systems alone employ well over 35,000 people across the region.²

On the tech side, 
The Cincinnati region ranks in the top half of peer metros for five year tech job growth, 
Even if it is not a brand name tech hub.³

Kroger’s digital and technology teams are hiring in Cincinnati more than any other Ohio city.

Adding high income roles to a historically blue collar metro.⁴⁵

For residents, that mix matters.

When healthcare and tech carry payroll through downturns, 
Families are less likely to miss rent, 
Move under distress, 
Or overcrowded units.

You can see it in the multifamily numbers.

Cincinnati’s apartment vacancy sat around 7.1% at the end of 2024, 
Still below the national average even after new deliveries.⁶

Rents grew roughly 2.5% to 3.0% in 2024 and are forecast to accelerate to about 3.7% in 2025.
 
With workforce and mid tier assets leading the way.⁷

Affordability is the other side of the coin.

One national study ranked Cincinnati as the most affordable big city for renters.

With typical residents spending only about 15.5% of their income on rent, 
Far below the 30% cost burden line.⁸

The Cincinnati Chamber still calls regional rent comparatively affordable, 
At about $1,526 a month in 2023, even after being on the fast growth lists.⁹

For residents, that means more room in the budget for savings, healthcare, and a little breathing room when life hits.

For investors, it means room for measured rent growth without breaking communities that are already doing the hard work.

This is where steady hands win.

Not by squeezing every last dollar out of a hot cycle, 
But by acting like stewards in metros where diversified employers keep units full, rent growth sane, and resident finances intact.

Are you active in SW Ohio’s healthcare or tech corridors? Let’s connect.
If this view of Cincinnati as a diversified, cash flow market fits how you think, Repost!

¹ HealthCollab, greater Cincinnati healthcare workforce, Q1 2025.
 ² REDI Cincinnati, largest public employers.
 ³ Cincinnati usa regional chamber, industry indicators, tech jobs.
 ⁴ Ziprecruiter, Kroger digital roles in Ohio.
 ⁵ Kroger technology and digital careers, Cincinnati.
 ⁶ Lee and associates, Cincinnati multifamily Q4 2024.
 ⁷ MMG real estate advisors, Cincinnati 2025 forecast.
 ⁸ Realestatewitch, renter affordability study 2023.
 ⁹ Cincinnati usa regional chamber, state of the region 2023.

$14,000,000,000,000 Succession wave is coming

Are you looking to carve out a piece?

Whether it comes from rent checks or revenue,
Steady cash beats speculation every time.

Real estate investors already know the formula,
Buy stabilized assets, 
Improve operations, 
Compound returns.

Now apply that same lens to Main Street.

A car wash, 
HVAC company, laundromat, 
Or landscaping business isn’t a job,
It’s an operating asset.

One that throws off predictable cash flow,
And comes with built-in tax advantages that look a lot like real estate.

That $14T is the estimated value set to change hands as baby boomer owners exit over the next decade.
Roughly 2,900,000 owner operated firms,
Many on Main Street,
Are in that pipeline.

More supply means more chances to buy already cash flowing operations at fair prices.
And to pair the purchase with smart tax timing so the day you take the keys, 
The code starts working for you.

Which is where the playbook shows up in the financials,
Here’s how it translates in practice.

Depreciation on equipment,
Amortization on goodwill,
Section 179 deductions on upgrades,
Bonus depreciation where eligible.

Those moves reduce taxable income,
Preserve cash flow,
Accelerate payback on improvements,
And yes, they can *front load deductions in year one.

Turning purchases like trucks, mowers, washers, and HVAC units into immediate write-offs.

Qualifying equipment with Section 179 or bonus can be mostly expensed year one,
Taxable income drops, 
Cash flow rises, 
Equity compounds through reinvestment and debt paydown.

Real estate stores wealth,
Small business multiplies it.
One is stabilized cash flow tied to dirt,
The other is active cash flow tied to systems and people.

Both can be tax efficient,
Both reward operational discipline,
Both favor steady hands.

The difference is control,
In SMBs you set the strategy, pull the levers, shape the margin,
It’s not hands-off, it’s steady hands-on.

Taxes are the icing on the cake,
The real win is owning the cash flow engine itself.

Treat the tax code like a strategy, not just compliance,
Design around it, don’t wait for April,
Are you leaving money on the table, or are you using every lever available?

Which type of small business would you pick if you were getting in on this opportunity?

If you own or operate car washes, or know someone who does, I’d love an introduction!

Do you train for a sprint and then act surprised when life turns into a marathon?


The ones who hold it together are not the strongest or the loudest
They are the ones who have done the reps
Packed their kit the same way every time
Ran comms checks even when no one was watching
Planned for batteries to fail and contingencies to kick in

That is endurance thinking
You do not rise to the occasion
You fall to your level of preparation

In real life, it looks boring.

Tracking your numbers every week, 
Not just when something feels off.

Stress testing your plans for lower revenue, 
Higher costs, and bad timing.

Building a reserves plan that assumes things break at the worst possible time.

Documenting systems so the work runs the same way on a good day or a bad one.

Military or civilian, 
The cost of failure is paid later.
In uniform, weak systems cost lives
In life and business, weak systems cost teams, customers, and reputation.

Both failures start the same way, 
With people who only trained for the easy version of reality.

Endurance thinking is how steady hands build lives, businesses, and portfolios that survive full cycles.

Sprints build hype.
Endurance builds empires.
Discipline compounds faster than enthusiasm.


How do you prepare so when the fight goes long, you are still executing while everyone else is gassed out?

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