Street Smart Success

Although the competition to acquire most commercial real estate assets is fierce, there’s frequently less competition to acquire non-institutional Triple Net deals. Yet Triple Net deals are often offered at higher cap rates with stronger in-place cash flow and greater predictability for the long-term. These are great assets for cash flow investors that rely on consistent income to subsist on. Ben Kogut, founder of Rooster Equity, invests in single net lease properties at under market prices. Ben is currently exploring opportunities in national, publicly traded medical facilities. As the population ages, the demand for medical care will continue to increase. 

Amongst the popularity of Commercial Real Estate, Public Equities, Oil and Gas, and other common alternative asset classes, one asset class remains underneath the institutional radar. That’s Strategic Special Metals. Strategic Special Metals is an opportunity to invest in raw materials that are the underpinning of many of the world’s largest industries. Examples are Gallium, Indium, and Geranium, to name a few. Louis O’Connor, founder of Strategic Metals Invest Consultancy, helps clients invest in these highly appreciating asset classes with consistent double digit historic returns. 

To invest in most multifamily projects, investors need to have accredited status. With Diversyfund, investors don’t need to be accredited to invest. For as little as $500, investors can invest in Multifamily funds. Since 2016, Diversyfund has had over 30,000 investors. 

The multifamily industry has made a lot of people a lot of money, but the tides have turned over the last couple years. The rise in interest rates and inexperienced operators drawn to potential riches including exorbitant acquisition fees have taken its toll with a lot of properties upside down and investors losing money. Sandhya Seshadri, Founder of Engineered Capital, is a Dallas-based multifamily operator who works tirelessly to preserve her investor’s hard-earned money. Instead of perpetually trying to raise money for the next deal, Sandhya focuses on optimizing her existing portfolio...

Finding under the radar Real Estate niches is extremely difficult, especially with the amount of information readily available online. One exception in today’s market is RV Parks. There are 1.2 million people that live full-time in RVs but there are only 600,000 pads for them to occupy when traveling.  In addition, 85% of RV parks are owned by owners who only own one park, and 50% don’t even have websites and 70% don’t take online reservations.  This is an asset class rife with opportunity. Ben Spiegel, Founder and CEO of Redwood Capital, is building a portfolio of RV parks in the south. Ben is implementing professional management and positioning them for sale to an institutional buyer. 

Getting higher than 10% cash-on-cash returns is close to impossible with most real estate investments. One exception to this is short term rentals. Short term rentals are a hybrid between owning typical residential housing and the hospitality business. Short term rentals require more management but can yield higher returns. Avery Carl, CEO of The Short-Term Shop, the country's top short-term rental and Airbnb real estate agency, and host of the Short Term Show podcast, helps investors find short term rental properties and educates them on how to manage them.

As market rate apartments have become cost prohibitive to acquire over the past several years, ground up construction has become a more economically feasible option, especially with various federal, state, and local government tax credit programs. Lee Harris, President and CEO of Cohen Esrey, specializes in the development of 100-300 unit subsidized multifamily properties in the Midwest and Sunbelt markets, often with complex funding strategies. Cohen Esrey has managed more than 82,000 multifamily units since its formation.

Trade globalization has created immense prosperity for the U.S. and the global economy. It’s literally lifted millions of people out of poverty over the past several decades. The Chinese economy, in particular, has transformed dramatically as a result of its trade with the U.S. Other of our trading partners have benefitted as well. As our partners have accumulated U.S. currency, they’ve invested this money into U.S. bonds, which has helped us subsidize our budget deficit and national debt. The decisions we make concerning tariffs over the next couple years may have dramatic impacts on our domestic economy. Richard Duncan, author of “The Money Revolution, How to Finance the next American Century,” has a prescription for future growth and prosperity that entails investing in industries and technologies that will cement U.S. geopolitical preeminence. Richard is also the publisher of Macro Watch, a video-newsletter that analyzes the forces driving the economy and the financial markets in the 21st Century.

The U.S. single family home market is worth $43.5 trillion. Much of the country's wealth is concentrated in homes, making it the biggest asset class in the world. Over the years, investors have compiled portfolios of homes in markets all over the country that have generated strong monthly cash flow and huge appreciation. It’s nearly impossible to go wrong investing in single family homes in the right neighborhoods over the long-term. Marco Santarelli is an investor and founder of Norada Real Estate, a nationwide provider of turnkey cash-flow investment properties.

Despite the escalation of asset prices over the past several years, there’s still great value In Midwestern tertiary markets. In multifamily, you can still buy properties for under $100,000 per unit that generates strong cash flow. Although these are small markets, many of them have strong and stable employment fundamentals, and therefore consistently high occupancy levels. Ross McArthur, Partner at Follow the Deal Investments, has accumulated a portfolio of over 600 units over the past few years within two hours of Indianapolis. Ross also flips 20 properties per year which helps feed his multifamily acquisitions.