Street Smart Success

Most multifamily syndicators are facing major headwinds including interest rate increases, new supply, and escalating expenses. In order to thrive in this environment, you have to have an excellent organization that executes on business plans and maintains healthy working relationships with their lenders. Zack Haptonstall, Founder of Rise 48, has never made a capital call or missed a debt payment. For the properties he acquired in 2021, Zach’s now making distributions to investors. In the face of unprecedented rate increases, Zach accelerated the pace of renovations in 2023 and completed almost 2000 units. This enabled him to increase net operating income enough to continue making debt payments and distribute cash to investors. 

Eventually, ma and pa Mobile Home Park operators will be swallowed up by professional operators, so the opportunity to invest is now. The demand to live in Mobile Home Parks is growing while the supply is shrinking. The average Mobile Home Park owner stays in their home 17.5 years, some stay even longer. Many ma and pa owners, especially second or third generation family members, don’t reinvest into their properties and the assets become mismanaged and neglected. These parks can be great value-add opportunities for professional operators. Jack Martin, Co-founder and head of Investment Capital of 52/10, specializes in the acquisition, management, and development of Mobile Home Parks.

Even before covid, the Southeast was rapidly growing, but the trend accelerated during covid, and still continues. The population of Atlanta, for example, is projected to multiply three times in the next thirty years to over 15 million. Currently, office leasing activity in Atlanta is 80% of the volume of 2019, which was robust. As recently as 2022, however, companies were still questioning whether they would return to the office, now they’re focusing on the best way to outfit offices to best serve their employees. Joey Kline, a commercial Real Estate broker and Executive Vice President at JLL in Atlanta, helps tenants find new space or renew in downtown Atlanta and surrounding suburbs, plus other markets in the country.

Compared to most other Real Estate asset classes, Self-Storage has more resilience in the face of different economic climates. Self-Storage has a steadier revenue stream, a smaller percentage of operating expenses, and therefore greater margins and profitability. There’s also a shortage of self-storage facilities in smaller markets. Tom Dunkel, Managing Director of Belrose Storage, has acquired 14 Self-Storage facilities directly from sellers in the mid-Atlantic region and the Southeast, with big value-add components. Tom has consistently increased income and lowered expenses to achieve great returns for his investors. 

One of the time-honored ways to make money in Real Estate is flipping single family houses. For years, this is how many successful Real Estate investors have made a great living. In fact, many Real Estate moguls started with single family homes. Sharad Mehta, Founder and CEO of REsimpli, has flipped over 400 homes in Lake County, Indiana, 45 minutes outside of Chicago. Sharad currently owns 50 homes outright with no debt. As a home flipper and investor, Sharad recognized the need for better software to run his business. That’s why he created REsimpli, software that simplifies Real Estate investing by automating tasks that help investors manage their business more efficiently. 

Over the past several years, as prices in multifamily have escalated, the greatest value has been in acquiring older, C Class assets with the highest returns. As interest rates have pushed prices down more recently, however, and the market normalizes, great opportunities are also emerging in newer vintage Class B assets that don’t require as much work. Vadim Kleyner, CEO and Chairman of Smartland in Cleveland, is continuing to pursue lucrative Class C properties, but is also poised to take advantage of the course correction in B Class prices as well. Vadim has focused mostly on Northeast Ohio, but recently expanded to Miami, and is exploring other markets as well. 

The rate at which the Real Estate market has unraveled is unprecedented in recent history. The debt and equity markets have all but frozen, which has suspended the market. Many operators and lenders are in trouble because operators are unable to make payments and rate caps are expiring. In the near future, more lenders will be forced to take properties back from borrowers, and prices will continue to contract. This will become an opportune time for investors with access to capital. Matt Burk, Chairman of Fairway America, has consulted hundreds of Real Estate entrepreneurs to create and manage their own funds in addition to running his own funds across most major asset classes. 

Many Real Estate investors start out investing in residential properties before migrating to asset classes like industrial, self-storage, or office for less day-to-day management. Jonathan Hayek, founder of Endurance Properties, started with single family houses and small multifamily properties before acquiring a vacant office building in Cheyenne, Wyoming. After he realized that small office buildings can also be high maintenance, however, he sold that property and recently acquired single tenant NNN industrial properties. With NNN industrial, the tenant is responsible for everything except for the roof and structure. They pay all expenses including tenant improvements, taxes, insurance, and utilities, making it true mailbox money.

Nothing pays off like tight geographic concentration and laser focus on one asset type. In multifamily, there are critical subtleties that vary by neighborhood that can make or break an investment if you don’t know what they are. That’s where intimate market knowledge pays off. Natasha Falconi, President of Falconi Capital, buys C Class properties in Hialeah and Miami Beach built from the 1940’s and newer. Natasha buys buildings under market rent with deferred maintenance that she fixes up and brings to market. She’s committed to turning ugly buildings into beautiful buildings and improving the communities she’s investing in.

When you’re dealing with family offices, you’re dealing with the top .0001% of America’s wealthiest families. As a result, your approach to allocating capital needs to be nearly flawless, with well-developed strategies and investment theses. Sal Buscemi, Managing Partner and Co-founder of Brahmin Partners, allocates capital on behalf of 13 Family Offices. Sal is an expert at building relationships with these sophisticated families and helping them preserve and grow their legacies. Sal has vast experience across asset classes and a well-informed, holistic view of the market that benefits his clients.