Street Smart Success

Consistently passing on deals requires unusual discipline. It’s too easy to rationalize they work when they really don’t. It’s this lack of discipline and lack of underwriting knowledge that’s currently costing a lot of operators and their investors a lot of money.   It also helps when sponsors manage properties in-house to avoid excess costs, slow and expensive unit turns, and ineffective leasing efforts.  Wyatt Simon, Founder and Principal of Full Circle Real Estate, steadfastly adheres to his underwriting standards and has built an in-house management team to make sure his properties are fully optimized to achieve projected returns.

Many multifamily operators avoid C Class properties built in the 70’s or 60’s in tougher neighborhoods. These properties often have issues with crime and delinquencies, not to mention deferred maintenance. In the past, these properties were priced low enough to justify the risk and the work involved to make them highly profitable. In the past few years, however, newer operators paid too much for these properties and incurred aggressive floating rate debt that will be difficult to refinance.  Many of these operators are now in trouble.  As a result, prices have declined 30% and even more. Matt Faircloth, Owner of the DeRosa Group, has developed a formula for acquiring and managing Class C properties, and is positioned to flourish as prices continue to plummet even further in the next couple years. 

Investing in private credit is growing at a rapid clip as traditional lenders are getting increasingly restrictive in their lending practices and investors are looking for safe havens for their money. One of the most conservative Hard Money lending spaces is against single family homes in non-coastal markets because the home values are relatively predictable without dramatic fluctuations. Will Coleman, CEO and Founder of Urban Gate Capital, has a debt fund that loans money to single family flippers in Nashville with a growing pool of borrowers and investors. Will is currently paying investors 10%.

Buying properties in satellite markets within short driving distance to secondary or even tertiary markets can produce alpha returns, especially when buying them from older owners. Often times, these owners aren’t current on what their properties are worth, and their rents are significantly under market. To make money on these properties, however, you still need to buy them at a discounted price. Farris Gosea, Founder and CEO of Farris Gosea Capital, has amassed an impressive portfolio of multifamily apartment buildings in Northwest Indiana, a market that has become a commuter market of Chicago. Farris has a vertically integrated company that controls all aspects of maintenance, construction, and leasing. 

One of the ways to become successful in Real Estate is through the path of brokerage. There’s almost no barrier to entry and unlimited upside. You can be successful as a broker if you develop a niche, passion, and discipline. Bob Knakal, a modern legend in the NYC brokerage community, leads the Private Capital Group for JLL in New York and has brokered the sale of well over 2000 buildings, more buildings in New York City than any individual broker ever, totaling over $21 billion in sales. In the past several years, Bob has sold mostly Multifamily in Manhattan, with an average transaction price of $40 million.

Investing in Real Estate syndications can be risky, especially if you don’t have the necessary years of experience and the knowledge to effectively vet the operator and the specific opportunity. As a result, many investors have lost money, especially in the last year. One way to mitigate this risk is to invest in a fund that’s run by a fund operator with a lengthy track record of success and diversified holdings within the fund. Paul Moore, Founder of Wellings Capital, is operating his sixth fund for accredited investors to invest across recession resistant asset classes that are positioned to do well over the next several years. In Paul’s latest fund, he’s investing in Pref Equity deals that provide in-place cash flow plus significant potential upside in the form of refinances or sale events.  

Although core gateway markets have the highest appreciation for multifamily over time, secondary markets also offer tremendous growth and stability, and they have smaller barriers to entry. Bobby Larsen, Principal and Founder of Vanamor Investments, has invested successfully in submarkets of Portland, Oregon and Tampa, Florida, plus others.  He’s deployed a very conservative approach to acquisitions and operations that’s minimized risk and produced great returns for investors. Vanamor also utilizes 1031 exchanges, so their investors avoid tax consequences when properties are sold and compound gains over years. With huge distress in the market, and even more to come, Bobby anticipates making great acquisitions in the upcoming year. 

Maintaining high occupancy levels in apartment complexes can be an ongoing challenge, especially in highly competitive markets. This is why affordable, government subsidized housing can be a great option for investors. If the properties are in the right location, occupancy can consistently run at 100%, with waiting lists for new tenants. Not only are these properties full, but delinquencies are a non-issue because most of the rents are paid by the government. Ira Fisher of North Loop Investments owns over 400 units of affordable housing, mostly in Chicago and the surrounding areas. 

One of the hottest asset classes right now is neighborhood retail. Although it was out of favor just a few years ago because people thought ecommerce would replace it, it has proven to be not only resilient, but incredibly stable. There has almost been no new construction for over fifteen years, so existing properties are seeing occupancy levels at way over 90%.  As a result, the competition to acquire these assets has gotten fierce.  Nate Melchior, Principal of Dutton Commercial, vertically manages his own retail portfolio and also third party manages a portfolio of 70 mid-size retail and office properties throughout Colorado.  In addition to pursuing retail properties to buy, Nate is also searching for highly discounted office properties in great submarkets.

Cracks are starting to show in the multifamily space. Several owners have expiring rate caps and are underwater on their properties as they face dramatically increased debt payments. This is starting to force sellers to get realistic and capitulate on price. Great deals are starting to emerge with healthy spreads between interest rates and cap rates. Julian Vogel, 

Fund Manager at Colony Hills Capital, is acquiring recession resilient Class B- to A- properties with 20% return targets in growth markets in the Eastern U.S.