Street Smart Success

Despite ample sentiment to the contrary, we may not be headed into a recession any time soon according to at least one well known, respected economist. In fact, we’re just four years past the pandemic, and we’re seeing steady, conservative growth. As far as AI disruption, and potential unemployment that may result, this may occur slower than many people think.  Peter Linneman, Principal of Linneman Associates, is a prolific multi-d...

One way to generate large, short-term profits in Real Estate is flipping houses. There are many methods to finding great deals, and the money to acquire these properties is readily available when the deals make sense. You can find houses via auctions, wholesalers, or tried and true direct marketing efforts like flyers, Direct Mail, driving neighborhoods, even knocking on doors. Dan Cantillana, or Dan Can, is a successful insurance ...

Nothing has caused more loss of principal in Real Estate than too much debt. Leverage works great in an upward trending market, but it cuts the other way in a downturn.  Joel Friedland, Principal of BRIT properties, has been buying infill industrial properties with all cash since learning the hard way during the 2008-09 financial crises. Joel and his investors are seeking conservative investments with the primary goal of capital pr...

AI will change the world even more than the internet, with profound implications for most aspects of society, including massive wealth creation. It will impact many sectors of commerce, including Real Estate. Amongst other implications, AI is creating an insatiable demand for Data Centers and a scramble for computing power. Peter Lewis, Chairman and Founder of Wharton Equity Partners, has over 35 years of experience as a real estat...

For fix and flip entrepreneurs of single-family homes, it’s hard to get financing from traditional lenders. This lack of access to capital creates a market for private lenders who have the flexibility and access to capital. It’s a win-win for borrowers and lenders. Borrowers get capital to fund their businesses; lenders make a healthy return for making these kinds of loans. Investors who invest in hard money funds also do well, ear...

Although cracks are starting to appear in various commercial real estate asset classes, prices have still not come down enough to be investible. Prices have come down, but they’ve come down off record highs and lenders are still conducting workouts with sponsors. If we continue to see significant job losses, and recession ensues, prices may eventually come down enough to make sense for cash-flow investors. Jeremy Roll, a full-time ...

Despite its initial trajectory, ecommerce has plateaued at 16% of total retail sales. Concurrently, the cost of land, borrowing, and construction has made it prohibitive to build new retail centers. As a result, occupancy levels at existing properties are in the mid-high 90’s, and sometimes even 100%. There’s a huge demand for space from restaurants, beauty salons, yoga and pilates studios, gyms, massage clinics, plus other medical...

When it comes to stable tenants and predictable cash flow, it’s hard to find a better asset class then Medical Office. As the population ages and people live longer, the demand for medical care will continue to flourish. Plus, technology will never replace the human body. Another commercial real estate class with predictable cash flow is Multifamily. Multifamily is attractive because of looming loan maturities and resulting distres...

Although Multifamily is facing challenges in sunbelt markets, and loan maturities are piling up, long-term fundamentals remain strong. Rents are holding, occupancy levels are in the low 90’s%, and collections are solid. There have been concessions because of excess supply, but even these are gradually starting to contract. Joe Fairless, Co-founder and General Partner of Ashcroft Capital, owns over 14,000 units in sunbelt markets. J...

As investors seek alternatives to the stock market, as ETFs make it harder to outpace the market, as awareness for private investments increases, allocations are increasing to non-traditional assets. Over the past decade, and even more so recently, investors have invested more money into privately held Real Estate, Private Credit, and Private Equity. With the right investment strategies, these vehicles offer predictable cash flow w...

As investors have become frustrated over the complexity, the legacy issues, and opacity of funds, many have gravitated to investing in single asset deals. Single assets are easier to underwrite, require less due diligence, and great deals are starting to emerge with distress in the market. Mike Zlotnik, CEO of TF Management Group, is offering investors opportunities to invest in single asset deals in Industrial, Outdoor Retail, and...

Although there’s been resistance to investing in office since the pandemic, back-to-office trends are prevailing as more employers are requiring employees to come back in-person at least three days per week. Along with this trend and no new supply, quality office space is seeing resurgent demand, especially higher quality space in great locations. Investors are now seeing opportunities to acquire these properties for as little as 1...

One of the highest in-demand asset classes is Small Bay Industrial. In the last several years, most of the new industrial construction has been large warehouses to address the growth of e-commerce. Small Bay, on the other hand, has seen very little new construction since 2008/09. Municipalities generally favor new housing. As a result, there’s limited inventory available for tenants, and therefor high occupancy rates across these p...

After a forty-year honeymoon of plummeting interest rates, it’s going to require a lot more operational skill moving forward to generate positive returns in commercial real estate. Although we’re going to see increased distress over the next several quarters, operational expertise will still be required to achieve desired returns. This is especially true in multifamily because of the daily demands of the asset class. Mark Hamilton,...

A few years back, retail was completely out of favor. Everyone thought Amazon and e-commerce spelled the end of in-store shopping. The reality on the ground told a different story. Many prominent national retailers were actually growing and opening stores, and in-store sales held steady at 85% of total retail sales. That’s why LBX started investing in open air centers and has done very well in this asset class. Over the last year, ...

In the world of private investing, there is a growing plethora of opportunities to generate cash flow. There’s Real Estate equity in single assets or funds, there’s debt funds that provide conservative and consistent cash flow, and there are many opportunities outside of Real Estate. Matt Owens, Founder of Owens Capital Group, has a successful single family debt fund that has generated 8% for years. He has more recently created a f...

The biggest asset class in the world is the U.S. single family housing market. That’s why the health of this asset class has such a large impact on the broader U.S. economy. Over time, single family homes have been one of the most predictable, conservative investments available. In most ten-year periods, home values have almost always gone up in value. Rich Fettke, Co-founder at Real Wealth.com and Author of The Wise Investor, has ...

Buying sub-institutional size deals entails less competition, and therefore lower prices. In the $3 - $10 million dollar range, competition is mostly local to a specific market with a buyer pool that generally doesn’t include national or regional players. David Hrizak, CEO of The Streamline Companies, buys, builds and manages across various asset classes in Phoenix, the 5th largest market in the country. Over the past three years, ...

Finding an avenue to high returns can be difficult in saturated markets. Certain markets outside of major metros, however, can provide a unique opportunity for great returns as major metros have become exorbitant for large swaths of owners and renters. Colby Swarz, Vice President of Capital Markets & Investment Strategy of Burkentine Real Estate, builds Planned Urban Development communities with garden style apartments and town...