Street Smart Success

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.

Once a Mobile Home Park is fully stabilized, it has the most predictable cash flow of any Real Estate asset class. The average Mobile Home Park tenant who owns their own home stays 17.5 years, and some stay even longer. Many ma and pa legacy 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 Mobile Home Park operators. Frank Rizzo, President of Stone Capital Investors, specializes in the acquisition, management, and development of mobile home parks throughout America`s Southeast and Sunbelt states.

If you want consistent, predictable cash flow and easy-to-manage property, you should consider single tenant retail. There’s currently an insatiable demand for quality locations in this property type relative to the amount of supply. It’s an attractive asset class because you have long lease terms with strong tenants and very little maintenance. Aaron Zucker, CEO of Zucker Investment Group (ZIG), specializes in the acquisition of retail properties throughout the country. ZIG works strategically with property owners, brokers, tenants, and vendors to create value. Aaron is also a successful franchisee in a growing number of Urgent Care centers in North Carolina.

In the past few years, hundreds of new Real Estate operators began syndicating deals. Many of these operators are great marketers, but unfortunately inexperienced, and unqualified to operate their properties. Many paid too much, got overleveraged bridge debt, and have been unable to execute on their business plans. As a result, they’ve lost a lot of passive investors (LP) money. The smartest thing LP’s can do is to become educated and informed about how to properly vet operators before investing their hard-earned capital. Aleksey Chernobelskiy, an experienced advisor to passive investors, helps vet deals and sponsors to prevent these investors from losing money. Aleksey also writes investing tips to thousands of Limited Partners at LPlessons.substack.com.

Regardless of cap rates or interest rates, heavy value-add projects still make a lot of money if there are proven ways to dramatically increase revenue and Net Operating Income in the short term. The key is having the knowledge and the systems to find off-market deals and the ability to consistently execute on the business plans. Matt Ricciardella, Founding and Managing Partner of Crystal View Capital, has made a career out of finding great, off-market deals, adding value, and generating huge returns. Crystal View finds great value-add opportunities in Mobile Home Parks and Self-Storage facilities in secondary and tertiary markets and currently operates in 28 states.

In the past several years, hundreds of new operators and capital raisers have emerged into the Commercial Real Estate landscape. Unfortunately, many of these new entrants are out of SEC compliance in how their corporations are structured and the way they raise capital.  Additionally, many of these operators joined with other new operators with a similar lack of experience and are having massive troubles with their deals. They overpaid for properties, took on expensive bridge debt, and have limited operating experience. Seth Bradley, Chief Legal Officer of Tribevest, is helping operators set up and operate Fund of Fund models so General Partners are operating within compliance and implementing best practices within their organizations. 

Steady cash flow is the holy grail of Real Estate investing. Stable, predictable cash flow with tax advantages is what investors are seeking. Nothing fits this description better than highly sought after, well-located NNN retail properties with creditworthy tenants. Phil Boggia, Director of Acquisitions at NNN Invest, acquires stabilized properties with in-place cash flow plus value-add vacant or soon to be vacant properties with opportunity to add value and generate big returns for investors. With recent interest rate increases, there are great opportunities to acquire properties in excess of $5 million at substantial discounts. 

Amidst the distress in commercial Real Estate, one asset class that’s striving is neighborhood retail. There’s been almost no new construction since 2008-09 and the tenant demand for space has been incredibly strong. National occupancy levels are almost 95% and many properties are fully leased. Between restaurants, gyms, medical retail, and recreation, the demand is at all time highs. Beth Azor, “The Canvassing Queen,” and Founder of Azor Advisory Services, is an incredibly successful leasing agent for over 30 years in South Florida. Beth is also an owner of strip centers, consultant, and trainer. Beth trains leasing agents all over the country and is on a mission to increase the number of women who invest in commercial Real Estate.

If you bought a multifamily property in 2022, it is likely worth considerably less now because higher Interest rates have driven prices down. Additionally, new supply has negatively impacted rent growth in many markets, which has further created downward pressure on prices. Declining rents, higher vacancy, and increased expenses has burdened operators. The long-term prospects for workforce housing are very strong because of a national housing shortage, but several challenges are making it difficult in the short-term. Jordan Fisher, Principal of Next Wave Investors, is navigating these choppy waters. Jordan is an excellent value-add operator of mostly C and B class properties, and has generated great returns for his investors.

Even though average occupancy can be decreasing in a market, it doesn’t mean a well-managed property needs to experience lower occupancy. If you maintain the property, communicate effectively with tenants, and handle maintenance issues promptly, you can far exceed the average market occupancy levels and also exceed average rents. Jimmy Edwards, Founder and Director of Acquisitions at High Five Group, has excelled at adding value and repositioning Class C assets and selling them for a large profit. Jimmy is currently looking for Value Add opportunities in the I 35 corridor between Dallas and San Antonio, but still not seeing enough price concessions to make most of these deals pencil.

Buying a great property at a fair price beats buying a poor property at a cheap price. When buying property, it’s essential to do enough due diligence on the property and the market to determine the future prospects for that property. It’s critical to evaluate rent to average income ratios to determine whether local renters can afford to live in your property. It’s also important to evaluate diversification within the local economy to mitigate risk of a stagnant or shrinking rental pool. If there’s a recession, you need to know the risks of increased vacancy and lower rents. Ryan Webster, Managing Partner at Equity Yield Group, has had great success investing in multifamily properties in Florida and is looking to grow his portfolio in the Southeast and Texas.

One asset class that has stood the test of time is Mobile Home Parks. As the housing shortage in this country persists, and the price of single-family homes continues to rise, mobile homes remain the most affordable housing option for many people. Additionally, the number of Mobile Home communities is not only not growing but is actually shrinking in many markets. Derek Vickers, Owner of Vicktory Real Estate Group, has acquired 38 Mobile Home communities since 2021. Derek is buying value-add properties and creating value by fixing them up and attracting more desirable tenants. He has also transitioned several of communities from park-owned homes to tenant-owned homes, which makes them easier and more profitable to manage.

Although gateway and other primary markets are difficult to find compelling value in, secondary, under the radar markets exist where you can still find great value, especially in smaller, non-institutional Flex Industrial properties. Many of these properties are still owned by ma-and-pa operators with significantly below market rents and prices up to 50% below replacement costs. Because of supply constraints, these properties can also be in the high 90%’s, or even 100% occupied. Grant Reaves, Managing Director and Co-founder of Stoic Equity Partners in Alabama, has created a fund to acquire value-add Flex Industrial properties in secondary markets in the Southeast.

As loan maturities come to fruition over the next couple years, great deals will emerge for experienced operators who can raise capital and secure financing. One asset class where there will be an inordinate amount of distress will be Class C Multifamily where inexperienced operators took on too much debt and overpaid for properties. Steven Gesis, COO at Smartland in Cleveland, specializes in Class C, and is poised to capitalize on this opportunity. Smartland has innovated the approach to adding value in this class of properties including the installation of wireless packages, EV charging stations, and creating a Smartland app where tenants can schedule maintenance requests. Smartland has even opened on-property convenience stores, Subway sandwich shops, and more.

We may be near the bottom of the market on Commercial Real Estate. As the Fed continues to tame inflation, interest rate reductions may result that creates cap rates compression and escalating prices. This may be a once in a generation buying opportunity. Nathan Clayberg, Vice President of MLG Capital, is responsible for raising capital for MLG funds and sourcing JV opportunities with other multifamily operators in the Midwest. MLG Capital specializes in acquiring multifamily properties built in the early 2000’s and adds the same amenities found in newer properties but rent for $300-$400 per month less. This strategy, combined with low leverage and fixed rate debt, targets achievable annual investor returns of 11%-15%. 

Making a lot of money in Real Estate doesn’t require actively operating or directly investing into assets. Top-performing brokers can make a lot of money without any of the risk or brain damage of dealing with operations. As a highly productive broker, the sky is the limit in terms of how much you can earn. Many successful brokers make over a $1 million per year, and the uber elite can make several millions. The key is to identify the right niches and effectively market yourself. Dan Lewkowicz, Director of Investment Sales at Encore RE Investment Services, specializes in brokering shopping centers, medical office buildings, industrial fulfillment centers, and NNN fast food restaurants.

Maintaining properties efficiently and managing expenses can make the difference between making or losing money. Many operators of multifamily properties spend way too much on supplies and labor and don’t have effective processes to manage their assets. On larger properties, this can cost hundreds of thousands of dollars or even more in profitability over just a few years, thereby adversely impacting overall returns. Strong operational efficiency reduces expenses and also lessens tenant turnover. Andy McQuade, Managing Principal of the ARM companies, helps operators reduce overhead, increase operation efficiency, and add value to their properties. Andy provides strategy, management, and operations consulting to the multifamily industry.

The best Real Estate in the world has historically appreciated through good times and bad. With the right properties, demand has always exceeded supply and values have increased over time. These properties rarely come on the market, however, because sellers know the value of what they own, and don’t need or want to sell them. Larry Taylor, Founder and President of Christina Development Corporation, operates in the five cities that make up West L.A, which comprises some of the most expensive Real Estate in the world. Larry pursues unique buying opportunities that result from partnership dissolutions, family disputes, or other event-driven scenarios.

Class C value-add projects are a rite of passage for most new multifamily investors. These assets generally have a lower barrier to entry than newer properties and promise higher returns. What most operators learn, however, is that these properties cost a lot more to operate than anticipated, and rent increases are harder to achieve than initially projected. That’s why many operators advance to newer properties. Newer properties can be more profitable to run and can appreciate more because more buyers acquire newer assets. Geoff Kudlacz, Managing Partner of Pacific Sands Funds, owns over 700 C Class units across Kansas City, Texas, and California. With distress appearing in the market, Geoff and his partners are pursuing properties built in the early 2000’s and newer. 

Once you turn a property into a profitable, cash flowing asset, it makes sense to keep it indefinitely. If it’s built enough value, you can refi out and redeploy the capital into another asset and continue to benefit from the cash flow and appreciation on both assets. This is a repeatable process that builds multigenerational wealth. After years of trial and error, and investing in several valuable mentorship programs, Gino Barbero has built an impressive, long-term multifamily portfolio with his partner Jake Stenziano in Eastern Tennessee. Gino also co-hosts the well-known Jake and Gino Real Estate podcast.

One of the challenges to properties in tough neighborhoods is that while expenses continue climb, rents don’t. Buying older properties can make sense, but mostly in better neighborhoods. What’s important is being able to add value that translates into higher rents and a higher sales price for the asset, where most of the returns are. Ken Gee, President and Founder of the KRI Group of Companies, started out with multifamily properties in Cleveland before entering the Florida market in 2015. Ken has always treated his tenants the way he likes to be treated and prospered as a result. Ken is meticulous in underwriting and managing his properties and has never lost investor capital. 

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. 

In the last several years, industrial Real Estate has become a highly visible asset class, mostly because of ecommerce. One growing subset of this category is Industrial Outdoor Storage. It’s a great asset class because there’s very low capital expenditure or management involved. It’s mostly land with a small, sparsely furnished industrial building, and sometimes no building at all. As a result, it can be extremely lucrative. Matt McLennan, Executive Vice President of Kidder Matthews in Seattle, help clients buy, lease, and develop Industrial Outdoor Storage facilities. Matt has also invested in these assets individually. 

There can be outsized returns in out-of-favor asset classes when there are still strong underlying fundamentals.  Office, in particular, can still be lucrative. Matt Drouin, Partner at Oak Grove Development, has acquired great legacy office buildings in downtown Rochester that are generating great cash flow. Matt also invests in multifamily, retail, and industrial in Rochester. Tight geographic focus and intimate market knowledge eliminates a lot of risk and results in great returns. Matt only does fixed rate debt and buys for long-term holds.

In the alternative investing space, there are numerous ways to build long-term wealth. Many of these opportunities involve direct investment in Real Estate, but there are other investments that the same or even better returns. Dave Zook, Founder and CEO of The Real Asset Investors, invests in alternative asset classes including ATM machines, Oil and Gas production, Car Washes and Self-Storage facilities. Dave creates partnerships with proven operators who specialize in respective asset classes and has a very strong track record generating outsized returns for investors over a long period of time.  

As we’ve emerged from the pandemic, Americans are now travelling almost as much as they were back in 2109. In certain markets, the hospitality industry is doing as well, if not better than ever, but there are still great opportunities to invest in hotels. Paul Hassebroek, Principal of Six Four Asset management, has been successfully operating hotels in Iowa and Wisconsin and will be raising a new fund to acquire more value-add opportunities within the Marriott chain. Paul will increase profits by implementing corporate sales strategies and improving operational efficiencies. 

A great sector of Real Estate investing that has a low barrier to entry is land flipping. Land flipping requires very little start-up money, and the profits can be incredibly lucrative with very little downside. Mike Deaton, a successful land investor, generates as much passive income from land investing as he and his wife made combined in high corporate salaries. Buying and selling land is easier than selling a house, apartments, or other commercial buildings because it’s just land with no physical structure. After becoming very successful, Mike is now coaching others on how to replicate his success. 

A well refined market niche for real estate entrepreneurs can deliver outsized returns, but it’s easier said than done. It takes a lot to discover a niche in a crowded marketplace, and it requires discipline to stick with it without getting distracted by other shiny objects. Axel Ragnarsson, founder of Aligned Real Estate Partners, buys 10–50-unit value-add apartment buildings in Southern New Hampshire directly from sellers. Axel’s completely vertically integrated and knows the market incredibly well. Southern New Hampshire is a supply constrained, stable market with population and rent growth as residents are moving there from more expensive markets in the Northeast.

Over the last five years, overly exuberant investors vastly overpaid for multifamily properties. Instead of basing their pricing on in-place property performance, they based their pricing on overly aggressive proformas. In many cases, these proformas didn’t materialize because of increased renovation costs and declining rents. Because of these factors plus increased borrowing costs, we’re starting to see distress in the marketplace. Bill Hamm, Co-founder of Broadwell Property Group, was smart enough to sell off his portfolio a couple years ago when the market was incredibly frothy. Bill is now looking to jump back into the market to acquire B Class core properties in great locations in major metro markets with 5 – 7 year holds.

Although there can be gains from physical improvements to a property, the most expedient value-add occurs when you buy well-maintained properties for less than they’re worth. Ben Kogut, founder of Rooster Equity, buys single tenant retail properties, office buildings, shopping centers, and medical office properties from motivated sellers at prices below market. These properties have few improvement needs and are generating impressive cash flow at the onset so investors get solid distributions right away.

With construction costs having increased for value-add properties, and better deals coming online for newer properties, acquiring older properties may make less sense than a few years ago. Older properties also have a lot of maintenance costs and higher unit turn costs. As prices continue to come down for newer properties, these deals pose less risk and greater reward. Mark Weinstein, President of MJW Investments, has acquired over $1,5 Billion of apartments, student housing, commercial buildings, industrial, and self-storage facilities over the last several decades.  More recently, Mark has focused on Multifamily in growing markets that have been less impacted by oversupply.

In the past few months, great deals have materialized across asset classes as the buyer pool has shrunk and sources of capital have dried up. As a result, more deals are generating attractive in-place cash flow.  Cash-on-cash upon close is more important than IRR and Equity Multiple because cash flow is immediate and reduces risk.  IRR and Equity Multiple are speculative and don’t always materialize.  Irwin Boris, Head of Investments at Heritage Capital Group, has decades of experience across most asset classes. Heritage stopped acquiring multifamily five years ago and has been acquiring warehouses and flex industrial and generating in-place cash-on-cash of 9% or higher. 

Prices on most Real Estate assets have come down significantly over the past year. In multifamily, class C properties in particular have gotten crushed and prices on Class A and B properties have also contracted. Too many sponsors paid too much for properties, overleverages, and got floating rate debt. Over the next couple years, great opportunities will present themselves to invest in high quality assets at discounted prices. If interest rates come down during this period, as many predict, and cap rates follow, big profits will be earned. Mark Hamilton, Chairman of Hamilton Zanze, a multifamily operator of 25,000 units, is bullish on the next few years for what multifamily has in store as absorption, occupancy, and rents increase.

Supply-demand imbalance is what drives value in Commercial Real Estate. In this country, we currently have a severe shortage of affordable housing in many markets. In the case of Mobile Home Parks, the ultimate in affordable housing, supply is actually shrinking because municipalities are repurposing the land Mobile Home Parks occupy for other uses. Nathan Jameson, Founder and Managing Director of ARX Capital, has an incredible track record of buying, improving, and operating Mobile Home Parks in Pennsylvania and surrounding states...

When institutions like pension funds or other groups like family offices invest in Real Estate, they’re looking to invest with best-in-class operators with stellar track records to partner with. They have very specific criteria for asset classes, markets, and operators. Jon Siegel, Co-Founder and Chief Investment Officer of RailField Partners, has developed a strong track record in core plus multifamily assets across growth markets, and has attracted capital from large capital partners as he continues to generate consistently excellent returns.

When it comes to doing larger Real Estate deals, the power of partnerships comes into play. It’s helpful to leverage several sources of capital and specific areas of expertise in order to fund deals and execute on business plans. Scott Jacobson, Founder of Onward Equity, started out as a solo operator in smaller apartment buildings and a small office building in Indiana before joining a networking group and scaling his efforts with other members into larger multifamily buildings across several states.