What No One’s Talking About in Multifamily Right Now…

What No One’s Talking About in Multifamily Right Now…

Real Estate Coach · Frisco, TX · Member since 2025 · 58 posts · 75 votes


Hey BP Community,

I’ve been in the multifamily space for a long time — 120+ deals, $1B+ in transactions — and I can honestly say this is one of the most challenging seasons I’ve ever seen.

In 2024, I exited 20 deals — and not all of them by choice.
It was painful. Financially, emotionally, relationally.

But here’s the crazy part…

No one’s really talking about what they learned.
Some folks have gone silent.
Others are still acting like it’s 2021.

Meanwhile, behind the scenes:

  • Deals are bleeding cash

  • Lenders are backing away

  • Insurance costs are exploding

  • Operators are quietly scrambling

Here’s what we’ve had to navigate — and none of this is theory:
- Loan maturity issues
- Capital calls (fun times…)
- Deed-in-lieu negotiations
- Rescue capital and complex structures
- Exit plans under massive pressure
- Forced sales

We’ve taken our share of hits. But we’ve also learned. A lot.

Not all lessons come from wins — in fact, most don’t.

So I'm curious: How are YOU approaching distress right now?

  • Are you proactively repositioning deals?

  • Having hard convos with lenders early?

  • Raising capital from both current and new investors?

  • Looking at deals others are too scared to touch?

I’m happy to share what’s worked (and what hasn’t) — especially if it helps someone else avoid costly and stressful mistakes. This is a time for real strategy, not just theory.

Let’s talk.

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Brian BurkePro Member
Investor · Santa Rosa, CA · Member since 2012 · 2k+ posts · 7k+ votes
1y

@Mark Kenney I’m sure we would both agree that we learn 100x more when things are going wrong than we’d ever learn when things are going right.  I got my PhD from the school of hard knocks in the 2008 GFC, and it changed literally everything about how I’ve approached real estate investing ever since.  Fortunately it was those lessons that led me to sell 3/4 of my multifamily portfolio in 2021/early 2022.  Unfortunately, the buyers of those assets are in the same mud as you’ve described here.

Survivors of times like this will be great partners for passive investors on the other side of it all, so long as they learned the lessons and made adjustments.  What will separate survivors from has-been’s will come down to how they communicated with investors during the tough times, and how their decisions mitigated damage. 

I think we’ve only seen the tip of the iceberg in multifamily distress. I think one of the best lessons for sponsors going through this is the paragraph above. If you ghost your investors and do nothing to mitigate the damage, and make no adjustments to your approach to investing, you’re done.

See this reply in the discussion

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  • Investor · Dallas, TX · Member since 2017 · 33 posts · 12 votes
    1y

    Where can we find good jv multifamily acquisitions partners in this current environment?

  • Real Estate Coach · Frisco, TX · Member since 2025 · 58 posts · 75 votes
    1y

    @David Briscoe

    Great question! 

    If nothing else, this market cycle has shown many partners' true colors. It's a small world, so ask around.

    Understanding how someone has behaved in this cycle is very important. Many people are out there simply "bashing" anyone who has had issues on deals. Even the trillion dollar funds have had issues on deals. 

    Losing money or having a property in trouble does not mean someone lacks character or integrity. Don't get me wrong, there are a lot of people (not just syndicators) who have done things wrong, but that isn't the norm.

    So, it is important to understand what a potential partner has done over this last cycle and what they plan on doing differently going forward. If someone has not been in this past cycle, I personally would not even consider partnering with them if I was a newbie.

    My philosophy has dramatically changed due to the issues we have had. I have a new perspective on...

    - Which markets to buy-in (I have bought in 15 states and some I would never buy in again)

    - Type of debt 

    - Who I will partner with and how to structure partnership agreements

    - How taxes truly impact an investor and how to plan for major tax surprises

    - Types of deals...cashflow vs. value-add

  • Real Estate Coach · Frisco, TX · Member since 2025 · 58 posts · 75 votes
    1y

    @Syed Ahmed

    Thanks for commenting!

    Each deal is a bit unique. For example, if your lender is an operator themselves, the discussions and outcomes might be very different. Or, if your lender sold your loan off, that can restrict what they may/may not be able to do for you. Knowing that a lender will likely ask you to sign a Pre-Negotiation Agreement (PNA) and what the "gotchas" can be in the PNA is important. Knowing that a loan modification with a lender could just be kicking the can down the road and put you in a worse position. While other loan modifications could be very good. 

    Understanding your loan documents and when strapped for cash, what is the best use of the money you have. For example, if given a choice, are you better off paying a lender who has filed a lien; or paying your lender the mortgage? I am not suggesting or indicating what you should do in this situation, but I can tell you that once you understand your loan documents, you will be able to make "better" decisions.

    Understanding which GPs can make which decisions and other important aspects such as does a 1031 investor get to decide on what the ultimate outcome is.

    On the capital raising side...the reality is many investors are just tired and frustrated and this is totally understandable. However, looking at a deal that is stabilized and needs money as a cash-in refinance is much different than putting money into a deal that is not stabilized and still on short-term debt. I am not saying what an investor should/should not do with their money, but too many investors are looking at a member loan/capital call with the same for every deal...this in my opinion is a mistake.

    Understanding what the future financial obligations can be on a deal even if you sell a property. And, how a "hope note" can impact this. Not to mention what are the tax implications on each scenario.

    Some of the lessons learned can certainly be used to help on current distressed deals, while other lessons can only be applied to future deals.

  • Member since 2024 · 18 posts · 8 votes
    1y

    OUCH!  Am I stuck with my W2 forever then?  I liked the idea of multi due to the scalability, etc.  

    • MD/DC · Member since 2024 · 1k+ posts · 1k+ votes
      1y
      Quote from @John J Kelly III:

      OUCH!  Am I stuck with my W2 forever then?  I liked the idea of multi due to the scalability, etc.  

      It’s not a matter of multifamily or syndication vs nothing. RE ebbs and flows so sometimes you need to shift gears but there are always opportunities. The days of anyone jumping on the bandwagon and being successful are gone in most areas so it’s going to take skill, some luck and reasonable cash reserves. Early on I didn’t have the cash to float the ups and downs of multifamily, time or inclination to deal with the constant upkeep issues and the general ease of resale led me to single family which was a decent strategy. 

  • Errol GrahamPro Member
    Investor · FL · Member since 2020 · 38 posts · 25 votes
    1y

    @Mark Kenney, your post is quite interesting and timely as I am currently at the stage in my real estate investing journey where I considering to pivot from SFH and Condos to Multi Family.

     I am planning to thread carefully, researching population dynamics and the economic condition I. Several cities across the US. Several posts in this forum have highlighted opportunities in the Midwest and so I am looking at those areas as well. 
     
    Given your experience, it would be good to hear your lessons learned in the Midwest and possible pitfalls to avoid, particularly if you're a out-of-state investor?  

  • Real Estate Coach · Frisco, TX · Member since 2025 · 58 posts · 75 votes
    1y

    Hi John,

    The issues and distress that is being experienced is related to deals bought previously. This distress is actually opening up a whole new set of opportunities for people who want to buy now. The one caution is...find out what people have learned from this cycle and what adjustments (in some cases, major adjustments) they will make going forward. If you understand what caused the distress and how you can help avoid these same mistakes, you will be in much better shape.

    There are actually a lot of advantages to getting started now. For one, pricing is way down; less buyers; and selling brokers have a lot more time these days to spend with people getting started.

  • Chris SeveneyBusiness Member
    Moderator
    Investor · VA · Member since 2015 · 21k+ posts · 19k+ votes
    1y

    We are seeing this as we buy defaulted debt and there are a lot of operators who are cash negative / cash poor but have little equity still but cannot refinance and any sale will be in distress so they are stuck between a rock and a hard place

    for someone looking to stick it out for a few years there is going to be plenty of opportunities available 

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  • Real Estate Coach · Frisco, TX · Member since 2025 · 58 posts · 75 votes
    1y

    @Errol Graham, location is one aspect for sure and a critical one. For example, location will control things such as the eviction process, rent control, new supply, debt options, crime, insurance, property tax, cap rates, etc.

    A couple real examples on deals we own and the impact on location…

    A year ago, it was still taking 16+ months to evict in one city we own in. So, people just didn’t pay. Be aware that evictions are at the county level…so, a so-called landlord friendly state might not be true for some states.

    One property in a coastal area we own saw our insurance go from $1.2M to over $3.2M in one year…yep, these are real numbers. Not sure how a property can sustain a $2M increase in insurance.

    Property taxes can kill a deal as well.

    Cap rates – one city we bought a deal in 2022 had all the great market stats, but cap rates in that city went from 4.4% in 2022 to 7.5% in 2024. To put this in perspective, a $22.7M deal in 2022 was worth $13.3M in 2024. This is over $9M lost. So, imagine trying to do a sale or refinance on this deal. Another deal we own in a more boring market saw cap rates go from 7.5% to 8% from 2022-2024. For the same NOI, this market would have only gone down by $830k in value. Much easier to handle if you have to sell or refinance.

    There are opportunities in a lot of locations. I do think some of the more boring markets such as the Midwest (I grew up in Michigan) are typically very good options. One of the reasons being...there is generally less pricing fluctuation as I explained above and it can be more predictable. In some cases you might not get the major homerun on appreciation, but you also might not get those huge decreases in values either.

    If you are an out of state investor, I would highly recommend having someone local look at your deal. There are a ton of lessons learned on asset management from my side. Too many people underestimate the effort involved to property asset manage a deal.

  • Investor · Greenville, SC · Member since 2016 · 5k+ posts · 13k+ votes
    1y

    Hey Mark.  Most of the syndication posts over the past two years are from upset LPs who lost a lot of money and replies from non-syndication investors bashing the strategy; so, welcome to the hornet's nest!

  • Real Estate Coach · Frisco, TX · Member since 2025 · 58 posts · 75 votes
    1y

    @Mike Dymski, No doubt about that...I have been living this market. I do find it ironic that people are only calling out syndicators when 150 year old trillion dollar firms are having properties foreclosed on. Or, when someone's wealth manager invests someone's money into a stock that loses money, this is somehow different. 

    • Melanie P.Pro Member
      Rental Property Investor · Member since 2023 · 1k+ posts · 922 votes
      1y
      Quote from @Mark Kenney:

      @Mike Dymski, No doubt about that...I have been living this market. I do find it ironic that people are only calling out syndicators when 150 year old trillion dollar firms are having properties foreclosed on. Or, when someone's wealth manager invests someone's money into a stock that loses money, this is somehow different. 


       The difference is if you buy a stock and aren't happy with its performance you can sell it at any time for its present value and move on to something else. Not so with syndications, that money is locked in someone else's pocket unless they figure their way out of their mess.

      I have no problem with sophisticated accredited investors buying into syndications. I have a real issue with syndicators who market these products to retail investors with the "earn money without work and your life will become one never ending vacation" pitch. That is predatory. It's also illegal. 

      Finally saw some good fireworks this month. Looking forward to seeing more of the guys who cheated working folks while living large on their savings get caught in the crosshairs. More handcuffs coming soon.

  • Denise SuppleeBusiness Member
    Realtor · Willow Grove, PA · Member since 2017 · 970 posts · 638 votes
    1y

    Hi @Mark Kenney thanks for sharing this.. really refreshing to hear some honesty about the tough side of the game. It’s definitely a challenging season, and I’ve seen some of the same dynamics play out.  I’m part of the SparkRental Co-Investing Club, and we’ve been having a lot of these hard conversations lately, we have done very well so far, we've had 3 deals out of about 40 not work out as well as we would have liked but we are very very careful  figuring out how to navigate distress, stay creative, and still find smart opportunities. Appreciate your openness, and I’d love to hear more about what’s worked for you during this cycle.

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    • Member since 2024 · 18 posts · 8 votes
      1y
      Quote from @Denise Supplee:

      Hi @Mark Kenney thanks for sharing this.. really refreshing to hear some honesty about the tough side of the game. It’s definitely a challenging season, and I’ve seen some of the same dynamics play out. I’m part of the SparkRental Co-Investing Club, and we’ve been having a lot of these hard conversations lately — figuring out how to navigate distress, stay creative, and still find smart opportunities. Appreciate your openness, and I’d love to hear more about what’s worked for you during this cycle.

       @Denise Supplee  just watched the spark co investing club intro hour long video.  Sounds pretty convincing!!

  • Real Estate Coach · Frisco, TX · Member since 2025 · 58 posts · 75 votes
    1y

    @Denise Supplee, Thanks for your comment and I am glad to hear you and others are discussing the tough topics! These discussions are not fun, but they are absolutely invaluable and 100% necessary. 

    I just sent you a request to connect. 

  • Errol GrahamPro Member
    Investor · FL · Member since 2020 · 38 posts · 25 votes
    1y

    @Mark Kenney, many thanks for the thoughtful response. I think that some of the lessons you highlighted reinforce the view that real estate investment is a long game and we aught to give more attention to risk management, including having adequate reserves funds and doing stress testing of individuals assets as well as the portfolio as a whole. An unforeseen assessment or sharp increase in HOA dues coming concurrently with increases in property taxes and insurance can turn an otherwise well performing asset upside down!

    Thanks again for being so open in sharing your experience. 

  • Brian BurkePro Member
    Investor · Santa Rosa, CA · Member since 2012 · 2k+ posts · 7k+ votes
    1y

    @Mark Kenney I’m sure we would both agree that we learn 100x more when things are going wrong than we’d ever learn when things are going right.  I got my PhD from the school of hard knocks in the 2008 GFC, and it changed literally everything about how I’ve approached real estate investing ever since.  Fortunately it was those lessons that led me to sell 3/4 of my multifamily portfolio in 2021/early 2022.  Unfortunately, the buyers of those assets are in the same mud as you’ve described here.

    Survivors of times like this will be great partners for passive investors on the other side of it all, so long as they learned the lessons and made adjustments.  What will separate survivors from has-been’s will come down to how they communicated with investors during the tough times, and how their decisions mitigated damage. 

    I think we’ve only seen the tip of the iceberg in multifamily distress. I think one of the best lessons for sponsors going through this is the paragraph above. If you ghost your investors and do nothing to mitigate the damage, and make no adjustments to your approach to investing, you’re done.

    • Member since 2025 · 23 posts · 12 votes
      1y

      @Brian Burke what would you say the more top three things you learned that changed your whole approach to real estate that others can benefit from? 

    • Brian BurkePro Member
      Investor · Santa Rosa, CA · Member since 2012 · 2k+ posts · 7k+ votes
      1y
      Quote from @Nikelyia Waters:

      @Brian Burke what would you say the more top three things you learned that changed your whole approach to real estate that others can benefit from? 

      My answer relates to @Mark Kenney’s post 3 or 4 posts above here:  of all the issues he mentioned, high interest rate, rate cap, and most importantly buy-downs to “extend loans” all relate to one thing—using short-term bridge debt, which was often done at high leverage points.

      Financing structure is an under appreciated factor in all real estate investing, not just syndications.  Bridge debt was designed to allow buyers to acquire underperforming properties that otherwise wouldn’t qualify for conventional debt (such as agency debt), and giving a short time to improve the underperformance and refinance when the property qualifies.  But when markets get overheated, more and more buyers repurposed bridge debt to allow them to engineer higher returns and to scale larger portfolios with less equity.  What many groups in trouble today didn’t appreciate (or due to lack of experience didn’t know, or out of desperation to buy more deals and generate fees, didn’t care) is that high leverage amplifies results in both directions—meaning when things go bad, they go very bad.  Making matters worse, 3-year maturities run out in the blink of an eye, and if the date comes up in the middle of a downturn, you’re hosed.  Folks who think that they can extend these loans until the market gets good enough for them to get out with their principal intact will find themselves disappointed.

      So to answer your question, in the GFC I learned to not overpay for assets, not to use high leverage (especially deep into a bull run), and not to use short maturities without an extraordinarily certain take-out path.  Thankfully I didn’t have to learn these lessons by losing investor’s money (never lost a dime of it), but I did feel my share of pain, lost a lot of my own money that took many years to recover from, saw plenty of pain experienced by others, and bought hundreds of assets through foreclosures where the previous owners violated these principles.

  • Real Estate Coach · Frisco, TX · Member since 2025 · 58 posts · 75 votes
    1y

    @Brian Burke, Agree 100%! I would say there are certainly some differences between the last cycle and this cycle, but applying all lessons learned is critical. 

  • Real Estate Agent · Sisters, OR · Member since 2014 · 1k+ posts · 1k+ votes
    1y

    I have never invested in a syndication but the model seems to be showing the incredible amount of risk.  Very little control, and to big to jump in take over and will the property through.  

  • Real Estate Coach · Frisco, TX · Member since 2025 · 58 posts · 75 votes
    1y

    @Eric Bilderback, my opinion is the risk is not related to the syndication model, it is if you need/want control. As an LP you won't typically have control in a syndicated deal, just like you don't have control when you invest in the stock market. 



    • Real Estate Agent · Sisters, OR · Member since 2014 · 1k+ posts · 1k+ votes
      1y
      Quote from @Mark Kenney:

      @Eric Bilderback, my opinion is the risk is not related to the syndication model, it is if you need/want control. As an LP you won't typically have control in a syndicated deal, just like you don't have control when you invest in the stock market. 




       The difference with Stocks is they are liquid. 

      In your opinion/experience were there more people invested in syndications this market cycle then in the past?  My guess would yes due to podcasts, BP etc. But I reserve the right to be wrong.  If there were more average individuals investing that points to a lot of pain for those average individuals. And on balance most investors (upper middle class and below) would be better off investing on there own in smaller deals.  It appears to me these investors had been lead to believe they were missing the boat buy not participating in these deals.  Do you agree? or am I reading it wrong?, certainly possible.

  • Member since 2024 · 18 posts · 8 votes
    1y

    Can someone explain to me why the multi family section is "distressed" and why I keep reading about so many loans being due. I thought REI and specifically multi was the safest route due to the number of doors which minimizes risk, at least of vacancy, etc.

    Have I missed the opportunity to get into REI? Interest rates high(er), which means cash flow decreased and other negative factors. I guess the tax advantages will always be there but it seems like cash flow and appreciation is taking a huge hit.

  • Real Estate Coach · Frisco, TX · Member since 2025 · 58 posts · 75 votes
    1y

    @John J Kelly III, 

    I personally do not think you missed the opportunity to get into REI. But, that does not mean you don't need to be cautious. Knowing what some of the issues are and how to pivot going forward will be key. There are no doubt going to be some really good opportunities out there.

    There is not a single reason why there is distress. It is a combination of a number of factors.

    The good news is that many of the issues can be avoided going forward and many of these factors have also started to significantly improve more recently.

    Some of the factors causing distress include:

    - Floating Interest Rates – Rates jumped from the 4’s to over 10%.

    - Rate Cap (like an insurance/hedge) to help protect how high your interest rate can go. As loans matured and needed to be extended, the rate cap pricing in some cases went up over 3400%. For example, an initial $98k rate cap a few years ago went to $3.4M+. This is real money that you have to give to the lender to extend the loan.

    - Insurance Increases – Some areas saw 100%+ increases. We have an example where our insurance went from $1.2M to over $3M.

    - No Rent Increases – Putting money into a deal to rehab units simply didn’t generate the rent increases like many people projected. In many cases, rents actually went down across the country.

    - Evictions – Some of the cities are NOT landlord friendly and it was taking well over a year to evict…which means a lot of tenants just didn’t pay.

    - Property Tax Increases – Increased significantly in some areas even as value went down.

    - Lenders Requiring Loan Buy-Downs – As borrowers looked to extend their loans, some lenders were/are requiring a loan buy-down. This is real money that the Borrower has to come up with. On a recent example, we have a $12M loan and the lender is requesting a $3M buy-down.

    - Cash Reserves – Ran out for factors listed above.

    To reiterate...learn from all these tough lessons and going forward can be much less painful.

    • Rental Property Investor · Marietta, GA · Member since 2014 · 41 posts · 24 votes
      1y

      @John J Kelly III

      The issue is that many of these deals were bought with low rates on short-term (bridge) financing with aggressive LTV's. That was the market in 2021. If you didn't do it, someone else did and got the deal. I don't defend GPs from this, they gambled and lost LP money competing for these deals with that financing. The issue is hitting now because most never modeled this rise in rates and the interest rate caps have long since run off and significant money is needed to refinance these assets out of expiring/extended loans - in many cases it just makes sense to hand back the keys now. I am likely going to take a full loss on an investment I made with one of the bigger syndicators. Operationally, things have gotten more challenging with insurance and expenses outpacing rents, but the primary issue here was the debt structure used and not the assets. If these deals had been on 10-year fixed terms, you wouldnt be seeing anywhere near the current level of distress that exists now. I would not dissuade anyone from multi-family as an asset class though, but syndication is not the ideal way to be invested when a bad investment can zero you out vs just taking a loss when a deal doesnt work out as expected.

    • Real Estate Coach · Frisco, TX · Member since 2025 · 58 posts · 75 votes
      1y

      Losses are not isolated to syndicators. There are trillion dollar funds taking losses on real estate.

      @John J Kelly III, can you please clarify your comment about a syndicated deal going to zero vs just taking a loss when a deal doesn't work out. Any investment can go to $0.

      • MD/DC · Member since 2024 · 1k+ posts · 1k+ votes
        1y
        Quote from @Mark Kenney:

        Losses are not isolated to syndicators. There are trillion dollar funds taking losses on real estate.

        @John J Kelly III, can you please clarify your comment about a syndicated deal going to zero vs just taking a loss when a deal doesn't work out. Any investment can go to $0.

        Any investment can go to zero but if VTSAX or SCHB go to zero that would require an entire economic system collapse as compared to the plethora of very real instances that could lead to a multi family property failure. 
    • Real Estate Coach · Frisco, TX · Member since 2025 · 58 posts · 75 votes
      1y

      For those that are potentially newer to the syndication model, it is important to understand what syndication is/is not.

      Syndication is "pooling" money together from investors...typically to purchase a larger property than someone can buy on their own. There are General Partners (who manage the investment and make most decisions) and Limited Partners (who invest passively and typically have very little decision-making rights).

      Syndication is not unique to real estate. Many opportunities outside of real estate are syndicated. A syndication can be for a fund (includes multiple assets); just like a fund in the stock market. Or, a syndication can be for an individual asset; just like buying an individual stock.

      So, it is important to understand what the syndication model is/is not. The problems that have been mentioned above by others and myself are not unique to the syndication model itself. I personally know many people who purchased real estate properties on their own and did not syndicate and they have the exact same issues that syndicated deals are experiencing. There are also very large institutions that have had the same issues. 

      Generally speaking, the biggest difference between a smaller syndicator and a large institution is if an institution has issues, they generally have the funds/capital to sustain while many individual syndicators do not. Also, even if a large institution defaults on a deal, they generally have the relationships with lenders to not have this be as big of a deal. And, the larger institutions are in fact defaulting on deals...they are also much better from a PR perspective to limit the negative press. 

      Another comment I think is important to mention is...others and I have talked about long-term fixed debt. There is no question this would have helped on many deals. But, even long-term debt has a number of "gotchas" that a lot of people do not understand. And, not all long-term debt is created equal. The people that had long-term debt at the peak of the market and decided to sell, likely still made money because the market was at the peak, but they also paid significant pre-payment penalties. We sold a lot of deals in 2021 all at profits, but in many cases our prepayment penalties were equal to or more than our initial equity. Yes, we made profits, but if some of those deals were in fact on Bridge debt, our profits would have increased by an additional 100%+.

      With all this said, I personally like the correct long-term debt and would accept lower returns in exchange for the more certainty and options that long-term debt provides. Before you buy new properties or refinance one of your current properties, you really need to understand the various long-term debt options.

    • Cincinnati, OH · Member since 2020 · 4k+ posts · 3k+ votes
      1y

      The biggest lesson I learned from both the GFC and today's market cycle is:
      If you go in with a long term mindset, you will (almost) always be fine.

      Short term debt is not an option if you plan on holding 10+ yrs.
      Capex budgets become less of an issue (I know of more than a few syndications that have fixed rate long term debt, but are suffering because roofs, repaints, foundation issues, etc are becoming real issues now that the deal is no longer a 3 yr hold, but rather a 8-10 yr hold)
      And like BRRRs, even refi's start to become more realistic when you budget for long term holds.
      Yield maintenance/prepayments become non-issues when you intend to hold long term.

      Lastly, like Brian noted, what I see is that if your goal is long-term security in your investment, typically, you go with well seasoned investors.  Why?  Like Brian noted, like I have heard Ken McElroy and others with decades, not months or years, of experience: these guys took their lumps in the past.  They likely learned the hard way.  They focus on operations when deals are slow to come, but they better optimized their teams to whether the storm, when the next one comes.  And this allows them to stop chasing deals when the deals don't make sense, because they don't need the acquisition fee of a new deal just to keep the lights on.

    • Real Estate Coach · Frisco, TX · Member since 2025 · 58 posts · 75 votes
      1y

      @Evan Polaski, thanks for the comment! As a follow-up from your yield maintenance/prepayments...100% agree. 

      For those that might be newer, Evan's comment is spot on as the yield maintenance/prepayments go down/go away over time. Even if you don't hold long-term, many loans are assumable by a new buyer and then the yield maintenance/prepayments are not relevant. And, on some loans the new buyer can execute on a supplemental loan to get more proceeds, if the deal supports it.



    • Real Estate Coach · Frisco, TX · Member since 2025 · 58 posts · 75 votes
      1y

      @Eric Bilderback

      There are certainly a lot of differences between stocks and real estate investments. I do agree stocks are liquid which is a big advantage, but that doesn’t mean everyone actually sells before they lose money. I would also say an advantage of buying a stock is that typically someone investing in a stock would not invest nearly as much as they would in a syndication (generally, $50k+). So, the loss on a syndicated deal arguably would be a bigger hit for the average investor which is an obvious disadvantage. There are some advantages to real estate investing that stocks simply don't provide.

      On the point related to upper middle class and below being better off investing by themselves in smaller deals…there is obviously not a one-size-fits-all answer to this. In many cases, I would argue No, they are not better off for various reasons…

      - Many people invest in a syndication because they don’t have to be active…if they buy a small deal on their own, they are likely more active.

      - Someone who invests on their own in smaller deals doesn’t’ mean they are somehow isolated from all the issues that have been discussed in this post. These issues are not isolated to the syndication model.

      - Their investment would likely be even more than a typical syndication which means their loss could be even larger.

      - They likely know less than the average syndicator.

      - They likely have full recourse debt for a smaller deal which is considered higher liability.

        There is no question that the “hype” around syndication in multifamily deals is much higher than the last cycle. But, it is not like anyone is forced to invest. I am a GP, but I am also an LP and I take full responsibility for my LP investment decisions even when a deal unfortunately doesn’t perform.

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