Doing things backwards

Just had an interesting exchange on a call with the other people participating in my panel at IMN’s Winter Opportunities conference. Our moderator, an attorney experienced in putting together large real estate funds, asked the panel about our experience transitioning from raising capital on a deal by deal basis to raising commingled funds. I piped … Continue reading “Doing things backwards”

How I quit worrying and learned to love raising capital

All the capital for my second through 12th deals came from one of my best friends from highschool. Once he forced me to start raising money from other people, I remember complaining to him that I hated raising capital. You should have seen the stupefied look on his face, right before he said: “You realize … Continue reading “How I quit worrying and learned to love raising capital”

Connecting the generations with real estate

Years ago, when we were still working on the Better Dwellings portfolio, before we started Adaptive, I remember having a conversation which I now realize contributed to my bias towards holding real estate permanently. Can’t remember who it was, but the person told me about checks he receives each quarter. The source of the funds? … Continue reading “Connecting the generations with real estate”

Bucking the traditional real estate private equity model

The traditional real estate private equity model is broken. Here is how it works now: Sponsor finds deal Sponsor raises equity from investors, then uses as much debt as possible (to enhance the returns to investors) Sponsor adds value to deal (renovating, building ground-up, whatever) Sponsor sells deal as quickly as possible, pays off the … Continue reading “Bucking the traditional real estate private equity model”

Why we don’t get capital from investment bankers

Had a nice-but-unhelpful call with a real estate investment banker yesterday and thought the conversation would make for a good blog post. First: What’s a real estate investment banker? That’s a fancy name for a person or company that connects operators (like us!) with debt and equity. Generally, “investment banker” is used to distinguish the … Continue reading “Why we don’t get capital from investment bankers”