Multi-family....Garage sale! / Real Capital Analytics (RCA) Support of Students and Faculty / Cross-Generational Networking

Multi-family…Garage sale!

Driving around Sullivan County, New York, last weekend on a wonderful fall foliage excursion, a hand-crafted sign on the side of a road read:

Multi-Family Garage Sale

I’ve seen this same type of sign many times in my life but this time my traveling companion saw it a little differently, considering the real estate investment definition...“Oh, a garage sale at an apartment complex.” Following the path of signs, it became clear that the sale was coordinated by a bunch of families that live on the same block – hence the phrase multi-family.  A perfect example of thinking that you’re communicating clearly, without considering the possibility of the audience misinterpreting it.  It was amusing and thought provoking.

If you’ve never stopped at a garage sale to look for the hidden gem, it’s truly an experience.  A woman ‘proprietor’ at one of the sales told us about her reaction to certain customers.  I could relate to her, having had garage sales when I owned homes: your willingness to negotiate with a potential customer comes not necessarily from what they say to you, but how they say it.  “I’ll give you 25 cents!” stated in a rude condescending manner (for something that you’ve, very reasonably, priced at 50 cents!).  

Well, first impressions are everything – whether in a situation like this or when meeting an institutional investor for the first time.  That approach from certain people can just turn someone off completely, whether it’s pennies or millions of dollars.  However, someone who says, “Will you take 25 cents?” opens up the negotiation dialogue…especially if your gut instinct about that person is a positive one.  Actually, after turning down insultingly ridiculous offers from certain people, I have ended up giving away the very same item – just because!

We coach our clients on the importance of making a positive first impression – whether it's face-to-face, in writing, on the phone or on the web.  In person, it starts with the handshake and eye contact.  It’s fascinating to hear the feedback from our workshop participants to our handshake exercise. 

It's often something that's taken for granted but, believe it or not, a handshake can make a difference in how the interaction between two people evolves.  

How do people react to your handshake? 

Real Capital Analytics (RCA) Support of Students and Faculty

The World Wide Web (does anyone even call it that anymore?) is incredible.  In the normal course of our coaching work, my partner and I dig deep on the Internet.  Sometimes it’s simply to see how our clients present themselves on their company homepage, in their Linkedin profiles, etc.  Are they consistent?  If not, it may cause the viewer – a potential investor, new client, hiring manger, HR manager – to be distracted, and this may raise concern. But our work on the web also allows us to discover wonderful stuff.  Last week, I was poking through the Real Capital Analytics (RCA) website. The page I discovered is called Complimentary Trends Reports for Students and Faculty (https://www.rcanalytics.com/Public/academic.aspx).  I’m sure many university real estate programs already know of this generous service offered by RCA.  But, just in case….here it is.  Below is RCA’s own description:

Real Capital Analytics, winner of the International Real Estate Society (IRES) Corporate Excellence Award, supports and encourages academic research throughout the world involving commercial real estate (CRE). Our areas of focus involve CRE market prices, capital flows, transaction activity, transparency issues, and comparisons by property type or asset class, geographic region and market. We are proud to support research at a number of universities, resulting in published articles, awards, or simply a top grade for a class project. Students and professors can register to receive complimentary issues of our Capital Trends publications (Global Capital Trends^® and US Capital Trends^®).

Feel free to forward this column to any student or faculty member you know so they can take advantage of this generous offer.

Cross-Generational Networking

Having lunch this week with a good friend, we talked about our mutual enjoyment spending time with people who cross multiple generations.  Hearing stories, getting different perspectives, and also finding subjects that are shared in common.  He sent me a great quote he discovered (source unknown):

“Become friends with people who aren’t your age.  Hang out with people whose first language isn’t the same as yours.  Get to know someone who doesn’t come from your social class.  This is how you see the world.  This is how you grow.”

This is just another great way to expand your network and enrich your life.

Congratulations…    

Bruce Goodman recently joined Colliers International in NYC

Eliza Bailey has joined AVP Advisors

Zeynep Fetvaci now with Hodes / Weill in London

Steve Taylor is now with HOOP (Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan)

On The Road…

Oct. 21:  ULI Women’s Leadership Initiative Reception (My partner Liz Weiner attending)

Oct. 28:  Felix / Weiner Consulting Group - Careers in Real Estate / 'Interview Skills, Drills & Thrills' coaching workshop for graduate students at the Edward St. John Real Estate Program, Johns Hopkins Carey Business School, Washington, DC

Nov. 6 - 24: On the Road North American trip – driving and stopping in various cities – to visit with friends working at pension funds, endowments, foundations and real estate investment management companies (and who knows who else!).  Also bringing my keyboard and will be on the lookout for ‘jam’ nites along the way.  (Trip in planning stage).

Nov. 14:  James A. Graaskamp Center for Real Estate / Wisconsin School of Business Global Real Estate Markets Conference, New York, NY

Dec. 3 - Dec. 4:  NAREIM (National Association of Real Estate Investment Managers) Capital Raising / Investor Relations meeting, Chicago, IL

Jan. 15 -16, 2015:  NAREIM Asset Management and Acquisitions Meeting, San Francisco, CA

Feb. 17 – 18:  NAREIM Research & Investment Management Meeting, Chicago, IL

Mar. 17 – 18, 2015:  NAREIM Executive Officers Spring Meeting, Miami, FL

Disclaimer 

All content in this blog is created for informational purposes only. Content, which includes all text, photos, video and graphics is not intended to malign any religion, ethnic group, club, organization, company or individual.  Steve Felix makes no representations as to the accuracy or completeness of any information on this site or other information as a result of following any featured link to or from this site.  The intention of this blog is to do no harm in regards to injury, defamation or libel. What is written or shown is not to be taken as fact or absolute.  Steve Felix will hold himself harmless for any errors or omissions in this blog’s information; including but not limited to external link information, translation or interpretation of content or incorrect grammar or punctuation. 

PREA Fall Investor Conference / Research / The 'E' Train from JFK

Pension Real Estate Association (PREA) Fall Investor Conference

Every time I hear about a deal with a low cap rate (I had thought that 4 was getting pretty low) another story surfaces quoting an even lower cap rate.  Believe it or not, at the PREA conference in LA last week, someone was talking about a deal with a 2% cap rate [although it hadn’t been verified].  I hadn’t heard anything that low since the Japanese bought Rockefeller Center in New York City at 0%; their investment decision was based on the plan to hold those assets for 100 years – but, in hindsight, they simply paid way too much.

There were a handful of PREA panels that discussed how long real estate will continue the great run it’s having.  Everyone seems to have an opinion – but all (or almost all) will admit that no one really knows…  It almost feels like no one wants to talk about the ‘what ifs’ for fear of jinxing things. 

The robust agenda also included a number of first-time PREA panelists – in my opinion, a very healthy decision.  It’s great to hear different perspectives from senior industry professionals.  And, it’s especially nice that virtually all of these speakers were open to sharing their knowledge and experiences. I find this much more interesting than hearing someone simply talk about how great their firm is, which seems more and more prevalent at many industry events.

Many of my individual conversations while at the conference were with people from firms looking to hire not only analysts with some experience – but mid-level folks as well.  Amazing to me were two conversations where I was told that firms were looking to hire women but couldn’t find any.  I thought, “Where are you looking?” – there are SO many qualified women in our industry. 

When speaking with the younger professionals at PREA - which I always enjoy - I heard a common theme:  how do we start conversations or approach groups when we don’t know the people?  My suggestion:  start conversations with other younger attendees you may not yet know.  It’s easier and less intimidating.  A couple of them tried this idea and came back thanking me for the suggestion – it worked for them!

Sharing a taxi to the airport with a long-time industry friend, he told me about his approach to choosing a seat at meals – he sits at an empty table and sees who joins him.  I’ve embraced that very same approach for many years instead of always sitting with people I know.  The mix of people that join you is usually very interesting and diverse.  It’s a great way to expand your network.

As a side note, this was the first PREA conference where an App was available to registrants.  It was very easy to use and, among other tools, provided the agenda and list of attendees.

Research

Prequin’s Real Estate Spotlight – October 2014

Their feature story this month is called ‘Investor Confidence in Real Estate and Changing Allocations.’  Here are a few interesting excerpts I want to share with you:

• Investors’ average current and target real estate allocations have slowly increased from 6.7% of total assets under management in 2011 to 7.6% in 2014.
• Many investors are planning to make their maiden commitments to real estate, or are seeking to return to making investments after having been inactive.
• Greater numbers of Asian-based investors are looking to invest internationally with these institutions likely to be an important source of capital for managers raising Europe or North America focused funds.
• The fundraising market remains a challenging one, and while there is a large pool of institutional capital set to enter the asset class in the coming years, fund managers may need to cast the net wide to be successful in raising capital, and be prepared to target investors across the globe.

Real Capital Analytics (RCA) – U.S. Capital Trends

Here are a few highlights from RCA’s September 2014 U.S. Capital Trends Report, which I thought you would find interesting:

• Sales of significant commercial property totaled $29.0b in August, up 6% year over year.
• The most robust gains in August were reported in the hotel sector (up 71% year over year) and for CBD office (up 46% year over year).
• Institutional investors seeking higher yields have turned to the industrial and retail sectors where their acquisitions are up 78% and 53% respectively. 

The E Train from JFK

To avoid traffic - and save a few bucks - the best way to travel from JFK airport into Manhattan is via the AirTrain and NYC subway.  On the way home after my flight back from PREA/LA late Thursday night, I experienced some nostalgia:  some of the stops on the subway were Forest Hills, Rego Park and Elmhurst (all in the NYC borough of Queens).

I was born at Elmhurst General Hospital, lived in Forest Hills during the early formative years, and visited my grandparents in Rego Park.  In the midst of the Jewish New Year holiday I thought back on all the years I would go to synagogue and sit next to Grandpa Herman during the ‘High-Holiday’ services.  He always stayed until the end, which some years was well past sundown (the ceremonial start/end of the holiday).  I’d then walk with him - he was a world-class walker - back to his apartment, talking about who knows what.  We would be greeted by much of the immediate family, most of whom had waited for us to eat – after fasting on Yom Kippur.  We would ‘break fast’ together having the meal my mother said annually was “The best meal of the year.” 

Things were so much simpler back then.  Our world today is so complicated.  Concerns about identity theft, safety on the Internet, strife in so many parts of the world, Ebola in Liberia and West Africa, security threats and a lot more.  Some days I feel like moving - to a simpler place than Manhattan.  And, perhaps one of these days, I’ll throw what are now minimal possessions in my car and do just that.  But for now, I feel a renewed energy and purpose in my life – that I’m happiest when helping others.  This is the essence of my work and of my existence.  It feels good to have found some peace of mind in the on-going quest.

Congratulations…    

  

Ted Eliopoulos was promoted to Chief Investment Officer at CalPERS (California Public Employees Retirement System).  (Note:  it's very rare for a real estate person to be made CIO of an institutional investor!).

Tim Brosnan has joined LBA Realty.

Jerome Nichols now with CBRE Global Investors.

On The Road…

Oct. 21 – Oct. 23:  ULI Fall Meeting, New York, NY (t)

Oct. 26 – Oct. 29:  CoreNet Global, North American Summit, National Harbor, MD (t)

Oct. 30:  Careers in Real Estate / Interview Skills, Drills & Thrills workshop, Edward St. John Real Estate Program, Johns Hopkins Carey Business School, Washington, DC

Nov. 14:  James A. Graaskamp Center for Real Estate/
Wisconsin School of Business Global Real Estate Markets Conference, New York, NY

Dec. 3 – Dec. 4:  NAREIM (National Association of Real Estate Investment Managers) Capital Raising / Investor Relations meeting, Chicago, IL

Jan. 15 – 16, 2015:  NAREIM Asset Management and Acquisitions Meeting, San Francisco, CA

Mar. 10 – 13, 2015:  MIPIM (The World’s Property Market), Cannes, France

Mar. 17 – 18, 2015:  NAREIM Executive Officers Spring Meeting, Miami, FL

Disclaimer 

All content in this blog is created for informational purposes only. Content, which includes all text, photos, video and graphics is not intended to malign any religion, ethnic group, club, organization, company or individual.  Steve Felix makes no representations as to the accuracy or completeness of any information on this site or other information as a result of following any featured link to or from this site.  The intention of this blog is to do no harm in regards to injury, defamation or libel. What is written or shown is not to be taken as fact or absolute.  Steve Felix will hold himself harmless for any errors or omissions in this blog’s information; including but not limited to external link information, translation or interpretation of content or incorrect grammar or punctuation. 

The road back / NAREIM / INREV / Asheville / Brooklyn

This was a very exciting week for three reasons.  I was in Chicago to attend the NAREIM Executive Officers Fall Meeting and I attended the INREV seminar in New York City.  The third special occurrence was that many of you wrote and spoke with me about the future of this column.  The encouragement I received was heart-warming to say the least.  One long-time reader told me how the pieces I wrote in 2009, when my Dad was dying, were very meaningful to him – having lost his Dad a couple of years before.  This is truly special.

I have been struggling with whether to continue publishing On The Road. After almost 15 years I started to feel that I didn’t want to be part of the excess ‘noise’.   There has been so much clutter created by blogs, LinkedIn posts and Twitter feeds that I didn’t want to be contributing to the overload.  But, your support and feedback has convinced me that I should continue publishing.

Thanks again.

Steve

NAREIM Executive Officers Meeting

Patricia Gibson, President of Hunt Realty in Dallas, was ushered in as Chair of the NAREIM (National Association of Real Estate Investment Managers) organization for the next two years.  Congratulations to Pat and to NAREIM. Just as Lynn Thurber, Chairman of LaSalle Investment Management, has been the Chairman of ULI for the past year, Pat Gibson’s appointment might be another giant leap for womenkind in the industry.  There is undoubtedly a need for more women to be in senior positions in the institutional real estate world.

At last week’s Executive Officers meeting, Ed Casal, Global CIO of Aviva Investors Real Estate Multi-manager platform, conducted a mock investment committee workshop that produced interesting discussion and results.   Many investment options were presented to 9 ‘committees’ who were each asked to reach consensus on the 3 best and 3 worst acquisition choices. Real Estate is an art – not a science - and as you might imagine, the debate on where to invest one’s money was a lively one.  But, it will only be from the perspective of hindsight that we will know which asset did in fact provide the best risk-adjusted returns.  Interestingly enough, some of the same choices presented to the investment committees appeared on both the best and worst lists!

NAREIM offers a number of educational meetings throughout the year.  I encourage you to explore those opportunities for you and members of your team.  Thank you to NAREIM CEO Gunnar Branson for inviting my partner Liz Weiner and I to attend the Executive Officers event.

INREV US Seminar

INREV is the European real estate trade association for investment in non-listed real estate.  I was a member for many years and found the organization to be hugely valuable in staying connected with my institutional real estate industry peers across Europe.  The second INREV US seminar was held in NYC this week.  I attended and ran into a number of my European (and American) friends.

I offer you a few takeaways:

• “Never seen more capital to be invested in real estate.”  Panelist
• Huge interest of US capital in Spain – Spanish office looks extremely cheap in a European context

• Most liquid European cities: London, Paris, Berlin (especially apartments)

• Investors are increasingly seeking value in recovering regions (Ireland, The Netherlands, S. Europe). 

Thank you to INREV CEO Matthias Thomas for the invitation.

Over the summer…

I drove from New York City to Asheville, NC (+/- 12 hours).  Quite a bit of the trip took me through the beautiful Blue Ridge Mountains including hundreds of miles with no billboards on the highway!  Two of my four grandchildren live in Asheville - Sean is 5 and Gavy turned 3 during my visit.  We did another round of Geocaching together, a real-world treasure hunt.  If you’re not familiar with this phenomenon please check it out – it’s great family fun.

This week, my Brooklyn-based twin grandchildren, Edie and Ben, turn 3.

It’s a beautiful thing to see my sons as parents.  

But, where did the time go?

Congratulations to these friends on their new positions...

Matt Holberton - AXA Real Estate Investment Managers

Gena Cheng - USAA Real Estate Company

Andrew Dietz - Morgan Stanley

Dietrich Heidtmann - GTIS

George Ahl - Forum Partners

Max von Below - USAA Real Estate Company

Felicity Ambler - MaxCap Group

Philip Hy - JC Penney

Debbie Davis - Starwood Retail Partners

Barry Ziering - Guggenheim Partners

Asieh Mansour - The Townsend Group

Alessadro Bronda - Zurich Insurance Company

Sophie Mathieu - ReedMidem (MIPIM & MAPIC) now based in NYC

Nicole Waldorf - The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society

Larissa Belova - Thor Equities

Emily Von Kohorn - The Hisar School 

Charise Wong - eBay

Damien Isabella - TVO Groupe

Phil Greenberg - Cornell University

On The Road…

Sept. 30 – Oct. 2:  Pension Real Estate Association (PREA) 24^th Annual Institutional Real Estate Investor Conference, Los Angeles, CA

Oct. 21 – Oct. 23:  ULI Fall Meeting, New York, NY (t)

Oct. 26 – Oct. 29:  CoreNet Global, North American Summit, National Harbor, MD (t)

Week of October 27:  Careers in Real Estate / Interview Skills, Drills & Thrills workshop, Edward St. John Real Estate Program, Johns Hopkins Carey Business School, Washington, DC (t)

Dec. 3 – Dec. 4:  NAREIM Capital Raising / Investor Relations meeting, Chicago, IL

Mar. 10 – 13, 2015:  MIPIM (The World’s Property Market), Cannes, France (t)

Disclaimer 

All content in this blog is created for informational purposes only. Content, which includes all text, photos, video and graphics is not intended to malign any religion, ethnic group, club, organization, company or individual.  Steve Felix makes no representations as to the accuracy or completeness of any information on this site or other information as a result of following any featured link to or from this site.  The intention of this blog is to do no harm in regards to injury, defamation or libel. What is written or shown is not to be taken as fact or absolute.  Steve Felix will hold himself harmless for any errors or omissions in this blog’s information; including but not limited to external link information, translation or interpretation of content or incorrect grammar or punctuation.