FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

The minimum investment varies but it is typically USD $50,000 to $100,000.

We offer securities under U.S. Securities & Exchange Commission SEC Regulations 506(B) and 506(C). Depending on which security is offered, investors will need to be accredited or sophisticated. More information can be found on SEC website here.

For Canadian (Ontario) Investors, according to Ontario Securities Commission (O.S.C.) an accredited investor means an individual with:

— Net income before taxes was more than $200,000 in each of the two most recent calendar years and is expected to be more than $200,000 in the current calendar year

— Net income before taxes combined with a spouse was more than $300,000 in each of the two most recent calendar years and their combined net income is expected to be more than $300,000 in the current calendar year

— Financial assets, alone or with a spouse, of more than $1 million before taxes but net of related liabilities

— Net assets, alone or with a spouse, worth more than $5 million

More info can be found here: https://www.osc.ca/en/securities-law/instruments-rules-policies/4/45-106/summary-key-capital-raising-prospectus-exemptions-ontario

For American Investors, the requirement for an Accredited Investor is below (atleast one of the below):

–has either a net worth of $1 million, not including their primary residence

–OR an annual income of $200,000 (or $300,000 if married) for the last two years and you have a reasonable expectation that it will continue

Part of the appeal of owning real estate is the ongoing cash it generates. As this cash accumulates, the sponsor and/or property management company distributes it to investors. Distributions are typically paid quarterly with some properties cash flowing right away. Other properties that have a larger value add component may take 2-4 quarters for distributions to start.  This is referred to as the Cash on Cash return.

If you are American, absolutely! IRA’s can be converted to self-directed IRA’s (SDIRA) and old 401-K’s can be converted too. Your current 401-K plan may allow an “ in-service transfer” where you move a portion of the balance into an SDIRA.

If you are Canadian, we currently do not accept registered funds (RRSPs).

No, passive investors have no legal liability. Passive investors purchase shares in an LLC or LP that owns the property, similar to purchasing stock in a publicly traded company.

Typical investment timeframes vary based on the investment and market conditions but typically run from 3-6 years. The Sponsor/ General Partnership team (GP) may decide to sell after 2-4 years if the property is meeting the projected returns of our investors.

Education

Simply put, the supply/demand equation is greatly in our favor and will remain that way for many years.

Shrinking Supply: There is a housing shortage in the United States of $3.3M units and that shortage is expected to grow at 300,000 units annually. The cost of new construction has risen dramatically over the last 15 years and now it’s nearly impossible to build affordable housing without government subsidies.

Growing Demand: We’re becoming a nation of renters. Millennials, burdened by student loan debt, are waiting longer than previous generations to form households. Single family home prices have risen dramatically. This makes it harder to save up a down payment and makes renting more attractive compared to taking on a mortgage payment.

Economies of scale drive down operating costs. Aggregating 100-300 units into a small area makes it far easier to manage than trying to manage the same number of single-family units that may be spread out over many miles. For this reason, management fees and rehab/repair costs are significantly lower for apartment complexes. The typical 3rd party management fee for an apartment complex is 3-5% of the monthly revenue. Most management companies charge 8-10% of gross rent to manage a single-family house plus additional fees when placing a new tenant. Property managers for apartment complexes typically manage thousands of units in the cities they operate in. This allows them to develop significant expertise and market knowledge. They are able to negotiate more favorable fees with all of their repair/rehab vendors than small property managers of single-family portfolios.

Lower risk. Most people in the finance world define risk as, “The chance that the actual outcome differs from the projected outcome”. Smart investors break risk up into two pieces – frequency and severity, and we put plans in place to mitigate both. Owning a portfolio of single-family houses means that when one house goes vacant the cash flow drops by 20%. Replacing an HVAC on one of those five properties means that you’ve lost 2-4 months of cash flow and a roof replacement means that you will lose an entire year of cash flow. If a tenant has to be evicted or if the deposit doesn’t cover the money needed to get the unit ready for the next tenant then the entire portfolio may go negative on cash flow for a month or two.
Of course, with only 5 properties, you may never deal with any of those issues and that small portfolio may outperform your projections. The problem with such a small sample size you will never know if the portfolio is going to perform, outperform, or underperform compared to your projections. Investing in large apartment complexes mean that when significant repairs are needed or evictions need to be performed (and these things always happen) there are still hundreds of other units that are performing. Larger sample sizes always work in our favor when mitigating risk!

Attractive financing. Financing rates for apartment complexes are typically 1-1.5% lower than rates for single-family properties. Additionally, commercial financing is non-recourse which means that the borrower is not personally liable for the loan. Single-family financing is full recourse and if the loan defaults the borrower is personally liable to make the lender whole. See below for more details on financing.

Real estate syndication simply means that we pool our money together to invest in larger, higher quality properties than we could purchase on our own. There is typically a lead sponsor in the transaction, also referred to as the general partner, and there are passive investors, also known as limited partners. The sponsor contributes time, experience, and capital while the limited partners contribute capital in their passive roles.

The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2012 made it much easier for ordinary people to buy into real estate syndications and it opened up a lucrative and safe investment opportunity for the general public. Today, 90% of all apartment purchases are done through syndications.

Our investment strategy is to find Class B & C properties that have been poorly managed or need some moderate rehab work. Apartments are valued just like a regular business where increasing the income will automatically raise the value. Finding these value-add opportunities means that we can force the property to appreciate by executing on a business plan to raise the net operating income.

Due to the rising costs of construction, it’s nearly impossible to build new workforce housing. Meanwhile, demand for this type of housing is expected to rise dramatically over the next 10 years, making B/C apartments a great investment opportunity.

The capital stack is comprised of two sources, debt and equity.

Equity: The equity comes from private investors (limited partners) and from the deal sponsor (general partner). The minimum investment varies by deal but a typical minimum is usually $100,000. The general partners in these investments contribute equity as well, putting their own, “skin in the game”, so that everybody’s interests are aligned. The total equity raise is typically 20-30% of the purchase price plus money for reserves and the rehab budget.

Debt: Apartment complexes are eligible for arguably the most attractive financing terms in all of the investment world. Multifamily housing is typically considered to be one of the least risky investments and there is no shortage of large institutions who lend on this type of collateral. Interest rates are very low compared to the rates given to other type of property and the loans are non-recourse, meaning that there is no personal liability if the loan defaults. (There are “bad boy” carve outs for fraud and gross negligence that can invoke personal liability clauses but only for the active general partners, not for passive investors).

SFR values are based on the values of the homes around them. No matter how much rent is generated the home will never be worth more than the surrounding houses. Apartment complexes are valued differently and the valuation is based on a simple formula.

Apartments: Value = Net Operating Income / Cap Rate. If the property produces $100,000 in NOI and the cap rate for that area is 5% then the value of the property is $2,000,000.

If we choose our properties correctly then we can renovate dated units and/or operate the property more efficiently. Both strategies increase the NOI and build up equity. It’s called forced appreciation and it’s a big reason why we LOVE this investment strategy.

Cap rate is the expected rate of return that investors demand in a certain area if buying a property with cash. Like everything in the world of finance, expected rates of return (cap rates) vary based on investors’ perception of risk. A “Class A” property in a booming city will have a lower cap rate than a “Class C” property in a city whose economy is struggling.

Using the prior example, we can figure out the cap rate for this area by dividing the NOI by the value. $100,000 / $2,000,000 = .05 or 5%.

Investment Process

The minimum investment is typically USD $50,000 to $100,000 depending on the deal.

We are only accepting funds from the U.S. or Canada at this time.

All funds must be in USD.  If you are Canadian, we only accept Cash and not registered funds such as RRSP.  If you are an American, cash, trusts, self-directed IRA’s, LLC’s, etc.

Prospective investors will receive a Private Placement Memorandum (PPM), the Company Agreement, a Subscription Agreement, and a Purchaser Questionnaire to determine Accredited Investor status.  These documents are housed in our investor portal and are signed electronically.

Our equity raises typically fill up in less than 2-3 weeks.  We take investors on a first come, first served basis.  A good piece of advice is to do as much due diligence as possible before a new investment is launched.  You can review the market, asset class, and sponsor well before a deal is launched. Then once the deal goes out to investors you will only need to review the deal itself which will cut down on your time needed to make a decision.