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For most of my career, I did my best work after 7 pm or early on weekend mornings.  The amount of work wasn’t the problem. It was the environment. I did my best at odd hours, mainly because I could not do my best work in the office. It wasn’t until the pandemic that I … Read more

It’s easy to feel bearish in the current environment. Just read almost any news headline or check your investment accounts. The negativity hits on a short ride around town. For example, I swear our local gas prices rose a dime during my 15-minute round trip to the grocery store this weekend. Of course, gas prices … Read more

Here we go. Fancy new title. Broader mandate. Yet somehow, I can’t move forward without first sharing some thoughts on multifamily real estate valuations. Mainly, that’s because I don’t get it. Please note that nothing I write should ever be considered investment advice. The current investing environment must be one of the most difficult in … Read more

In my journey as a real estate investor, I’ve focused primarily on properties with below-market rents. I’ve assumed that both rising costs of construction and competing housing options would pull rents higher over time. I’ve also counted on some downside protection on purchase price given the significant discount to replacement cost. The basic strategy has … Read more

The April Apartment Advisory from Berkadia-RealPage highlights the resilience of more affordable rents during the pandemic. Between March 2020 and March 2021, Class C assets were the only product type to average any rent growth. Additionally, the average occupancy rate among Class C assets in the past year has run about 60 basis points tighter … Read more

With a bit more evidence, it’s clear that last year’s “urban exodus” was always a bit more complex than this neatly labeled theme implied. By now, we all understand that lots of people left the largest, most expensive cities for cheaper, less dense markets. But an “urban exodus”? Did everyone leave Manhattan for a spacious … Read more

It’s natural for investors to ask how apartments have held-up during the pandemic. In normal times it’s hard to provide a useful answer given the idiosyncrasies of local markets. But over the past year, factors such as where the property is located (gateway coastal city vs. smaller sunbelt market), the level of rent charged, and … Read more

The latest Yardi Matrix National Multifamily Report paints a picture of a broadening recovery in apartment rents. In the report, you’ll find several of Cove’s favorite markets showing some of the most robust rent trends nationally, including Houston, Atlanta, Austin, Tucson, and the NC Triad. You don’t have to take Yardi’s word for it. The … Read more

There’s an old story about an economist who sees a $20 bill lying on the street but won’t pick it up. Relying on his academic training he explains that the market is efficient and if there really were a $20 bill in the street, someone else would have already snatched it. Well… having spent nearly … Read more

I was struck by this statistic highlighted in the Wall Street Journal’s Commercial Real Estate Weekly email. Putting aside my petty satisfaction in spotting a typo in the Journal’s infographic, the imbalance here struck me as fascinating. The implication here is that roughly 1/3 of all residential brokers have no listings. And if we assume … Read more