October 30, 2023
Equity (Not Debt) Is The Place For Equity Players
Over the past year-ish, many equity players are moving – or have moved – into debt. Generally, the view is something like this: Why should I do equity, when I can do equity returns with less risk in debt? Yet this point of view is, in my opinion, significantly flawed for several reasons:
Read MoreSeptember 21, 2023
You Will (Definitely) Never “Find” A “Good” Deal Again – Redux
Several years ago I wrote an article entitled: You Will Never “Find” A “Good” Deal Again The theory was that you would need to ‘create’ deals rather than just ‘find’ them. This was because the internet and related technology make information ubiquitously available so when you look at a deal on your computer screen, many others (maybe hundreds of others) are looking at the same screen. Accordingly, your chances of outperforming on that specific deal are very low and your chances of outperforming on a long-term basis are essentially zero (other than by statistical variations of luck).
Read MoreAugust 3, 2023
Buy Real Estate Now!!!
I haven’t written a Real Estate Philosopher in a bit since I try to only write if I feel I have something useful to say – and I do now – so here goes. It is pretty simple and straightforward: Buy Real Estate Now! Right now from my catbird seat at one of the largest real estate law practices in NYC – coupled with my work with clients helping them on the business side, I see just about everyone doing the same thing, which is not doing deals.
Read MoreApril 5, 2023
Leverage and Diversification Conjoined
I started some deep thinking about what I should do as an investor – or what my real estate friends should do as investors/owners in the real estate industry – since there is so much perceived turmoil going on right now in the markets. This turmoil includes, without limitation...
Read MoreDecember 5, 2020 10 min read
2021 Will be a Boom Year for Real Estate
Here is a thought piece from your Real Estate Philosopher that I am confident you will “like” even if you think I am dead wrong. In brief, I will stick my neck out to say: 2021 Will Be A Boom Year for Real Estate.
Read MoreNovember 19, 2020
Time to Look Seriously at Retail! | Announcing our Win/Win Retail HUB
Retail to many is a location where the retailer takes products from a producer of the products, puts them on a shelf, marks them up 50%, and customers come in and buy them at the higher price. The retailer gets the markup (less its costs). I would call that business "Old Retail." But then there is a completely different kind of Retail, a location where the owner of a brand, or something that people need or desire, has a competitive advantage. The most obvious is an Apple Store, but there are many more, and you know it when you see it since it was packed with customers (before COVID) and will be again (after COVID). Technically this kind of business is also Retail, isn't it? But it is hardly struggling. I have coined the phrase, which you have seen in my prior writings, "Power Niche" to describe businesses that derive their competitive strength from a niche that they have ownership of. I would call this business "Power Niche Retail."
Read MoreMay 24, 2020
Distressed Debt Acquisitions? Not So Fast…
My point was that anyone could "find" a deal, and it hardly leverages your skills or talents to look at the same stuff everyone else is looking at – and do you really think you can outperform on a long-term basis when you are looking at the same screen that everyone else is seeing at the same time.
Read MoreApril 19, 2020
Why This Will be a “Big V Recovery”
I am old enough to have been in a relatively senior position in the real estate world during the Global Financing Crisis (the “GFC”) and the pandemic today (the “COVID Pandemic”). In my position – then as Managing Partner of Adler & Stachenfeld – and now as Chairman -- I have friends, clients, contacts, and relationships with many of the highest level players throughout every corner of the real estate world. This extremely wide lens allows me a unique composite view into what everyone is doing, thinking, wondering about, planning, etc.
Read MoreApril 14, 2020
The Real Estate Philosopher: Is New York City Over With - Finally?
Eleven years ago – at the depths of the Global Financial Crisis – when I was scared to get out of bed in the morning – somewhere near the end of 2008 – there were many who thought it was lights out for New York. The thinking was that the banks and investment banks and funds were falling apart, there were no bonuses for the people who worked at them, people would give up, the financial center would shrink down and die and possibly the center of the US world would move to DC or another location.
Read MoreJanuary 19, 2017
The End Game for Co-Working
I have been watching – and our firm has been participating in – the co-working trend. It started with Regus when it was founded in 1989 but didn’t really go anywhere until WeWork captured everyone’s imagination with its trendy platform. Since then, numerous competitors have entered the market, each with its own twist to appeal to different parties.
Read MoreOctober 16, 2015
Creating Value in the Real Estate World
In my wanderings and discussions with clients and other friends in the real estate world, I hear many different plans from many different people. Many plans are of course brilliant and well executed; however, I do see a perennial fundamental flaw in many plans that I would like to talk about. Here is my thinking......
Read More