Multifamily Monday

Multifamily owners are making a mad rush to list properties to get that capital buyers want to deploy before year-end. We asked Greysteel Co managing director Boyan Radic for his insights (and deal pipeline).

Boyan (left, with colleague Doug Banerjee at TREC’s Giving Gala last month) tells us sellers want to list their assets despite lenders going into hibernation once Thanksgiving arrives. Boyan’s team has five deals under contract with non-refundable deposits totaling 851 units, two deals in Arlington Cooper Park and West Village (246 units together) with a call for offers this Thursday and a probable January closing, and three additional deals just launched or launching after Thanksgiving totaling 344 units.

Boyan and Doug (with colleagues Andrew Mueller and John Marshall Doss) utilized some creative dealmaking recently. The 94-unit French Colony Apartments in North Oak Cliff and the 128-unit Canyon Oaks (pictured) in DeSoto both involved FNMA loan assumptions. That means restrictions. For one, the rehab capital must come out of pocket. That’s different than with a new loan, which can include some or all of the rehab money. Ultimately, there’s a much smaller buyer pool for these types of transactions on Class-C properties, Boyan says.

The team (which doesn’t include Boyan’s daughter, Olivia, here enjoying the Fort Worth Botanic Gardens) also has the 213-unit Class-C property, Pioneer Creek at 600 W Pioneer Pkwy in Arlington, set to close on Dec. 8. The project was marketed for less than 30 days with 73 confidentiality statements, 17 tours and eight offers; the winning local buyer plunked down a non-refundable $50K day one deposit along with another $50k within 10 days. “The transaction includes a 10-day inspection and no finance contingency (meaning if his lender doesn’t lend him the money, the seller keeps the $100K) and we go to the next buyer,” Boyan tells us. Look for multifamily deal volume to remain strong for the next two quarters, he says.