HOBOKEN, NJ: How the Little Guys Do It
JMJ Atlantic Capital's Jeff Manganaro (whom we snapped here at the new Refinery Hotel in New York) jumped into owning and operating small student housing properties while still in college. Since then, he's been buying (he had up to 19 properties at one time) and selling. His original goal: get rid of all the smaller-unit properties and focus on larger properties to gain economies of scale. The upside: the 600% ROI on the 11 properties he's sold in the last 12 months. The new theme: looking for deals and strategic partnerships to expand the portfolio. He's been investing his own capital, with his target area along the East Coast. As a small operator with properties scattered from Pennsylvania to Jersey and Charlotte, he's found using a centralized back office (via an email system) to coordinate repairs and contacts for tenants to management has been one of his best innovations.
