Deal Flow Friday

In this episode of Deal Flow Friday, David Moghavem sits down with Dwight Dunton, Founder and CEO of Bonaventure, a vertically integrated real estate investment firm with over $2.9 billion in assets under management and 9,200 apartment units across the Mid-Atlantic, Midwest, and Southeast.With 27 years of experience building Bonaventure, Dwight shares how the firm has carved out a unique niche in tax-efficient real estate investing, leveraging Delaware Statutory Trusts (DSTs), 1031 exchanges, and 721 UPREIT structures to help investors preserve wealth, defer taxes, and compound capital over the long term.The conversation explores how DSTs and UPREITs are becoming increasingly attractive in today's challenging multifamily environment, particularly for property owners facing declining valuations, loan maturities, and significant embedded tax liabilities. Dwight breaks down how these structures work, why demand is accelerating, and how Bonaventure is developing innovative financing solutions to help investors transition from direct property ownership into diversified real estate portfolios.David and Dwight also discuss the importance of supply constraints versus economic growth when selecting multifamily markets, the advantages of long-term ownership over short-term investment strategies, and why market turbulence is creating new opportunities for well-capitalized operators.Chapters:00:00 Introduction to Bonaventure04:11 Why Develop Multifamily When You Can Buy Below Replacement Cost?07:30 Why Supply Constraints Matter More Than Job Growth10:20 The Long-Term Hold Strategy: Five Years to Forever13:07 Understanding DSTs, 1031 Exchanges & TIC Structures18:21 How the 1031-to-721 UPREIT Strategy Works21:14 Using 721 UPREITs as an Acquisition Advantage23:44 Why Demand for DSTs & UPREITs Is Accelerating26:14 Solving High-LTV Challenges With Innovative Gap Financing31:12 Why Bonaventure Focuses on Family Capital35:32 Advice for Operators Entering the DST & UPREIT Business39:35 Opportunity Zones, DSTs & Bonaventure's Growth Strategywww.dealflowfriday.comIG: @dealflowfridayX: @dealflowfriday

Sponsored by ApartmentIQ.In Episode 62 of Deal Flow Friday, David Moghavem sits down with Will Stark, Director of Revenue and Asset Strategy at NRP Group, to break down how multifamily operators are approaching pricing, lease-ups, concessions, and revenue management in a more competitive market.Will explains how NRP evaluates submarket health, comp sets, asking rents, and concessions when building lease-up strategies, and why operators need to get far more granular than broad market-level data. The conversation also covers renewal strategy, early-bird offers, the growing renter expectation for concessions, and the “game theory” that comes with pricing against nearby competitors.David and Will also discuss how real-time data and AI are changing the revenue-management process, from tracking historical rent and concession trends to combining market data with on-the-ground observations from property tours. Will shares how NRP is beginning to integrate AI into lease-up reviews and reporting to help teams spend less time assembling data and more time making decisions.The episode closes with a discussion on the art versus science of multifamily pricing, why knowing your true comp set matters, and NRP’s “Five Ps” framework: place, price, promotion, product, and people. The key takeaway: price may be the easiest lever to pull, but it should often be the last.Chapters:00:00 Introduction to Revenue Management in Multifamily Development03:06 Understanding Lease-Up Strategies and Market Dynamics06:20 Navigating Lease-Up Risks and Pricing Strategies09:08 The Role of Concessions in a Competitive Market11:48 The Game Theory of Multifamily Pricing15:16 Integrating Technology and AI in Pricing Strategies18:16 Future Trends and Strategies for NRP Group19:25 Using AI to Automate Multifamily Reporting21:49 The Art vs. Science of Multifamily Pricing25:36 The Five Ps (not four!) of Multifamily Revenue Strategywww.dealflowfriday.comIG: @dealflowfridayX: @dealflowfriday

In Episode 61 of Deal Flow Friday, David Moghavem sits down with Zach Haptonstall, CEO and Co-Founder of Rise48, for an operator-to-operator conversation on how multifamily owners are navigating today’s reset.Zach and David break down why the industry can no longer rely on falling interest rates or traditional renovation-driven value-add strategies. Instead, the focus has shifted toward buying at the right basis, protecting day-one cash flow, understanding supply pipelines, and creating value through operations. They discuss the impact of new supply across Phoenix, Dallas, and the Carolinas, aggressive concessions, resident retention, delinquency, and why operational execution has become one of the biggest differentiators in the market.The conversation also dives into how vertically integrated operators are centralizing leasing, collections, evictions, marketing, and property-level staffing to reduce expenses and improve consistency. Zach shares how Rise48 has used scale and technology to monitor competitors, tighten resident qualification standards, generate ancillary income, and streamline payroll and operations across its portfolio.On the capital side, David and Zach discuss what investors are looking for today: stronger locations, lower execution risk, stabilized occupancy, day-one distributions, and deals driven by cap-stack distress rather than severe operational distress. They also explore how lenders are increasingly working with experienced, vertically integrated borrowers and how the growing wave of foreclosures, loan maturities, and forced sales could create opportunities for operators with the infrastructure to execute.The episode closes with Zach reflecting on the mindset required to survive a difficult cycle and why the operators being “forged through fire” today may be best positioned when multifamily fundamentals begin to recover.00:26 Intro: Zach Haptonstall - Rise4800:50 Higher Rates, Inflation & the Multifamily Macro04:09 Does Multifamily Need to be Repriced?12:19 Sun Belt Supply: Phoenix, Dallas & the Carolinas19:19 Operational Strategies for Value Creation28:50 Centralizing Operations for Efficiency31:40 Raising Capital in a Tough Multifamily Market38:19 Investor Preferences in Today's Market40:33 Long-Term Strategies for Acquisitions and Dispositions49:51 The Warrior Mindset in Real Estate Investingwww.dealflowfriday.comIG: @dealflowfridayX: @dealflowfriday

In this Multifamily Market Monologue, David Moghavem breaks down what the latest move in interest rates means for apartment investors and why the market may be entering a new phase of the cycle.With the 10-year Treasury approaching 5%, optimism around a quick return to lower rates is fading. David discusses how that shift is changing lender behavior, accelerating foreclosures, and forcing owners, lenders, and buyers to accept a higher-for-longer interest rate environment.At the same time, the operating picture is beginning to improve. ApartmentIQ data shows 69 of 83 major metros posting positive net-effective rent growth over the past 90 days, with the Bay Area leading the country and several previously oversupplied Sun Belt markets beginning to show early signs of stabilization.David explains why improving fundamentals do not necessarily mean multifamily values have bottomed, particularly with financing costs remaining elevated. In this environment, simply buying assets for basis and hoping for cap rate compression is no longer enough.The next phase of multifamily will reward investors who can find a differentiated edge. David explores two strategies he believes are becoming increasingly important: affordable housing and tax-abatement structures that align owners with government housing priorities, and operational excellence through better property management, proprietary portfolio data, and AI-driven decision-making.Chapters:00:17 Reflections on September 11th and New Beginnings02:27 The Ten-Year at 5%, What Does this Mean?04:42 The Impact of High Interest Rates07:23 Foreclosures and Market Sentiment10:58 Analyzing Rent Growth Trends16:28 Adapting to a New Reality in Multifamily18:06 The Shift Towards Affordable Housing20:57 Operational Excellence as a Competitive Edgewww.dealflowfriday.comIG: @DealflowfridayX: @Dealflowfriday

In this episode of Deal Flow Friday, David sits down with Shervin Lalezari, also known as @DebtCeilingDaddy on X, for a debate that goes beyond the usual real estate conversation and asks a bigger question: where should investors be allocating capital today?Shervin brings a unique perspective across investment banking, tech startups, operating businesses, public equities, and real estate. The conversation breaks down the risk-reward spectrum across asset classes and explores why Shervin believes some of the best opportunities today can be found in concentrated public-market investments, while David makes the case for the operational alpha, leverage, and inefficiencies available in real estate.They dig into how investors actually create an edge, using companies like Google, Meta, and Microsoft as examples of how high-quality businesses can become temporarily mispriced. Shervin explains why patience, conviction, valuation, and understanding long-term structural tailwinds matter more than trying to compete with algorithms and traders in the short term.The discussion then zooms out to the macro environment: the K-shaped economy, inflation, AI, America’s debt and deficit, the 10-year Treasury, and why falling Fed Funds rates haven’t necessarily translated into lower long-term borrowing costs. David and Shervin also debate whether capital will eventually rotate out of today’s market winners and back toward beaten-down asset classes like commercial real estate.Finally, Shervin gives his perspective on multifamily, including the headwinds facing markets like Los Angeles, why real estate may be one of the most unloved sectors today, and what could ultimately trigger its rebound. The episode is ultimately a conversation about capital allocation, risk-adjusted returns, finding asymmetric opportunities, and staying positioned for the next major investment cycle.Chapters00:00 IB, Bird, liquor stores — Life Before @DebtCeilingDaddy04:08 Understanding Risk-Adjusted Returns Throughout The Risk Spectrum08:31 Finding an Edge in an Efficient Market — the Google Trade15:16 What Alpha Actually is, the Case for Concentration26:07 Forward Earnings vs. Trailing NOI: Nobody Buys on a T-1229:50 The K-Shaped Economy: Mag 7 Up Top, Workforce Housing Hollowed Out37:09 The Bull Case for America43:20 "Our Generation's Lick": Crypto was a Scam, AI is the Trade46:16 CRE Multifamily Investing from the Perspective of an Outsider — Headwinds vs. Tailwinds48:17 The 10-year is the Whole Ballgame: Fed Short End, Market Long End51:57 America's P&L, Balance Sheet, & Warsh's Case Against QE57:21 Positioned For The CRE Rebound — "This Feels Like My Lick"www.dealflowfriday.comIG: @dealflowfridayX: @dealflowfriday