The underlying theme of many of our interviews has shown that real estate is a business. To become successful in real estate, it requires partnerships, systems and processes, market advantage, and much more than just the knowledge of how to calculate cap rates or knowing what a debt service coverage ratio is. One of the key differences between mom and pop owners and best in class operators is that one looks at real estate as an investment, while the other spends their time focused on all the things business owners make their focal point.
Our guest for today is Antonio Marquez, who serves as Principal and Managing Partner of Comunidad Realty Partners, which is a privately owned real estate firm which focuses on workforce housing apartments. He is responsible for strategic planning, capital raising efforts, and sourcing acquisition opportunities for the firm. Antonio has 22 years of experience targeting the Hispanic demographic and has managed his family’s commercial portfolio, totaling over 2 million square feet of office, retail, and industrial space.
Today we are going to discuss…
- Updates on the workforce housing market
- Why our guest believes the asset class is a defensive play which can provide significantly favorable risk-adjusted returns
- Why our guest prefers to focus on cutting expenses rather than getting top of market rents
- What our guest refers to as “selling the dream”
- Why our guest goes to great lengths to provide above market amenities to provide a sense of community
- Details of a portfolio our guest is about to purchase