Lee Fjord, what is the BIGGEST RISK?
Lee Fjord
I would say the BIGGEST RISK in our business in this business of commercial multifamily is is interest rate risk. I think right now. We are at a wonderful place in time and economy with respect to our ability to get low interest rate loans with very, you know, high value to purchase or low downpayment purchase properties, low interest rates, and I think that you know, cap rates in the valuation of commercial property is directly associated with those. So, if you know, if interest rates rise to eight to 10%, then which they have been in the past before, then we're and your loan comes due, then the cap rate on your property is going to increase which is going to decrease the value of your property and you're going to be in a hard place. So, I try to mitigate that by first of all as quickly as possible, I try to return the initial investment back to all the investors, first of all, and then whether it be through cash flow distributions or refinancing the property so that removes their initial investment into the property and after that, Everything should be, you know, should be considered, you know returns.
So after that, so that's my number one goal. So, I try to remove the risk by removing their initial, you know capital from the deal then we try to refinance our deals into long term debt options 10 years if possible or longer at the lowest possible interest rate, of course, and then you can offset that risk by either having a higher higher down payment or, you know, loan to value ratios, you can take out loans, and as opposed to 15% or 85% loan to value you can do you know, 75% loan to value leave a little bit more money on the table. And, you know, those are really the, and then also, I guess the last and final option for that, that you can remove risk is by putting your properties under non recourse to So then you're removing the potential risk of having any other assets that you as a, an owner or partner or an investor on a deal for potential loss if the property were to, at one point in time be, you know, faced with a, you know, needing to be repositioned or refinanced during the worst of times, then the end of the day, the worst thing that can happen to you at that point, if it's a non recourse property, or non recourse debt is the bank will take the property from you.
They can't seize your personal income, they can't seize your personal home, they can't go after your retirement accounts. So that's our goal. Our goal is to return the initial investment back to our partners and investors as quickly as possible and refinance into a long term debt solution at the lowest possible interest rate. That is As a non recourse loan