|
Thinking of Selling Your Building? REITs Talk on Unit Swaps, Taxes and How to Save Big Money
March 2010
|
|
| Blair Tamblyn, Chief Executive Officer, Timbercreek REIT |
|
| *V-Report Sponsors |
 |
| *Not affiliated with V-Report Speakers |
| |
Blair Tamblyn, Chief Executive Officer, Timbercreek REIT.
Blair Tamblyn, the CEO of Timbercreek REIT, a Toronto-based private REIT, says over the years he has had several investors who sold their buildings to Timbercreek and later became investors in the company.
A typical investor, he says, is an individual or a family, who have owned the asset for many years. Often they have had difficulty managing the building and know that it needs significant repair or upgrades. They realize, he says, that it makes sense to exchange their ownership of one or two buildings for an investment in a larger portfolio.
While many multi-residential companies have had difficulty finding buildings to buy, Timbercreek bought over $300 million in multi-family real estate over the past year. Most, says Tamblyn, were buildings that had been “let go” and required recapitalization to take them up market.
The buildings are held in one of Timbercreek’s opportunity funds, rather than by Timbercreek REIT, The REIT, he says, is a business created to generate yield for investors. The opportunity funds, by contrast, buy assets that have been mismanaged or need some repair. “We were able to find a number of buildings that fit into that category last year,” he says.
Tamblyn expects the market for this type of deal will continue well into the future as the “vast majority” of rental stock is owned by individuals rather than institutional owners. “One of the things we like about multi-residential is the fact that there are a lot of non-institutional owners. That means there may be some upside available to us to manage it a little better.”
The company currently owns 10,000 units. Tamblyn hopes to grow that figure to 15,000 units over the next few years.
|
| Additional V-Report Opinions: |
|
|