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Posts Tagged ‘single-family rentals’

Alegria Real Estate Funds Purchases 100th Distressed Single-Family Home in San Diego County

June 26th, 2012

 

Local Investment Group Has Quickly Become One of the Largest Homebuyers in San Diego County; Providing Homes for Families and Fueling the Recovery

CHULA VISTA, CA–(Marketwire – Jun 26, 2012) – Back in 2010, an entrepreneurial real estate investment professional named Ronnie Morgan was looking for something to do while the real estate market was bottoming out. He huddled with his partners Elias Lilienthal, Brad Tuck and Ari Hirshhorn, and together they formed a private investment fund to pick up a few foreclosed or underwater homes.

Now, two years later, Alegria Real Estate Funds just purchased its 100th distressed property and having spent over $41 million during that time, is one of the largest homebuyers in San Diego County.

The Alegria funds buy hard assets — detached, single-family homes — at the bottom of the market for cash, in areas with a lack of inventory and high barriers to entry. Competition for these homes has heated up significantly over the past few months, which the fund’s principals see as a sign that the local housing market is turning around.

“The bottom line is that the recovery is happening in San Diego County and it’s happening now,” said Morgan. “Housing prices have hit a sweet spot, mortgage interest rates are at all-time lows, and people are feeling more secure in their jobs so they are more willing to purchase. This is a great time to be investing in residential real estate.”

The first Alegria fund raised approximately $5 million and was used solely to buy homes one-by-one on the courthouse steps or through a short-sale, renovate them and sell them to families who could afford them. The second fund raised approximately $6 million and was used for the same purpose.

The third fund will raise up to $10 million. Unlike the first two funds, however, Alegria Real Estate Fund 3 is being applied to a different business model. Not all the high-quality homes purchased are being resold immediately; some are being refurbished and rented, part of a longer-term hold approach. The plan is to sell them in a few years once the market has rebounded.

“We’re at the forefront of the housing recovery,” Morgan said. “We go into a neighborhood and acquire a property that needs a little TLC, fix it up, price it to market and put a family in it — a family that needs a home, wants a home, can afford it and can take care of it. What our company and others like it are doing is absolutely essential to getting rid of the glut in housing inventory. Once most of these distressed properties are absorbed, everyone’s home value is going to improve.”

May was one of the Alegria Real Estate Funds’ biggest, most active months to date in terms of buying and selling inventory and returns are higher than in previous quarters. The funds are continuing to acquire inventory both at auction as well as through short sales transacted directly with homeowners with the mortgage holder’s consent.

“We work with knowledgeable real estate brokers and do a great deal of up-front homework in identifying potential properties for acquisition,” said Morgan. “It’s very competitive on the courthouse steps and we have to stay disciplined. We start the day with a plan and with bidding limits on specific properties, and we bid up to those limits and no higher.”

The Alegria Real Estate Funds focus primarily on newer single-family homes. The needs of these houses are generally limited to some fresh paint, a little landscaping attention and perhaps some carpeting. That keeps the fund’s renovation costs low, and acquiring homes in master-planned communities ensures similar, common floor plans so that there are fewer surprises.

While many of the homes acquired by Alegria to-date are in the South Bay area of San Diego County, the funds have also acquired condominium properties in downtown San Diego and have expanded into North County.

Alegria Real Estate Funds pay on average between $200,000 and $600,000 per house in neighborhoods where as many as half of the homes are either underwater or in foreclosure. Ninety percent of the homes they purchase are occupied.

About The Partners

  • Ronnie Morgan is currently a principal with MKS Residential LLC, an institutional-quality apartment developer. MKS is a successor company to the Morgan Group, Inc., where he was a co-founder and co-chairman. He began his career as a real estate attorney in Houston where he practiced with two downtown law firms during the 1980s. In 1995, he served as the president of the Houston Apartment Association and in 2005-06, after relocating to the San Diego area, was chairman of the San Diego Chapter of the Young Presidents Organization (YPO).
  • In 1998 Elias Lilienthal immigrated to the United States from Mexico City, where he was CEO/President and shareholder in multiple family-owned manufacturing companies in a variety of industries. In the United States Mr. Lilienthal has been actively involved in the development and construction of custom homes and other real estate investment and development activities. He has been an active member of the Young Presidents Organization for many years.
  • Bradley J. Tuck has more than 23 years of diversified expertise in the real estate development industry. Since founding Bradley Land Group in 2004 he has directed the entitlement of more than 400 homes and mixed-use projects throughout San Diego County. He previously served in executive leadership positions with D.R. Horton and the Corky McMillin Companies, a San Diego-based private real estate development, home building and realty company.
  • Ari Hirschhorn is the co-chairman of Grupo Hir, a Mexican firm with over 50 years of experience financing and constructing low-income housing in Mexico. He has managed the construction and sale of more than 350,000 housing units and used his expertise to direct similar projects in Southern California. Under Mr. Hirschhorn’s direction Grupo Hir has added numerous subsidiary organizations and expanded its activities across North America.

About Alegria Real Estate Funds The Alegria Real Estate Funds were started in 2010 and are active in purchasing distressed properties for both renovation and sale and for long-term hold investments. Its four founding partners have extensive experience in the areas of finance, investment, real estate acquisition and single-family and multifamily housing development and construction. During the ongoing housing market recovery, the Alegria Real Estate Funds (Alegria is the Spanish word for joy or happiness) have purchased more than 100 houses throughout San Diego County and in the process provided homes for scores of families while helping to fuel the recovery of the housing market.

 

Surge in U.S. Demand for High-End Rental Single-Family Homes Drives Expansion at Luxury Rental Site

June 6th, 2012

Luxe List Home Now Features More Than 10,000 Homes, Townhomes, Condos and Apartments Leasing for as High as $100,000 a Month

LOS ANGELES, CA–(Marketwire – Jun 6, 2012) – In response to strong demand for more luxury rental housing options, Beverly Hills-based Luxe List Home, which matches high-end rental clients with prestige properties, has launched a national expansion program to add single-family homes and condominiums to its current list of five-star multifamily luxury rental property listings.

The expanded portfolio already includes more than 10,000 realtor-represented listings that range in price from several thousand to more than $100,000 a month in two-thirds of the 30 metropolitan markets where Luxe List Home now operates.

“Today one of every three American households is renting and more than half of them are renting single-family homes instead of apartments,” said Luxe List Home CEO David Doyle. “So we saw an opportunity to help people looking for higher-end rentals find and compare them online.”

Nationwide expansion will continue throughout 2012, with international offerings expected to be available in 2013. The company’s growth is being driven by a national increase in demand for luxury rental housing and a year-over-year jump in average monthly rents ranging from 2% to more than 10% percent in most major U.S. markets.

“With U.S. homeownership at a 15-year low, we’ve seen a surge in demand for luxury rental housing accompanied by soaring rents in most major markets across the country,” said Alan Shafer, Luxe List Home’s chief operating officer. “Luxury renters want to preserve a highly desirable lifestyle in a prestigious living environment without being locked into a purchase. And, due to the uncertainty still facing the U.S. housing market, luxury property owners are happy to lease at a premium today, rather than sell, to preserve the possibility that their luxury property may be worth more tomorrow.”

The word “rental” often conjures up the image of a cramped apartment, a run-down duplex or even somebody’s basement. But these are blue-chip rentals in a class of their own. Many of the homes featured on www.LuxeListHome.com come with prestigious addresses, manicured landscaping, infinity pools and killer gourmet kitchens in homes with plenty of room to spread out and entertain.

Most people associate bidding wars with a home purchase, but at Luxe List Home they are seeing competing renters offering incentives and inflated payments just to secure a special property.

“In Los Angeles, a luxury single-family home rental that listed for $14,000 per month attracted multiple offers within hours after it was listed,” Shafer said. “In the end, although two parties each offered to pay an entire year of rent in advance to close the deal, a third party secured the rental by paying a substantial premium to the lessor over the entire lease term.”

At this time, almost half of the rentals on www.LuxeListHome.com are condos or single-family homes, but that percentage is expected to increase as part of the company’s expansion.

“We present luxury renters with a targeted list of qualified properties — the best of the best in any given metropolitan area, and that now includes single-family homes and condos,” said Doyle. “Now luxury renters, owners and realtors have the option and convenience of a single, targeted online resource to identify, evaluate and distinguish extraordinary luxury rental options.”

LuxeListHome.com is the only independent online resource dedicated exclusively to the luxury rental market, and the only online resource where realtors can utilize a patent pending scoring portal to certify their luxury properties as true premier luxury listings.

In 2011, Luxe List Home won the Summit Emerging Media Award for its online rating program, which employs a 200-point scoring system to evaluate luxury rentals. Initially used to score premier multifamily apartment communities, Luxe List Home has now made their proprietary system available to realtors, who by taking a brief survey, can self-score and certify to the public that their rentals meet Luxe List Home’s rigorous standards to qualify as a true “luxury” rental.

Luxe List Home now features single-family and condominiums for lease in 20 of its active markets: Atlanta, Baltimore, Charleston, Charlotte, Chicago, Connecticut, Dallas, Los Angeles, Las Vegas, Miami, New Jersey, New York, Orange County, Orlando, Phoenix, Riverside County, San Diego, Sarasota, Tampa and Washington, DC.

About Luxe List Home Luxe List Home is a premier online residential resource dedicated to connecting luxury rental customers with the finest luxury single family homes, condominiums and apartments in America’s best cities. Based in Los Angeles, the firm thoroughly reviews and qualifies luxury single family homes, condominiums and multifamily rentals to be listed on its site. Using its proprietary patent-pending scoring methodology, the company profiles and scores the annual Luxe List Home list of premier multifamily properties. Realtors enjoy the convenience of using Luxe List Home’s proprietary scoring module to self-score their luxury single family homes and luxury condominiums listings once they qualify to appear on the site. The firm’s proprietary scoring system is derived from extensive consumer research coupled with more than 18 years of luxury residential development and property management experience.

Luxe List Home currently operates in more than 30 major U.S. metropolitan areas, includingAtlanta, Austin, Baltimore, Boston, Charleston, Charlotte, Chicago, Dallas-Fort Worth, Denver, Fort Lauderdale, Houston, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Long Beach, Miami, Minneapolis-St. Paul, New York City, Orange County, Orlando, Philadelphia, Phoenix, Portland, Raleigh, San Antonio, San Diego, San Francisco, Sarasota, Seattle, Tampa and Washington, DC, serving almost 100 cities nationwide. Luxe List Home expects to expand its coverage to 50 U.S. metropolitan areas to serve more than 200 U.S. cities, and select international destinations by 2013. Additional information is available at www.LuxeListHome.com.

 
 

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