Q&A
Real questions from readers, answered by vetted real estate experts — investors, operators, and proptech builders.
Treat insurance like a structural cost, not a cyclical one. We underwrite +12-15% annually for at least the first three years and assume no reversion. Then we pressure-test the year-three DSCR at that elevated number against the refi rate the curve implies. If the deal only works on insurance reverting, it doesn't…
Read more →Three hard screens, in order. Floor plate depth — past roughly 90 feet window-to-window and you get dark interiors no layout fixes. Plumbing — office cores cluster wet stacks centrally; residential wants them distributed, and re-running risers is where budgets die. Curtain wall — if it can't open or be cheaply…
Read more →It almost always takes a stack, not a single source: LIHTC equity, soft debt from the jurisdiction, a density bonus to add market-rate units that cross-subsidize, and increasingly a conversion or land contribution to reset basis. The single biggest lever, though, is time. Every month of entitlement delay is carrying…
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