Arbor Realty Trust - Slumdog Milionaires?

Arbor Realty Trust - Slumdog Milionaires?

Melanie P.Pro Member
Rental Property Investor · Member since 2023 · 1k+ posts · 922 votes

Came across some interesting research from Viceroy. It mentions some of Arbor's clients and not in a positive light. You can read all the details for yourself here:

Why Viceroy Research is Short on Arbor Realty Trust

Below are some snippets that are included to link this report to individuals and entities that have promoted here or have had investors discuss the investment here so when people search for them they can find this data.

"The implied cap rate for the property is 4.5%, which is ~10bps below the current 10 T-Bond rate. The loan was
originated in 2021.

The investors, Ridge Capital Investors, paid only $33m for the property in December 2019, less than 2 years before a $43m loan was extended against a $63m collateral. This is absolutely abhorrent lending behavior and was somehow approved by a committee consisting only of the CEO,CCO, and EVP.

Nitya Capital is a Texas-based real estate investor founded and managed by Swapnil Agarwal. Nitya reportedly
faced distressed asset sales, lagging renovations, suspended cash distributions and deferring property and asset
management fees. Agarwal has promoted the idea of crowdfunding real estate which is basically how Nitya Capital operates. We note that an analysis of SEC Form D filed by Nitya associates appears to show its deal flow drying up.

Applesway Investment Group is led by Koteswar “Jay” Rao Gajavelli, another product of the anyone-can-do-it
real estate seminar circuit. The company made the news in April when Arbor foreclosed on four apartment
complexes in Houston worth $229m, after which Applesway mistakenly served mass eviction notices to residents
of the foreclosed properties

Icer is a New York-based investment firm that stated to industry publication Bisnow that it was seeking greener
pastures out-of-state seeking to escape New York’s regulatory environment. It appears to have settled in Georgia
where the Atlanta Journal Constitution revealed that they took to increasing rent to “as much as $2,000 a month
for a three-bedroom apartment that previously rented for hundreds of dollars less”.

Tides Equity landed in hot water earlier in 2023 when it announced the possibility of a capital raise from its
equity partners. The next day its largest investor AMC Investments raised the possibility of its own capital raise
to cover Tides’ contractor payments30. The funds supposedly earmarked for these payments were instead used
to cover its debt repayments. Tides reported it had entered workouts to some of its loans in September 2023
while Arbor failed to comment on whether its loans with Tides were included in that number

KeyCity Capital is a Dallas Fort Worth based private equity firm which markets itself as a connector to private
investors to real estate deals. It appears to do this through tele-marketed free dinner seminars. Failed to make payment for trash collection.

The Arch properties are secured against 2 Jacksonville Properties at 1706 ART Museum Drive and 1591 Lane
Avenue South and list as owners Paxe Palmer LP and Schweb Partners.

North Trio The owner of one of the loans is listed as Inner Light Ministries Inc, with the title owner address all at the address of Inner Light Ministries. The loan sponsors are Mark and Abraham Mermelstein, Yehuda Ruzohorsky, Boruch Fink, Joseph Friedman and Aaron Lazar, a consortium of investors who appear to have done deals together in the past.

Two loans list Hannan Lis and Gideon Pfeffer as loan sponsors secured against the Retreat at Farmington Hills in
the outskirts of Detroit and the Verona at the Park development in Washington. Likely owned by GSH Ventures,
another retail multifamily real estate scheme

Elisa Zhang is a real estate finfluencer, formerly a computer engineer, who markets herself through the Eliza
Zhang Financial Independence University41. Somehow this qualified her for a $72.225m loan for 2 properties
from Arbor in the 2021 FL3 and 2021 FL4 tranches. These properties are owned together with Lavatube Capital,
a husband-and-wife team touting high-growth low risk returns and Lane Kawaoka, a real estate podcaster.

Proudliving is a New Jersey based “owner and manager of real estate” which like other entities mentioned above
takes funds from accredited retail investors to invest in the multi-family area. Proudliving accounts for a multiproperty loan on 8 properties totaling $34.5m. The loan is listed as being in payment default with interest
payments capitalized.

The Cyclone portfolio lists the original borrower as various entities we believe to be subsidiaries of Cyclone
Investment Group, headed by Aaron Eichorn and Charles Aryeh who appears to have used a relative, Chiya Aryeh
as a sponsor for the loans.

We note that Trustee data sponsor and borrower data for earlier CLOs is inconsistent, and the nature of the loan
book is such that properties can be swapped in and out over time. We believe the above serves to show that
Arbor’s loans are not being made to the most sophisticated or financially sound borrowers, and some of them
have already hit hard times"

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Most Popular Reply

Rental Property Investor · San Diego, CA · Member since 2013 · 3k+ posts · 4k+ votes
2y

Nitya overpaid for most assets, but was saved by the market.  

When you pay $130k/door for something that should be $100k/door, you overpaid.  But when the market rockets up to $150k/door, you can escape death and look like a genius. 

See this reply in the discussion

9 Replies

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  • Investor · Atlanta, GA · Member since 2021 · 43 posts · 26 votes
    2y

    Certainly unfortunate for the tenants and LP's involved. Additionally, the forth coming destress has yet to peak. CRE has some troubled waters ahead. thanks for sharing.

  • Rental Property Investor · San Diego, CA · Member since 2013 · 3k+ posts · 4k+ votes
    2y

    Nitya overpaid for most assets, but was saved by the market.  

    When you pay $130k/door for something that should be $100k/door, you overpaid.  But when the market rockets up to $150k/door, you can escape death and look like a genius. 

  • Member since 2019 · 12 posts · 2 votes
    9mo

    Bumping an old thread, as I'm seeing Arbor shopping underperforming notes, trying to find a sucker to come in and rehabilitate a failed syndicator property with large vacancy and deferred maintenance. I get the appeal for a rookie that can't raise a large amount of equity, they can get the property for 100% LTV and below-market interest rates. If the market turns, they'll do well. I just don't think the risk/reward is there.

    • Chris SeveneyBusiness Member
      Moderator
      Investor · VA · Member since 2015 · 21k+ posts · 19k+ votes
      9mo

      @Mike Iger all the big players are shopping under performing notes right now - as a non performing note investor, it's a good time to be in the business

      7e investments53 Reviews
    • Rental Property Investor · San Diego, CA · Member since 2013 · 3k+ posts · 4k+ votes
      7mo
      Quote from @Mike Iger:

      Bumping an old thread, as I'm seeing Arbor shopping underperforming notes, trying to find a sucker to come in and rehabilitate a failed syndicator property with large vacancy and deferred maintenance. I get the appeal for a rookie that can't raise a large amount of equity, they can get the property for 100% LTV and below-market interest rates. If the market turns, they'll do well. I just don't think the risk/reward is there.

      Interesting.  I know they have notes on properties in Houston but I've not heard from them and I'm one of the more active buyers of multifamily.  So if they're shopping their notes, they're doing a bad job.  Who are they shopping them to? 
    • FL · Member since 2013 · 41 posts · 34 votes
      7mo
      Quote from @Chris Seveney:

      @Mike Iger all the big players are shopping under performing notes right now - as a non performing note investor, it's a good time to be in the business


       Are you seeing "special" deals being offered also financing the note?   As a former bank debt guy, what the non-bank players can do seem so exotic to me.

      So much of this stuff is about the basis.  Debt at $100,000+ per unit just doesn't work on some product that can't support a purchase price above 80k per unit right now.

    • Chris SeveneyBusiness Member
      Moderator
      Investor · VA · Member since 2015 · 21k+ posts · 19k+ votes
      7mo
      Quote from @Robert C.:
      Quote from @Chris Seveney:

      @Mike Iger all the big players are shopping under performing notes right now - as a non performing note investor, it's a good time to be in the business


       Are you seeing "special" deals being offered also financing the note?   As a former bank debt guy, what the non-bank players can do seem so exotic to me.

      So much of this stuff is about the basis.  Debt at $100,000+ per unit just doesn't work on some product that can't support a purchase price above 80k per unit right now.


       There is very little market for financing notes right now due to a lot of fraud. On the NPL side its even lower ability to seek financing. 

      7e investments53 Reviews
    • Rental Property Investor · San Diego, CA · Member since 2013 · 3k+ posts · 4k+ votes
      7mo
      Quote from @Chris Seveney:
      Quote from @Robert C.:
      Quote from @Chris Seveney:

      @Mike Iger all the big players are shopping under performing notes right now - as a non performing note investor, it's a good time to be in the business


       Are you seeing "special" deals being offered also financing the note?   As a former bank debt guy, what the non-bank players can do seem so exotic to me.

      So much of this stuff is about the basis.  Debt at $100,000+ per unit just doesn't work on some product that can't support a purchase price above 80k per unit right now.


       There is very little market for financing notes right now due to a lot of fraud. On the NPL side its even lower ability to seek financing. 


       I still do a lot of seller financing.  My criteria is simple:  If I'd be happy to have the property for the loan amount, I view the note as having no risk.   I never seller finance unless I'd be okay to take the property back at the loan amount>

      Same with when I've done private financing.  I only loan on deals that I'd be okay with owning.  If you stick to those, you have no risk (or very little).   I've financed deals where the buyer has paid more than I would, but the loan amount is less than I'd pay.  Made up numbers:

      Buyer pays $2,000,000
      I'd only pay $1,750,000
      Buyer puts down $500k and borrows $1.5m from me

      In that scenario, if I end up with the property -- eh, okay, no worries. 

      I'd buy notes all day long (NPL or not) if I liked the asset value more than the note cost.  Hell I'd have no problem paying par.   I mean, I have a note that's about $1m, backed by a $1.6m property.  The guy pays 7% for 2 more years.   I don't want to sell it as that would just mean the cash goes into the bank at 3.x%, but it's shocking to me that if I wanted to sell that at par I couldn't?   

    • Chris SeveneyBusiness Member
      Moderator
      Investor · VA · Member since 2015 · 21k+ posts · 19k+ votes
      7mo
      Quote from @Cody L.:
      Quote from @Chris Seveney:
      Quote from @Robert C.:
      Quote from @Chris Seveney:

      @Mike Iger all the big players are shopping under performing notes right now - as a non performing note investor, it's a good time to be in the business


       Are you seeing "special" deals being offered also financing the note?   As a former bank debt guy, what the non-bank players can do seem so exotic to me.

      So much of this stuff is about the basis.  Debt at $100,000+ per unit just doesn't work on some product that can't support a purchase price above 80k per unit right now.


       There is very little market for financing notes right now due to a lot of fraud. On the NPL side its even lower ability to seek financing. 


       I still do a lot of seller financing.  My criteria is simple:  If I'd be happy to have the property for the loan amount, I view the note as having no risk.   I never seller finance unless I'd be okay to take the property back at the loan amount>

      Same with when I've done private financing.  I only loan on deals that I'd be okay with owning.  If you stick to those, you have no risk (or very little).   I've financed deals where the buyer has paid more than I would, but the loan amount is less than I'd pay.  Made up numbers:

      Buyer pays $2,000,000
      I'd only pay $1,750,000
      Buyer puts down $500k and borrows $1.5m from me

      In that scenario, if I end up with the property -- eh, okay, no worries. 

      I'd buy notes all day long (NPL or not) if I liked the asset value more than the note cost.  Hell I'd have no problem paying par.   I mean, I have a note that's about $1m, backed by a $1.6m property.  The guy pays 7% for 2 more years.   I don't want to sell it as that would just mean the cash goes into the bank at 3.x%, but it's shocking to me that if I wanted to sell that at par I couldn't?   


       the original post was about finding banks to lend against a note that someone originated. 

      7e investments53 Reviews
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