So, one of the greatest parts of going to grad school is the opportunity to do a summer internship. It is a great opportunity to have a trial run with a company and see how different companies and personalities operate the real estate industry. As I started school in the fall, I knew that I wanted to spend the summer with a company that enabled me to see a lot of different properties and give me experience working in either a REIT or a private equity shop. I also was really interested in trying out the Denver market, because 1) my wife’s family have been angling for us to try Denver since we first got married, 2) we are having another baby this summer and it would be great to be near family to help with this next crazy transition, and 3) it’s pretty dang nice to be located right next to gorgeous mountains.
Well, I was lucky enough to be offered a position fairly early in the process to Real Capital Solutions, a real estate private equity firm that concentrates in “work-out” properties/distressed real estate. They have a really interesting story of growing a real estate company through buying at the right times in the real estate cycle, and I was excited to see it first hand. Right now the company sees the bottom of the market in the residential sector, so they are buying principally broken condo buildings, stalled land developments, and also have targeted distressed apartment properties. The process of acquiring distressed real estate is very different from the typically acquisition process and has taught me that as one speaker to Cornell has said “it’s not who you know, it’s ALL who you know”. Finding the right distressed deal requires insider knowledge or the right contact, and that is why most of RCS’s deals are sourced from their local operating partners that have seen the deal with their own eyes go from land to promising development to stalled project. I’ve learned a lot in my short time at RCS, but that is probably the biggest lesson-get to know everyone in the industry!
RCS has recently gone from being principally a firm that was funded by internal capital to growing their company through other capital sources, and it really interesting to see a company in the early stages of making that transition. The group is super entrepreneurial and it is great to be part of a significant change in a company. Check Real Capital Solutions out, the story of the founder and CEO, Marcel Arsenault, is an exciting example of smart investing and correct timing.
I’m excited to be in Colorado!
