Spring is upon us. The best evidence for saying that is the Bluebonnets that are starting to pop up along the side of the roads, though temperatures regularly cresting 80 is a pretty clear sign as well. March is always a busy month in Austin, with SXSW about to descend upon us and the weather hitting just about perfection. On the home front we all navigate schedule changes with Spring Break and sport season transitions. Personally, I’ve been spending extra time practicing my pitching as I prepare for 5-year old Coach Pitch baseball. Wish me luck!
At Wildhorn we had a very productive month, as we closed on a new multifamily asset in Round Rock with an existing partner of ours. It was actually a deal they sourced and asked us to help them with, and it looks to be an incredible opportunity at a really good basis. We’re excited to add it to our portfolio, and remain encouraged by some of the acquisition targets we are seeing; we submitted several LOI’s (on both multifamily assets and Built To Rent sites) this month and while we haven’t agreed to terms just yet, it seems as if our underwriting expectations aren’t that far off from sellers and the market.
We’e also been busy exploring some potential new Texas-based real estate investment opportunities related to what we’re already working on. We detailed some of our thinking in this month’s blog post (linked below), and will keep you posted as anything starts to materialize on that front.
As we enter Spring, we will be watching to see how traffic and rental rates respond across the portfolio. This is typically the start of peak leasing season, and while we don’t expect to see a massive jump in rental rates related to Spring we will be keeping an eye of market traffic and occupancy levels.
Finally, we are wrapping up our Tax Prep work and preparing Investor K1’s to be published to our Investor Portal. For our current investors, we will send you a note over the next week or two as K1’s are posted for each respective investment.
With Gratitude, – Andrew
Identifying & Evaluating New Investment Opportunities
As you likely know at this point, at Wildhorn Capital we call ourselves a Boutique Real Estate Investment Firm. We are a multifamily operator, and we focus in our backyard of Central Texas. If you are new here, first off welcome—and you can find many articles in our archives speaking to our thoughts on all of the above. Over the past year, we jumped into the development space as well, breaking ground on two new-construction assets that we are building with development partners.
Over the last couple of months I have had multiple conversations with investors, partners and potential employees where we’ve been asked “what are your growth goals” or “what does your 5-year plan look like”? …..
Our Top Picks: Real Estate and Economic Resources Worth Exploring
Podcast: Michael Lewis’ show Against the Rules is always something I find interesting. With the release of his book about Sam Bankman-Fried and the collapse of FTX, his podcast documented SBF’s trial in detail. I went down the worm hole and listened to them all and found it pretty interesting.
Webinar: The Walker Webcast hosted a good overview of the Real Estate market, talking through interest rates, the economy and the outlook of both lenders and equity. A good overall summary of where our real estate world sits.
Book: So many people I’ve run across had been talking about the Elon Musk biography that I listened to it this month–and really enjoyed it. It provides a great window into the life and mind of Elon Musk, and I left it wowed by his intelligence and work ethic yet sorry for the chaos he often exists in on his personal life.
Providence Town Homes: A big thanks to Mama’s Tacos for stopping by Providence Estates! We love supporting local food vendors and having delicious food available onsite!
Central Texas News: The Latest Economic Developments
The Milken Institute ranked Austin #1 in Nation for Job and Wage Growth
Key Takeaway: We believe job growth and population growth drive the multifamily trajectory. This is a great list to be on top of, as it highlights sustainable wage growth and the continued long-term prospects for Austin.
Global Automotive manufacturer may pour $100mm into Williamson County
Key Takeaway: If approved, this is the exact type of impact landing Tesla’s HQ was thought to provide, as it attracts automotive suppliers to the region bringing more jobs.
WSJ: Powell Says Fed Has New Focus: When to Cut Rates
Key Takeaway: Based on his interview on 60-minutes, the commentary was cautious about cutting rates too soon but the conclusion was clear–its a matter of time before the Fed starts cutting rates rather than looking at if they should hold them or raise them.
Late Mortgage Payments Pile Up For Giant Apartment Lender
Key Takeaway: We have seen a handful of distressed deals in Central Texas, with operators, LP’s and lenders looking for a path forward. This data confirms a 20x year-over-year growth in late payments and speaks to the stress many deals are under. Stressed deals will ultimately lead to buying opportunities.
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Andrew Campbell is a native Austinite and Managing Partner at Wildhorn. He is a real estate entrepreneur who first broke into the business in 2008 as a passive investor. In 2010 he transitioned into active investing and management of a personal portfolio that grew to 76 units across Austin and San Antonio. He earned his stripes building and managing his personal portfolio before founding Wildhorn Capital and focusing on larger multifamily buildings. At Wildhorn, he is focused on Acquisitions and maintaining Investor Relations, utilizing his marketing and communications background to build long-term relationships.