ArborCrowd was the first crowdfunding platform launched by a real estate institution, The Arbor Family of Companies, which includes a publicly traded real estate investment trust Arbor Realty Trust, and a private equity real estate firm.
The family of companies has created a real estate ecosystem that capitalizes on over three decades of experience. ArborCrowd leverages this ecosystem for the benefit of investors by curating high-quality deals, and giving them access to experienced real estate experts. Here’s how it works:
Strong Relationships and Proprietary Deals
Real estate is a complex business that requires industry experience and close relationships with strong partners. Before the Jumpstart Our Business Startups Act of 2012 allowed for the creation of real estate crowdfunding, only high net worth investors with $500,000 or more to invest in each deal, or people with the right connections were able to access institutional real estate investments. Crowdfunding has given investors access to deals they previously were not able to invest in.
The Arbor Family has built a network of real estate relationships over more than 30 years in the industry. Many sponsors in this network have successful track records and extensive experience in various markets throughout the country. By leveraging these relationships, ArborCrowd has access to high-quality deals from reputable dealmakers to offer to its investors that won’t be found on any other platform.
The Human Touch
Commercial real estate deals can be impacted by many variables over the course of a deal’s hold period. While technology can certainly be utilized to source deals and to oversee their trajectory, cannot replace human experience and intuition. The human intelligence developed over decades of industry experience in various market environments has the ability to materially interpret and react to intricate real estate data and trends.
The Arbor Family of Companies has leadership that has successfully navigated unstable market conditions and produced results. The ArborCrowd Underwriting Team reviews all aspects of a deal and applies their market experience to select the deals they believe are the strongest performers.
Additionally, ArborCrowd’s investors can talk to members of the ArborCrowd Underwriting Team as well as the asset management team, which stays in contact with sponsors and oversees the progression of deals. Those members also provide updates to investors on active transactions.
Focus on Quality
ArborCrowd screens over 500 deals a year but only selects the deals that meet its rigorous underwriting process. Deals are prefunded with affiliate capital before ArborCrowd offers the transaction to the crowd. Therefore, only deals that have sound fundamentals, strong upside potential, and are backed by experienced sponsors are selected. Additionally, because ArborCrowd is not backed by venture capital firms, it is not under pressure to offer questionable deals to investors in order to show rapid company growth, allowing it instead to focus on quality, transparency and long-term growth.
As the market has enjoyed the longest economic bull run in the country’s history, some real estate deals from other platforms have panned out despite weak underlying fundamentals. But the economy cannot go in one direction forever. Ultimately, a focus on quality deals is necessary to thrive through the ups and downs of the market.