Blog

After recently acquiring 8 properties across 6 states, we’ve learned the hard truth: rent roll reviews, systems upgrades, and property care standards only work when you have the right people implementing them.

The current market makes this even more critical. While absorption fell 73% year-over-year in Q3 2025 and new deliveries remain elevated, […]

In 2018, we sold a 2001-vintage apartment community in Mesa, Arizona at $178,000 per door. Within two years, the property changed hands again—this time for over $300,000 per door. Today, it trades closer to $225,000 per door.

Meanwhile, the Dallas asset we acquired through a tax-deferred exchange—a 2013-vintage property purchased at $156,000 per unit—followed a similar […]

Sophisticated investors understand a fundamental principle: provide value first, capture returns second. You don’t expect your capital to compound before you deploy it.

At PEM, we look for operators who think the same way.

It sounds straightforward. But as 2.1 million new apartments hit the market from 2021 through 2025—including 608,000 units in 2024 […]

The conventional wisdom in multifamily real estate seems straightforward: higher quality assets deliver lower returns with less operational headache, while lower quality properties offer higher returns in exchange for more hands-on work. After thirty years moving between Class C, B, and A properties across market cycles, I can tell you the formula holds true.

But here’s […]

Real estate is an excellent investment, but you can never be forced to sell it at the wrong time. That principle has guided every financing decision I’ve made over the past 30 years, and it’s never been more relevant than today.

Two of our recent acquisitions came directly from this reality. Both were amazing developments—high-quality Class […]

Most investors see property management as a cost center. After thirty years and five market cycles, I’ve learned it’s either your greatest competitive advantage—or your silent wealth destroyer.

The numbers reveal a structural flaw that quietly costs investors millions while preventing the hands-on stewardship both residents and investors deserve: when you entrust an $80 million asset […]

Picture this: Billions of dollars sitting in funds specifically designed to capitalize on market distress, with fund managers checking their phones daily for news of the next wave of foreclosures and fire sales. The problem? The distress never came.

Starting in 2021 and accelerating through 2022, $7.5 billion in distressed real estate funds […]

The call came on a Tuesday afternoon. Prudential Life, through one of our long-standing broker relationships, was considering selling Bellary Flats—an institutional-quality asset that had never hit the public market. They weren’t looking for the highest bidder. They wanted a buyer with a proven track record who wouldn’t waste time or risk a failed escrow.

Based […]

Most real estate investors chase markets. We’ve spent thirty years leaving them.

From Michigan and Ohio to Arizona, then shifting capital across Southeast and Texas markets, each move represents something most investors struggle with: the discipline to walk away from yield when demographics turn against you. This isn’t about following trends. It’s about understanding that successful […]

When I reflect on the journey from that first Detroit duplex to managing $1.2 billion in assets today, I’m struck by how consistent our investment approach has remained. While markets have evolved, technology has transformed, and the competitive landscape has shifted dramatically, the investment philosophy that guided our first acquisition in 1994 […]