AI for Real Estate

The firms that win with AI in this cycle won't be the ones with the best models. They'll be the ones with the best data. My Demo Day podcast/YouTube guest today is Michael Mandel, co-founder and CEO of CompStak. Key takeaway: clean data is the moat - AI is the multiplier. CompStak spent 14 years crowdsourcing lease and sales comps from nearly 50,000 brokers and research professionals. That foundation is what makes their AI tools actually useful rather than just impressive. The practical applications worth knowing about: natural language search across 1.3 million lease comps, AI-powered rent estimations weighted by hundreds of comparable deals, and dynamic market narratives that replace what used to take an analyst team days to produce. For institutional players, the real value is portfolio benchmarking - seeing whether your rents, concessions, and lease positioning are above or below market. Not against your own assumptions, but against actual comp data. Coming in 2026: enterprise clients will be able to plug CompStak data directly into their own internal platforms, and a new prospecting tool for tenant rep brokers that surfaces opportunities based on upcoming lease expirations and tenant growth patterns. *** At GowerCrowd, we are bringing the most advanced AI tools to our clients for both capital formation - but across other operational verticals too (like acquisitions). If you'd like to learn more about how we can assist you too, please reach out. Subscribe to my newsletter and get access to this transformational intel before anyone else: https://gowercrowd.com/subscribe Email: adam@gowercrowd.com Call: 213-761-1000

Most pitch decks are failing because PDFs no longer match how investors actually consume information, especially on mobile. That is the problem Avi Solomon and his team at Pulse are solving with AI. In brief: • Interactive decks increase conversions • AI now makes advanced pitch decks economically viable • Investors increasingly expect interactive, mobile-native formats Pulse feels like a category shift because the decks behave like interactive web pages not documents where on-screen motion captures attention, information is layered so investors can skim or drill down without friction, and everything is explorable. The most compelling feature is interactivity around underwriting where investors can stress tests assumptions, using the sponsor's pro-forma (hidden behind the scenes), to see how returns change. That reframes underwriting from a static presentation into a shared analytical exercise. Financials follow the same logic. Sources and uses, pro formas, rent comps, and market data are presented at a high level first, then expanded line by line only if the investor chooses. The visuals support the story rather than overwhelm it where floor plans become 3D renderings, amenities are navigable, sponsor bios expand on demand and with video when available. Pulse reflects where capital formation is heading. Pitch decks are no longer just documents, they are interactive environments designed around how investors evaluate risk and make decisions. If you are still sending PDFs and hoping for engagement, this episode is worth watching. *** At GowerCrowd, we are bringing the most advanced AI tools to our clients for both capital formation - but across other operational verticals too (like acquisitions). If you'd like to learn more about how we can assist you too, please reach out. Subscribe to my newsletter and get access to this transformational intel before anyone else: https://gowercrowd.com/subscribe Email: adam@gowercrowd.com Call: 213-761-1000

Hotels are not underperforming because demand is weak, they are underperforming because the economics of the guest relationship are still being managed manually. That is the central takeaway from my recent Demo Day conversation with Luca Zambello, Founder, and Jason Lopez, VP of Revenue at Jurny. [Full disclosure: I am an early investor in Jurny] In brief: Hotels are leaving meaningful NOI on the table by treating guest experience as a cost center rather than an operating system. What stands out Personalization at scale is an operational advantage that directly impacts NOI. Ancillary revenues sold post-booking carry near-zero marginal cost and disproportionately expand NOI. AI changes the labor equation by shifting staff from admin and triage to actual hospitality. Centralized communications using AI work when guest intent, sentiment, and history live in one place. Jurny helps hotels systematically monetize guests beyond the room night. When guest communication is fragmented across OTAs, email, SMS, WhatsApp, phone calls, and front desks, operators lose both service quality and revenue opportunity. Once communication is centralized, automation and AI start becoming leverage. The most compelling insight is financial. As Luca puts it, a 10 percent lift in guest-driven revenue does not translate into a 10 percent NOI improvement. Because fixed costs are already covered, it can mean 30 to 40 percent relative to current NOI. What this demo really highlights is how AI is beginning to fundamentally change commercial real estate operations across asset classes. CRE is moving away from linear models where growth requires more people, more friction, and more overhead and platforms like Jurny point to a future where intelligence, not headcount, becomes the primary scaling mechanism. That shift is already underway - and it is happening faster than most operators think. Tune in to learn more – you don't need to a hotelier to appreciate the power of AI on CRE. *** At GowerCrowd, we are bringing the most advanced AI tools to our clients for both capital formation - but across other operational verticals too (like acquisitions). If you'd like to learn more about how we can assist you too, please reach out. Subscribe to my newsletter and get access to this transformational intel before anyone else: https://gowercrowd.com/subscribe Email: adam@gowercrowd.com Call: 213-761-1000

Want to screen (waay) more deal flow for your acquisition pipeline than you do currently? Here is exactly how to do that with AI (and I'm NOT talking about some clever new way to use ChatGPT). 𝘐𝘯 𝘣𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘧: 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘢𝘣𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘵𝘰 𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘸𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘦 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘥𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘴 𝘢𝘤𝘤𝘶𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘺 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘣𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘦𝘹𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘤𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘪𝘴 𝘢 𝘣𝘰𝘵𝘵𝘭𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘤𝘬 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘢𝘤𝘲𝘶𝘪𝘴𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘵𝘦𝘢𝘮𝘴. 𝘛𝘳𝘺𝘊𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘶𝘴, 𝘮𝘺 𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘈𝘐 𝘱𝘰𝘥𝘤𝘢𝘴𝘵/𝘠𝘰𝘶𝘛𝘶𝘣𝘦 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘥𝘦𝘮𝘰, 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘰𝘸𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘤𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘧𝘢𝘳 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘥𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘭𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦 𝘴𝘰 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘯𝘯𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘧𝘢𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘦𝘵𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯. Tyler Sellars, co-founder and CEO of Cactus, and I recorded a demo of his platform and you'll find that, while it uses AI to deliver robust, fast, easy to use underwriting output, it doesn't feel like AI at all - which is why you'll also realize it's a minimum standard if you want to compete effectively. Here's why it matters if you're sourcing deals: -> Existing acquisitions teams can screen more opportunities in greater detail, faster. -> Cactus ingests entire data rooms at once and auto populates your existing underwriting proforma. -> Audits inconsistencies across data room docs automatically -> Analysts spend less time on data-entry and more time deciding what's worth pursuing. One feature I like particularly is that after automatically inputting data to your spreadsheet from whatever resources a seller/broker provides, you can actually click on an input and on the same screen see from exactly where that number came. This means you can verify every extracted number by tracing it instantly to its source document, meaning fewer errors and more confidence in IC presentations. I also like that Cactus also provides real market comps and rent data directly relevant to the target asset that are pulled directly into the underwriting workflow using sources you already probably use - eliminating the need for you to be opening multiple apps just to build your model. And the killer app from Cactus - you can keep using your existing Excel model. Though the platform offers its own screening analytics, you can also just upload your own excel model and have Cactus populate it (almost) instantly with entire data room info leaving your formulas, assumptions, and IP intact. This is one of those tools every sponsor's acquisitions team should be leveraging as they trawl hundreds of deals just to find the one winner. *** At GowerCrowd, we are bringing the most advanced AI tools to our clients for both capital formation - but across other operational verticals too (like acquisitions). If you'd like to learn more about how we can assist you too, please reach out. Subscribe to my newsletter and get access to this transformational intel before anyone else: https://gowercrowd.com/subscribe Email: adam@gowercrowd.com Call: 213-761-1000

AI in commercial real estate is usually framed around predictions and pricing. In brief: Underwriting delays come from manual data extraction, not Excel. Institutional CRE teams automate the data layer, not the model. Parsing rent rolls and T12s is now a scale problem, not a staffing one. AI underwriting is being adopted first by lenders and servicers. Speed and consistency are emerging as underwriting risk controls. This Demo Day conversation with Parag Goswami, CEO of Clik.ai, focuses on something more fundamental: how underwriting actually gets done. The core insight is simple. The bottleneck in CRE underwriting is not Excel. It is the manual, error-prone work of pulling data out of PDFs and forcing it into models. Clik.ai does not replace spreadsheets. It automates everything before the spreadsheet matters by automating the tedious data input to your Excel model and automating it. That is why its earliest adopters are institutional lenders, servicers, credit teams, and acquisitions pros. Add to this automated Trepp comparable data and you have a high-value, early underwriting model to screen deals using your own Excel model. Bottom line Clik.ai eliminates friction in the earliest stage of deal evaluation by automating the grunt work of data inputting giving you faster underwriting and a significant competitive edge. *** At GowerCrowd, we are aggressively researching AI tools you can actually use and that bring real, immediate value to your business. Contact us to learn more. Subscribe to my newsletter and get access to this transformational intel before anyone else: https://gowercrowd.com/subscribe Email: adam@gowercrowd.com Call: 213-761-1000

Most CRE teams are not losing deals because of capital, talent, or market access. They are losing because they move too slowly because initial underwriting and deal marketing are still painfully manual across much of the industry. Spreadsheets. Templates. Design tools. Email chains. Outsourced vendors. All stitched together by habit. That friction costs time, and time costs deals. In my latest AI/CRE Demo Day show Anton Zajac, CEO of IntellCRE, demonstrates (onscreen) what happens when those bottlenecks disappear. What stood out immediately: BOVs and OMs that once took 20+ hours can be produced in minutes Initial underwriting and marketing stop being separate workflows Small teams gain enterprise-level output capacity Deal marketing becomes proactive, not reactive IntellCRE automates the unglamorous middle of CRE work: data aggregation, comps, market context, financials, and presentation. The result is not just speed. It's a pure, AI driven competitive advantage. Some questions the platform answers clearly: What if initial deal screening was no longer the bottleneck? What if marketing output scaled without adding staff? What if BOVs became a prospecting weapon instead of a sunk cost? What changes when responsiveness becomes your edge? If you work in brokerage, acquisitions, or high-volume CRE investing and speed matters to you, this is worth seeing. Not a concept. Not a slide deck. A genuine AI platform specifically designed for CRE pros. Trust me (I'm a doctor) this is worth a look. *** At GowerCrowd, we are aggressively researching AI tools you can actually use and that bring real, immediate value to your business. Subscribe to my newsletter and get access to this transformational intel before anyone else: https://gowercrowd.com/subscribe Email: adam@gowercrowd.com Call: 213-761-1000

Introducing the Demo Day YouTube/Podcast Demo Day is a new series focused on one simple idea: showing, not telling, where AI is actually revolutionizing commercial real estate. No theory. No slide decks. Not a clever ChatGPT prompt. Just live, on-screen demonstrations of AI tools you can use today to get a significant edge against your competitors. If you think ChatGPT is all AI has to offer, this episode will reset your mental model fast. In this Demo Day, I reveal the extraordinary AI platform, TestFit, a platform that applies AI directly to land underwriting and early development decisions by building super-detailed feasibility studies for you in minutes. Best seen on YouTube, watch this episode to see how AI does what traditionally took weeks, consultants, and real pursuit capital: Instantly show what can be built on a site Kill weak deals early and surface better ones faster Update layouts and early-stage economics live on screen Run thousands of zoning and density scenarios in real time This is the real deal. Beneath all the hype about AI, and the usual 'here's (yet) another great prompt' incremental benefits, there truly are companies revolutionizing the industry. Testfit is one of them. If you want to get REAL benefit from AI and give your company a real, immediately tangible competitive advantage in the new AI era – start here. *** At GowerCrowd, we are aggressively researching AI tools you can actually use and that bring real, immediate value to your business. Subscribe to my newsletter and get access to this transformational intel before anyone else: https://gowercrowd.com/subscribe Email: adam@gowercrowd.com Call: 213-761-1000

My guest this week, Jeremy Roll, is a full-time professional passive investor with more than two decades of experience allocating capital across multiple real estate cycles. He is relentlessly data-driven, deeply immersed in macro and capital markets, and unapologetically conservative in how he thinks about risk. That combination matters right now. Jeremy is not trying to predict the next rate cut or headline shift. He is focused on something far more useful: where we actually are in the cycle, which assumptions quietly failed in 2025, and why capital remains sidelined despite constant talk of opportunity. His view of the market heading into 2026 is sober, unsentimental, and grounded in how cycles really work. The overarching thesis of our conversation is simple but uncomfortable: predictability broke, patience was rewarded, and many investors learned the wrong lesson. We discuss questions that serious investors and sponsors should be asking themselves now, including: Jeremy also draws a sharp distinction between heavy value-add investors, who are already active, and value-oriented investors, who face the very real risk of being too early. He frames today as closer to late 2009 or 2010 than 2011: the light is visible, but the reset is not complete. This is not a conversation about hype, shortcuts, or timing the exact bottom. It is about discipline, incentives, and understanding why doing nothing for long stretches is sometimes the most rational strategy. If you invest in commercial real estate or allocate capital to those who do, this episode will help you think more clearly about what actually matters heading into 2026. *** In this series, I cut through the noise to examine how shifting macroeconomic forces and rising geopolitical risk are reshaping real estate investing. With insights from economists, academics, and seasoned professionals, this show helps investors respond to market uncertainty with clarity, discipline, and a focus on downside protection. Subscribe to my free newsletter for timely updates, insights, and tools to help you navigate today's volatile real estate landscape. You'll get: Visit GowerCrowd.com/subscribe Email: adam@gowercrowd.com Call: 213-761-1000

Mark Zandi is one of the few economists who can do two things at once: explain what is happening in the data, and explain why households experience it so differently. He is the chief economist at Moody's Analytics, and in our conversation, the last of my podcast series this year and the second of two Holiday Specials, he connected inflation, affordability, market structure, and geopolitics in a way CRE professionals will recognize immediately. The theme was simple, but not comforting: affordability is no longer a "cycle" story - it is becoming structural. And the US economy is increasingly dependent on a relatively narrow slice of consumers continuing to spend. Zandi's framing matters for sponsors and investors because it changes what "risk" looks like. If the top of the income distribution is carrying demand while the middle and bottom are constrained, the economy can keep moving - but it can also become unusually fragile if equity markets stumble or confidence shifts. He also made a point many people avoid saying plainly: even if AI is transformative, markets may be pricing in an adoption curve that is too fast. That is how you get corrections - not because the technology is useless, but because expectations got ahead of diffusion. Five questions we get into: Why has affordability re-emerged so forcefully in 2025 - and why does it feel like it is not going away? What does a "K-shaped economy" mean in practical terms for spending, jobs, and social stability? If the top 10% accounts for nearly half of spending, what breaks the expansion? Is today's AI boom more like 1997 or 2000 - and what would cause a valuation reset? Why does deglobalization threaten America's "exorbitant privilege," and what does that mean for markets? If you are underwriting 2026 with a clean, mean-reversion narrative, you will want to hear this conversation. *** In this series, I cut through the noise to examine how shifting macroeconomic forces and rising geopolitical risk are reshaping real estate investing. With insights from economists, academics, and seasoned professionals, this show helps investors respond to market uncertainty with clarity, discipline, and a focus on downside protection. Subscribe to my free newsletter for timely updates, insights, and tools to help you navigate today's volatile real estate landscape. You'll get: Visit GowerCrowd.com/subscribe Email: adam@gowercrowd.com Call: 213-761-1000

Ken Rogoff does not trade in headlines or market timing. He trades in history. As Professor of Economics at Harvard and co-author of This Time Is Different, Rogoff has spent decades studying what happens when societies convince themselves old rules no longer apply. His latest book, Our Dollar, Your Problem, extends that lens to today's economy – and to the quiet assumptions underpinning U.S. financial dominance. In our conversation, Rogoff unpacked why the dollar's "exorbitant privilege" still matters, why it is slowly eroding, and why the real risks facing the U.S. economy are not where most people are looking. This was not a discussion about panic. It was a discussion about probability. Among the questions Rogoff addresses: Why does dollar dominance lower borrowing costs for U.S. households and businesses – and what happens if that advantage fades? Why is the combination of high debt and higher interest rates historically dangerous, even for advanced economies? Why central bank independence matters more than most people realize – and why it is under pressure from both sides of the political spectrum. Why commercial real estate stress is serious but not systemic – and what risks matter more. Why AI could extend U.S. economic strength or trigger a sharp reversal – and why today's low volatility is misleading. Rogoff's core message is unsettling precisely because it is familiar. The United States has navigated debt, inflation, and institutional stress before. It did not escape unscathed. It adapted under pressure. The question is not whether adjustment comes. It is how – and under what conditions. If you care about macro risk, capital markets, or the long-term assumptions embedded in real estate and investment decisions, this conversation is worth your time. Tune in to hear it in full. *** In this series, I cut through the noise to examine how shifting macroeconomic forces and rising geopolitical risk are reshaping real estate investing. With insights from economists, academics, and seasoned professionals, this show helps investors respond to market uncertainty with clarity, discipline, and a focus on downside protection. Subscribe to my free newsletter for timely updates, insights, and tools to help you navigate today's volatile real estate landscape. You'll get: Visit GowerCrowd.com/subscribe Email: adam@gowercrowd.com Call: 213-761-1000

What do the most disciplined investors in real estate have in common right now? They're not chasing themes. They're not waiting for perfect headlines. They're buying when pricing resets and protecting capital at all costs. That's why my conversation with Onic Palandjian, partner at Group RMK, is worth your time. Onic helps steward a family office platform that has grown from $500 million to $2.5 billion by doing something increasingly rare in CRE: investing with patience, low leverage, and long-duration discipline. Their model is built on loss aversion, contrarian entry points, and a refusal to take operating risk without an exceptional basis. We covered a wide range of themes shaping 2026: the rise of family offices as agile allocators, the return of deep-value acquisitions, and why ground leases have become a compelling blend of yield, seniority, and inflation protection. Here are five questions we tackled: Why are family offices so well positioned for today's distressed pricing? How do ground leases deliver seniority, inflation linkage, and zero operating exposure? What makes a low-basis acquisition fundamentally different from a thematic bet? How does discipline with leverage create multi-cycle durability? Which opportunities are emerging as zoning, refinancing pressures, and capital scarcity converge? Onic's perspective is refreshingly unemotional: you only make money when you buy, and you only buy when the basis protects you. In an environment defined by volatility, scarcity of liquidity, and fractured sentiment, this mindset is not just conservative. It's strategic. If you want to understand how patient capital is positioning for the next phase of the market, this episode is a strong place to start. *** In this series, I cut through the noise to examine how shifting macroeconomic forces and rising geopolitical risk are reshaping real estate investing. With insights from economists, academics, and seasoned professionals, this show helps investors respond to market uncertainty with clarity, discipline, and a focus on downside protection. Subscribe to my free newsletter for timely updates, insights, and tools to help you navigate today's volatile real estate landscape. You'll get: Visit GowerCrowd.com/subscribe Email: adam@gowercrowd.com Call: 213-761-1000

In this week's episode, I spoke with Lisa Knee, Managing Partner of Real Estate Services at EisnerAmper, one of the largest tax and advisory firms serving institutional owners, funds, developers, and family offices across the country. Lisa works with clients who "touch dirt, own dirt, work with dirt" and her view is clear: the tax landscape has stopped moving, but the real estate market hasn't found its footing. She breaks down what the One Big Beautiful Bill actually settled (199A permanence, 100 percent bonus depreciation, renewed Opportunity Zone rules), and why none of it has thawed capital or clarified pricing. Capital is cautious, lenders prefer extend-and-amend, and investors still don't trust projected rents, expenses, or cap rates enough to lean in. We discuss topics that matter to serious operators, including: Which tax provisions now permanently shape deal economics for partnerships, REIT investors, and developers. How Opportunity Zones 2.0 works and what the 2026 "blackout" means for capital flows. Why B and C assets are under the most pressure even as A and D properties continue to lease. Why adaptive reuse is a specialist's game, not a market-wide solution for office. What lenders are actually doing behind the scenes and how extend-and-amend is shaping distress. If you're underwriting deals, raising capital, or making hold-sell decisions in 2025 as we head into 2026, this conversation gives you a clear, steady framework for understanding how tax incentives, lender behavior, and pricing uncertainty are interacting right now. *** In this series, I cut through the noise to examine how shifting macroeconomic forces and rising geopolitical risk are reshaping real estate investing. With insights from economists, academics, and seasoned professionals, this show helps investors respond to market uncertainty with clarity, discipline, and a focus on downside protection. Subscribe to my free newsletter for timely updates, insights, and tools to help you navigate today's volatile real estate landscape. You'll get: Visit GowerCrowd.com/subscribe Email: adam@gowercrowd.com Call: 213-761-1000

Jeff Rosenberg brings a multi-generation perspective to open-air, retail shopping centers, a sector most investors once wrote off. His family built and operated supermarkets and the centers around them starting in the 1940s. Big V Property Group grew out of that platform and today controls a $2.5 billion, 9 million square foot national portfolio of open-air shopping centers anchored by the likes of Target, TJX brands, Ross, HomeGoods, Sierra Trading, and others. That background matters: Big V understands how retailers actually make money, how store-level performance drives traffic, and why certain locations survive every cycle. A few insights stood out in our conversation: • Physical retail never died (online shopping, Covid etc) it evolved. Retailers now use stores as omnichannel infrastructure: showroom, warehouse, and last-mile all at once. • Power-center retail is effectively an ecosystem. A Target anchor drives demographic analysis, infrastructure improvements, credit co-tenancy, and consistent foot traffic for the rest of the center. • Supply discipline is doing the heavy lifting. Two decades of minimal development plus 96–97% occupancy make today's retail fundamentally different from overbuilt asset classes. • Lenders are leaning back in. Big V recently rolled eight core assets, about $1.1 billion, into a single fund and closed a $765 million on-balance-sheet bank loan, the largest retail financing in the country in 2025. • Underwriting today requires humility. Big V assumes no cap-rate compression. All value has to come from NOI growth and execution, not financial engineering. Here are five questions we covered: Why did retail survive when everyone predicted structural decline? How does a Target anchor change a center's economics? What does today's capital stack look like for high-quality retail? How do you underwrite exits when cap-rate compression is off the table? Where are the real risks in a sector that looks "safe" on the surface? If you want a grounded view of where the next leg of the retail cycle is heading and how an operator with a decades-long track record has never lost investor capital, this conversation is worth your time. *** In this series, I cut through the noise to examine how shifting macroeconomic forces and rising geopolitical risk are reshaping real estate investing. With insights from economists, academics, and seasoned professionals, this show helps investors respond to market uncertainty with clarity, discipline, and a focus on downside protection. Subscribe to my free newsletter for timely updates, insights, and tools to help you navigate today's volatile real estate landscape. You'll get: Visit GowerCrowd.com/subscribe Email: adam@gowercrowd.com Call: 213-761-1000

Jeff Brown has spent the last 15 years building exactly the kind of platform most sponsors say they want and very few actually execute: niche, disciplined, and trusted by the wealth-management channel. As founder and CIO of T2 Capital Management, he's grown a $1bn platform focused on three things: bridge lending, student housing, and B/C multifamily 'on the banks of the Mississippi.' Most of his capital comes from RIAs – a channel many sponsors talk about but rarely crack. In our conversation, we talked about what it really looks like when investors are bruised, liquidity is scarce, and the opportunity set is quietly improving. Here are five questions Jeff answered that matter for anyone raising or allocating equity today: What separates a real bridge lender from the "tourists" who entered the space in the last cycle? How do you underwrite B/C multifamily and workforce housing when markets are working through a supply glut from the ZIRP era? What's actually happening inside student housing? Why have RIAs made T2 their real estate allocation? How should investors think about 401(k) access to private assets? If you're trying to make sense of where capital will actually move in the next phase of this cycle and what it will reward, this episode is worth your time. Jeff is candid about the scars, clear about the opportunities, and refreshingly sober about what it takes to earn and keep investor trust. Tune in to the full discussion with Jeff Brown of T2 Capital Management to pressure-test your own thesis for the next leg of the market. *** In this series, I cut through the noise to examine how shifting macroeconomic forces and rising geopolitical risk are reshaping real estate investing. With insights from economists, academics, and seasoned professionals, this show helps investors respond to market uncertainty with clarity, discipline, and a focus on downside protection. Subscribe to my free newsletter for timely updates, insights, and tools to help you navigate today's volatile real estate landscape. You'll get: Visit GowerCrowd.com/subscribe Email: adam@gowercrowd.com Call: 213-761-1000

My guest today, Tim Bodner, doesn't just analyze capital markets - he helps shape them. As Partner at PwC and Global Leader of its Real Estate Deals business, Tim advises some of the world's largest investors – pensions, sovereign wealth funds, REITs, private capital firms - on transactions exceeding $300 billion. He also is a contributor to PwC's Global Real Estate and Real Assets Deals Outlook, giving him a uniquely panoramic view of how capital, policy, and real assets now intersect. In our conversation, Tim explains why the capital stack is being redrawn. Retail savings and annuities are moving from the periphery to the core of capital formation. Private credit, powered by insurers, is filling the vacuum left by banks. And the definition of "real estate" is expanding fast into "real assets" like data centers, senior housing, manufacturing facilities, sports or entertainment venues and infrastructure. It's not just about what's being built, it's about who's funding it, and how. Here are five questions Tim and I discuss that every serious investor or sponsor should be asking right now: 1. How will retirement-plan capital change the equity landscape for real estate? 2. What does the rise of insurer-backed private credit mean for developers and borrowers? 3. Why are institutions shifting from "real estate" to "real assets" and what falls inside that new perimeter? 4. How should sponsors navigate co-invest and direct-deal demand from pensions and sovereigns without slowing execution? 5. Is the "fog" of uncertainty finally lifting and where is capital rotating back into traditional sectors? If you want to understand where capital is truly flowing, how policy and product design are reshaping investor access, and why operating capability is emerging as the new alpha, this episode is worth your time. Listen to my full conversation with Tim Bodner of PwC, a rare, clear-eyed look at how capital formation in real assets is changing beneath the surface. *** In this series, I cut through the noise to examine how shifting macroeconomic forces and rising geopolitical risk are reshaping real estate investing. With insights from economists, academics, and seasoned professionals, this show helps investors respond to market uncertainty with clarity, discipline, and a focus on downside protection. Subscribe to my free newsletter for timely updates, insights, and tools to help you navigate today's volatile real estate landscape. You'll get: Visit GowerCrowd.com/subscribe Email: adam@gowercrowd.com Call: 213-761-1000

Richard Tucker has seen every phase of retail, from enclosed malls to mixed-use, and still chooses the least glamorous corner of the sector: small-bay, necessity-driven strip centers. As CEO of Tucker Development, a 10MM square foot development company, he's now systematizing that playbook into a Midwest portfolio with modest leverage, steady cash, and an exit designed for institutions. In a market obsessed with timing the rate cycle, this is an operator's strategy: buy centers with proven tenancy, fix physical frictions (depth, access, service lanes), keep leverage low (60–65%), hedge rates, and let small rent steps compound at the portfolio level. It's less about shiny anchors and more about durable local habits. Richard and I discuss: Why unanchored strips now. What is WALD and how does it drive resilience and investor returns? Best practices for taking on debt. How 'boring' can yield a 9% current pay. Why taxes matter and what not to look at. If you're underwriting the next two years as an operator, not a speculator, Tucker's checklist is a useful filter for deal flow you can own through volatility. His team spends more time on downside than upside and builds something a bigger buyer can actually absorb. That discipline is scarce. Tune in to hear how Richard separates cosmetic "retail" from real, necessity-based demand and why "good real estate with good business plans always wins out." *** In this series, I cut through the noise to examine how shifting macroeconomic forces and rising geopolitical risk are reshaping real estate investing. With insights from economists, academics, and seasoned professionals, this show helps investors respond to market uncertainty with clarity, discipline, and a focus on downside protection. Subscribe to my free newsletter for timely updates, insights, and tools to help you navigate today's volatile real estate landscape. You'll get: Visit GowerCrowd.com/subscribe Email: adam@gowercrowd.com Call: 213-761-1000

Michael Procopio runs a fourth-generation, vertically integrated ground up multifamily development company, Procopio Companies, that's active across the Northeast, Carolinas, Texas, and Florida, 10–12 ground-up projects at a time, from entitlement through construction and hospitality-style management. In other words: he's shipping when many sponsors can't. In my conversation with Michael, we talked about how to get deals done in a market where institutions say they're "active" but still hesitate, why capital structure, not just cap rates, decides feasibility, and where the next leg of multifamily growth may come from (hint: the Northeast, but not how you think). Here are five questions Michael answers that matter if you're deploying real dollars in 2025–26: How should sponsors weigh institutional equity vs. family offices vs. syndicated HNW? Why are institutions "skittish" on development even in top markets and what can sponsors do about it? What's the real cost impact of tariffs and immigration enforcement on ground up construction? Where is Procopio putting shovels in the ground now? What's the case for build-to-rent in the Northeast? We also cover why OZs remain underused by family offices despite flexible timing and the ability to refi out capital mid-hold while keeping cash flow. If you're serious about building, and owning, the levers that create feasibility, you'll find this one useful. Tune in to hear how Michael is aligning capital, costs, and city hall to move 10–12 projects while the herd watches the headlines. *** In this series, I cut through the noise to examine how shifting macroeconomic forces and rising geopolitical risk are reshaping real estate investing. With insights from economists, academics, and seasoned professionals, this show helps investors respond to market uncertainty with clarity, discipline, and a focus on downside protection. Subscribe to my free newsletter for timely updates, insights, and tools to help you navigate today's volatile real estate landscape. You'll get: Visit GowerCrowd.com/subscribe Email: adam@gowercrowd.com Call: 213-761-1000

Sean Burton runs one of the most integrated multifamily platforms on the West Coast. As CEO of Cityview, he oversees development, construction management, and property management across ~40 assets in supply-constrained markets. That full-stack view matters right now because capital is moving—and underwriting discipline will separate winners from passengers. Theme: Debt is back, development capital is selectively returning, and OZ 2.0 arrives in 2027. But the only rate that really matters for valuations is the 10-year, not the headline cut. If you build your thesis on structure, not dirt, regime changes will find you out. Five questions Sean answers: What's actually happening in debt? Why are private-credit spreads at cycle lows and banks re-entering, and how should sponsors lock terms without over-betting on near-term policy cuts? Where is equity leaning now? Why are insurance companies and bulge-bracket managers warming to development in true supply-constraints—and why are coastal markets back in the conversation? Do tariffs and immigration enforcement change cost and schedule? What did a 17-sub deep-dive reveal about hard costs (+2.7%) vs. headline noise—and how should you interrogate your supply chain? How should investors think about policy-driven liquidity (Basel relief, rate cuts) vs. the cap-rate anchor at the long end? Where's the line between stimulus and a "sugar-rush" that lifts the 10-year? What can cities do—practically—to attract capital? Why San Diego's timeline certainty (with real affordability requirements) is winning 1,000-unit pipelines while LA's political risk still prices deals wider. If you're underwriting 2025–27, this episode is a field guide: fundamentals over financial engineering, explicit policy-risk pricing, a 2027 OZ relaunch plan, and a daily read on the 10-year. Capital is available; discipline is scarce. Tune in for the full conversation with Sean Burton, CEO of Cityview—and pressure-test your next IC memo against his playbook. *** In this series, I cut through the noise to examine how shifting macroeconomic forces and rising geopolitical risk are reshaping real estate investing. With insights from economists, academics, and seasoned professionals, this show helps investors respond to market uncertainty with clarity, discipline, and a focus on downside protection. Subscribe to my free newsletter for timely updates, insights, and tools to help you navigate today's volatile real estate landscape. You'll get: Visit GowerCrowd.com/subscribe Email: adam@gowercrowd.com Call: 213-761-1000

My podcast guest this week is Chris Garner, CEO, Avanti Residential, an owner-operator with thousands of units across seven states, who has four decades in the trenches. Garner explains how the multifamily market is bottoming – with local nuance. The past two years weren't a demand recession, he says, so much as a supply shock in growth metros. Concessions did the absorbing. Now we're approaching the peak of deliveries in places like Nashville, Denver, and Phoenix but investment committees are still anchored to five-year IRR math and negative-leverage scar tissue. His take on timing is blunt – "We're at the bottom of the multifamily cycle, if not the beginning of the recovery," but the irony is that capital is still sidelined. Investment committees remain cautious, waiting for "clear evidence" that fundamentals have turned, even though the best returns are made before that clarity arrives. As Garner put it, everyone talks about not following the herd, "but everybody's part of the herd." When deals finally reprice and capital moves, the easy money is gone. "That's when the best deals get missed because you couldn't raise capital when it was actually the right time to buy." Five questions Chris and I discuss: Where are we in the cycle? What does an efficient operating model look like now? How should value-add evolve? What's the realistic path to transacting again? What hold period wins from here? Tune in for the full conversation with Chris Garner, CEO, Avanti Residential - a masterclass in operating discipline, market selection, and underwriting in the real world. *** In this series, I cut through the noise to examine how shifting macroeconomic forces and rising geopolitical risk are reshaping real estate investing. With insights from economists, academics, and seasoned professionals, this show helps investors respond to market uncertainty with clarity, discipline, and a focus on downside protection. Subscribe to my free newsletter for timely updates, insights, and tools to help you navigate today's volatile real estate landscape. You'll get: Visit GowerCrowd.com/subscribe Email: adam@gowercrowd.com Call: 213-761-1000

When workout specialist Norman Radow sat across from a developer who'd just lost a half-billion-dollar condo project in LA and asked what he'd change, the developer pounded the table, "I wouldn't change a thing. I did everything right!" That's when Norman knew exactly why he was there. Norman Radow is CEO of The RADCO Companies, an Atlanta-based opportunistic real estate firm that has acquired, invested in, and operated over 30,000 multifamily units across 15 markets and completed more than 100 deals totaling $3.3 billion over the past decade. But his story begins earlier – as Lehman Brothers' off-balance-sheet workout specialist, where he earned the title "workout king" from The New York Times in 2009 after unwinding some of the most complex distressed assets in modern real estate history. In this conversation, Norman shares battle-tested wisdom from three decades of buying buildings nobody else wanted – from the savings and loan crisis through the GFC to today's market paralysis. Five questions answered: Why did Norman wait three years to get back into the distress game – and what finally triggered his return? What do ALL failed condo projects he studied have in common? (Hint: it's not what you think.) Why are banks giving free extensions to sponsors with "unclean hands" instead of bringing in fresh operators? Where is institutional capital flowing right now – and why non-institutional investors shouldn't compete there. What's the real story behind "extend and pretend" 2.0? If you're trying to make sense of today's multifamily market – the disconnect between debt and equity, why distressed deals aren't trading, and where smart money should position for the next 24-36 months – this delivers hard-earned pattern recognition from someone who's seen this movie before. *** In this series, I cut through the noise to examine how shifting macroeconomic forces and rising geopolitical risk are reshaping real estate investing. With insights from economists, academics, and seasoned professionals, this show helps investors respond to market uncertainty with clarity, discipline, and a focus on downside protection. Subscribe to my free newsletter for timely updates, insights, and tools to help you navigate today’s volatile real estate landscape. You’ll get: Visit GowerCrowd.com/subscribe Email: adam@gowercrowd.com Call: 213-761-1000