NAREIM Acquisitions meeting: Key takeaways

Nov. 11, 2022

How are you viewing and responding to today's market? This was the major questions shared with attendees at NAREIM’s Acquisitions meeting this week in New York City. "The tide is coming around," said one member, noting that more changes are coming across the industry. 

Member firms discussed what was top of mind for them in terms of reanalyzing acquisitions strategies, where the market is headed, making the right investment decisions, how to find conviction to act and insights on geographic performance outlooks.  

Additionally, attendees discussed the issue of those in real estate being overthinkers. "If you're in a good market, have quality real estate and quality tenancy, you might be tempted to overthink and that could lead to missed opportunities," one member said. 

Managers should note location, asset class and the value of their teams to get deals done in order to feel secure in decisions they've made. One member described the market as a "crisis of sellers," in that there aren't any. Other themes discussed came down to location (buying good assets in markets that show continuous growth) and rates (SOFR, UTS, cap and rental). "No more baseball innings," said another member. 

Additional pieces of insight included:

• You'll want to be in a deal flow right now even if you're not transacting

• Groups who have netoriously never dropped deals are dropping them now

• It has become the job of acquisitions leaders to create a market; brokers are looking to them now

• Watch out for things that are inactionable 

• It's a great time to be a lender 

• Things are moving so rapidly, some people don't know where the value is

• More are shifting from "want to sell" to "have to sell" 

Members also participated in a professional development workshop focused on career path strategies. Attendees mapped out their career journeys and shared ups and downs with each other, including lessons learned along the way and what moments shaped them the most. 

Some specific questions brought up by members during the workshop: 

• How can I listen better?

• How can I promote and create a better culture?

• In what ways can I evaluate who I am and who I want to be? 

• How can I best invest my time in my team? 

• What did my lowest moments teach me the most? 

• In what way can I pass along these lessons and share with my employees?

Click here to see the agenda and here to see the attendee list.