Services
Multifamily Realty Advisors (“MRA”) is a regional commercial real estate firm with an exclusive focus on the apartment sector. MRA’s principal, Richard Cotton, has an extensive background in the acquisition, management, and sale of multifamily properties (see “Broker Profile”). We provide brokerage and advisory services to buyers, sellers, developers, and lenders of apartment properties within the specific markets we cover. We serve local, regional, and national multifamily clients with the market knowledge expected of a local broker. The firm’s primary apartment markets are Raleigh/Durham/Chapel Hill (the “Triangle”) and Wilmington, North Carolina. MRA will accept assignments in certain secondary markets within the region on a case-by-case basis.
Exclusive Focus on Apartments
MRA has a single focus — Apartments. We are engaged exclusively in the representation of private and institutional investors in connection with the purchase, development, management, and sale of multifamily properties. We provide accurate and timely in-depth market and property-specific analysis ranging from single assets to portfolios of multifamily properties. We have the experience to work through complex issues related to underwriting, deal structure, financing, market analysis, contract negotiations, and due diligence. With our exclusive focus on apartments, we have the experience and the degree of specialization to handle every type of apartment transaction while delivering institutional quality services to apartment owners and investors.
Integrity and Credibility
Richard Cotton has developed a reputation for his attention to detail and for providing quality representation and service to both institutional clients and private investors. We strive to engage in the brokerage business with absolute honesty and integrity. We seek to provide realistic assessments of property value. We often advise clients to hold off selling if we think that is their best option. From sales and advisory, to valuation, to marketing, to transaction management; our goal is to represent the best interests of our clients while building long-term business relationships.
MRA is an Advisor first, then a Broker
We often work with new clients for a considerable period of time prior to listing any apartment assets for sale. We regularly assist asset managers with the implementation of value-added recommendations to enhance a property’s current and potential value. As a broker, MRA utilizes a highly effective process of managing the sale transaction from initial analysis through closing with online and paperless investor communication and due diligence materials, as well as day-to-day personal involvement with on-site property tours and inspections. In addition, by handling the due diligence process for our clients, MRA allows the Seller to focus on managing the asset and not the sale.
Buyer/Seller Representation: One Client at a Time
Our role in most apartment transactions is that of Exclusive Listing Broker for the Seller. On each such assignment, our obligation and duty is to represent the best interests of the Seller at all times and obtain the highest possible price and best terms for the Seller. On occasion, we undertake to represent a Buyer in finding “off-market” apartment properties to acquire. In those assignments, our role is to represent the Buyer’s best interests and to obtain the best possible price and terms for the Buyer. And while it is permissible under North Carolina law for a broker to represent both Buyer and Seller as a “Dual Agent” in the same transaction, our policy is to represent either the Seller or Buyer, but not both, in the same transaction.
Apartment Brokerage: Private and Public Listings
Many of our listing clients prefer that we market their project privately and quietly, with minimal or no public exposure. In these assignments, we utilize our proprietary nationwide database of qualified apartment buyers who have expressed interest in this region and whose investment criteria are consistent with the listed property’s attributes. We discreetly seek out qualified buyers wherever they may be; more often than not this is well beyond the geographic borders of our region. With a few exceptions, most apartment buyers are not local investors.
For public listings, our approach is to get the maximum exposure among all qualified potential buyers. We can dramatically expand the pool of prospective buyers by marketing the property publicly, well beyond our own database. We submit listings to national organizations including LoopNet and CoStar. We also maximize the property’s exposure by marketing the property cooperatively, by encouraging outside broker participation among a select list of brokers that represent clients who are potential apartment buyers.
Market Research, Apartment Sales
We closely track apartment sales in all submarkets within Raleigh/Durham/Chapel Hill and Wilmington, North Carolina. We have compiled a database of every apartment sale of 100 units or more in these markets since the beginning of 2007. We have analyzed many of these transactions and can provide additional details regarding sale price, price per unit, and approximate cap rate based on the property’s trailing NOI at the time of sale. Registered users of our website receive our detailed “Triangle Apartment Market Update” by email every quarter and may download prior market updates for the past five years.
Apartment Development
No other broker follows apartment development in the Triangle the way Richard Cotton does. In order to stay informed, he personally visits each and every apartment development site on a regular basis, including projects currently under construction and proposed. For our developer and lender clients, we have the most comprehensive reports available on new apartment development in the Triangle and Wilmington. It includes each apartment community currently under construction or recently completed, together with a development pipeline report of all apartment projects currently proposed. We research public records for both new and proposed projects to determine the per-unit land cost for each project and this information is available to registered users on our website.
Richard Cotton is available to meet with you to provide a complete overview of the Triangle multifamily market. His experience and market knowledge can be utilized to help you better understand the market in order to make informed decisions about your apartment investments.
If you are a Buyer, we can provide you with complete information on our current listings and information on all properties currently on the market as well as potential “off market” acquisition opportunities.
If you are a Seller, we can provide you with a complimentary Broker’s Price Opinion on any apartment assets that you may consider selling.
If you are a Developer, we can assist you with site selection and acquisition, particularly “off-market” site acquisitions and potential landowner/developer joint ventures.
If you are a Lender, we can assist you with loan analysis, market analysis, loan restructuring, due diligence, dispositions, and more.