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First National Realty Partners: A Real Estate Port in an Economic Storm

Private equity real estate (PERE), or real estate private equity (REPE), is complex and often occluded behind industry jargon, legalese, and dense pitch books that sound too good to be true.

Not only that, but the economy has long since cooled off and entered bear market territory. The holy grail of real estate financing, cheap debt due to low Fed rates, is long gone. To an investor, this means that costs are up, and so is the risk – sinking money into a long-term gamble isn’t the wise investment decision it was just a few years ago.

So, where to go if you’re a practical and level-headed accredited investor wanting to continue (or start) your REPE journey?

First National Realty Partners might be the answer.

Accredited Investors Only

Unfortunately, before you read further, you must know that access to First National Realty Partners’ investments is restricted to accredited investors. To be considered an accredited investor, you must qualify with one or more variables:

Financial Criteria:

Have a net worth over $1 million, excluding the primary residence (individually or with spouse or partner).
Have an income over $200,000 (individually) or $300,000 (with spouse or partner) in the prior two years. Plus, expect the same for the current year.

Professional Criteria:

Investment professionals in good standing holding the general securities representative license (Series 7), the investment adviser representative license (Series 65), or the private securities offerings representative license (Series 82).
Directors, executive officers, or general partners (GP) of the company selling the securities (or of a GP of that company).
Any “family client” of a “family office” qualifies as an accredited investor.
For investments in a private fund, “knowledgeable employees” of the fund.

If you are still on your way to accreditation, don’t worry. There are many other to access real estate investing and REPE.

Practical Projects

First National Realty Partners offers a unique proposition in the real estate space. They purchase lots, buildings, and properties (think outdoor malls and similar) below their replacement cost. Then, they anchor the property with an established, nationally-known firm.

Instead of mega-resorts, the next Atlantic City hotel, or money pit theme parks, First National Realty plays it safe. They focus on basic, accessible, and well-maintained properties like strip and outdoor malls and lease the properties to well-known, trusted third parties.

Make sense?

A real-life example from their site: First National Realty found an affordable highway-side property sitting underused and unappreciated. They picked it up for their fund at a discount, then re-negotiated an additional five-year lease with the existing tenant (CVS). After all, no matter what happens with the economy, everyone needs access to a drug store like CVS.

With a few capital investments in property improvement, like pothole filling, the property became a goldmine, so investors enjoyed quarterly cash flow. On top of this, First Realty refinanced the property before the lease renewal and paid back the capital investment – allowing limited partners to reinvest in new opportunities while continuing to enjoy both cash flow and capital gains appreciation from the first deal.

Returns

This is a great story, but how are the rest of First National Realty’s investments doing? Was that just a single stroke of good luck or an outlier?

Not at all.

Here are some quick stats that demonstrate how viable and reliable First National Realty truly is:

The firm holds over $900M in commercial assets.
Averages 12% - 18% annual return. Now, this is a huge return in any market but is significantly noteworthy now. Especially as so many once-strong investing vehicles nosedive.
Each investment targets a 12% - 18%+ internal rate of return, meaning that they set their goals high on behalf of their investors.
Targeted 8% annual cash distribution so that you can enjoy recurring, reliable income even as the capital appreciation compounds.

Offerings

First National Realty offers several investing options:

Limited Partnership

As an LP, you get access to exclusive, rare, and lucrative deals that are as safe a bet as any in today’s real estate market. Pricing is not fixed but instead based on project or property. This means that you have the flexibility to do due diligence and invest in deals you’re most comfortable with.

Opportunity Fund

This is where First National Realty sets itself apart from other REPE funds. For a baseline of $50,000, you get access to fractional shares across all of First National Realty’s $900m+ portfolio. This means you’re diversified, providing a more significant risk adjustment for your returns and ensuring continual cash flow and capital gains appreciation. This opportunity is truly unique, and the fund’s name is apt.

The Bottom Line

First National Realty’s Opportunity Fund is a rare offering amongst REPE funds that typically force investors to select entire projects solely, rather than allowing diversified fractionalization. The team at First National Realty is also well-versed in the business, and managing properties alongside capital investments is second nature. They’re as well-known in the consumer staples industry (drugstores, Target-type outlets, etc.) as they are in the REPE world.

Since the investment properties are anchored in consumer staple companies, like CVS, Kroger’s, Whole Foods, and others, you have a safer port no matter the economic storm.

All these factors join to give you, an accredited investor, the best experience for the least amount of time.

Not only that, but First National Realty’s website is top-notch. It provides an easy way to research and do due diligence before pulling the trigger on either an individual deal or investment in the Opportunity Fund.

Ready to go? Here are more details about your opportunities with First National Realty Partners.