🚴‍♂️ How one bike ride uncovered a gold mine

👋 Hello, Best Ever readers! Today is Put a Pillow in Your Fridge Day, for some reason. We’ll try it if you will.

In today’s newsletter, RV parks thrive, Memphis booms, Austin slides, AI complicates hiring, and much more.

Today’s edition is presented by Capital Gains Tax Solutions. Selling a property shouldn't mean losing 20-50% to taxes. Let Capital Gains Tax Solutions create your personalized exit plan and calculate your savings today.

Also, join Pascal Wagner for our next FREE live webinar, The 3-Step Buy Box: How to Build a $100K/Year Passive Income Portfolio, on Thursday, June 12 at 7 pm EST.

👉 Register now to save your seat.

Let’s CRE!

🗞️ NO-FLUFF NEWS
CRE HEADLINES

Memphis Rising: Memphis leads major U.S. markets with 12.5 MSF of industrial space under construction, representing 4.2% of total inventory. The boom is driven by Ford's $11.4 billion BlueOval City electric vehicle facility, while industrial investment volume nearly doubled YoY to $182 million in Q1.

Austin’s Decline: Austin's tech employment declined in 2024, with Big Tech jobs falling 1.6% and startup employment dropping 4.9%, while San Francisco and New York saw growth. The reversal stems from AI's concentration in Silicon Valley, return-to-office mandates, and Austin's infrastructure challenges.

Sentiment Plummets: CRE investor sentiment plummeted 30.5% in Q1, the largest drop ever, outside the pandemic, with 59% citing tariff-related geopolitical tensions as the biggest market risk.

Prices Tumble: Retail property prices dropped 6% YoY in April, marking the largest annual decline since 2010 after showing an 18% increase in April 2024. Office properties fell 6.9% compared to 2022, with experts noting the declining rate of change may signal a potential market bottom ahead.

Retail Costs Rise: Retail fit-out costs rose 4% nationwide to $155 PSF, with Northern California leading at $211 PSF. The Upper Midwest saw the steepest increase at 14% due to construction activity driving up labor and supply costs, while Chicago bucked the trend with a 6% decline.

🏆 TOP STORY
FROM COLD-CALLING TO 12 RV PARKS AND 1,500 PADS

This week, we’re going to lead with a semi-deal breakdown.

Ben Simon of Archer Acquisitions recently joined us on the Best Ever CRE Show, where he shared how he stumbled into RV park investing by chance, quickly recognizing the untapped potential in this emerging asset class. He now has 12 parks and 1,500 pads under management.

Here’s how he’s doing it 👇

• Financing RV Parks: Ben faces unique financing challenges. “If you take a sample of like 10 credit unions or 10 small banks,” he says, “only one or two of them are going to entertain RV parks.” He also faces higher interest rates, lower LTV ratios, and minimal construction funding. So Ben prioritizes seller financing whenever possible, which helps overcome the poor financial record-keeping common with RV park sellers and provides more flexible terms. As he builds a track record, more banks are willing to finance his acquisitions.

• Value-Add Strategy: The RV park model combines real estate fundamentals with hospitality operations. Customers bring their own "hotel rooms" while the park provides utilities and amenities. Ben focuses on properties with obvious operational inefficiencies from mom-and-pop parks, where raising rates and improving amenities can significantly boost performance. Supply constraints in markets like New England, where zoning restrictions make new development difficult, create a competitive advantage.

• Exit Strategy (Roll-Up): Rather than holding individual properties long-term, Ben is building a portfolio specifically designed to attract institutional buyers. By systematizing operations across multiple properties and demonstrating scalable management practices, he's creating an exit opportunity where the combined portfolio will command a premium valuation from larger investors who previously avoided seasonal markets.

Ben’s First Deal:

• Ben stumbled upon his first RV park by accident while on a bike ride in rural New England. He was surprised to see it packed, so he asked the owner if he’d sell, and he declined, calling it a “cash cow.”

• So Ben went home and started cold-calling, acquiring his first park for $155,000. He and his partners deployed $120,000 in value-add improvements, streamlined operations, and raised occupancy, which doubled the NOI in just nine months — even in the face of bridge financing that reached 15.5% interest, a rate at which the property still cash flowed.

• Ben’s team’s improvements increased the valuation to the mid-$300,000s, allowing a refinance that recaptured 60% of the initial equity.

WHAT IT ALL MEANS

RV parks represent an attractive opportunity, as the combination of operational improvements, limited new supply, and a clear exit strategy to institutional buyers creates multiple paths to profitability. As Ben demonstrates, even parks with highly seasonal income can provide exceptional returns when approached with the right strategy, particularly in supply-constrained markets where the existing parks face minimal competition.

🎙️ Listen to Ben’s full episode here.

💰 CAPITAL GAINS TAX SOLUTIONS
A BETTER WAY TO SAVE ON CAPITAL GAINS TAXES

Selling a property shouldn't mean losing 20-50% to capital gains taxes. And while most investors think their only option is the outdated, restrictive 1031 exchange, there is a better way.

Capital Gains Tax Solutions has helped countless investors preserve wealth through deferred sales trusts. With over half a billion dollars in closed trusts across real estate, businesses, and even Bitcoin, their results speak for themselves:

• A San Diego business owner selling for $13M kept an extra 40% by deferring taxes

• A dental practice owner selling for $16M saved 30% on taxes

• Multiple clients rescued failing 1031 exchanges with Capital Gains Tax Solutions’ specialized exit plans

Don't settle for outdated strategies. The Deferred Sales Trust advantage gives you flexibility, time, and control while allowing your wealth to compound as you slowly pay taxes over time.

But don’t wait! You must act before closing escrow. So, if you have an upcoming sale with at least $1M in proceeds or gains, let Capital Gains Tax Solutions create your personalized exit plan and calculate your savings today.

💰 CRE BY THE NUMBERS
SENIOR HOUSING SURGE, Q1’S TOP FIVE DEALS, AND MORE

87.4%

Senior housing occupancy rates are approaching 2008 peak levels at 88% nationally, outperforming all other commercial real estate sectors for the first time in nearly 20 years. Primary markets hit 87.4% occupancy in Q1 2025, just 270 basis points below the 2008 peak, with most markets projected to surpass those historic levels by late 2026.

$30 billion

U.S. apartment sales reached $30 billion across 1,277 properties in Q1 2025, up 36% year-over-year despite a 38% quarterly decline. The five largest single-asset deals totaled over $1.1 billion, led by San Diego's $309 million Park 12 sale, with transactions concentrated in San Diego, Boston, and Washington, D.C.

8,000

The Texas House voted 95-44 to ban hemp-based THC products, threatening a $5.5 billion industry with 50,000 jobs and 8,000 licensed retailers. The September ban would force widespread store closures across gas stations, convenience stores, and strip malls statewide.

$901.3 million

Greystone closed its largest CRE CLO to date at $901.3 million, backed by bridge loans on 28 multifamily properties across 16 states. The deal, Greystone's seventh CRE CLO, includes 13 whole loans and 15 participations with top concentrations in Georgia at 13.5% and New Jersey at 11.6%.

+0.9%

US hotel RevPAR rose 0.9% nationally, driven by strong weekend performance, with Thursday-Saturday RevPAR jumping 2.4%. Detroit led major markets with a 26.1% increase from the Automate 2025 conference, while college towns saw RevPAR surge over 100% during graduation weekends.

🌎 FREE LIVE EVENT
HOW TO BUILD A $100K/YEAR PASSIVE INCOME PORTFOLIO

Join us for our next FREE live webinar, The 3-Step Buy Box: How to Build a $100K/Year Passive Income Portfolio, on Thursday, June 12 at 7pm EST.

If you're investing deal-by-deal without a system — or you're unsure if your current strategy is actually moving you toward financial freedom — this session is for you.

In just one hour, you'll learn:

✅ A 3-step filtering system used by top LPs to avoid costly “deal regret”
✅ How to build a personalized Buy Box based on your goals
✅ How to match asset classes to outcomes like cash flow, equity, or tax reduction
✅ The red flags to watch for when evaluating deals and operators

Your host, Pascal Wagner, is a full-time LP investor, founder of Grow Your Cashflow, and host of The Passive Income Playbook on the Best Ever CRE Podcast.

Before building his own six-figure passive income portfolio, Pascal managed over $150M in early-stage capital at Techstars and reviewed 2,000+ deals.

🎟 Can't make it on June 12? Register anyway, and we'll send you the replay.

✍️ BEST EVER BLOG
HOW AI IS CHANGING HIRING IN CRE

CRE is facing a hiring paradox. AI tools are making analysts more productive, but creating entirely new talent requirements. Here's what's happening and why it matters for your hiring strategy.

The New Reality:

• Higher bar, fewer positions: Traditional entry-level analyst roles are vanishing as AI handles routine data tasks, while 63% of CRE firms plan to increase AI budgets by 5-25% over the next two years

• Productivity transformation: Tools like Henry and Diald AI create deal decks in hours instead of days, enabling analysts to handle 6-7 deals simultaneously versus 2-3 previously

Why Traditional Hiring Fails:

• Talent accessibility: The best AI-savvy professionals (70% of workforce) aren't actively job hunting, while HR teams lack expertise to assess both CRE competencies and AI proficiency

• Resource drain: Standard hiring takes 42 days and 30+ hours of executive time per position, with bad hires costing 30% of first-year salary — potentially $45,000 for a $150,000 professional

The Headhunter Advantage:

• Specialized expertise: Can distinguish between basic AI familiarity and proven integration skills while accessing passive candidates at AI-forward firms using tools like CBRE's Ellis or JLL's proprietary models

• Strategic value: Provide comprehensive evaluation of technical abilities and cultural fit while protecting competitive intentions and freeing executive time for AI strategy focus

The Bottom Line: In an environment where a single AI-savvy professional can influence millions in transaction value, specialized headhunters transition from helpful to essential for competitive advantage. The firms that master this new hiring reality will shape the future of commercial real estate.

👉 Read more about this AI shift on the Best Ever Blog, and check out the rockstar candidates in the Best Ever Talent Solutions pipeline here.

🎓 EXPERT RESOURCES
FREE DOCUMENT DOWNLOAD

ACCREDITED INVESTOR QUESTIONNAIRE

Your relationship with your accredited investors is a partnership. The purpose of this document is to provide you with a list of questions to ask an individual who is interested in investing in one of your deals — either a current deal or a future deal — to qualify the individual, determine their investment goals, and verify that those goals align with your business plan. Think of it as a screening process, and this is your cheat sheet.