Aaron Spiegle | Acquisition Specialist, Timberland Partners

As an Acquisition Specialist, Aaron builds relationships with brokers and property owners, identifies and analyzes real estate markets, and underwrites potential value-add acquisitions. He is responsible for the total life cycle of the deal including sourcing and arranging financing, analyzing due diligence materials, preparing asset management strategy, and communicating with investors. Aaron has a Bachelor of Business Administration degree from the University of Wisconsin Madison with double majors in Real Estate and Urban Land Economics and Operations Technology Management.

 

When someone is selling an apartment community, why would they want to sell to Timberland Partners?

Timberland Partners seeks to be easy to do business with and we do what we say we’re going to do. These are key attributes of a preferred buyer and not every buyer has a reputation for these traits. Sellers choose us based on our reputation and sometimes prior experience working with us. Also, Timberland can show that we care about the properties, and we care about the residents at those properties. With the communities themselves, we like to take care of them so that they’re clean, neat, and friendly. We want to present an attractive property or product that our family members could have pride living in because it’s attractive, functions well, and is in a good location.

That also ties into taking care of the residents at the property. We want to communicate with them well so they fully understand why we’re doing renovations or work to maintain the property. Timberland Partners also has staff in place who can listen to residents, so that their needs are heard and ideally acted on. So, we’re able to show sellers that we’re going to take care of their property and take care of it well.

Does knowing that Timberland Partners’ “we manage what we own” philosophy
incentivize sellers?

The fact that we manage what we own gives us data to make reliable projections of future revenue and expenses. When sellers ask us about these projections, we can prove why our underwriting assumptions are realistic and that gives sellers confidence in our ability as a buyer to do what we say we’re going to do and successfully close the deal.

Timberland Partners is very disciplined when it comes to selecting and acquiring
properties. What does that mean for your role?

Timberland is, in many ways, very selective and disciplined. In my role on the acquisitions team, that means knowing what we’ve looked at and what we’ve bought in the past to compare that to a new potential acquisition. We also have to consider the ways the market is changing and how Timberland Partners wants to evolve and grow. If we then determine that a prospective acquisition fits within that framework, we will decide what price we are willing to pay and do what we can to buy that property. We look at hundreds of deals a year, so I have to be intentional with my time to make sure it is spent on the most promising deals. Also, we spend a lot of time getting to know the property and submarket which means first having a conversation with a broker about a property before we even put pen to paper to begin underwriting it. Having the perspective of what has worked well for us in the past combined with our deep knowledge of the markets in which we operate, keeps us disciplined and honest in our underwriting. Ultimately, this produces the most attractive long-term investments for our partners.

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