Investors see continued potential from Florida residential distress, launch 2 foreclosure funds

Nov. 14, 2012 - PRLog -- MIAMI –  Four years into the Great Recession and five years into the real estate crash, Florida stubbornly remains at Ground Zero in the single-family foreclosure market.

In response, Florida investors Scott Kranz and Erik Wesoloski , as principals of Title Capital Management LLC (http://www.titlecapital.com), are offering, for the second time in two years, fresh opportunities to capitalize on Florida’s distressed property market to institutional fund investors, private equity and REITs, by buying and renovating foreclosed residential properties.

The Florida Fund investor opportunities include:

·     The Foreclosure Arbitrage Fund II LP (TFAF II, LP), “a buy-fix-flip” strategy fund raising $50 million;

·      The Florida Asset Recovery and Income Fund IV LP (FARIF IV, LP), a “buy-rent-hold” strategy fund raising $150 million;

·      Offering a full legal and real estate organization with a statewide, ready-built foreclosure infrastructure for institutional Florida real estate fund investors;

·      A “Fund of Funds” for other participating institutional funds and/or family offices.

Kranz will moderate and Wesoloski will present at the national Single Family Aggregation: REO-to-Rental Forum Nov. 29-30 in Scottsdale, Ariz. http://www.imn.org/SFA12, a gathering of institutional investors.  Kranz will moderate a panel on how to create and manage a fund’s infrastructure, and Wesoloski will speak about the Florida foreclosure acquisition market.

“Distressed real estate funds are hot in the institutional investment community right now,” Kranz said. “Big funds are seeing the opportunity to buy and professionally manage or sell single-family rental homes. Our first full-cycle fund in Florida two years ago achieved an average cash-on-cash return of 25 percent in an average of 172 days. With our legal and real estate expertise, we can take any property through acquisition, title, rehab, management, leasing and sale. We can partner with institutional funds, foreign investors and family offices to deploy capital efficiently, profitably and intelligently, and act as a 'fund of funds.' Title Capital Management is a one-of-a-kind option for institutional funds seeking to quickly enter the Florida foreclosure housing market."

Wesoloski said: “Title Capital Management has a built-in foreclosure infrastructure including 24 professionals, a law firm and a real estate management team to handle all aspects of the deal.”

South Florida’s foreclosure rate still ranked 13th of 212 metro areas in the first half of 2012. One of 53 properties was in foreclosure, and the State of Florida accounts for 24 percent of all foreclosures in the United States, ranking it No. 1 by a wide margin. As a result, more former homeowners are renting.

Title Capital Management’s The Foreclosure Arbitrage Fund II LP (TFAF II, LP), is raising $50 million in a buy-fix-flip strategy to selectively acquire distressed properties through official public auction, and perform 180-day property rehab and sale.

A second fund, The Florida Asset Recovery and Income Fund IV LP (FARIF IV, LP), is raising $150 million in a buy-rent-hold strategy to focus on the acquisition, rehab, leasing, management and resale of statewide residential, multifamily and commercial properties. The Fund is designed to hold the real estate until the market sufficiently recovers, projected at five to seven years.

Among Title Capital’s distinctions:

·      It can immediately deploy its unique foreclosure infrastructure as a strategic acquisition partner with institutional investment funds with no down time, due to its range of expertise and experience in this asset class.

·      As a foreclosure law and real estate firm, Title Capital’s legal expertise prevents foreclosure acquisition technical issues and errors.

·      It has a thorough command of the state’s foreclosure market, with a real estate foreclosure team reviewing 500 property auctions daily.

Principal Erik Wesoloski is founding shareholder of the Miami law firm Wesoloski Carlson, which concentrates its practice in real estate litigation, foreclosure litigation and real estate transactions. Mr. Wesoloski has closed more than 2,000 real estate transactions worth over $500 million. He has handled more than 3,000 mortgage debt workouts.

Principal Scott Kranz is a leader in syndication of financial products, and was a principal in Strategica, a national merchant banking organization that completed financings of more than $30 billion. Mr. Kranz orchestrated the raising of $1.5 billion in equity capital for his own principal transactions through Wall Street and regional investment banking firms.  

Both Messrs. Wesoloski and Kranz are excellent sources on the fundamentals and opportunities in Florida’s distressed real estate market. Mr. Kranz can be reached at 305-329-1001, sk@titlecapital.com and Mr. Wesoloski also can be reached at 305-329-1001, ew@titlecapital.com