Sperry Van Ness A Distressed Asset Sales Force To Watch

By Pat Blount

If you are fortunate you get to be involved in the development of a cutting edge business idea once in your life. If you are really lucky you get to do so during a paradigm shift in that industry. So call me Mr. Lucky.

I had the opportunity to spend two days last week speaking to and getting to know almost 200 of the 900+ real estate professionals associated with Sperry Van Ness Commercial Real Estate Advisors. This lucky break for me began last fall when I entered into an alliance with the 65 member Sperry Van Ness Asset Recovery Team. The concept for the alliance sounded quite simple; I would offer SVN Asset Recovery Team members loan sale advisory capabilities via my company Benewolf and they in turn would afford Benewolf the ability to sell fee simple REO properties across the United States through independently owned Sperry Van Ness offices.

I said “sounded” simple, in fact it was anything “but” simple. As much as distressed real estate and loans secured by distressed real estate sound similar we found vast differences in the way we approached a listing, conducted a valuation, marketed the product and closed a deal. Our sellers were different, our buyers were different and our culture was different.

During this same time period Q4 2010 to Q2 2011 not only were Sperry Van Ness and Benewolf going through a steep learning curve, the distressed asset industry was maturing and changing rapidly. Going and gone were the steep discounts, significant bulk sales were becoming fewer, quality collateral was getting harder to find. It seemed that the FDIC’s loss share program was beginning to have an impact on the market by holding distressed loan product off the market indefinitely. Loan sale prices were increasing steadily and with select product, such as Class A multifamily, demand and sale prices were even increasing astronomically. As much as I hate to admit it, the “extend and pretend” and the “delay and pray” tactic lenders had been chastised for in the press during a period from 2008-2010 were clearly working.

Although almost all of the SVN Asset Recovery team members went through an extensive training program with Benewolf to learn the nuances of a loan sale transaction one of the many things we learned during this gestation period is that the SVN commercial real estate advisors did not “each” need to become experts in the multiple facets of a distressed asset sale to be successful, they just needed to have faith in and know that their alliance partner Benewolf possessed the necessary expertise to succeed and that they could count on Benewolf to follow through on the many referrals, both buyers and sellers, that are being generated by the Sperry Van Ness Asset Recovery Team Advisors.

Last fall Benewolf also made the commitment to focus exclusively on the sale of loans secured by a first lien position on improved commercial real estate and to primarily offer those loans on a “one off” basis as compared with “bulk sales” that most of the industry was offering. Given the current bid price levels Benewolf is achieving today and the course the lending industry has taken to “hold” until they receive a fair market price this is proving to be a positive commitment and correct market call.

In Q1 2011 the Sperry Van Ness Asset Recovery Team made another firm alliance further cementing their place as the industry leader in the distressed arena. This alliance is with RW Kline Companies. Bob Kline’s company is a FINRA Registered Broker Dealer that has expertise not only in loan acquisitions and workouts but in government contracting and has a thorough understanding of the Commercial Mortgage Backed Securities (CMBS) industry. The affiliation of Sperry Van Ness with Benewolf and RW Kline positions these three companies acting in concert like no other in the industry.

I had the continued good luck this week to witness the “team” coming together for the first time on a national level in a formal introduction to both the SVN corporate team and many individual SVN franchise owners that were not part of the Asset Recovery Team we had been working with for eight months. I also had the good fortune to hear Sperry Van Ness’s president Kevin Maggiacomo lay out the vision that will take the company to a level unparalleled in the commercial real estate brokerage industry. This company has, not will, combined real estate auctions, loan sales, loan workouts, commercial brokerage, leasing and property management services together with technology and social media in a way that will benefit their clients like never before. I am proud to be a part of this venture, I invite you to watch us and join us.

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Posted by: Mandurah Real Estate | 07/11/2011 at 01:41 AM